The Detroit Tiger Weblog

Author: billfer

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap – September 1st

    Toledo 2, Columbus 2 (11 inn, in progress)
    Ryan Raburn went 2 for 6. Chris Shelton had 2 walks and 2 K’s. Cory Hamman started and allowed 1 run on 4 hits, 5 walks, and 5 K’s over 5 innings.

    Erie 10, Akron 4
    Brent Clevlen had 4 hits, including a homer. Danilo Sanchez had 2 homers. Kody Kirkland tripled and walked. Mike Nanninni, who is from Detroit, pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief and only allowed 1 baserunner while fanning 5.

    Lakeland – PPD

    West Michigan 1, Dayton 0 (14 innings)
    Three and a half hours of baseball, and only 1 run to show for it. Josh Kauten was one of 5 pitchers who combined on the 14 inning shutout. Cameron Maybin had a rough night as the DH with 4 K’s. Justin Justice tripled and scored the winning run.

    Aberdeen 10, Oneonta 8
    Scott Sizemore was 2 for 5 with a walk and a stolen base. Ryan Strieby went 1 for 2 with 3 walks. Tom Thronton allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk over 5 innings. Casey Fien, who had allowed 8 runs, 6 earned all season (40 innings) coming into tonight was hammered. He allowed 7 runs, 5 earned, in just 2 innings.

  • Game 135: Angels at Tigers

    PREGAME: The Tigers return home and put to rest their worst month of the season. The offense will look to get going, but they’ll have to do it against a pitcher that destroyed them to the tune of 10 strike outs and no runs over 6 innings. Said pitcher is Ervin Santana.

    The Tigers made a slight shuffle in the rotation with the off day Monday, and will be sending Kenny Roger out (it normally would be Justin Verlander’s turn). It just happened to be Rogers on the mound the last time the Tigers faced Santana and he held the Angels offense to 2 runs over 7 innings.

    Game Time 7:05pm

  • Nook Logan Traded and Roster Recalls

    Nook Logan, who was designated for assignment on Tuesday, was traded to the Washington Nationals for a player to be named later. Chances are the player isn’t Alfonso Soriano :-).

    The Tigers also welcomed two members of the Toledo roster into the clubhouse. Ramon Santiago and Jordan Tata were added to the expanded rosters. Tata will presumably be waiting in the wings if Wil Ledezma falters in his Sunday night start.

  • Make a Tiger Connection

    I received a request a couple days ago from a Tiger fan who was moving to San Francisco. He was looking to meet some fellow Tiger fans in the area to enjoy the rest of the season and hopefully the post season.

    I know from my hit trackers and commentors that there are people all over the world who read this site (that still is hard for me to comprehend). I figured I’d help him out.

    So if you are a displaced Tiger fan and are looking for other in the same region of the country, here is the place to identify yourself. Also, I set up one of them Frappr maps to aid in this.

    I hope this will be helpful to you guys, and the benefit for me is that I learn a little bit more about the people visiting the site.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 31st

    Toledo – PPD

    Erie 4, Trenton 3
    Kody Kirkland homered and doubled. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 4. Lance Davis allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, over 4 1/3 innings.

    Lakeland 7, Tampa 3 (10 innings)
    Jeff Frazier was 2 for 4 with a homer. Jim Essian was 3 for 5 with a homer. Jeff Larish had 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. Kevin Ardoin allowed 2 runs over 5 innings on 10 hits.

    West Michigan 4, Lansing 3
    Cameron Maybin (who hit a grand slam last night) was 1 for 4 with a walk and a caught stealing. Burke Badenhop allowed 2 runs over 5 innings on 6 hits, no walks, and 5 K’s.

    Aberdeen 2, Oneonta 1 (10 innings)
    Ryan Strieby supplied the lone offense with a home run. Christian Martinez allowed 4 hits in 6 scoreless innings. Jonah Nickerson added 3 no hit innings.

  • Approaching the Tigers approach

    The Tigers offense was stymied once again for the bulk of the day. After the last 2 days the common mantra was that the Tigers are way to aggressive at the plate and don’t see enough pitches – especially compared to the Yankees. While the Yankees are much more patient – the 200 additional walks are definitely indicative of that, I don’t think this series necessarily illustrated the point.

    In yesterday’s game post we saw that the Tigers saw just as many pitches per plate appearance as the Yankees (actually more in the 1st game).

    Today, Randy Johnson was able to make through 8 innings with fewer than 100 pitches. How much of the credit should go to Johnson and how much blame should go to the Tigers? (more…)

  • Game 134: Tigers at Yankees

    PREGAME: Thanks to late inning heroics and awesome pitching the Tigers have a shot at the series. A win today would mean just their 3rd series win of the month, after losing 1 series in all of July.

    It will be Jeremy Bonderman against Randy Johnson on ESPN. I wish I didn’t have to work today.

    Oh yeah, Infante and Thames are playing. (but so is Neifi)

    Game Time 1:05pm

    POSTGAME: I know I should rail against another loss. I know I should be worried that Jeremy Bonderman has had a rough month. I should be furious that Neifi Perez continues to get playing time. And yet for some reason I’m okay tonight.

    First, the Neifi issue. For those of us (which is basically everyone not named Jim Leyland) who have been hoping that Omar Infante gets the everyday gig until Polanco returns (possibly in 2 weeks) this game was about all we could have hoped for. Infante homered, got a cheap hit, and hit a line drive to right field. Neifi meanwhile made more weakouts, failed to chase down a pop up that led to a run, cut off Marcus Thames throw which may have nabbed Alex Rodriguez and kept him from scoring, and dropped a throw from Pudge.

    Marcus Thames once again made the most of a start and has homered in 3 of his last 4 starts. The more he does that, the harder it is to keep him out of the lineup.

    And finally Magglio Ordonez has put together a few games now where he’s hit the ball hard. Combined with some better at-bats from Curtis Granderson, the Tigers might be getting a couple of their key offensive components back in time for the stretch run.

    And one last note, I’ve complained about umpires who argue back. Home plate umpire James Hoye did it just like he was supposed to with Jim Leyland today. He ran Leyland, and stood there while Leyland had his say while calmly suggesting Leyland head back to the dugout. I’m not going to comment on his actualy umpiring or strike zone, just that he handled the argument well.

  • Miller’s Debut

    There’s always something exciting about a new highly touted prospect making his debut. Despite some major nerves, Andrew Miller had a fine debut. He induced a lazy flyball, a chopper to third, and a roller to third. He also hit a guy but that just served to show off the break on his slider. He threw his 4 seamer in the mid 90’s, and his slider from the low 80’s to 89 MPH.

    You can see the whole thing through the power of You Tube (hat tip):

  • Game 133: Tigers at Yankees

    PREGAME: The nice thing about a doubleheader, is that if you lose the first game there is still hope that the day will turn out alright. Tonight will feature Wil Ledezma and Jaret Wright.

    The most notable element of the matchup is that Alex Rodriguez has hit homers in 4 of the 5 at-bats where he faced Ledezma. The only exception was a walk.

    As for the Tigers lineup, Jim Leyland isn’t making too many people happy. Neifi Perez is inexplicably playing both ends of a doubleheader. What’s more, Marcus Thames is joining Infante on the bench for both games. Leyland’s stubborness is maddening to say the least.

    POSTGAME: Okay, I’ll admit it. I was gripping. I snapped at my wife when she switched from the chair to the couch in the middle of a rally only to see it die. I was talking to the TV and yelling at Leyland for letting Neifi hit and trying to figure out why the heck Leyland hates Thames. So yeah, this was a big win.

    Tonight’s comeback was brought to you by 4 Tigers. First was Brandon Inge working a walk. Second was Curtis Granderson having a long at bat and working a walk. And of course there was Craig Monroe who came through once again with late inning heroics. (he tried to do his part in the 7th as well with the leadoff double).

    Now who is the 4th guy? Carlos Guillen. In the first game of the double header Mariano Rivera retired Young and Monroe on 3 pitches. If Rivera retires the side on a half dozen pitches, chances are he’s pitching in both games. As it was Guillen fell behind 0-2 before turning a 7 pitch at-bat into a single, thus extending the inning and probably keeping Rivera out of the second game.

    And just one other thing I wanted to point out. Much was made about the Tigers lack of patience at the plate today. If you actually look at the numbers, you’ll see that the Tigers first time through the lineup of the first game 8 of the 9 players took the first pitch. In fact in the first game the Tigers saw 3.9 pitches per plate apperance against Wang while the ultra patient Yankees saw 3.1 against Robertson. In the 2nd game both starters threw 3.4 pitches per plate appearance.

    I’m not saying the Tigers aren’t an impatient team, it’s just that no one complains when they’re hitting the ball – much like Craig Monroe’s first pitch swing in the 9th.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 29th

    Toledo 6, Durham 1
    Ryan Raburn was 3 for 5 including his 20th homer. Chris Shelton was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a strike out. Brian Boehringer pitched 7 strong innings allowing 1 run.

    Trenton 11, Erie 2
    Nate Bumstead was pounded for 9 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks over 4 innings. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.

    Lakeland 8, Dunedin 2
    Jeff Frazier had 2 homers and Jeff Larish singled, doubled, and walked. Dallas Trahern allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings.

    Lansing 7, West Michigan 4
    Justin Justice went 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. Cameron Maybin was 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Erik Averill allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 4 K’s. Ricky Steik allowed 3 runs in the 9th inning to take the loss.

    Oneonta – Cancelled (Rain)

  • Game 132: Tigers at Yankees

    So the game was cancelled just as I was about to post this. I’ll leave it here for commenting, and hopefully it will be applicable tomorrow.

    PREGAME: A couple weeks ago the Tigers were coming off a 5 game losing streak and heading to Boston. Things looked bleak with the Tigers facing Schilling and Beckett while the White Sox went off to play 4 games against Kansas City. There were some that predicted the Tigers 5.5 game lead would be cut to 2.5 within a matter of days. The Tigers did the unexpected and took the first 2 games of the series and were able to keep there lead intact.

    Now the Tigers head to the Bronx with a similarly daunting task. Their chief competition in the Central are off playing the Devil Rays, and the Royals while the Tigers take on the Yankees. I’m not saying the Tigers will take the first 2 in this series, just illustrating the situational similarities and given the despair of 2 weeks ago, not a lot has changed from the Tigers perspective.

    As for the game itself Nate Robertson will take the hill for Detroit. His last start contributed to the worst loss of the season for the Tigers. But at least he almost got through 7 innings on a day when the bullpen was largely unavailable.

    Chien-Ming Wang will oppose the Tigers. After putting together 17 scoreless innings over 2 starts, Wang has had uneven results over his last 4. He’s not a strikeout pitcher, but the Tigers are a strikeout team so we’ll see what happens.

  • Completing the Shuffle – Nook Logan DFA’d

    Finishing up the roster moves that were announced on Sunday, Nook Logan was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Alexis Gomez.

    Also, Tony Giarratano was recalled and immediately placed on the 15 day DL. I’d imagine this is a prelude to a transfer to the 60 day DL which would 1. make room on the 40 man for Mike Maroth to be activated this weekend, and 2. allow the Tigers the option of making another infielder playoff eligible.