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  • Todd Jones out as closer

    Jim Leyland hasn’t been shy about making changes to established roles this season. He quietly announced a big one on the radio pre-game show with Dan Dickerson when he said that Todd Jones is out as closer and Fernando Rodney would primarily assume the role.

    It had become clear over the last couple weeks that Jim Leyland was losing confidence in Todd Jones. Leyland announced a couple weeks ago that he was going “to watch him” speaking more about his usage and indicating that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney would receive some opportunities. In Baltimore he let Joel Zumaya pitch a second inning to try and get the save instead of Jones.

    On Friday night Aquilino Lopez was warmed up and at the ready if Jones started to unravel – the type of move Leyland would NEVER make in the past. We all remember a certain game in Cleveland last year where Jones didn’t have it, got hammered, and Leyland refused to get anybody up in the pen. Jones blowing the Friday game after coming so close to securing the win was apparently the last straw.

    Even with 2 blow-ups, Rodney has been the Tigers most effective reliever since coming off the DL*. Since June 16th Rodney (and not counting today) has thrown 14 innings and has allowed 8 walks, 10 hits, and he’s fanned 12. Over the same period Todd Jones has thrown 14.1 innings and allowed 22 hits with 2 walks, 4 HBP, and only 4 K’s. (And if you were wondering about Zumaya he’s gone 16.1 innings with 16 hits, 15 walks – ouch, and 16 K’s)

    *Actually Bobby Seay probably deserves to hold that title. Over the same span he’s allowed just 6 hits and 6 walks in 12.1 innings with 13 strike outs. Why are the Tigers looking for a lefty reliever?

    Rodney is much maligned though among Tigers fans. I attribute it to the fact that he wears his hat crooked. And when he blows up he really blows up. Still he is capable of extended periods of dominance – like 2006 for example. Or even last year after he returned from the DL and allowed all of 3 hits and 4 walks in his first 11 games back while fanning 17.

    Now there are questions about this move. Primarily what role does Todd Jones play? He can’t be brought in to tough jams. Does he fill the Aquilino Lopez role of keeping a deficit from expanding, or eating an inning or two with a multi-run spread? And second there has to be concerns about Rodney’s health. He looks great at the moment, but he’s missed big chunks of the last 2 years and a 45 pitch outing today probably isn’t the best strategy.

    I like seeing Rodney get the opportunity, and I like the willingness of Leyland to make a move. Stubborn is a difficult tag to hang on the skipper this season in that he’s tried a number of things. I think Rodney will probably fare okay, but be ready for a different type of rollercoaster. Jones would take you through highs and lows in any given outing but would typically get the job done in most outings. Rodney will wow you sometimes and kill you other times. It’s a matter of inter-outing rollercoaster versus intra-outing rollercoaster.

    UPDATE: The Detroit News has some audio with Todd Jones. He says all the right things, but the guy is crushed. And yes, he’s struggled and the move is the right one to make, and he’s a professional, and he gets paid millions of dollars, and he’s made some questionable comments in his columns. I know for all those reasons people aren’t supposed to feel sympathy, but I can’t help it. I do.

  • Game 104: White Sox at Tigers

    PREGAME:Here’s where I fess up a little. I’m writing this in the past so I don’t know what happened last night. So I can’t provide much context. The pitching match-up is Zach Miner and Javier Vazquez.

    Vazquez looked nasty earlier in the year when he dominated the Tigers leading to a Leyland tirade. Since then he’s been not nearly as good. In his last 8 he has a 6.39 ERA despite striking out a batter an inning. But he can still flash the dominance with 2 10 K starts.

    Zach Miner will try to stymie the Sox the same way he baffled the Royals. I think this will be a little tougher task.

    CHW @ DET, Sunday, July 27, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: This series felt so much like the Twins series. The Tigers coming off a good series and welcoming in a team they are chasing. A crushing come from ahead loss, a comeback (or two) that falls short, and suddenly the team is trying to avoid a sweep on Sunday.

    For that reason Zach Miner’s performance was something special. The 8th starter in the rotation came up and and held down the Sox for six innings with no walks and 5 strike outs. A terrific game.

    The offense hasn’t been a problem since the All Star break and after wiping out an early 1 run deficit, added on a couple more throughout the day.

    Then there is bullpen flux. Joel Zumaya was supposed to pitch 2 innings and hand the ball to Rodney. Instead he pitched into his second inning before handing over the ball prematurely due to shoulder tightness. Rodney stuck around for the rest of the game, but struggled in the 8th and took all 3 hitters in the ninth to 0-2 counts, and then 3-2 counts, before striking each out.

    Zumaya is presumably out for a couple days, and Rodney definitely can’t pitch tomorrow. So if need be the Tigers will have to scramble at the end of the game. At least they have a guy with some closing experience to hand the ball to if need be.

    I’m not happy with the series, but I said going in as long as the Tigers don’t get swept they’d still be in OK shape. But it sure would have been nice to take advantage of one of the first 2 games.

  • Game 103: White Sox at Tigers

    PREGAME: One thing about the Tigers team the past couple years, they have a short memory. Crushing defeats don’t seem to linger, and dramatic wins don’t carry over either. That will be important with the Tigers sending out ace Justin Verlander.

    Verlander has been great, and he’ll have to do it again. One because the Tigers don’t want to be in sweep avoidance mode on Sunday, and two because the other guy is John Danks who has been pretty good himself.

    Danks fans 3 for every batter he walks and has allowed only 8 homers in 118.2 innings which is a huge departure from the 28 in 139 he gave up last year. He’s a lefty with no discernible platoon split.

    CHW @ DET, Friday, July 26, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

  • Game 102: Postgame and Overflow

    With the original post at 500 comments, let’s roll things to a new post. It’s also where I’ll hit my postgame.

    The Todd Jones Experience

    Todd Jones blew it. Todd Jones lost this game. Todd Jones has not been pitching well. The management (Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski) realize this. It’s why Joel Zumaya was left in to close the game in Baltimore. It’s why Leyland said he’d be using him less often. It’s the reason that Aquilino Lopez was warming up before the 9th inning even started.

    But this wasn’t a typical Jones outing. There was no rollercoastering. He retired the first 2 hitters with ease and was ahead 0-2 on Quentin. Lopez sat down with Jones firing strikes and being one out away. A single wasn’t even that alarming in and of itself because one of Jonesy’s positive traits is that he keeps the ball in the park (this was only the 11th homer since he rejoined the Tigers in 2006). With a 2 out single, the other team is usually a couple batters away from taking the lead. And then the bomb. This wasn’t a rollercoaster, it was Demon Drop.

    Yes, I acknowledge that Jones isn’t as good as Rivera/Papelbon/Nathan/Jenks/K-Rod. They are all better than Jones. I’m sure the Tigers would love to have one of them. But the fact of the matter is that there are about 20+ teams who would love to have one of them. I don’t think they are available so the Tigers are stuck with who they have, or paying through the nose for a veteran player who happens to be having a really good year. That’s worked so well at other positions for Detroit.

    As for who they have, zumaya throws fast, as does Dolsi. But both walk a batter an inning. And Dolsi isn’t even striking anybody out. Rodney is probably the best option right now in house, but how does that sit with people?

    Pudge

    Not a good night for Pudge Rodriguez. There was the double play grounder ending an inning. But most costly was a passed ball turned error turned tie ball game. And he did nothing to redeem himself with the bat.

    Leyland

    I read through the game log and saw the consternation about brining Robertson back for the 7th. I have to say it didn’t bother me. Zumaya was getting ready and starting an inning with a guy with a pitch count of 82 with a 3 run lead against the bottom of the order didn’t seem like a bad play.

    The two calls I thought he did blow were leaving Marcus Thames on the bench and the “stay out of the double play” steal attempt with Cabrera which led to the Ordonez run down. I hate that play in general, and especially given the players involved.

    Baserunning

    Definitely a mixed bag in terms of baserunning tonight. I won’t kill Ordonez for the rundown because that was the result of a managerial decision. Gary Sheffield got antsy and got a tremendous jump on a steal attempt. So tremendous Floyd hadn’t started his windup. That’s bad.

    But it wasn’t all bad. Curtis Granderson had a very heads up play taking an extra base at third when he saw that it was uncovered. Also, Placido Polanco quickly read a wild pitch that didn’t bounce far away and went to second base taking a double play out of order.

    Nate Robertson

    Very nice bounce back game for Robertson. He walked a few too many with 5, but they seemed to be temporary bouts of wildness (I think 2 were 4 pitch walks) rather than a general lack of control or confidence in pitching in the zone.

    Final thoughts

    This game was rough. I was there. I was on my feet one strike away from celebrating a victory. Still, the season isn’t over. The series isn’t even over. A sweep was going to be unlikely, and as long as the Tigers can avoid being swept there is still a reasonable chance at staying in this.

  • Game 102: White Sox at Tigers

    PREGAME: Okay, this series is kind of a big deal. The Tigers could pick up 3 games with a sweep and be right in the middle of stuff. They could be swept and be focusing on building the best team of 2009. Or they could inch a little in either direction. It’s also the last time the Tigers get the Sox at home, so taking advantage this series would be helpful.

    Tonight the Tigers need to solve the riddle of Gavin Floyd. It’s something they’ve struggled with. In Floyd’s last 5 starts against Detroit he’s allowed a total of 5 runs in 32.1 innings. The last time he carried a no hitter into the 8th inning.

    Floyd is much tougher on righties, with lefties posting a .797 OPS. He also is easier to hit on the road. At home he fans 7.1 batters per nine and allows a .177 BABIP. On the road it is a 4.5 K/9 and .273 BABIP.

    One thing to note with Floyd is that batters are only posting a .630 OPS on first pitches. Hopefully the Tigers make him work.

    On the other side it will be Nate Robertson. Robertson was awful his last time out, and some sort of bounce back statement game would be nice.

    CHW @ DET, Friday, July 25, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    Game Time 7:05

  • Kick Leukemia/Lymphoma’s Ass

    The folks over at WDFN have been good friends to this blog, with several on-air mentions by Jamie Samuelson and Sean Baligian has even been kind enough to have me on air. So I’d like to you to one of the stations great annual traditions, the Stoney and Wojo Radiothon. It’s 28 non-stop hours to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma research.

    They have a great line-up of guests, and many of the interviews have been posted on the podcast page.

    To donate you can go online here, or call in at 866-FAN-1130. There are also a number of great items being auctioned off that you can hear about by listening in.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-24-08: Ryan Perry Debut

    Toledo 1 Rochester 6
    This one only went 5 due to rain. Mike Hollimon homered and Jeff Larish and Timo Perez doubled. Chris Lambert allowed 6 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings despite only 1 walk and 7 K’s

    Binghamton 11 Erie 0
    Danny Worth and Lou Ott both went 2 for 3. Lauren Gagnier didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning before allowing 9 runs.

    Binghamton 0 Erie 1
    Casper Wells, Deik Scram, and Santo De Leon had the only hits and Jeff Frazier had the only RBI. Danny Christensen pitched 6.1 innings of 3 hit ball. Casey Fien got the last 2 outs.

    Wisconsin 5 West Michigan 8
    Chris Carlson and Joe Tucker each had 3 hits. Jordan Newton and Justin Henry each had 2 hits. Kyle Peter singled and walked 3 times. Alfredo Figaro surrendered 4 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings. Scott Green got the save with a scoreless inning including a hit and a strikeout.

    Sarasota 17 Lakeland 10
    On a night when the Flying Tigers score 10, my first player of note is a guy who didn’t get a hit. Ryan Strieby’s six game homer streak was snapped. Mike Bertram did hit 2 homers and drove in 6 runs. Adam Frost also homered and doubled. Most of the pitching was really bad. Cody Satterwhite struck out the side int he 8th and Brandon Timm pitched a scoreless 9th. That’s noteworthy since he isn’t a pitcher.

    Oneonta PPD

    GCL Braves 4 GCL Tigers 6
    Ryan Perry made his debut and he struck out the side in the 8th inning. Luis Palacios led the attack going 4 for 5 with a double and 3 RBI. Luis Angel Sanz pitched out of the pen, but allowed just 1 hit, and no walks while fanning 5 in 4 shut out innings.

  • As the Trade Winds Blow

    With a week before the non-waiver trade deadline, rumors are flying everywhere. A quick round-up of Tigers items of note so far:

    It appears that the Tigers had scouts at the Orioles/Blue Jays game when A.J. Burnett started. Whether they were scouting Burnett or lefty reliever George Sherrill is unclear. The Tigers could of course use some starter help, and there is a belief they are looking for a lefty reliever also.

    The starter isn’t a surprise, but the Tigers could always turn to Clay Rapada. And while I haven’t been a proponent of Casey Fossum, he has been pretty good in his last 7 outings. He’s stranded 8 of the last 10 runners he’s inherited and fanned 11 in his last 14.1 innings. Plus he’s had 3.1 and 4.1 inning games. I’m not saying there isn’t room to upgrade, but would that be the best use of limited chits?

    Jayson Stark notes that the Tigers are offering Gary Sheffield. He could still fetch a player or two if the Tigers pay the bulk of the salary. The mildly surprising part is that Stark lists a young shortstop on the Tigers wish list. Yes Renteria has been awful, but I’d guess the Tigers would look for a stop gap. Mike Hollimon is more of a second baseman, but could fill in at short and some combination of Cale Iorg, Danny Worth, and even longer shot/higher ceiling player Audy Ciriaco could be reading within a year or year and a half. The Renteria 1 year/1 option year contract was attractive for that reason (before the sucking of course).

    And then in the old news department the Marlins inquired on Pudge Rodriguez. Pudge is having a very solid year – not a $13 million year – but he does probably represent the best production that could be available at the position. Rodriguez would likely fetch 2 draft picks should the Tigers offer arbitration and he declines. I’d view the declining as likely because he’d probably pursue a multi-year contract.

    Of course the intensity of any buying or selling on the Tigers part is likely to pick up following this weekend tilt with the White Sox.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-23-08

    Toledo 6 Rochester 9
    Freddy Guzman went 3 for 5. Timo Perez had 2 doubles. Mike Hollimon went 2 for 4 with a walk. Anastacio Martinez was knocked around for 9 runs on 11 hits, including 3 homers. Francis Beltran struck out the side in one inning of work.

    Erie – PPD

    Lakeland 11 Vero Beach 5
    Ryan Strieby did it again – homers in 6 straight and 7 of 8 games. Justin Justice and Brandon Timm each had 3 hits. James Skelton doubled, singled, and walked. Jonah Nickerson fanned 5 and allowed 5 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings. Zach Simons pitched 3 perfect innings for the save.

    West Michigan 6 Wisconsin 1
    Kyle Peter, Justin Henry, Brandon Douglas, Ronnie Bourquin, and Cory Middleton all had 2 hits. Mauricio Robles pitched 6 shut out innings allowing only 2 hits with 4 K’s. Brett Jacobson struck out 2 in one inning.

    Oneonta 3 Montana 5
    Ben Guez and Hayden Parrott homered for 2 of the 3 Oneonta hits. David Stokes allowed 5 runs in 5 innings on 6 hits. Santo Mieses, Tyler Conn, and Anthony Shawler each pitched a scoreless inning with 2 K’s.

    GCL Tigers PPD

  • Game 101: Tigers at Royals

    PREGAME: The Tigers have now scored 500 runs on the season – exactly. That’s only 19 games later than expected by many. The Tigers also come into today’s game at 2 games over .500. That’s been their highwater mark for the season. It’s a mark they first reached on July 2nd, and they’ve gone 9-9 since then. Their playoff odds as calculated by Baseball Prospectus are at the highest (10.9%) they’ve been since that same day. Can the Tigers break through and move to the coveted 3 games over .500?

    To do it they’ll have to get by Zach Grienke. Grienke has been inconsistent of late. He was hammered for 7 runs by the White Sox his last time out, but in his last 7 starts he’s also had 4 outings where he’s given up 2 runs or less. He still has great K and BB rates, but he has allowed 18 homers already this season.

    Armando Galarraga threw strikes his last time out. He fanned six and walked none, but 3 of those strikes found themselves in the bleachers and he ended up surrendering 5 runs in 6.2 innings.

    DET @ KCR, Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    Game Time 2:10

    POSTGAME: I was the idiot blogger arguing that Armando Galarraga couldn’t keep it up – and that was back in May. I’m thrilled he keeps proving me wrong.

    A potential no hitter/perfect game is so damn exciting that I don’t know how these guys can settle down and throw a pitch. I was listening at work and I was getting nervous/excited with each pitch. Dan Dickerson by the way did a great job painting the scene and his excitement was evident in his signature “and he GOT HIM ON STRIKES!”

    Meanwhile it sounded like Zach Grienke was pitching a heck of a game but had some of the worst luck ever as bloops and ducks found safe harbor between the infield and outfield and a couple of well timed hits staked the Tigers to an early lead.

    This was a heck of a bludgeoning that the Royals took and it should quell the jokes (which had been warranted) about the Tigers inability to beat Kansas City.

    Things are set up for a monster series with the White Sox. Fortunately for the Tigers things are positioned such that as long as Detroit isn’t swept, things will still be okay. Of course anything the Tigers can do to cut into the White Sox lead – especially while playing in Comerica – would be quite the boost.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-22-08

    Toledo 0 Rochester 13
    The Mud Hens faced Francisco Liriano, and it didn’t go well. Erick Almonte doubled. Brent Clevlen walked twice and singled. Virgil Vasquez was hammered for 9 runs (5 earned) in 3.2 innings.

    Binghamton 2 Erie 8
    Ryan Roberson homered. Deik Scram, Jeff Frazier, and Wil Rhymes all had 2 hits. Joshn Rainwater went 6.1 innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks, and 1 K.

    Binghamton 6 Erie 3     (in progress)
    Ryan Roberson homered. Juan Cedeno was lit up for 10 hits and 6 runs in 3.2 innings.

    Lakeland 6 Vero Beach 4
    Ryan Strieby homered AGAIN. Five straight games and 6 of 7 now on his Thames-ian streak. Brandon Timm doubled and homered. Duane Below fanned 10, but walked 6 in 6.1 innings allowing 3 runs. Rob Weinhardt allowed a run in 1.2 innings, but it was unearned. Cody Satterwhite allowed 2 hits but no runs for the save.

    West Michigan DNP

    Oneonta 6 Batavia 3
    Josh Workman doubled twice and his hitting .353. Darwin De Leon allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 K in 5.2 innings. Aaron Fuhrman allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 3.1 innings of relief.

    GCL Tigers 5 GCL Phillies 2
    Luis Salas doubled and walked. Brandon Harrigan tripled and walked. Brandon Hamilton struck out 2 and allowed 2 hits in 5 innings. Nick Cassavechia pitched an inning for the save and he now has 22 K’s against 2 walks over 16 innings.

  • Game 100: Tigers at Royals

    PREGAME: The Tigers will try and score some more runs, providing they aren’t too tired from circling the bases last night. They won’t have Jimmy Gobble to beat up because he’s now on the DL.

    The Tigers are facing Kyle Davies who they have a tangential relationship with. The Royals decided to take up the Braves offer of Kyle Davies for reliever Octavio Dotel last year at the trade deadline over the pitching prospect the Tigers offered up – which was rumored to be significant and rumored to be Jair Jurrjens.

    Davies is coming off a quality start against Seattle, and was one out short of one in his prior start.

    The Tigers send out Kenny Rogers who has been giving up more than his share of hits as of late. In his last two starts he’s surrendered 20 hits and 4 walks, but only 7 of those runners came around to score.

    DET @ KCR, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    Game Time 8:10

    POSTGAME: Kenny Rogers pitched a one-hitter over 6 innings to the 8 guys not named Mark Grudzelianekdsaskeak. In a rare outing for Kenny he fanned more than he walked and basically cruised through 6 innings and likely would have had enough for the 7th at least if not for a rain delay.

    The offense dispelled questions about “using up their hits” in the 19 run outburst by scoring a run in the first inning. And basically just standing at the plate daring Kyle Davies to throw a strike. Davies was done after 4 innings and a ton of hitters counts.

    About those hitters counts, it appears that Curtis Granderson is in a mini-funk. Yes, he has 3 hits in the series, but let’s take a closer look. He went 0 for 5 on Sunday. And of the 3 hits one was a swinging bunt. Another was a grounder through the pitcher that should have been fielded, and the last was a soft liner. But what makes it stand out is that he has been in 3-1 counts continually the last 2 nights, and hasn’t hit the ball hard. I’m not panicing or upset, I’m just sayin…

    Placido Polanco had one of those patented, “wow, Polly just hit one out” homers that come out of nowhere and with no one on base. Gary Sheffield drove the ball well missing a homer by about 3 feet and hitting a deep sac fly to centerfield. Carlos Guillen was ripping the ball and had a 12 pitch walk to boot.

    The one thing I really question is using both Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. Rodney appeared by the boxscore at least (yeah, I went to bed) to be nasty, much like in his Baltimore outing (7 of his last 10 outs have been K’s). And using him 2 innings means he’s not available. But then to use Joel Zumaya with a 6 run lead, very late at night, with a day game today, seems to not be very forward thinking.