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  • Game 125: Indians at Tigers

    PREGAME: This is kind of a big series ya think? While I’m not one to put too much on any one series, the Tigers really need 2 out of 3. They can certainly recover from less, but then they are relying on others.

    Tonight marks the return of Joel Zumaya and the backend of the bullpen is once again healthy and intact. Now if only they can get a lead to protect so we can hear some Voodoo Child.

    The pitching matchup is a rematch of last week’s Fausto Carmona/Jair Jurrjens tilt. The good news is that Carmona can’t really pitch any better than he did in his 8 inning, 4 hit, 10 K performance of a week ago.

    The Indians will get their second crack at Jair Jurrjens who had a pretty nice debut with only 5 hits allowed in 7 innings of work.

    More good news is that Placido Polanco returns to the Tigers lineup for the first time in a week.

    Game time 7:05

    CLE @ DET, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: Oh to get back that 2 strike hanger to Jhonny Perralta…Tremendous outings for both Jair Jurrjens and Fausto Carmona. I said Carmona couldn’t get better, and he almost did. The Tigers managed only 3 hits, but 2 were of the long ball variety and that was enough because Jurrjens only allowed a solo shot to Perralta, the only hit of the night.

    Jurrjens recorded 20 outs, and 19 of those were courtesy of his fielders. While there was quite a bit of weak contact, like pop ups and comebackers, there was also some luck as a couple of well hit balls found Placido Polanco and Ryan Raburn’s gloves. Jurrjens also wasn’t hurt by 4 walks as 2 were eliminated on double plays. Most impressive may have been the efficiency as Jurrjens recorded first pitch strikes on 17 hitters and was lifted after 78 pitches in the 7th inning.

    Of course when he was lifted it meant the return of Joel Zumaya who chucked a 98mph seed right down the middle on his first pitch. He eventually got to 2 strikes before picking up a weak bouncer to end the inning, and his night. A one batter appearance in a tight game may have been the best possible way to break him in.

    Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings and next thing you know the game was over at 9pm.

    As much as I want to think this is a sign of things turning, I’m just not sure. Just look at the emotional win the Tigers picked up a week ago in extra innings, only to drop 4 of the next 5. Still, it’s a big win and something to build on.

    • After pounding the ball into the ground the first 4 innings, the Tigers looked like they were going to jump all over Carmona late in the game. After the 2 homers int he 5th, the Tigers elevated the ball int he 6th with a couple flyouts, a double for Granderson, and a line drive by Polanco. But Carmona self corrected and that was it as the Tigers went quickly from then on.
    • Very nice catch by the fan on the Ordonez homer, that ball should have been a double but it seemed to fool everyone. Grady Sizemore didn’t say anything and Eric Wedge probably couldn’t see it. But a follow up homer made it a moot point.
    • Talk about your tough luck losses, Carmona threw exactly 2 pitches from the stretch all night.

    Tigers 2 Cleveland 1

  • links for 2007-08-21

  • En-Inge-matic

    Coming off a 3rd straight frustrating loss, Jim Leyland announced that Ryan Raburn would be the starter over a struggling Brandon Inge. With Inge’s recent play, and Craig Monroe’s departure, Brandon has taken over the role of the Tiger that people love to hate. And with statements like the following, he isn’t exactly endearing himself to the fanbase.

    “I can’t explain it,” said Inge, batting .242 with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs. “I’m getting pitched like I’m Babe Ruth. Everything is on the corner. I haven’t seen a ball in the middle of the plate for a week.”

    Inge is the Tiger that spurs the most polarized debate. Inge bashers point to his high error total and low batting average and advocate for more offense from a power position. Inge defenders point to his exceptional range, his power, and his role as a number 9 hitter. For the first time since Pudge Rodriguez assumed regular catching duties, it is getting harder to find people in Inge’s camp.

    Myself, I’m somewhere in the middle. I was a proponent of his contract. I looked at his 265/327/443 line in 2004-2006 and viewed it as a new level of performance. It was (and still is) a far cry from his career numbers up to that point, a meager 198/254/314. line. And coming off a season in 2006 where the the average AL third sacker hit 269/338/442, he was certainly close to average for the position offensively.

    What made the contract solid to me is that Inge’s defense is top shelf. Yes he has the errors, but he also rated at or near the top in other more advanced metrics like the probabilistic model of range and John Dewan’s +/ system (both of which account for his errors, and he still ranked high). Three different systems placed his defensive value in the neighborhood of 20 runs, which combined with near average offense makes for an above average player.

    Because those 2004-2006 seasons coincided with his age 27-29 peak seasons, I didn’t expect Inge to improve on those numbers. But given his athleticism and body type I also anticipated that he would be able to maintain similar numbers in the near future without a dramatic dropoff. The fact that he had OPS+’s of 108, 100, and 99 in those years mean he was reasonably consistent over that time and it wasn’t a single peak year spiking the numbers.

    With all that said, 2007 has been a major disappointment – or at least parts of it. Inge’s season can really be broken down into 3 parts, 2 of which were largely forgettable. He struggled mightily in April, was very productive in May and June, and has looked more like 2003 Inge since the beginning of July.
    Inge’s Walks and Strikeouts

    Early in the year when Inge was struggling, he was at least drawing walks and hitting for some power with a .163 ISO. He was fanning quite a bit, but that’s part of what you get with Inge. He also was probably battling some bad luck as his batting average on balls in play was very low.
    Inge’s batted ball types

    In the second act Brandon continued to draw walks a pretty good clip, and he really cut down in his strikeouts. For a 2 month stretch he was a very good player, and a big part of the Tigers offensive surge. His season line on June 25th was 259/356/453 which is quite solid. And then July happened.

    The first thing that happened is Inge stopped taking walks. That was right about the same time his line drive percentage plummeted and shortly there after he started to strikeout at a ridiculous rate. A trend that is still underway and manifested itself this past weekend in New York. He’s walked 5 times since July 1st and his on base percentage has plummeted with it. He has 9 extra base hits over that timespan and his slugging percentage is now south of .400.

    What is odd is that he’s actually maintained his batting average on balls in play, and as of late the line drive rate is on the way back up. In fact for the season his line drive rate is at 22.4% which is the highest mark of his career, and vastly superior to his 14% last year. And yet his numbers are way down because he can’t put the ball in play.

    What about his fielding? I see mixed results. Despite the error this weekend, his fielding percentage is right in line with his career numbers. And if you look at revised zone rating he is second only to Mike Lowell, and he’s made more plays on ball outside of his zone than third baseman except for Adrian Beltre. But his impact defensively isn’t what it was last year, and I attribute that in large part to Kenny Rogers absence. Rogers induced a ton of grounders, and as a lefty the bulk went in Inge’s direction.

    As someone who has been an Inge defender in the past I did it based on near average offensive production, combined with stellar defense. Now I’m looking at a player who is far below average at the dish and merely good in the field. I’ll still defend Inge to those who say he is a garbage player, but I can’t defend his production where it is at right now. When it comes to the benching, I think there is probably a little too much being made of it. I could be wrong, but I don’t see it as an extended time period. The Tigers just made two moves to bolster the defense in bringing up Cameron Maybin (I’m not saying this one is working, but it was part of the intention) and Ramon Santiago and if that’s the emphasis then swapping Ryan Raburn and Brandon Inge doesn’t make a lot of sense. If there is a platoon it may be based on who the Tigers are starting. If it’s Miller or Robertson I’d look for Inge, but the right handed guns I’d look for Raburn.

    And back to Inge’s original quote about being pitched to like Babe Ruth…Maybe it’s worth pointing out that Ruth walked over 2000 times in his career. I’m just sayin…

    For Inge data see:

  • links for 2007-08-20

  • Game 124: Tigers at Yankees

    PREGAME: The Tigers head into today trying to salvage a split in Yankee Stadium. They’ll send out Jeremy Bonderman to try and hold down the Yankees. Bonderman picked up a no decision in his last start, but he pitched a very strong game allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings while fanning 8. Trouble was that was his first quality start since July 19th. Let’s hope it was a sign of him coming out of his funk instead of just a blip.

    The Tigers will be opposed by Chien-Ming Wang. Wange doesn’t strike out many, doesn’t walk many, and therefore gets pretty deep into games without crossing the 100 pitch threshold. He also keeps the ball in the park with only 7 homers allowed this season, and only 2 in the Bronx. Left handers have much more success with an 804 OPS as opposed to a 624 for right handers. With the Tigers lefties Curtis Granderson (2 for his last 24) and Sean Casey (5 for his last 24) slumping as of late, this doesn’t bode well – especially with them hitting 1-2 in today’s lineup.

    Placido Polanco misses yet another game, and despite previous statements Cameron Maybin will be in left field again. If you’re facing a groundball pitcher, you might as well have your fastest guy playing and trying to beat a few of those out.

    Game Time 1:05
    DET @ NYY, Sunday, August 19, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: Ugly. For the 2nd day in a row the Tigers played the Yankees even for 5 innings, and then were smoked the rest of the way. Jeremy Bonderman struggled with the strike zone walking 4 in the first 2 innings and leaving with 115 pitches in the 6th inning.

    The bullpen combo of Zach Miner and Aquilino Lopez made sure the game wasn’t in doubt and that Mariano Rivera could rest. The worst part of Lopez’s performance is that it pretty much insured that it would be he, and not Jason Grilli on the way out when Joel Zumaya is activated on Tuesday.

    Ryan Raburn and Mike Rabelo had nice games, combining for 5 hits, but those rallies were thwarted by 3 Brandon Inge K’s and a pop-up. Coming into today Inge was hitting 237/262/351 over the last month with 7 extra base hits, 2 walks, and 38 strikeouts. Throw in an error today that cost the Tigers a run, and their lead, and it’s safe to say he’s the anti-player of the game.

    The Tigers have started this 13 game series 2-4 and now really have put themselves in a tough spot over the next 7 games.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/18/07

    Columbus 6 Toledo 0
    Joel Zumaya made his 3rd rehab start, and this one didn’t go as well. he walked 2, allowed 2 hits, and allowed 2 runs in an inning of work. He also made a throwing error on a pickoff play. He threw 30 pitches, 19 for strikes.

    Erie 2 Altoona 1
    Burke Badenhop had a nice AA debut allowing 2 hits and just 1 run on a solo homer in 7 innings. Jeff Larish tripled, for the only extra base hit for the Seawolves.

    Erie 3 Altoona 0
    Randor Bierd pitched 5 innings of no hit ball. Cory Hamman surrendered the lone hit the Wolves allowed in 2 innings. Mike Hollimon allowed 2 hits. Jeff Larish hit his 23th homer and drove in all 3 runs.

    Fort Myers 2 Lakeland 5
    Mark Haske, Max Leon, and Justin Justice all had 2 hit games. Kevin Ardoin pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing 2 unearned runs on 3 hits and 3 K’s. Josh Rainwater worked 3 innings allowing 1 hit and 1 walk while fanning 2.

    West Michigan 2 Fort Wayne 1
    Scott Sizemore doubled and Jeramy Laster picked up the only RBI. Matt O’Brien allowed 9 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings, but only 1 run crossed the plate.

    Oneonta 14 Tri-City 1
    Lots of highlights in this one as the O’Tigs racked up 20 hits. Justin Peter and Chris Carlson had 3 hits apiece. Cory Middleton was a triple short of the cycle. Sendy Vasquez allowed 1 run on 5 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

    GCL Tigers 2 GCL Yankees 11
    Hayden Parrot doubled and singled. Brandon Johnson allowed 5 runs, 2 of which were earned, in 3 1/3 innings. Richard Zumaya had a rough night allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

  • Game 123: Tigers at Yankees

    PREGAME: It looks like a pretty clear mismatch on paper. Chad Durbin is taking on Roger Clemens.

    Durbin was knocked around in his last start against the A’s and allowed 10 baserunners in 4 1/3 innings. He walked 4 despite routinely getting ahead in the count because he couldn’t put hitters away, or at least get them to put the ball in play. That won’t be any easier against a very disciplined Yankees team.

    Roger Clemens can be quite effective, but it isn’t a sure thing anymore. A look at his game log and it’s easy to see you don’t know what you’re going to get. He has only thrown more than 100 pitches once since the beginning of June so the Tigers may be able to chase him relatively early.

    Game Time 3:55
    DET @ NYY, Saturday, August 18, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    PREGAME    : Going in this game looked like a mismatch. In the top of the 6th inning it still looked that way, but only for the good guys. The Tigers had just ensured that Clemens had pitched his last inning and had put pressure on him the whole game. Meanwhile Chad Durbin had gone through the first 5 innings on 65 pitches retiring 6 Yankees in a row on a total of 13 pitches in the 4th and 5th. The only concern was that the many missed opportunities the Tigers had wouldn’t come back to haunt them.

    That concern was founded as Derek Jeter led off with a single and Bobby Abreu hit a homer that seemed more like a pop-up. Next thing you know Chad Durbin is out of the game without recording an out in the 6th, Roger Clemens is in line for the win, and Tim Byrdak and Jason Grilli combine to slowly limit the bleeding. And the Tigers lose going away.

    Curtis Granderson had a pretty poor game with the bat. He hasn’t been hitting line drives for the last week or so, but he had at least been drawing walks. That didn’t happen today, and he was a big part of the reason the Tigers didn’t push more runs across. He fanned in a runners at the corners, no out situation in the 3rd and popped out in a bases loaded situation later on.

    As for Cameron Maybin, things were definitely better. He did a nice job placing a ground ball to the right side on a hit and run for his first hit. And he drilled his first homer to striaght away centerfield. He also should have been credited with his first stolen base, but the official scorer didn’t give it to him on a nice play by the Yankees, and a poor one by the Tigers. Marcus Thames fanned with Maybin on first and Inge on third. Maybin was running and had 2nd base stolen. Roger Clemens cut the throw from Jorge Posada and ran over and tagged out Brandon Inge who was breaking for home on the play.

    In the end the Tigers let a winnable game slip away, and now have to take the finale to muster a split.

    Yankees 5 Tigers 2

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/17/07

    Columbus 2 Toledo 5
    Jason Perry went 3 for 4 with a double. Chris Shelton also had 3 hits, 2 of them doubles. Mike Hessman homered, singled and walked twice. Ron Chiavacci allowed 1 run on 4 hits and no walks in 7 1/3 innings while fanning 6.

    Erie 4 Altoona 5
    Dallas Trahern pitched 7 1/3 innings allowing 3 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks, and 3 K’s. Matt Joyce and Nic McIntyre had 2 hits apiece.

    Fort Myers 9 Lakeland 4
    Max Leon and Ryan Roberson each had 2 hits. Justin Justice added a double. Lucas French surrendered 6 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings.

    South Bend 3 West Michigan 2
    Jeramy Laster and Brandon Timm each knocked in a run and had 2 hits. Gorkys Hernandez drew a walk and stole his 50th base. Lauren Gagnier fanned 10 and walked none in 6 inning while allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits.

    Oneonta – suspended in 4th due to rain

    GCL Tigers – Box not available

  • Game 122: Tigers at Yankees

    PREGAME: The Tigers continue the 13 game stretch of schedule that is titled So you think you’re a playoff team. Episode 4 takes place tonight with the Tigers taking on the Yankees in a battle of lefties.

    For the Tigers it will be Nate Robertson. Nate has pitched better over his last 3 games with 2 quality starts. His last game he limited the damage to 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings despite allowing 5 walks. The walks were uncharacteristic as Robertson had allowed only 6 walks combined over his last 5 starts.

    Andy Pettitte takes the mound for the Yankees and he hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs since July 6th. Over that span of 7 starts he’s fanned 41 in 45 2/3 innings and only allowed 1 homer. Curtis Granderson and Sean Casey remain in the lineup and I’m not sure if it is because the team is still sick, or because lefties have a 871 OPS against Pettitte this season.

    And if you were wondering about Cameron Maybin, he’ll bat 2nd and play left field tonight. He’ll be sporting the number 4.

    Game Time 7:05pm
    DET @ NYY, Friday, August 17, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: With so much excitement throughout the day, I think it’s safe to say that the game was nothing more than an eh.

    Cameron Maybin didn’t look particularly good with 2 K’s, an out on a bouncer that he hit when he was leaving the box. He also didn’t look very comfortable in left nearly overrunning one ball. A second ball looked like it could have been catch-able, but with the only angle they showed it was hard to tell. Maybin has played much left, and with the rains couldn’t get on the field prior to the game. I don’t know how much of a difference either made, but it is something to consider.

    But I didn’t think the debut was all bad. I thought that each at-bat seemed to get better. He showed some plate discipline laying off borderline pitches, and in his last at-bat he drove a ball on the outer half of the plate well to right field. Leyland has already said he’ll play tomorrow, so we’ll see if things get better with one game under his belt.

    As for the rest of the game, the story was Andy Pettitte. He was good, and the Tigers couldn’t really muster anything off of him. That pretty much was the game.

    Nate Robertson pitched better than his final numbers show. He would have been out of the 3rd inning with the lead and in good shape on his pitch count if not for a high hop over Guillen’s glove. He allowed 10 hits, 2 of which were the infield variety, one was the high bounce over Guillen, and one was the ball past Maybin in left. Those incidents accounted for the bulk of the runs Nate allowed.

    Brandon Inge knocked in the only Tigers run on a double so that was good. But Inge had another check swing strikeout. It’s not so much the strikeouts themselves that bother me, it’s the indecisiveness that is so frustrating.

    Ryan Raburn was the only Tigers hitter to figure out Pettitte and he picked up a double and a single.

  • links for 2007-08-17

  • Cameron Maybin promoted

    WXYT is citing a report from the Asheville Citizen Times that Cameron Maybin will join the Tigers tonight.

    There is no word yet on corresponding roster moves for either the 25 man or 40 man roster. It did appear that Marcus Thames tweaked his hamstring last night and Craig Monroe has had the flu. I don’t know if it is simply a matter of them being shorthanded in the short term or if possibly a trade was made involving Craig Monroe who most likely cleared waivers.

    UPDATE: it sounds like the Tigers inquired a couple days ago whether he was ‘ready’ making it sound this may be less likely to be a response to something that happened last night.

    I have lots of thoughts on this but I’m on my blackberry so those will have to wait.

    UPDATE & Comments: Now that I’m back from the zoo, and not doing this on a blackberry, a little more info. As was posted in the comments, this was one of a series of moves. Craig Monroe has been designated for assignment, thus freeing up a spot on both the 40 man and 25 man rosters. The Tigers have ten days to try and work out a trade, or release him. I would be shocked if he hadn’t been placed on waivers at the beginning of the month, so that process is probably complete. The other shuffle was Omar Infante being optioned out in favor of Ramon Santiago.

    Maybin

    First the outfielders. I’m both excited and nervous to see Maybin make his debut. The limited results from Erie are certainly encouraging, as were the results when he came back from the disabled list. Prior to his shoulder injury he hadn’t been hitting for a ton of power in Lakeland and I wonder if that stemmed from a back injury suffered earlier in the year. He came out of the gate strong, missed a little bit of time, and then came back and went in a homer drought. I wonder if the time off to recuperate the shoulder also helped with his back? I don’t really know, just a possible theory.

    He’s essentially jumping all the way from Hi A to the pro’s considering his time in Erie was so brief, and that is a quick progression no matter who you are. With that comes some risk, and in Maybin’s case the biggest cause for concern would be his strikeout rate as he fanned once every 3.5 at-bats in Lakeland.

    Still I’m excited to see him play and I do think he can help the club. I have some of the same concerns I had with Miller being rushed, but to a much lesser extent. I believe that Maybin will be asked to do a lot less than Andrew Miller. I anticipate he’ll get some platoon starts against lefties and will be used a late inning defensive replacement. The latter is a role I think he can fill with no problem. The former will be putting him in a situation that should help him have success. And as a position player, I don’t have the same concerns about fatigue and workload that I did with Miller.

    Monroe

    There was a reason that Craig Monroe received a one year deal after a 27 homer season and a post season that saw him set the team record for homers. It was because Cameron Maybin was waiting in the wings and Monroe was holding the spot in the meantime (Marcus Thames proved that he could have served the same function at 1/10th the cost, but that’s another issue). Monroe floundered all year and never showed in sign of breaking out of a season long funk. He’s never been strong from a batting average or on base perspective and the power that he did possess seems to have vanished. He was capable defensively, but that’s about it.

    I’ve always rooted for Monroe because he seemed like a guy that worked hard, liked being a Tiger, and quite frankly was a nice guy to the fans. Those aren’t the types of things that mean you should keep your job though. With Monroe having lost his starting position to Thames, and not being a particularly enticing pinch hitting option given his struggles, there just wasn’t a lot of ways that Monroe could contribute to the club at this point. Meanwhile Craig’s confidence which is already probably shaken takes another huge hit as he ponders “I must be worse than Jason Grilli.”

    Infante & Santiago

    I totally get that Carlos Guillen is a huge issue at shortstop. The errors have been a problem all season long, but with Guillen’s knees aching, the decent range he had earlier in the season has become reminiscent of a statuesque Shane Halter. I was perfectly comfortable with Omar Infante backing up Guillen, and when he reached base 4 times the other night in Cleveland and made a nice play deep in the hole I thought that Jim Leyland might have thought so too. But Leyland just doesn’t trust Infante in that capacity, and Ramon Santiago is the superior defender.

    Against lefties I’d imagine that Santiago starts at short and Carlos Guillen plays first. You’re improving the left side defense, but you are inserting a black hole into the lineup. Granted, it’s a much more inexpensive black hole than Jack Wilson will provide so in some respects that’s good.

    As for Infante, he’ll be back when the rosters expand in September. Ryan Raburn is now filling Infante’s former role and it would be hard to send his bat to the minors given how he’s been swinging. And with Tony Giarratano on the disabled list, Infante could still be placed on the playoff roster if need be.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/16/07

    Toledo – cancelled

    Erie 0 Reading 7
    The Seawolves were limited to one hit by none-other than Gary Knotts. Jeff Larish had the lone hit. Andrew Kown lasted only 3 innings before giving up 6 runs on 5 hits.

    Lakeland 2 Clearwater 4
    The Flying Tigers were limited to only 4 hits, the only one for extra bases being a triple by Ovandy Suero. Kyle Sleeth allowed 4 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks in 4 2/3 innings.

    South Bend 2 West Michigan 11
    Gorkys Hernandez, Scott Sizemore, and Jeramy Laster each had 4 hits. Laster went deep for one his hits, his 13th of the season. Hernandez added his 49th stolen base. Duane Below allowed just 1 hit and 4 walks in 6 shut out innings while fanning 7.

    Oneonta 1 Tri-City 10
    Kyle Peter doubled and walked. Jorge Patino had the only mutli hit game. Guillermo Moscoso allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 walk, and 8 K’s in 5 innings.

    GCL Tigers 3 GCL Phillies 4
    Marc McBratney picked up 2 hits and 2 RBI. Manny Miguelez allowed 4 runs on 4 walks, 6 hits, and 3 K’s in 7 innings.