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  • Jair Jurrjens to start

    The Tigers will reach down to Erie for their Wednesday night starter. They’ve tabbed Jair Jurrjens to take on the Indians. Jurrjens has been on quite the roll allowing just 2 earned runs in his last 3 starts. He’s fanned 24 over that 23 inning span.

    The safe roster move would have been to go with Virgil Vasquez. With Jurrjens coming up a spot will need to be cleared on the 40 man roster, but Kyle Sleeth could be let go without much hassle. The only other issue is that if the Tigers send Jurrjens back down to the minors, they will burn an option year.

    Nonetheless I’m excited to see what Jurrjens can do.

    Jurrjens to start Wednesday in Cleveland – Detroit Tigers Insider – MLive.com

  • Game 118: A’s at Tigers

    PREGAME: Chad Gaudin and Chad Durbin
    Game time 7:05pm
    OAK @ DET, Monday, August 13, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: Huh. I’m really surprised. I thought these brief pregame posts were to the key to success. Oh well. Tonight was pretty brutal. Bad pitching, bad fielding, bad hitting. All they were missing was a baserunning mistake.

    • Chad Durbin was pretty awful. He walked 4, but even when he was getting ahead of hitters he couldn’t put them away. It was foul ball after foul ball until a hanging breaking pitch said “hit me!” Andrew Miller is scheduled to make a rehab start on Wednesday, but even if things go well he won’t be able to start until Monday. Does Chad Durbin make his next start or does Zach Miner or Virgil Vasquez get a shot.
    • Jason Grilli came in to a tough situation and got a ground ball, that should have scored one were it not for a Carlos Guillen error. But then the next inning was terrible with 8 straight balls resulting in a run being walked in. Not the difference in the ball game by any means, but yet another bullet point on his resume. I’d get upset about Grilli still having a spot on the team, but really what’s the point anymore? If he hasn’t pitched his way off the team, what is walking in a run in a blowout?
    • The offense was no where, and that was disappointing against a pitcher who just hasn’t been good for quite a while. This wasn’t Scott Kazmir, it was Chad Gaudin. And yet he posted a career high in strikeouts with 9. The Tigers couldn’t take advantage of limited scoring opportunities and never chipped away at the lead after plating 2 quick runs in the first. Really, they never hit the ball hard save for 2 or 3 well stuck pitches.

  • links for 2007-08-13

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/12/07

    Toledo 2 Indianapolis 4
    Ramon Santiago went 1 for 3 with a walk. Erick Almonte walked 3 times. Anastacio Martinez went the distance allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits, 1 walk, and 4 K’s.

    Connecticut 6 Erie 7
    Three games at AA and 3 homers for Cameron Maybin. He also singled and walked. Mike Hollimon was a homer short of the cycle. Dallas Trahern started and only lasted 4 innings getting knocked around for 6 runs on 9 hits.

    Vero Beach 8 Lakeland 2
    Justin Justice was 3 for 4, as was Mark Haske. Burke Badenhop allowed 2 unearned runs on 4 hits in 6 innings pitched.

    West Michigan 4 Wisconsin 5 (10 innings)
    Brandon Timm was 3 for 5 with a triple. Jeff Gerbe fanned 7 and walked none, but allowed 4 runs on 7 hits.

    Williamsport 8 Oneonta 9
    Casper Wells and Mike Sullivan each had 3 hits. Cory MIddleton homered.

    GCL Tigers DNP

  • links for 2007-08-12

  • Game 117: A’s at Tigers

    PREGAME: Dallas Braden and Nate Robertson.
    Game time 1:05pm
    OAK @ DET, Sunday, August 12, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: Okay, the Tigers have secured at least a split of the series and have won back to back games. We were here last Wednesday too, and look how grumpy we turned out. But for now, relishing in a thumping by the good guys will suffice.

    Today the Tigers beat up on a bad pitcher, exactly what they haven’t been doing enough of. Of course you’ve heard that Magglio Ordonez homered twice, and he’s the only Tigers not named Al Kaline to accomplish the feat in the same inning. With the week he’s had, he’s pushed his slugging percentage up to .599 and is back in the MVP discussions.

    Nate Robertson wasn’t great, but the 5 walks were in large part due to Angel Hernandez’s awful strike zone. The two teams combined for 15 walks, so it wasn’t an issue that was exclusive to Robertson.

    Again, I went with the super short pregame post, and it worked, so we’ll do that again tomorrow. Just didn’t want to think I was mailing it in or anything.

    Oh yeah, and thanks to the Indians and Yankees the Tigers are back in first…barely…for now.

    Tigers 11 A’s 6

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/11/07

    Toledo 4 Indianpolis 2
    Chris Shelton went 2 for 2 with 2 walks and even stole a base. Dane Sardinha hit his 9th homer and drove in two. Dennis Tankersley went 8 innings allowing just 5 hits and 2runs while fanning 8. With the back end of the Mud Hens bullpen hanging out in Comerica Park, Jose Capellan assumed closers duty and got the save with a perfect 9th.

    Connecticut 9 Erie 10
    For the second night in a row, it was good to be a hitter. Mike Hollimon (12), Jeff Larish(23), Cameorn Maybin (2), Clete Thomas (6), and Nick Trzesniak (2) all homered. Maybin added a couple walks to his night as well. Andrew Kown allowed 10 hits and 6 runs in 4 innings.

    Vero Beach 5 Lakeland 1
    This one ended after 7 due to rain. Mike Hernandez, Justin Justice, Mark Haske, and Deik Scram combined for the 4 Lakeland hits. Lucas French allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings.

    West Michigan 7 Wisconsin 2
    James Skelton singled and walked. Brennan Boesch and Brandon Timm each had 2 hits. Matt O’Brien went 7 innings allowing just 2 runs on 8 hits, 1 walk, and 4 K’s.

    Williamsport 1 Oneonta 5
    Justin Henry was 2 for 2 with a walk. Chris Carlson was 1 for 2 plus a walk and 3 RBI. Mark Brackman allowed 1 run on 2 walks, 6 K’s, and 7 hits in 6 innings.

    Williamsport 1 Oneonta 4
    Ronnie Bourquin doubled and singled. Guillermo Moscoso allowed 1 run on 6 hits walking none and fanning 6 in 5 innings. Noah Krol notched his 12th save and has now fanned 30 in 22 1/3 innings.

    GCL Braves 1 GCL Tigers 4
    This was the completion of a previously suspended game. Hayden Parrot went 2 for 4, the only multi-hit effort. Brandon Hamilton allowed 1 hit and 2 walks in 3 innings. Richard Zumaya pitched 3 scoreless innings allowing a hit and fanning 3.

    GCL Braves 2 GCL Tigers 1
    Jon Kibler took the loss despite allowing just 1 earned run in 5 1/3 innings on 3 hits and a walk.

  • Game 116: A’s at Tigers

    PREGAME: Danny Haren and Justin Verlander.
    7:05pm

    OAK @ DET, Saturday, August 11, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: Nice win tonight, and don’t look now but the Tigers are 3-3 in their last 6 games. Umm, yeah. But still, a really nice win with enough offense against a tough pitcher, enough out of Justin Verlander when he didn’t have his best stuff, and a lock down effort by the pen.

    • More on the pen, 9 batters faced, 9 batters retired. Four of those came via the punch-out. The biggest of course being the combined effort of Bobby Seay and Aquilino Lopez who wiggled out of a first and second, no out jam in the seventh. If you were wondering the run expectancy in that situation is about 1.5. With a 1 run lead at that point, that is why Seay and Lopez combined for more WPA points than Magglio Ordonez.
    • And Fernando Rodney is looking very 2006, and that’s a very fine vintage. Even being squeezed on the corners, he wasn’t rattled and picked up 2 K’s.
    • Some insurance runs made it an easy night for Todd Jones, who has been quite effective for about 6 weeks now.
    • Magglio Ordonez had his 2nd straight 3 hit night. I, like many, expected him to fade from a batting average stand point and finish out of the running for the batting title. Of course there is plenty of time for that to happen, but it is mid August now and he seems to have shaken off that July funk and is driving the ball again. Just an incredible season and a joy to watch.
    • And if you were wondering about the brevity of the pregame tonight, it actually had less to do with my frustrations with the team(which are present, believe me), and more to do with that’s what the bosses (my kids) would allow me to get done. But with the results, expect another short one tomorrow.

    Tigers 5 A’s 2

  • The roster shuffle

    It became apparent last night that the Tigers would need a fresh arm in the bullpen. And by leaving McBride out to languish, it was also pretty clear the Tigers had no use for him for the next few nights. Plus they became disenchanted with Tata, at least for the time being after last night’s debacle. So they’ve called up Eulogio De La Cruz and Aquilino Lopez.

    Now what is screwy is that De La Cruz is up only for tonight and he’ll be replaced by Yorman Bazardo – who has been doing okay in the Toledo rotation – after the game. But Bazardo isn’t coming up to fill Tata’s spot in the rotation, he’s coming to help in the bullpen.

    So why bring up De La Cruz for one day and ensure he can’t come back for 10 more? I don’t know. I’d guess it is a rest issue with Bazardo. And why Lopez over Jose Capellan? I don’t know that either. And who will fill in the rotation? I also don’t know but I’d guess it would have to be Virgil Vasquez.

    The only upside is that the team is now down to 2 lefty specialists which should give Leyland a little more flexibility.

    (Thanks to Kathy for the heads up)

    Tata, McBride sent out, Lopez, De La Cruz, Bazardo called up – Detroit Tigers Insider – MLive.com

  • links for 2007-08-11

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/10/07

    Durham 0 Toledo 4
    Andres Torres doubled, homered, and walked. Chris Shelton doubled and walked and Jack Hannahan added 2 singles. Ron Chiavacci pitched 7 innings of 3 hit, shut out ball while fanning 8.

    Connecticut 6 Erie 3
    Cameron Maybin homered in his Erie debut. Jeff Larish added a homer and Mike Hollimon went 2 for 4. Jon Connolly allowed 3 homers and 4 runs in 2 2/3 innings.

    Vero Beach 6 Lakeland 6 in progress
    Max Leon went 4 for 5 and Danny Worth knocked out 3 doubles. Kyle Sleeth allowed 3 runs in 6 innings on 6 hits and a walk. Josh Rainwater pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief.

    West Michigan 0 Clinton 1 in progress
    Gorkys Hernandez has a double tonight. Lauren Gagnier is through 7 innings allowing just 1 run on 4 hits while fanning 6.

    Oneonta – PPD

    GCL Indians 1 GCL Tigers 11
    Hayden Parrot went 3 for 4. Justin White, Carlos Ramirez and Derek Lerhman all had 2 hits. Manny Miguelez allowed 1 unearned run in 5 innings on just 2 hits and 7 K’s. Richard Zumaya came in for for the 4 inning save allowing one walk and one hit while fanning 5.

  • Game 115: Athletics at Tigers

    PREGAME: It’s Tata time. The injury replacement has been the most effective starter the last couple times through the rotation. This will be the A’s second crack at him after he held them to 2 runs in 7 innings in the Coliseum.

    The Tigers will take on Joe Blanton, who they have no trouble racking up hits against traditionally. They’ve had 9 or more hits in each of the 4 starts he’s made in the last 2 years. But Blanton gets away with the hits by keeping the ball in the park with only 11 homers allowed. He has very pronounced home/road splits with batters posting a 587 OPS in Oakland and a 732 on the road. The bulk of that is driven by a 257 batting average on balls in play at home versus 327 everywhere else. It makes me think he really takes advantage of the copious foul space.

    Game time 7:05

    OAK @ DET, Friday, August 10, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: So many emotions. This game was all set up to be a huge win for Detroit after overcoming an awful start by Jordan Tata. Marcus Thames gave the team that “extra charge” that Jim Leyland was looking for and Detroit looked to be well on their way. All they needed was 12 outs from the bullpen. Now 12 is a lot mind you, but if you figure that Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones would be plugged in for the last 2 innings, it was a matter of getting through the 6th and 7th innings.

    Now Leyland had Macay McBride who had retired all 5 hitters he’d faced come in after a lengthy bottom of the 5th. Why? Not sure. McBride gets the first guy swinging, and plunks the second. At that time it might be a good time to get him. But no. McBride is struggling to find the plate and walks the next hitter, and the next hitter. Clearly gassed you have to get him out right? No. Grand Slam. Pin. Balloon. Ballgame.

    Zach Miner came in and threw batting practice for the rest of the inning and the Tigers blew a run down play.

    There was no conceivable reason to leave McBride in that long. That’s not his role, and that’s not a role he’s had to perform. That was a horrible job of managing by Leyland, on par with the Cleveland June 1st debacle. He let down everyone in that dugout. The only possible explanation is that McBride was set to be optioned down after the game tonight to get a fresh arm for the depleted bullpen, and Leyland figured he might as well kill him.

    It’s one thing when players don’t execute. Pitching and hitting are tough. But to have the manager let people down when all he has to do is make a decision obvious to everyone is particularly infuriating. There’s a reason that Oakland didn’t pinch hit for Jack Cust with Mike Piazza. It’s because Geren would rather have his hitter face a gassed pitcher than Piazza face a fresh arm.