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  • And yet another Sunday night game

    The Tigers are getting now shortage of national attention this year. They’ve now been added to the ESPN Sunday night game for July 1st as well. They’ll be the ESPN game in consecutive weeks with the June 24th game added earlier in the week. One way or another the folks at Bristol are determined to get Joe Morgan to realize that Justin Verlander’s first name isn’t Jason.

    This is quite the deterrent to kids runs the bases with games not ending until 11pm.

    In another scheduling note, Thursday’s game against the Brewers will be on WJBK Fox 2 instead of FSN.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap – 6/8/07

    Syracuse 6 Toledo 5
    Mike Hessman doubled and knocked his 18th homer. David Espinosa added 2 hits as well. Virgil Vasquez allowed 4 runs on 9 hits, 3 of which were homers, in 5 2/3 innings. He did fan 8. Roman Colon was touched for 2 runs on 3 hits, a walk, and 3 K’s over 2 1/3 innings.

    New Hampshire 8 Erie 4
    Kody Kirkland homered and walked and has really been doing well lately. Coming into tonight’s game he had lifted his season line to 253/332/457. Mike Hollimon had 4 hits, 2 were doubles, and drove in 2 runs. Dallas Trahern was knocked around for 12 hits and 8 runs in 5 2/3 innings.

    Lakeland 2 Brevard County 6
    Cameron Maybin and Justin Justice each had 2 hits. Matt O’Brien allowed 5 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks, and no strikeouts in 6 innings.

    West Michigan 6 Dayton 8
    Ryan Strieby was 3 for 3 with a walk. Gorkys Hernandez went 2 for 4. Duane Below allowed 6 runs on 9 hits, over 6 1/3 innings.

  • Vance Wilson done for the year?

    Well, it’s a good thing that Mike Rabelo has been playing well, because it doesn’t look like Vance Wilson is coming back soon – if at all. He aggravated his arm injury while playing long toss on a rehab assignment. Wilson believes it may require season ending surgery.

    Rabelo has been very solid both defensively and with the bat. For the season he’s hitting 286/305/357. He started the season 0 for 13, and has been hitting 372/378/465 since then.

  • Game 60: Mets at Tigers

    PREGAME: While not a big proponent of interleague, I’ll admit that I’m looking forward to this series. The New York Mets are a half game behind the San Diego Padres for the best record in the National League. This is one year after they ran away with the league crown before losing to the Cardinals in the NLCS. They’re also in a bit of a funk right now dropping 4 in a row.

    The series will feature the top two triples machines in Jose Reyes and Curtis Granderson who have combined for 20 on the season.

    The Tigers will face Jorge Sosa tonight who has been impressive in his first 6 starts. He’s picked up a quality start in 4 of his turns, and was one out shy in a 5th.

    On the mound for the Tigers will be Chad Durbin. Durbin has been quite effective, and pitched well enough against Cleveland to pick up a win – with some offensive help. One recent trend I’d like to see reversed is that in each of his last 2 games he has walked 3 while only fanning 1.

    On a related note, I did a couple interviews with Mets bloggers. One at MetsBlog.com and one at MetsToday.com.

    Game Time 7:05

    POSTGAME    : I was thinking about writing a post about how the Tigers have been playing a lot of really long games this year. How their own offense, and more walks and thus pitches by the staff have routinely had games running over 3 hours. And then tonight, I got the kids in bed at the regular time and it was the 7th inning stretch.

    It doesn’t happen often, but the Tigers offense was completely stymied tonight. Jorge Sosa was excellent, and he had some nice leather behind him as well. Even nights when they don’t plate a lot of runs, the Tigers have still typically been getting a lot of baserunners, but that wasn’t the case tonight at all. There just wasn’t much going on. One guy who is really struggling is Carlos Guillen. I don’t know if it is the lingering effects of the groin injury or not, but he looks extremely uncomfortable at the plate and fanned 3 times tonight. His average is under .300, which is unfamiliar territory for Guillen.

    Sadly the offensive struggles cost Chad Durbin a win on a night he certainly pitched well enough to deserve it. He attacked the strike zone, and only a couple balls were hit hard off of him. Unfortunately those couple both ended up in the rightfield grandstand. The guy pitched 8+ innings on only 84 pitches. No wonder the game flew by.

    Mets 3 Tigers 0

  • links for 2007-06-08

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/7/07

    Syracuse 2 Toledo 5
    Cory Hamman started for a depleted Mud Hens rotation. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, 3 walks, and 3 K’s over 4 innings. Eulogio De La Cruz pitched 2 scoreless innings with a walk and a hit. Ramon Santiago and Timo Perez each had 2 hits. Vance Wilson, batting 2nd to get more ABs, went 2 for 3 as the DH.

    Portland Erie

    Lakeland 5 Brevard County 2
    Wil Rhymes had 3 hits to pace the attack. Kyle Sleeth started the front end of the double header and allowed only 1 unearned run on 2 hits, a walk, and 3 K’s over 4 innings.

    Lakeland 4 Brevard County 2
    Ovandy Suero was 2 for 4 with 3 stolen bases. Alfredo Figaro pitched 5 innings and allowed 1 run on six hits.

    West Michigan 8 Dayton 4
    James Skelton homered and singled. Ryan Strieby picked up 3 hits. Deik Scram and Brennan Boesch each had multi-hit games. Angel Castro pitched 7 innings and despite allowing 3 homers only 4 runs were plated.

    Minors News

    With Zach Miner, Andrew Miller, and Yorman Bazardo all removed from the minor league rotations, there was bound to be some shuffling. Jeff Gerbe and Randor Bierd were moved up to Erie from West Michigan. To backfill, Eleazar Aponte was sent down from Lakeland and Luis Gil was promoted from EST.

  • Game 59: Tigers at Rangers

    PREGAME: Rubber match tonight. Mike Maroth takes on Kameron Loe. Loe has been pretty unimpressive with mediocre strike out and walk rates. He’s also not afraid to give up a homer with 8 allowed in 59 innings.

    Game Time 8:35

    In Game: In case you were wondering, Grandy’s 12 triples are the most by a Tiger in a season since Larry Herndon hit 13 in 1982.

  • Plan Okay’d to tear down Tiger Stadium

    The Detroit Economic Development council approved a plan to tear down Tiger Stadium. The nearly $3 million cost will be offset by a web based memorabilia auction.

    The plan will be taken to the City Council in July.

    The plan calls for the preservation of the field for youth leagues while the site is redeveloped for retail and residential.

    I’ll still believe it when I see it.

    Powered by ScribeFire.

  • Zach Miner to the DL

    Jeez. Another pitcher on the DL This time it is Zach Miner with elbow tendinitis. According to Danny Knobler the injury isn’t serious, but rather than be short handed in the pen for a few days, the Tigers are using the DL to get another arm up.

    In fact, this time it’s 2 arms in Yorman Bazardo and Aquilino Lopez. One of the two will be sent down prior to Sunday when Andrew Miller will officially be called up.

    Bazardo was acquired from Seattle in exchange for minor leaguer Jeff Frazier in the offseason. Bazardo is a right hander who will turn 23 next month. In 11 starts for Toledo he has a 3.77 ERA. His K rate is a rather pedestrian 4.9 per 9 innings and his walk rate is similarly unimpressive at 3.6 per 9. Where he excels is keeping the ball down. He’s picked up twice as many ground outs as fly outs and only allowed 1 homer on the season.

  • Draft Day 2007

    The draft isn’t really my thing. I just don’t have the time or energy to keep track of amateur baseball. Still, with the Tigers usually picking in the top 10 of the draft, I made a point of getting to know the big guys expected to go at the top. This year the Tigers don’t pick until 27th, so I’m even more clueless than in the past. Still, we’ll use this post as the place to aggregate thoughts so feel free to comment throughout the day.

    This will be the first time the draft will be televised, so if you’re fortunate enough to be around a TV at 2:00 you can catch it on ESPN 2 (I still want to call it the deuce).

    Resources and information

    While I’ll be at work, by buddy and occasional commentor Russ will be updating this post as the Tigers make their selections today.

    First Round

    With the 27th pick overall the Detroit Tigers selected:

    RHP – Rick Porcello – Seton Hall Prep, West Orange NJ
    Once again those magic words “signability issues” play to the Tigers advantage. Porcello is largely regarded as the best high school pitcher in the draft. He’s also represented by Scott Boras which means this won’t be a deal that gets done quickly. However, unlike past years where negotiations drag on, one way or another the Tigers will know if he’s signed by August 15th – the deadline specified in the new CBA. BA is confident a deal will get done.

    Porcello has 4 above average pitches including a fastball that sits in the mid 90’s. He also has a curve, a slider, and an improving change-up. The guy has stud written all over him and it’s great to see the Tigers undeterred by cost issues. This is a tremendous steal at this point in the draft in terms of talent – provided the Tigers actually sign him.

    For more: Baseball America scouting report – Video

    Compensation Round

    With the 60th pick overall the Detroit Tigers selected:

    RHP – Joey Hamilton – Stanhope Elmore HS, Millbrook Ala
    The Tigers followed up with another high school arm. According to MLB.com he has a fastball that sits at 87-92 and a spike curve. What’s troubling is that is also says he doesn’t deal well with adversity, didn’t display a lot poise, and wasn’t particularly aggressive. Still supposed to be lots of upside.

    To me it sounds like a project, but one with considerable upside. The scouting reports don’t wow me, and this may be the trade off for aiming high with Porcello in the first.

    Cather Mitchell Canham was selected 3 picks earlier, and very well might have been the Tigers selection here.

    Second Round

    With the 91st pick overall the Detroit Tigers selected:

    SS – Daniel Worth – Pepperdine U – Junior
    The Tigers turned to college for their first position player. Worth is supposed to be a good glove, line drive hitter without a lot of power or speed. The Tigers shortstop options are pretty thin, so this feels more like a need pick.

    3rd round

    With the 121st pick overall the Detroit Tigers selected:
    RHP – Luke Putkonen – North Carolina
    Another flame thrower who touches mid 90’s with his fastball – which is his only above average pitch. He’s 6′ 6″ 200lbs so he’s a big ‘un. Maybe bullpen help? He had TJ surgery in 2005.

    4th round

    With the 151st pick the Detroit Tigers selected:
    LHP – Charlie Furbush – LSU
    From BA:

    While he didn’t live up to his reputation as the Cape’s top lefthanded starting prospect in 2006, he’s still a southpaw with the potential for three solid pitches, which should get him drafted in the third to fifth round.

    The Tigers are loading up on pitching for their lower levels.

    5th round

    With the 181st pick the Detroit Tigers selected:
    RHP – Casey Crosby – Kaneland HS
    This is probably the most interesting pick after Porcello. BA says he has the talent to be a sandwich pick with a low 90’s fastball and a 6′ 5″ 200lb frame. As a receiver on his HS team he 1150 yards and 19 touchdowns. The tough thing will be signing him – which caused his slide in the first place.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap – 6/6/07

    Syracuse 2 Toledo 9
    Mike Hessman and Dane Sardinha each doubled and homered. Ryan Raburn banged his 13th homer as well. Chris Shelton and Ramon Santiago each had 2 hits. Dennis Tankersley twirled a 2 hit shut out for 6 innings.

    Portland 8 Erie 4
    Kody Kirkland was a triple short of the cycle. Clete Thomas added 3 hits as well. Eddie Bonine allowed 6 runs, 5 earned on 7 hits in 7 1/3 innings.

    Lakeland – PPD Rain

    West Michigan – DNP

    Minors News

    Matt continues to ponder the Tigers plan for Eulogio De La Cruz. I’m thinking that they are seeing if he can perform in a relief role as potential help in the pen with the big club. He’s already on the 40, so bringing him up doesn’t require significant roster manipulations.

  • Nate Robertson to the DL – Andrew Miller’s in

    The big question, that got even bigger after last night’s shellacking was “what’s wrong with Nate Robertson?” The question hasn’t been answered yet, but he is being sent to the DL with a tired arm. He’ll miss two turns in the rotation at a minimum and can’t come back until June 22nd. (just about the same time that Kenny Rogers may be ready)

    The bigger news is that Andrew Miller will be starting in his stead. Jim Leyland said the team will likely recall a reliever until Sunday, at which point Miller will be added to the rotation. Miller has been lights out since being promoted to Erie where he posts a 0.59 ERA over 30 2/3 innings with 24 K’s and 5 walks.

    Robertson swears nothing is wrong, but is heading for additional tests regardless.

    My take is that these moves need to happen for a variety of reasons. Robertson hasn’t really been helping the team for the better part of a month, and Miller really can’t do worse and should do better than an injured Robertson. Miller is dominating at AA and had a successful debut. I don’t think they are rushing him.

    The upside is that for a least a few weeks this will quell talk of moving him to the pen, or moving him to the rotation to move Maroth/Durbin to the pen. Neither move I was a fan of. Putting him in the pen at this point in the season does nothing to strengthen his arm and build up his stamina for next year when he will need to be a member of the rotation for a full season.

    In terms of flip-flopping Maroth/Durbin and Miller it would probably cause a lot of short term grief for something that couldn’t be sustained over the course of a season. Once Miller would hit his inning limit in mid to late August, one of them would have to come back to the rotation. Miller won’t be allowed to throw 190 innings this year, it just won’t and shouldn’t happen. Plus with Maroth’s propensity for the long ball, I don’t know that I’d want him as a reliever anyways.