The Detroit Tiger Weblog

Tag: sam hoff

  • The 8th inning – 2009 edition

    Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. Tuesday’s game against the Royals completed the eigth inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The 8th Inning is Over with games through Tuesday.

    Despite the recent suckitude the Tigers still managed to post a winning record over the 18 game stretch. And for the 4th inning in a row they were outscored. The 92 runs surrendered was the most allowed over any inning and the 5.28 ERA posted by the bullpen was the worst mark since the second inning.

    Offensively the team did okay posting a .355 OBP which was their highest inning all season and the first one over .340 since the 2nd inning. The 85 runs was tied for the 3rd highest total.

    Patti Engineering Insight » The 8th Inning is Over

  • The Seventh Inning – 2009 edition

    Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. Wednesday’s game against the Angels completed the seventh inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The 7th Inning is Over with games through Wednesday.

    The Tigers played .500 ball in this most recent 18 game stretch. What really stands out to me this season is the consistency on the run prevention side of things. In 5 of the 7 18 game segments so far the the Tigers have allowed between 84 and 86 runs.

    The Tigers overall slash line was 250/321/423 despite having 5 guys with OPS’s north of .900. Unfortunately, Clete Thomas, Brandon Inge, Aubrey Huff, and Gerald Laird are OPSing on the wrong side of .500 and are really, really dragging things down.

    Still, the team managed to lengthen it’s division lead despite playing even ball so thanks to the struggles of the White Sox and Twins the Tigers are in a better place than they were 18 games ago.

  • The Sixth Inning – 2009 Edition

    Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. Friday night’s game against the Twins completed the sixty inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The Sixth Inning is over with games through last Friday.

    The Tigers posted a 10-8 record in the sixth inning despite being outscored by 4 runs. The pitching has been remarkably consistent throughout the season, never allowing more than 86 runs in these 18 game stretches. The fluctuations in the records come down mostly to the offense and the performance in close games.

    The bullpen were the stars in this segment with Brandon Lyon not allowing a run and Ryan Perry and fu-Te Ni posting WHIPs under 1.10.

    Carlos Guillen’s return to the lineup bolstered the DH spot while Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Placico Polanco had spans that were much more reminiscent of their career numbers.

  • The 5th Inning – 2009 Edition

    Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. When the Tigers completed the Oakland series that also completed the second inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The Fifth Inning is over with games through last Friday.

    The Tigers turned in their first losing inning posting a 7-11 record, and not surprisingly their second lowest scoring inning with only 70 runs. Sadly it wasted a lot of good pitching performances from the starters, and with the All Star break and off days allowing for rotation juggling, Verlander and Jackson started 9 of the 18 games.

    Polanco was the RBI leader despite posting only a 699 OPS. Brandon Inge’s line looks frighteningly similar to his career numbers and Curtis Granderson failed to hit for either average or power. Thank goodness for Marcus Thames though.

    Not related to the inning report at all, but did anyone notice the Twins blew a 12-2 lead to the A’s and that the Yankees won 2-1 yet again? Maybe it will make you feel a little better. Or maybe it won’t since the White Sox moved to within a game of the division lead.

  • The Second Inning- 2009 edition

    Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. When the Tigers completed the Oakland series that also completed the second inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The Second Inning is over.

    When looking at the first and second inning, what struck me was how remarkably consistent the team was from one 18 game block to the next. The offense scored 102 runs in the first, 99 in the second. The team allowed 84 runs in the first inning, 86 in the second. The OPS was only 3 points apart and the starters pitched less than an inning more in this inning. The only glaring number that differed was the bullpen posting an ERA that was nearly 2 runs higher – much of that coming in the Minnesota series.

  • The First Inning – 2009 edition

    Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. When the Tigers completed the Royals series that also completed the first inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The First Inning is over.

    Aside from the fact that the Tigers won more games than they did last year, a couple things jumped out at me. First, this was their best offensive first inning since Sam has been doing this (2006). I’m not sure who much had to do with the weather, but due to a dome and a west coast swing the Tigers only played 1 game in rough conditions.

    Also, a look at the bullpen usage numbers is interesting. Your bullpen leaders in innings pitched through the first 18 games were 1. Brandon Lyon, 2. Eddie Bonine, and 3. Juan Rincon. Rincon is also the pen leader in strike outs.

    There’s a bunch of other good stuff there so I encourage you to check it out.