Author Archive

Justin Verlander was bounced after only two innings of work in which he gave up six runs on five hits and three walks (wonder where the walks came from, that’s unlike him).  Most of the damage came on Eric Hinske’s grand slam homerun.  Edward Campusano picked him up with two innings of no hit ball (I’m liking this guy more and more) and the rest of the pen pen pitched pretty well outside of Jose Mesa, who gave up a run on four hits in an 1 2/3.

Verlander wasn’t the only guy who was hit hard.  Magglio Ordenez was hit hard, in the head.  He was taken to a hospital and hopefully everything there will be okay.  Before having to leave, he singled and drove in two runs as did Carlos Guillen.  Ivan Rodriguez hit his second homerun of the spring and Placido Polanco scored twice in the 7-6 loss.

The Tigers have two games today as they split up the squads.  Three weeks until real baseball starts though.

I missed this from earlier in the week, but this MLB.com story lists the Tigers as having the best starting rotation in baseball.  No major surprise based on how they did last year.  Ironically, the Tigers division rivals, the White Sox and Indians, also had a good showing.  The Tigers also showed up as the fourth best bullpen.

The

Mike Hessman had quite the day for the Tigers today in their 9-5 win over the Mets.  He homered, doubled and drove in four runs and he split time between third base and first base.  Ramon Santiago hit his second homerun of the spring and Kody Kirkland doubled and drove in three runs.  Cameron Maybin continued an impressive spring with a single, a walk and two runs.

Kenny Rogers gave up two runs on five hits with four strikeouts in four innings.  Kyle Sleeth threw another scoreless inning while Preston Larrison was knocked around for two runs in a single frame.  Justin Verlander will get his third start of the spring tomorrow in a day game against the Red Sox and Josh Beckett.

I recently took part in a four person roundtable discussion at Baseball Analysts on the American League Central.  You get everyone’s impressions of each team as well as an overall look at the division.  I’ll probably take some heat because I have the Tigers finishing second (and I was the only one to have the White Sox even in the top two, much less the division winner) but it is what it is.  I’m also tempering my expectations for the team.  We can’t have a division winner every year :-).

The Tigers are up 4-1 against the undefeated (for now) Reds in the fifth inning.  Oops, Ordonez just drove home Curtis Granderson so it’s now 5-1.  Nate Robertson was particularly sharp.  He struck out five Reds in 2 2/3 innings.  He gave up a single hit and he walked two.  A solid start for the team’s fourth starter.  Fernando Rodney gave up a solo shot to Adam Dunn.  Blade should be proud.  Regardless, unless the Reds can score a bunch of runs, they’re going to take their first loss.  Placido Polanco and Chris Shelton have both hit their first homeruns of the spring.

***UPDATE***

The Tigers held on to win today.  They jumped out to a 9-4 lead then Zach Miner gave up three runs in the ninth to make things interesting.  Wil Ledezma also got roughed up for three runs in one inning.  Vance Wilson went yard and Ryan Rayburn was a perfect two for two with a with two RBIs.

In a recent THT Mailbag, David Gassko takes on the question of whether a move to first base by Carlos Guillen would dramatically decrease his value to the team.  As a shortstop, Carlos Guillen is an elite hitter but as a first baseman, he’s probably only considered good.  He concludes that while Guillen’s value to the team would go down, he’d still make a formidable and productive first baseman.  He also takes into account the three year projections that are part of the Hardball Times 2007 Preseason Book.  Interesting and to the point analysis here.

This story isn’t about Jason Grilli, it’s about Padres reliever Scott Linebrink.  A lot of people forget that Jason Grilli was once a top prospect and he was taken fourth overall in 1997 draft by the Giants.  The Giants second round pick that year was Linebrink and you get some mentions of Grilli in the column.  I found the excerpt about how Grilli has narrowly missed out on three World Series rings the last three years particularly interesting.

I should have passed this on to Mike at Tigers Minors but I found it first.  John Sickels has an interesting prospect smackdown that pits two pitching Millers against each other.  Most people know who Andrew Miller is by now but the Indians have an equally good, if not better pitching prospect in Adam Miller.  Nice write up though and you’ll learn a lot about Andrew Miller, as well as Adam Miller who we’ll be seeing quite often in years to come when the Tigers play the Indians.

The Tigers and Braves played an eleven inning 4-4 tie in which plenty of pitchers got some work.  Jeremy Bonderman was touched up for a run (and it came on the only hit he gave up, a solo shot by Craig Wilson) in his three innings but he struck out two.  I talked about Edward Campusano today and he pitched a scoreless inning in which he struck out one although he got into trouble when he gave up a walk and a hit.  And Jordan Tata had a rough outing in which he walked two, gave up two runs and threw a wild pitch in a single inning.

Eleven different Tigers scattered eleven hits and probably the guy who had the best day at the plate was Neifi Perez.  He went one for three but he walked twice.  Vance Wilson had the only extra base hit on a double that he eventually scored a run on.  Nate Robertson will get the start tomorrow against the undefeated (at this moment, they take on the Yankees tonight) Reds.

One of my favorite baseball author’s, Tom Stanton, has a new book coming out in May about the relationship between Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth.  While considered rivals, it looks like there was more to the two then the competition between the two and they eventually turned out to be good friends.  I had a brief email conversation with Mr. Stanton and he told me it might blow away a lot of the assumptions people make about the Georgia Peach so Ty and the Babe is definitely a book I’ll be picking up.

I also had the chance to meet Mr. Stanton about a year ago when he was presenting on a book he edited called the Detroit Tigers Reader, which is also a great book for Tiger fans.  Stanton blends a nice mix of home town flavor with diligent research in all of his books and while anyone can learn a thing or two, they’re especially good if you’re from the Detroit area. 

I’ve quietly pushed for Edward Campusano to get the chance as the Tigers LOOGY (Left Handed One Out Guy) in 2007.  He was plucked in the Rule 5 draft from the Cubs by the Brewers then traded to the Tigers and if he doesn’t make the team, we lose him.  81 strikeouts in 54 innings is impressive at any level and that’s what he did last year.

I’m now not alone.  In a recent column at Baseball Analysts, Marc Hulet breaks down the 2006 Rule 5 draft and agrees that Campusano should be put into that left handed role.  This is a good read and while it’s not really surprising, the Tigers have made more Rule 5 picks (although the time frame isn’t specified, it’s probably the last five or so years) then any other team in baseball as of late.

It’s spring so while a loss is a loss, it’s not always a negative and the Tigers had a few positives in today’s ten inning loss fo the Jays.  First off,  Mike Maroth threw three shutout innings and he’s looked sharp in his two starts so far.  Second, Jose Mesa struck out two in his single inning as he slowly tries to make a fool out of me for being down on him.  Third, Placido Polanco has been absolutely on fire.  He’s now hitting .714 with seven RBIs.

So it’s not all bad even though the Tigers spring standing has come pretty close to evening out at .500.  Jeremy Bonderman will get the start tomorrow against the Braves and it’s on the radio here in Detroit.

The Hardball Times has published their first season preview and you can read the details in this column.  For $9, you get a quality pdf with a ton of analysis as well as three year’s worth of projections for most players you’ll see playing in 2007.  It’s somewhat geared for fantasy baseball players and there’s a few essays in that regard but you also get a team by team look at what could and should happen in 2007.

On top of that, it’s a great way to support the site.  In my opinion (yes, I’m biased), the Hardball Times is the best free baseball website out there.  Every day you can check in and read some great baseball analysis.  By dropping $9, you get a great book and you help the site do more (like the fielding stats I mentioned, this stuff costs money).

Journeyman reliever Felix Heredia gave up a walk off homerun to Yankees prospect Bronson Sardinha today in the Tigers 6-5 loss to the Yankees.  The Tigers blew a lot of chances and I know they had the bases loaded in both the first and second innings (at least, they might have also loaded them up in the fourth) but walked away with only a pair of runs (and they were both on bases loaded walks).

Justin Verlander was knocked around for three runs including a two run shot by Hideki Matsui.  Andrew Miller gave up a run in his two innings of work but Zach Miner looked sharp with two shutout innings.

Ivan Rodriguez had two hits and two runs while Placido Polanco had two hits and two RBIs.  The Tigers play the Blue Jays tomorrow and it doesn’t look like it’ll be picked up by either the Tigers or the Blue Jays so all we’ll get is a box score.

I just got my copy of Baseball Prospectus 2007 today.  BP was one of the first annuals I started buying and while it’s now become one of several books I pick up every year, it’s still a joy getting it in the mail and I still find myself flipping through an older edition now and then (which I did when I did my write up on Chad Durbin).

One of the first Tiger writeups that stood out was Marcus Thames.  His projection has him at .257/.342/.521 with 27 homeruns in 452 plate appearances.  No other Tiger has more projected homeruns and this is a guy who as of right now, has no every day spot in the Tigers lineup.  They’re trying him at first base to give the Tigers a left/right platoon at first but this is a guy who should be in the lineup every day.

Which gets us to Craig Monroe.  I know he came up with some timely hits last year but I’m still going to contend that if given the choice, Marcus Thames should be the starter in left field.  Monroe is probably the better fielder but not enough to warrant more at bats then Thames.  And of course Monroe’s projections come out at a more mediocre .265/.316/.458 with 21 homeruns in 553 plate appearances. 

And I don’t want to sound like I’m down on Monroe because I think he’s a good ballplayer, I just think Thames is better.  For some reason though, Thames has been on the short end of the left field stick and it looks like only a trade (whether it’s Thames or Monroe) will free up Thames.  I just have a feeling that if a deal is made, it’ll be the wrong guy that goes.

***UPDATE 3/6/07***

I didn’t notice this until today, but it’s Marcus Thames’ birthday.  He’s now 30.  Happy birthday Marcus.

Billfer has a game thread going over at DTW.  If you’re watching the game, stop on by and take part.  It’s his first game thread of the year and it’s the first televised spring game of the year.

A&E is releasing a Tigers World Series DVD at the end of the month that will provide highlights of the 1945, 1968 and 1984 World Series.  It’s about two hours so you probably get about 40 minutes on each.  Looks pretty cool and for $15, I’ll probably pick it up.

What I’d really like is something like this but for the 1984 Tigers.  It looks like they’re hitting the 1987 Twins and the New York Yankees this year.

Alright, I’m picking this one up a little bit late but the Tigers and Indians are in the fourth inning.  C.C. Sabathia looked sharp for the Indians and he struck out three in his two innings while Kenny Rogers was knocked around.  He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in two innings.  The Tigers cut the lead in half when Craig Monroe scored on Magglio Ordonez’s sac. fly.  Indians 2, Tigers 1. 

***UPDATE 1***

Alright, the Tigers bounced back with six runs in the fourth inning off of Chuck Lofgren with the big hit being a three run homerun off of Ramon Santiago.  Ordonez drew a bases loaded walk and he now has two RBIs without getting a single hit.  Then in the bottom half of the inning, the Indians got a run on a solo shot by David Delucci.  Tigers 7, Indians 3 heading into the fifth inning.

***UPDATE 2***

Things really calmed down after that fifth inning and only the Indians scored another run and that wasn’t until the ninth.  Kyle Sleeth looked sharp with two shutout innings and three strikeouts and Virgil Vazquez threw two shutout innings and struck out two.

Tomorrow, the Tigers are on ESPN against the Yankees at 1:05.  And if you have Gameday Audio, you can listen to the Diamondbacks versus the Rockies at 9:05.

Playoff hero Kenny Rogers gets his first spring start of the season today.  This’ll be an interesting season for Rogers because most everyone I talked to thinks Rogers will regress a bit in 2007 and that there’s little chance he’ll hit his 2006 numbers.  Then again, I never thought he’d hit his 2006 numbers when the Tigers signed him so he’s made a believer out of me before.  I haven’t gotten my press pass yet so I’m unsure as to who else is throwing for Detroit.  It would be nice if we returned the favor against the Indians today seeing as how they blew us out yesterday.  Game time is 1:05 and the game will be on the Indians network, WTAM 1100.

One and one third innings, eight hits, one hit batter and nine runs against (seven earned).  That was Tiger reliever Jason Grilli’s stat line today as he got pummelled by the Indians offense.  And I know I’ve been bashing Jose Mesa recently, but it looks like (I didn’t listen to the game nor do I have play by play, I’m surmising this from the box score) at least one of Grilli’s runs scored off of Jose Mesa, and then Mesa was tagged for two unearned runs in the fourth.  So if you’re selective, you can say he had two strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in 1 2/3 innings when at least two, and probably three or more runs, scored on his watch.

I get the feeling the Tiger regulars just played this one out as they managed only two runs on six hits.  Craig Monroe hit a solo shot in the first inning, his first homerun of the spring and then Timo Perez drove home Marcus Thames with a sac.fly.  Thames played the entire game at first base and had two hits but he also had an error.

On a good note, Nate Robertson and Edward Campusano each threw two scoreless.  I really think Rule Five pick Edward Campusano is going to come out of camp as the last pitcher and do as good of a job as he can at replacing Jamie Walker.  At least I’m hoping he does because he really has a live arm.

« Previous Entries | Next Entries »

Powered by
WordPress

Click to advertise

http://every1bets.com