Mack Avenue Tigers

Bunt Singles: AL Central glance, and a look at a FS Detroit production

Kurt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:00:00 +0000

The Tigers and the rest of baseball are taking a few days off for the All-Star Break. The Tigers blogosphere, however, is running at full tilt with many excellent posts. Here goes:

Billfer had the chance to shadow the Fox Sports Detroit crew as it produced Friday's game against the Royals. He shares part of his experiences today, and will be continuing the series in subsequent posts. It's a real interesting behind-the-scenes look. (Detroit Tigers Weblog)
Thinking about the 2010 roster yet, as we watch Magglio Ordonez decline, Jeremy Bonderman rehab and Scott Sizemore play in the Futures Game? Tagne13 is over at Bless You Boys. An interesting discussion follows. (Bless You Boys)
Mike Rogers has been really busy at the Fire Jim Leyland blog. I'll just have to laundry list you a couple of must-reads, because it's all been excellent. Ordonez is 2010 Option (he's a Type A Free Agent... Mike tells you what that means); Creating Revised Zone Ratings for the Tigers this year, at first base and at second base, so far.
J Ellet Lambie has been beating the BJ Ryan drum. He asked a columnist for The National Post in Toronto for his take. (Eye of the Tigers)

A few links from the mainstream media to glance at:

Tom Gage looks at the first half in the Detroit News: Pleased, but not Perfect.
Jim Hawkins has a nice piece on Fu-Te Ni, who still lives in Toledo. (Eye of the Hawk)
Michael Rosenberg writes a column-ette on Brandon Inge in the Freep. I like the quote from Inge. It sums up why he'll always be popular in Detroit, and echos my column from Friday (which I hope you read, if not, please do!)

"This is not a brag or anything. It's for a lot of people. Any person who has been told, 'He can't do this, he won't ever make it, so he might as well just give up' type of deal ... it really pisses us off. It motivates me more than anything. I would have worked as hard, until I died, until I got to the point where I wanted to get. I'm still trying to get there."

Some Tigers statistics after the jump!

Roster Rumblings: Tigers interested in Huff, Dunn?

Kurt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:30:08 +0000

Are the Tigers talking with the Baltimore Orioles in looking to solve the corner outfielder problem? Ed Price at AOL Fanhouse thinks so. (Via MLB Trade Rumors)

In his Baseball Brunch notes, Prices writes that the Tigers inquired about Adam Dunn of the Nationals, but found the finances weren't right. So Price thinks it would make sense if Detroit was talking to Baltimore about corner infielder/DH Aubrey Huff. (Though he never flat-out says they have an interest.)

Huff has a .329 average, .327 on-base percentage and .424 slugging this season with a slightly unlucky .275 batting average on balls in play. Those numbers wouldn't really interest you too much -- "don't we have about three of that guy already?" But if his luck evens out and he finds a bit of the power he had last year, it could be a help.

I'm not real sold on him myself though, as it's the corner outfield that is really where the Tigers should be looking, not the corner infield.

More trade-rumor tracking after the jump!

Q&A with Matt Wallace: Sizemore, Simons could see call-ups

Kurt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:00:07 +0000

With the All-Star Break, we have four days without Tigers baseball. I thought I'd fill the couple of days by opening up the conversation to a few new voices.

I invited Matt Wallace, who follows the Tigers' farm system at Take 75 North, as my first guest.

Wallace has been covering the Tigers' system for a number of years now, and has an opportunity to watch as many of the players nearest to making The Show made their way up from the fields of Oneonta, New York. He's a terrific read, and one of the recent stories I'd encourage you to look at is on Alex Avila, who I think ranks as one of the top three prospects in the organization. He's a left-handed hitting catch who leads the Double-A Eastern League in runners thrown out.

Matt answered these questions on July 7, but I'll try to note if anything big changed since then. All omissions are my fault, not his.

My questions are in bold, his responses are in the regular font. It's a long interview, so I decided I'd place it after the jump.

Game 87: Clete Thomas shows them how it is done

Kurt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Tigers 10, Indians 1 (box)
Record: 48-39 (first place)

Clete Thomas got the hardest one out of the way first: the triple. He followed that up with another difficult one: a home run. Then he got a single. Three at-bats. Three hits. And Thomas was a double away from the cycle.

Alas, it was not meant to be. In his final at-bat of the day, he lined it right at the pitcher. But that was fine. Less than a week after returning to the big leagues, Thomas had a fallen a double short, but hit for a career-high five RBIs and helped the Tigers on their way to a laffer.

The top three in the lineup again stumbled for the Tigers, but the middle three of Marcus Thames, Thomas and Brandon Inge carried the team all the way with a 9-for-12 day, accounting for three home runs, seven runs and nine RBIs. Inge now has 21 home runs, good for fourth in the AL, as he head to the Home Run Derby set for 8 p.m. on ESPN.

With Justin Verlander and Bobby Seay on the mound, you don't need me to tell you the pitching went fine for the first eight innings. Unfortunately, a rusty Zach Miner -- hello, stranger! -- struggled in the ninth and walked in a run after having gone a full week since his last appearance. Fu-Te Ni bailed him out.

So the Tigers go into the break up by 3-1/2 games on the White Sox and four on the Twins in what promises to be a pretty decent three-way race in the second half.

If you had told me the Tigers would be in first palce at the break, I wouldn't have believed you. I thought they were a lot better than the "experts" said, but first-place better? I'll take it.

SITE NOTE:

In continuing to make upgrades this week, I have added the commenting system Disqus. You can use it with your Facebook or Twitter account, or you can just comment as normal. I hope it makes commenting better for everyone. I think it makes the commenting area look better, myself, but I always want to hear how it works for the readers, so please share positive/negative experiences. Thanks!

Porcello scheduled for July 22 start

Kurt — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:01:02 +0000

According to MLB.com, the Tigers have tentatively set their rotation coming out of the All-Star Break.

Luke French -- July 17 at Yankees
Justin Verlander or Edwin Jackson -- July 18 at Yankees
Verlander or Jackson -- July 19 at Yankees
July 20 off
Armando Galarraga vs. Seattle, July 21
Rick Porcello vs. Seattle, July 22

*updated to reflect my figuring out what month this is*

So French will be making his third career start in the new Yankee Stadium. Exciting times for the guy!

Leyland isn't sure whether he'll start Verlander or Jackson on Saturday, but both start this weekend. After Leyland broke the "horses" up earlier in June, I see he's putting them back-to-back agian. I wonder if that is because he doesn't know how much use they'll get in the All-Star Game so he's being conservative. With the off-day on the following Monday, he can certainly shuffle the deck again easy enough.

Porcello hasn't pitched since July 5, so he gets a pretty big break -- even moreso than Verlander had in 2006. I don't really think he wore down -- as some argued, though I certainly don't reject the theory outright. I think being a groundball pitcher and a rookie, sometimes he's going to get unlucky, and sometimes he's going to be a rookie. You can't expect him to pitch like he did in May every time out.

I think the key to his finding continued success in the second half is getting more swings and misses, and finding a few more strikeouts than he's had in recent starts. You can't make a living on ground balls alone.

(Porcello just started a blog, by the way, aptly named "Rick's blog.")

Game 86: Pitching, hitting woes cost Tigers

Kurt — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:43:50 +0000

Indians 5, Tigers 4 (box)
Record: 47-39 (first place)

This game was sorta annoying. The top of the lineup struggled to do much of anything -- until the ninth inning anyway. The starting pitcher did well enough, but reverted to his tentative self for one out, and it cost him the game. It was just kinda a bad game all around.

The top four batters had three hits, a walk and five strikeouts. That's why the Tigers lost, really. That's the only reason we are concerned over Armando Galarraga having a brief bound of tentativeness. When the top of your order isn't performing -- and the walk and the hit don't come until the ninth inning in a 5-2 game -- you're asking the bottom of the lineup to carry you, you've got a problem.

The Tigers have a problem.

OK, so now to Galarraga. He pitched well enough to win if he got any offense, and yet he pitched poorly enough to lose, because he did not attack the strike zone in the third inning.

The key moments came with a 2-1 lead: After getting two outs, Cleveland slugger Grady Sizemore tripled. Hey, it happens. He's good. Galarraga then pitched around Victor Martinez, who is really good. Then a trip from pitching coach Rick Knapp. Then a walk to Shin-Soo Choo. Then, Travis Hafner singles. Then, finally, Brandon Inge robs Jhonny Peralta for the third out.

Sigh. This is why you don't walk the bases loaded with two outs.

Don't take my word for it.

Manager Jim Leyland, in comments on Galarraga, which I transcribed from the postgame on FS Detroit:

"When you start pitching not to give up a run instead of pitching to get an out, you're going to get in trouble."

"He's been up here long enough to know. If a guy hits a solo home run, you've got two outs and the game is tied."

"He pitched Sizemore like Babe Ruth. He pitched Martinez like Babe Ruth. And he pitched Shoo like Babe Ruth."

"If you're afraid to throw the ball over the plate with two outs and nobody on base in the third inning, you've got problems."

Eventually, the Indians ran the lead up to 5-2 after Galarraga overstayed his welcome by an inning, then Fu-Te Ni and Freddy Dolsi combined to allow another run.

Placido Polanco walked to lead off the ninth, and Miguel Cabrera homered to right field to make it 5-4. Then Marcus Thames gave a struggling Kerry Wood a bit of help by flying out on the first pitch. Two batters later, game over.

Disheartening loss.

SITE NOTE:

Game 85: Edwin Jackson is playing like an All-Star

Kurt — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:01:04 +0000

Tigers 5, Indians 1 (box)
Record: 47-38 (first place)

Edwin Jackson must like home cooking, because he sure plays well in Detroit. Dating back to a loss to the Twins on May 4, the Tigers have won five consecutive games with Jackson on the mound at Comerica Park. And he's allowed just seven runs during those starts.

Tonight, the story was no different. Seven innings, four hits, two walks and one run -- a homer allowed to Ryan Garko.

The big difference is that the offense finally showed up to back him, which was all the more shocking because Cliff Lee was on the mound for the Indians. The bottom of the lineup gave Jackson all the runs he'd need in the second inning. Gerald Laird doubled to drive in a run, then Josh Anderson -- starting in place of Curtis Granderson -- hit a long single to get the next two across.

Marcus Thames added on a couple more runs in the eighth inning with a two-run shot to left field for his ninth longball of the season.

Joel Zumaya left the game after two pitches with a cut on his pitching thumb. He also tried to pitch through it a couple of days ago. Maybe he should be shelved until after the All-Star break to give it a chance to heal.

It was Jackson's first win since June 6.

There was a slight hiccup in the ninth -- why manager Jim Leyland continues to run Fernando Rodney out there in non-save situations I don't know -- but in the end the Tigers won a sixth consecutive game against the Indians this year. You need that kind of domination of a division foe to make up for the stumbles that have happened against the Twins.

Something I just learned from the MLB Network: 70 percent of the time, the team in first place at the All-Star Break goes on to win the division. The Tigers lead the White Sox by 3-1/2 games right now, so they'll be up by no less than 1-1/2 at the break. A good sign. Hopefully they aren't the exception to the rule.

Saturday, the Detroit Stars stand in for the Tigers, and they'll face the Cleveland Buckeyes in place of the Indians, as the teams honor he Negro Leagues.

Former Negro Leagues players Frank Crossan, Joe Douse, Melvin “Buck” Duncan, Harold “Bee-Bop” Gordon, Gene Johnson, Marvin Jones, Alton King, James “Bullet” Moore, Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley and Cecil Kaiser will be honored during an on-field, pregame ceremony, hosted by John Mason.

Bunt Singles: Talking trade deadline, least valuable players

Kurt — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:15:56 +0000

Most Valuable Network asked me to write a piece on where the Tigers stand at the trade deadline and my thoughts on the team so far. And that's what I did. Go check it out at the MLB Outsider Blog.
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark did his midseason awards, and uhm, un-awards. At least one Tiger made the list. There should probably be more. (Best, worst and weirdest of first half)
Hey, someone in the mainstream media actually wrote a column about the Tigers! Friend-of-the-blog Patrick Hayes in the Saginaw News wrote about Fernando Rodney. (MLive)
MLB.com beat Jason Beck reports (or rather, cites a report from the Toledo Blade) that Dontrelle Willis pitched a simulated game for the Mud Hens today. (Hat-tip Bless You Boys)
In the same story, Beck writes Carlos Guillen will most likely begin his rehab assignment in Lakeland, due to the All-Star games in the Eastern and International leagues.
Matt Wallace has a look at the recent roster moves in the farm system and what they mean. (Take 75 North)
John writes about the grizzly bear theorem in explaining how the Tigers can find a way to play Magglio Ordonez less without risking the wrath of the players' association. (Tiger Geist)
Best Brandon-Inge-as-an-All-Star headline award goes to Rojo. You just gotta go look yourself. (DesigNate Robertson)
Let's look at some stats. Joe Mauer is officially eligible for the batting title and leads the American League race by 28 points. That also bumps Miguel Cabrera to fourth with .323.
Edwin Jackson dropped to third in the AL hunt for the top ERA behind Felix Hernandez and Zack Greinke. He may catch Hernandez by the end of the day, though. He entered with a 2.59 ERA.
Among the three teams in actual contention for the AL Central, the Tigers ever-so-slightly score the most runs per game, and over-so-slightly allow the most runs per game. It's essentially a near equal three-way race right now. (Baseball Prospectus Team Audit)

Column: Why Brandon Inge matters

Kurt — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:11:17 +0000

Brandon Inge was, at last, overwhelmed.

At first snubbed by the fans and his peers after playing the first half of 2009 at an All-Star level, his season was vindicated Thursday afternoon when the results of the last-chance vote were announced. After a record number of votes, he learned fully 11.8 million of them chose him to go to St. Louis to participate in the Midsummer Classic.

Finally.

"It's a dream come true,” he told MLB.com's Jason Beck, and others. “I was fighting back some tears, man. I was so excited."

But this isn't just a story about a goofy third baseman who plays the game of baseball every day like an 8-year-old kid who just discovered his glove still worked after it spent a long winter in the closet.

Inge set for home run derby

Kurt — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01:57 +0000

I caught this gem at the bottom of Jason Beck's article on Brandon Inge tonight: soon after being elected an All-Star, he was asked to participate in Monday's home run derby. Of course, he said yes:

"I figured it would be something to have fun with," Inge said. "As I grew up as a little kid, I always watched the Home Run Derby. I wouldn't watch the whole game. I couldn't sit there long enough. So I just want to go out there and do that, have fun with it, enjoy it, represent our team the best I can."

So that should be fun to have a Tiger to root for. Now, just remember to hit the mute button when Chris Berman starts his "back-back-back" on every single home run hit.