Christmas is almost here and it is time to look at the list and check it twice for beleaguered Tigers.
Dear Santa,
You were soooooo good to us last year! You gave us Miguel Cabrerra and Edgar Renteria. We thought you had given us the American League on a platter. As you know it didn't quite work out that way so we are asking you for some more gifts this year. Dave Dombrowski has found a short stop and a catcher to help with the defense. They picked up a pitcher too, but it's hard to tell if he will be a starter or head to the bullpen.
So Santa, what we really need from you right now are some pitchers. Some good pitchers so we can feel a little bit better about 2009. You see, we have hitters. We have Ordonez, Granderson, Cabrerra, Thames, Sheffield and Guillen. It isn't about scoring runs. It's about keeping the other team from scoring runs. So we need a closer, because Rodney just scares me so much. My hands shake so much that I can't put ornaments on the tree if I think about him coming to the mound with less than a 5 run lead. So yes, a real bona-fide closer would be great for Christmas this year. And maybe someone to take over in the 7th inning for the starters. Someone who won't allow baserunners to score very often. Someone like the 2006 version of Rodney.
Perhaps Santa you could give us a healthy Joel Zumaya. Wrap him in bubble wrap and put him in a big box with a bow on it that says "Do not open until Opening Day" so nothing hurts him again. You could put Bonderman in there with him, just in case.
By the way, have we said "Thank you!!" enough for Galarraga? Probably not, but that little stocking stuffer was the second best gift of the year for Tiger fans. I still remember his debut against the Indians when he was mowing them down like my kid goes through cupcakes. Then he did it again, and again, and again. The gift that just keeps giving! I can only hope he does as well this year. The stats say a repeat is unlikely, but this is the time of year to wish and dream so I will!
So, just to re-cap Dear St. Nick, here is what we would like for Christmas this year: pitchers, pitchers, pitchers. ERA's somewhere south of 4.0 would be nice.
Please enjoy the cookies under the tree.
Signed,
Joe (and all Tigers' fans)
ps: I still want to believe!!!!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Why not?
What do the Tigers' need to be competitive in 2009?
Well, as I've discussed all year and others have too, they need pitching and defense. Maybe I'm crazy, but would Randy Johnson fit the bill for pitching?
In 2008, pitching for Arizona, he was 11-10 with an ERA of 3.91. I know, ERA isn't the best indicator of ability. How about WHIP of 1.239? That is better than everyone on the '08 Tigers' staff except Galarraga. He had 173 strikeouts in 184 innings pitched (8.46 K/9) and only 44 walks (2.15 BB/9). Of course he also gave up a hit per inning so he can't afford to have too many other guys on base ahead of the guy getting the hit. His HR/9 1.17 which seems a little high (but it's better than 1.61 isn't it Mr. Robertson).
I don't know if he would do as well against American League hitting. On the other hand this is Randy Johnson! When he pitched for the Yankees a couple of years ago his WHIP was comparable (but his ERA was higher). His W/L record for the Yankees was 34 and 19 over those two years, so he must have been doing something right.
It's only a thought. The Diamondbacks can't afford him and he wants to pitch. I think that the Tigers could do much worse. Maybe he and Sheffield can get their milestones on the same team in the same season!
Well, as I've discussed all year and others have too, they need pitching and defense. Maybe I'm crazy, but would Randy Johnson fit the bill for pitching?
In 2008, pitching for Arizona, he was 11-10 with an ERA of 3.91. I know, ERA isn't the best indicator of ability. How about WHIP of 1.239? That is better than everyone on the '08 Tigers' staff except Galarraga. He had 173 strikeouts in 184 innings pitched (8.46 K/9) and only 44 walks (2.15 BB/9). Of course he also gave up a hit per inning so he can't afford to have too many other guys on base ahead of the guy getting the hit. His HR/9 1.17 which seems a little high (but it's better than 1.61 isn't it Mr. Robertson).
I don't know if he would do as well against American League hitting. On the other hand this is Randy Johnson! When he pitched for the Yankees a couple of years ago his WHIP was comparable (but his ERA was higher). His W/L record for the Yankees was 34 and 19 over those two years, so he must have been doing something right.
It's only a thought. The Diamondbacks can't afford him and he wants to pitch. I think that the Tigers could do much worse. Maybe he and Sheffield can get their milestones on the same team in the same season!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Dimitri Young going down again...
I just saw this and thought I would post on it.
Dimitri Young played for the Tigers until 2006 when he sort imploded into a public and private hell. He got a fresh start with the Nationals and became Come Back Player of the Year in 2007. I sort of lost track of him after that. Now it looks like Washington has sent him to their AAA club.
I really hope he turns it around again.
He is a career .292/ .351/ .475 hitter
Dimitri Young played for the Tigers until 2006 when he sort imploded into a public and private hell. He got a fresh start with the Nationals and became Come Back Player of the Year in 2007. I sort of lost track of him after that. Now it looks like Washington has sent him to their AAA club.
I really hope he turns it around again.
He is a career .292/ .351/ .475 hitter
And now for something completely different...
No baseball for now. There are lots of trade rumors flying around. Tis the season for that kind of stuff and we all know that the Tigers are going to do something- we just don't really know what. We'll just have to wait and see what Mr. Dombrowski actually does (or doesn't do).
No, let's venture out a little. It's November 5th. I was up until 1 o'clock this morning watching the presidential election and the aftermath. It was quite a night. I remember 2000. I was working 2nd shift in Canada and couldn't watch on TV, but the internet was starting to matter and I was trying to follow the election that way. I remember hitting the refresh button over and over again and being surprised that Florida kept changing. Little did I know the drama that was starting to unfold over hanging chads and butterfly ballots and the apparent inability of the citizens of Florida to complete this most fundamental of democratic tasks- vote for the candidate of their choice. Back then the 'net was not the best way to follow an election.
This time around I used both the internet and TV. I am a junkie and I was getting my 4 year fix. I don't mess around with Fox or CNN on TV. No way. I go straight to PBS. Give it to me straight and don't muddle it up with silly holograms or fancy computerized displays. On the 'net I was bouncing back and forth between the Washington Post and NPR. I noticed that the Post was playing it very conservative when calling states. They were always slower to call a state one way or the other than either PBS or NPR. I'm guessing they relied less on exit polls and more on actual ballot counts? Who knows.
Yesterday's election was different for me. It was the first time I have ever voted for a Democrat in my life. I guess I was just not convinced that McCain was the guy. I used to think he was. I voted for him in 2000. I hoped he would run against Bush in 2004 but he waited until this year. But, except for the military stuff I just couldn't see him leading. I saw him following his advisors on economic stuff and following the GOP base on social stuff. Strange as this may be, I expect the President to lead. One of my biggest beefs with G. W. Bush is that he seems to abdicate way too much to others (especially Cheney and Rumsfeld until he fired him). Obama looks like someone who leads. He controlled his campaign and it reflected his style. I guess we'll find out in about 80 days.
I honestly don't know if he can control his party. That will be his toughest challenge. I remember how the Chinese challenged the Bush administration very early (remember when they forced a US intelligence plane down?) I'm sure that nations will challenge Obama also and he'll have to figure out how to react. I'm not sure you can really prepare for that in advance, so you can judge a person for not doing it already.
If Obama can control Pelosi and Reid then he has a chance to be the uniter he talks about being. I listed to Obama's speech last night and was very impressed. Yet, I remember G. W. Bush saying almost exactly the same things and then walking away from it. I hope Obama has the balls to remind Pelosi and Reid just how he got to where he is and makes them fall into line or they will tear it all apart in an effort to right all of the slights and wrongs they feel.
I don't feel like I was in a "Throw the bums out" mood yesterday. I just didn't feel as though the GOP had answers right now. Newt Gingrich has great ideas, but nobody listens to him unless they watch him on C-SPAN (like I do). I am probably more conservative than most people reading this in many ways, but is the GOP? They spend money like it's water. They don't even pretend to care about a balanced budget anymore. They put more and more federal programs into place (Perscriptions? No Child Left Behind?). And, seriously, don't get me started about the shredding of the Bill of Rights in the name of the War on Terror. There is nothing conservative about any of those things. There is pandering and fear mongering. There is a Department of Justice that became a fraternity house, with rush events and blackballing just like college. The GOP fought for the end to abortion (a very good and important thing) but never really said a word about torture of people.
No, I wasn't throwing the bums out. I was choosing a better option. I hope we made the right choice. I hope that Obama is able to live up to even 1/3 of the ridiculously high expectations being put on him. I hope that in 2 years the GOP has figured out how to get its head out of its collective ass and run candidates who are focused on making life better for everyone and not just the few who are the "base". If they don't then people like me (evangelical, conservative but not listening to what Dobson, Limbaugh, et al tell me to think) will continue to seek alternatives. I don't know who those alternatives are, but there probably won't be an "R" next to their names.
Next time we look at base ball again. Here hoping that Dombrowski finds some pitching! Go Tigers!
No, let's venture out a little. It's November 5th. I was up until 1 o'clock this morning watching the presidential election and the aftermath. It was quite a night. I remember 2000. I was working 2nd shift in Canada and couldn't watch on TV, but the internet was starting to matter and I was trying to follow the election that way. I remember hitting the refresh button over and over again and being surprised that Florida kept changing. Little did I know the drama that was starting to unfold over hanging chads and butterfly ballots and the apparent inability of the citizens of Florida to complete this most fundamental of democratic tasks- vote for the candidate of their choice. Back then the 'net was not the best way to follow an election.
This time around I used both the internet and TV. I am a junkie and I was getting my 4 year fix. I don't mess around with Fox or CNN on TV. No way. I go straight to PBS. Give it to me straight and don't muddle it up with silly holograms or fancy computerized displays. On the 'net I was bouncing back and forth between the Washington Post and NPR. I noticed that the Post was playing it very conservative when calling states. They were always slower to call a state one way or the other than either PBS or NPR. I'm guessing they relied less on exit polls and more on actual ballot counts? Who knows.
Yesterday's election was different for me. It was the first time I have ever voted for a Democrat in my life. I guess I was just not convinced that McCain was the guy. I used to think he was. I voted for him in 2000. I hoped he would run against Bush in 2004 but he waited until this year. But, except for the military stuff I just couldn't see him leading. I saw him following his advisors on economic stuff and following the GOP base on social stuff. Strange as this may be, I expect the President to lead. One of my biggest beefs with G. W. Bush is that he seems to abdicate way too much to others (especially Cheney and Rumsfeld until he fired him). Obama looks like someone who leads. He controlled his campaign and it reflected his style. I guess we'll find out in about 80 days.
I honestly don't know if he can control his party. That will be his toughest challenge. I remember how the Chinese challenged the Bush administration very early (remember when they forced a US intelligence plane down?) I'm sure that nations will challenge Obama also and he'll have to figure out how to react. I'm not sure you can really prepare for that in advance, so you can judge a person for not doing it already.
If Obama can control Pelosi and Reid then he has a chance to be the uniter he talks about being. I listed to Obama's speech last night and was very impressed. Yet, I remember G. W. Bush saying almost exactly the same things and then walking away from it. I hope Obama has the balls to remind Pelosi and Reid just how he got to where he is and makes them fall into line or they will tear it all apart in an effort to right all of the slights and wrongs they feel.
I don't feel like I was in a "Throw the bums out" mood yesterday. I just didn't feel as though the GOP had answers right now. Newt Gingrich has great ideas, but nobody listens to him unless they watch him on C-SPAN (like I do). I am probably more conservative than most people reading this in many ways, but is the GOP? They spend money like it's water. They don't even pretend to care about a balanced budget anymore. They put more and more federal programs into place (Perscriptions? No Child Left Behind?). And, seriously, don't get me started about the shredding of the Bill of Rights in the name of the War on Terror. There is nothing conservative about any of those things. There is pandering and fear mongering. There is a Department of Justice that became a fraternity house, with rush events and blackballing just like college. The GOP fought for the end to abortion (a very good and important thing) but never really said a word about torture of people.
No, I wasn't throwing the bums out. I was choosing a better option. I hope we made the right choice. I hope that Obama is able to live up to even 1/3 of the ridiculously high expectations being put on him. I hope that in 2 years the GOP has figured out how to get its head out of its collective ass and run candidates who are focused on making life better for everyone and not just the few who are the "base". If they don't then people like me (evangelical, conservative but not listening to what Dobson, Limbaugh, et al tell me to think) will continue to seek alternatives. I don't know who those alternatives are, but there probably won't be an "R" next to their names.
Next time we look at base ball again. Here hoping that Dombrowski finds some pitching! Go Tigers!
Monday, November 3, 2008
I'm back!
My Blogger dashboard tells me that I have not posted since August 10th. I have to believe that 2 1/2 months is plenty of time for a break. So let's jump back into this - shall we?
Let's sum up- in 2008 the Tigers spent more money on payroll than anybody but the Yankees. They started out 0-7 and never really recovered. They flirted with .500 but only enough to tease all of their fans before sliding backward, ever backward. They ended up finishing 74-88 for the year, good enough for last place in the AL Central. Even the Royals were a better club! For those of you who are looking forward to a weekly recap of those last 6 weeks or so that I didn't cover here- well... the Tigers sucked. That should about cover it.
So, now what do they do? Well, conventional wisdom says that they need pitching. They don't have a solid closer (now that Todd Jones has hung up his spikes). They are weak in the set up roles (with Zumaya a huge question mark and Rodney a series of different symbols followed by an exclamation point! For example: "What the @#$% just happened?!") The starters are just as uncertain. Verlander is still amazing, but his numbers aren't. Bonderman is hopefully recovering from shoulder surgery. Rogers will (or won't) retire- he won't say just yet. Willis and Robertson are mainly there to drive fans (who remember how solid they can be) just crazy. They fired the pitching coach. Maybe that will matter, maybe it won't. I don't know.
Their defense wasn't exactly helping the pitchers this year. They are statistically worse almost everywhere. The only player who really shined this year defensively was a pitcher. Not exactly what you're looking for at a payroll just north of $138,000,000. So Jim Leyland announced that Brandon Inge would be the starting 3rd baseman in 2009. I'm sure that will plug some of the holes on the left side of the infield. But that doesn't solve everything. Polanco is still a great 2nd baseman. Cabrera seems to be getting pretty good at 1st base. Everyone is talking about Shortstop and Edgar Rentaria. I'm not sure that he is that much of a problem. He didn't hit for squat in the first half of the season, but after that he was improving. In fact he shows some real good stats as you can see at Tiger Tales. I think that, with the limited payroll options the Tigers have right now that there are other places to spend their money. The outfield will be another area to focus on. Center is solid with Granderson. Right seems solid with Ordonez (assuming that he stays in Detroit). Left has been a question mark for a long time, but Leyland said that Carlos Guillen will be the starting Left Fielder. I'm not sure about that, but Leyland is better at this than I am so we'll see.
So the Tigers have a lot of questions to answer and apparently not a lot of money to solve them with. I think that it is fair to say that nobody is going to pre-maturely buy their World Series tickets this year. Hopefully they will do better than last place.
Let's sum up- in 2008 the Tigers spent more money on payroll than anybody but the Yankees. They started out 0-7 and never really recovered. They flirted with .500 but only enough to tease all of their fans before sliding backward, ever backward. They ended up finishing 74-88 for the year, good enough for last place in the AL Central. Even the Royals were a better club! For those of you who are looking forward to a weekly recap of those last 6 weeks or so that I didn't cover here- well... the Tigers sucked. That should about cover it.
So, now what do they do? Well, conventional wisdom says that they need pitching. They don't have a solid closer (now that Todd Jones has hung up his spikes). They are weak in the set up roles (with Zumaya a huge question mark and Rodney a series of different symbols followed by an exclamation point! For example: "What the @#$% just happened?!") The starters are just as uncertain. Verlander is still amazing, but his numbers aren't. Bonderman is hopefully recovering from shoulder surgery. Rogers will (or won't) retire- he won't say just yet. Willis and Robertson are mainly there to drive fans (who remember how solid they can be) just crazy. They fired the pitching coach. Maybe that will matter, maybe it won't. I don't know.
Their defense wasn't exactly helping the pitchers this year. They are statistically worse almost everywhere. The only player who really shined this year defensively was a pitcher. Not exactly what you're looking for at a payroll just north of $138,000,000. So Jim Leyland announced that Brandon Inge would be the starting 3rd baseman in 2009. I'm sure that will plug some of the holes on the left side of the infield. But that doesn't solve everything. Polanco is still a great 2nd baseman. Cabrera seems to be getting pretty good at 1st base. Everyone is talking about Shortstop and Edgar Rentaria. I'm not sure that he is that much of a problem. He didn't hit for squat in the first half of the season, but after that he was improving. In fact he shows some real good stats as you can see at Tiger Tales. I think that, with the limited payroll options the Tigers have right now that there are other places to spend their money. The outfield will be another area to focus on. Center is solid with Granderson. Right seems solid with Ordonez (assuming that he stays in Detroit). Left has been a question mark for a long time, but Leyland said that Carlos Guillen will be the starting Left Fielder. I'm not sure about that, but Leyland is better at this than I am so we'll see.
So the Tigers have a lot of questions to answer and apparently not a lot of money to solve them with. I think that it is fair to say that nobody is going to pre-maturely buy their World Series tickets this year. Hopefully they will do better than last place.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Week 19 ( I honestly don't know what to say.)
Week 19 has ended.
W/L 2/4
Not a very strong week for Detroit. Tampa Bay completed a sweep over Detroit in Tampa and the White Sox took 2 of 3 from them in Chicago. That series in Chicago completed a 10 game road trip for Detroit (their longest of the season) and brings them to Detroit for 23 of their next 26 games. Since they play better at Comerica than they do on the road, perhaps they can still pull off a Playoff run (but don't bet a mortgage payment on it).
The Starters were not as bad in Week 19 as they were in Week 18. Their ERA improved to 3.76 (16 earned runs in 38 1/3 innings), which is certainly okayish. We have Galarraga, Minor and Rogers to thank for that. They allowed 7 in 25 2/3. Robertson and Verlander, on the other hand, allowed 9 in 15 innings (5.40 ERA)! Verlander(!) has allowed 18 earned runs in only 17 1/3 innings over his last 3 starts! We have discussed Robertson enough, but Verlander has just not gotten it done at all lately.
The Bullpen had an ERA of 4.05 (9 earned runs in 20 innings). There were 3 Blown Saves in the week (2 in one game), so theorhetically the Week's record should be reversed if anyone could "slam the door" at the end of the game!
Defensivly there were 4 errors last week (which is Detroit's average for the year).
Offensively it was a mixed bag. They averaged 5.67 Runs Scored per game, but had two games with 2 runs or less and 3 with 8 runs or more. The Slugging % was .500 and BA was .265.
They should have won more games but the Bullpen cost them those two games and Verlander and Robertson never really gave them a chance in their two starts.
Week 20 has the end of the Oakland series, Toronto for 4 games and Baltimore for the weekend.
W/L 2/4
Not a very strong week for Detroit. Tampa Bay completed a sweep over Detroit in Tampa and the White Sox took 2 of 3 from them in Chicago. That series in Chicago completed a 10 game road trip for Detroit (their longest of the season) and brings them to Detroit for 23 of their next 26 games. Since they play better at Comerica than they do on the road, perhaps they can still pull off a Playoff run (but don't bet a mortgage payment on it).
The Starters were not as bad in Week 19 as they were in Week 18. Their ERA improved to 3.76 (16 earned runs in 38 1/3 innings), which is certainly okayish. We have Galarraga, Minor and Rogers to thank for that. They allowed 7 in 25 2/3. Robertson and Verlander, on the other hand, allowed 9 in 15 innings (5.40 ERA)! Verlander(!) has allowed 18 earned runs in only 17 1/3 innings over his last 3 starts! We have discussed Robertson enough, but Verlander has just not gotten it done at all lately.
The Bullpen had an ERA of 4.05 (9 earned runs in 20 innings). There were 3 Blown Saves in the week (2 in one game), so theorhetically the Week's record should be reversed if anyone could "slam the door" at the end of the game!
Defensivly there were 4 errors last week (which is Detroit's average for the year).
Offensively it was a mixed bag. They averaged 5.67 Runs Scored per game, but had two games with 2 runs or less and 3 with 8 runs or more. The Slugging % was .500 and BA was .265.
They should have won more games but the Bullpen cost them those two games and Verlander and Robertson never really gave them a chance in their two starts.
Week 20 has the end of the Oakland series, Toronto for 4 games and Baltimore for the weekend.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Bad Pitching beats Good Hitting every time!
First off I owe an apology. It has been brought to my attention that while I was blogging more regularly the Tigers were winning more regularly. Since I have been away from Section 148 they have not played as well. So I offer my deepest and most heartfelt apologies to all Tiger fans! I honestly had no idea the impact such a tiny spec of the blogosphere could have on an an institution such as my beloved Tigers. I have let down not only all of my fans but all Tigers’ fans. It is inexcusable, but I ask for your grace none-the-less.
So where did the Tigers end up during my absence?
July: W/L 13-13
Runs Scored 152
Runs Against 129
Batting Avg .286
Slugging % .466
Runs Scored/Game 5.85
Starting ERA 5.14
Bullpen ERA 3.96
Runs Against/ Game 5.00
Where exactly do you look to start pulling this together? I must say that the offense seems to be cranking out runs pretty nicely. They did accumulate their 11th shutout of the year last week, but even with those 0’s in the equation they average 5.07 runs/ game over the year. In the last 14 games they have averaged 5.65! Miguel Cabrera won the Player of the Month award! Ordonez is going for his second consecutive batting title! Maybe later I’ll look at the distribution of those runs (they score 0 runs 7/28 and 14 runs 7/30) but even so, almost 6 runs per game is pretty good and where the numbers showed they would be in the pre-season.
So how about them pitchers! Wow. Just “Wow!!”
Starting pitchers- well their ERA for the month was 5.14 and they averaged 5 2/3 innings pitched per start. To put that into perspective – June showed a 3.53 ERA and an average of 6 1/3 innings per start. What is probably contributing to this is the homeruns. July had 23 HR hit off of the Starters (1.38 per 9 innings pitched). June had 16 HR (0.87 per 9 innings pitched). The worst offender was Nate Robertson (his name is going to come up in a negative context a lot here) with a HR/9 of 2.59 (9 HR in 31 1/3 IP). Walks + Hits/ Inning Pitched (WHIP) was 1.42 in July (up from 1.33 in June). Again Nate had the worst at 1.85. That means roughly a combination of almost 2 baserunners per inning pitched. You put that many guys on base, and then serve up nice fat meatballs to knock out of the park 2.59 times per 9 innings and you end up with an ERA of 8.62 for the month for Mr. Robertson. Now in June he had a WHIP of 1.52 but HR/9 of only 0.87! Something horrible happened to Nate during July (and it’s not getting cured in August). But although Robertson was the worst, he was not alone. Verlander had an ERA of 4.70, Rogers’ was 4.73! The best pitcher was Galarraga with an ERA of 3.23 and WHIP of 1.21.
(If you would like to, statistically, dessicate Nate go here.) Apparently he is the worst starter in Tigers' history. At least he has that going for him!
So the Bullpen takes over somewhere in the 6th inning and then what happens? The Bullpen’s ERA was 5.00 (43 earned runs in 97 2/3 IP). Their biggest issues seems to be walks, they do that a lot (59 BB in those 97 2/3 IP or 5.43 BB per 9/IP). The WHIP for the Bullpen was 1.52 for July. That is actually not any worse than June’s (1.52). But those homeruns again- HR/9 was 1.20 in July and only 0.36 in June! So you put a guy on and then let the guy behind him hit it out of the park.
Jones got demoted (and diagnosed with tendinitis) at the end of the month. But there really isn’t anyone who can close better than Jones on the team right now (at least when he’s healthy). Zumaya can’t seem to control that amazing fastball of his (7.85 BB/9). Rodney has been horrible in many of his appearances (5.45 BB/9). The best relief pitcher Detroit has right now is Bobby Seay. He had 1 earned run over 11 1/3 IP and struck out 13. He is really the only arm I would trust right now.
So, in spite of scoring 5.85 runs in the average game the Tigers allowed 5.0 in an average game in July. That certainly sounds like a .500 team doesn’t it? That, my dear Reader, is what we are looking at right now, a mediocre team. We have an outstanding line up, but below average pitchers which averages out to average. I hate to admit this, but this team will not catch the Twins or the White Sox to win the Central. I predict that the Twins will win it. They played .600 ball in July and averaged .9 runs scored more than their opponents over that time. The Tigers had the same run differential, but I just don’t see them doing anything but losing games late in the game as their weak pitching wastes good hitting.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Tell me THAT didn't feel good!
Tigers 19 - Royals 4
Coming into this game the Tigers had been owned by Kansas City in 2008. First the Royals swept Detroit (at Detroit) to start the year (starting the 0-7 start). When the Tigers went to KC the Royals swept them again. Coming into this game the Royals had scored 21 runs against the Tigers this year. Detroit had only scored 11 runs in those first 6 games.
It isn't like this one game erases the 6 games Detroit gave up to KC so far this year. It doesn't even mean that Detroit won't give the next two games away and leave Kansas City with a 1 and 8 record against the Royals. But, it does mean that for one night all is good: Detroit gave the Royals a much deserved spanking. As a bonus the White Sox and the Twins lost today so the Tigers are 5.5 games out of 1st and 5.0 games out of 2nd place (7.0 games out of the Wild Card).
Coming into this game the Tigers had been owned by Kansas City in 2008. First the Royals swept Detroit (at Detroit) to start the year (starting the 0-7 start). When the Tigers went to KC the Royals swept them again. Coming into this game the Royals had scored 21 runs against the Tigers this year. Detroit had only scored 11 runs in those first 6 games.
It isn't like this one game erases the 6 games Detroit gave up to KC so far this year. It doesn't even mean that Detroit won't give the next two games away and leave Kansas City with a 1 and 8 record against the Royals. But, it does mean that for one night all is good: Detroit gave the Royals a much deserved spanking. As a bonus the White Sox and the Twins lost today so the Tigers are 5.5 games out of 1st and 5.0 games out of 2nd place (7.0 games out of the Wild Card).
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Week in Review 15 (... or why the Twins?)
It is an absolutely beautiful Sunday morning. I am out on the deck drinking a cup of coffee, listening to the birds and writing this blog. I feel that this perfection of the writing situation is necessary to balance out the wretchedness I must convey, the disappointment and sorrow that is Week 15 of Tigers' baseball 2008.
Last Sunday started out with Nate Robertson pitching 9 full innings and allowing only 1 run to the Mariners. That was not enough to win though, so most of the bullpen came out and pitched what turned out to be a 15 inning game that Detroit won 2 to 1 against Seattle. There are many outstanding things about that game:
So the Tigers win the first 3 games of the week! But...
The Twins come to Comerica for a four game series to go into the All Star Break. Game 1 had the Twins come back from being 4 runs down to win. Game 2 and 3 they win by one run each game. Lee Panas of Tiger Tales does a great job of evaluating the Twins and proving statistically that they should not be winning so many #$%^ games! But they do. So far this month the Twins are playing .727 ball (Tigers are .324). The Twins outscore their opponents by .9 runs per game in July (Tigers give up .2 runs per game). The bottom line is that the Twins got hot in June and are still hot. Detroit got hot in June and have cooled down. The White Sox are also continuing to win most of their games (.636 in July).
For the Week 15:
Starters' ERA 4.17
Bullpen ERA 2.78
Runs Allowed/Game 4.2
Batting SLG % .444
Batting AVG % .261
Runs Scored/ Game 5.33
3 Wins and 3 Losses and 8 games behind the White Sox in 3rd place.
Week 16 is a short one (because of the All Star Game). The Tigers try to take the last game of the series with the Twins today and then head to Baltimore on Thursday for 4 games against the Orioles (who are 45 and 47 as of this morning).
Carlos Guillen is representing the Tigers at the All Star Game. He is a good choice (though I would have chosen Magglio Ordonez if he were not on the DL). But in reality, it's hard to put any of these guys on the All Star Team based on 2008 alone.
Last Sunday started out with Nate Robertson pitching 9 full innings and allowing only 1 run to the Mariners. That was not enough to win though, so most of the bullpen came out and pitched what turned out to be a 15 inning game that Detroit won 2 to 1 against Seattle. There are many outstanding things about that game:
- Nate Robertson pitching 9 innings with only 1 run allowed and only 4 hits. That is the best game I can remember Nate pitching- ever. His ERA is over 5 and his WalksHitsperInningPitched (WHIP) is 1.14 (even after that game). So he is not your typical dominant pitcher. But he was playing ace stud out there on Sunday.
- This was the 4th game against Seattle and the last one of a road trip. It is easy to just roll over and think about being home again. Instead they "ground it out" and put together a close win (2 to 1 in the end) over the course of 15 innings. It showed that this team knows every game counts and they were not going to give up anything. That was the biggest thing for me.
- The bullpen sent 4 guys out there to cover 6 innings and they combined for 2 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. If only they pitched like that everyday!
So the Tigers win the first 3 games of the week! But...
The Twins come to Comerica for a four game series to go into the All Star Break. Game 1 had the Twins come back from being 4 runs down to win. Game 2 and 3 they win by one run each game. Lee Panas of Tiger Tales does a great job of evaluating the Twins and proving statistically that they should not be winning so many #$%^ games! But they do. So far this month the Twins are playing .727 ball (Tigers are .324). The Twins outscore their opponents by .9 runs per game in July (Tigers give up .2 runs per game). The bottom line is that the Twins got hot in June and are still hot. Detroit got hot in June and have cooled down. The White Sox are also continuing to win most of their games (.636 in July).
For the Week 15:
Starters' ERA 4.17
Bullpen ERA 2.78
Runs Allowed/Game 4.2
Batting SLG % .444
Batting AVG % .261
Runs Scored/ Game 5.33
3 Wins and 3 Losses and 8 games behind the White Sox in 3rd place.
Week 16 is a short one (because of the All Star Game). The Tigers try to take the last game of the series with the Twins today and then head to Baltimore on Thursday for 4 games against the Orioles (who are 45 and 47 as of this morning).
Carlos Guillen is representing the Tigers at the All Star Game. He is a good choice (though I would have chosen Magglio Ordonez if he were not on the DL). But in reality, it's hard to put any of these guys on the All Star Team based on 2008 alone.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Week 14 (or “National League, how we miss thee!”)
Twins and Mariners
3 Wins- 4 Losses
I am not too worried about a road trip to the West Coast that ends up 3 and 4. I honestly believed that Detroit would do more against the Mariners, but that was based on the first few times the teams met. Between meetings the Mariners got a new manager and have won 10 of their last 16 games (or something close to that). Seattle certainly didn’t want to remain the punching bag they had become, so they had to change something. Time will tell if they can become as good as they used to be a few years ago.
But this is a Tigers’ blog and we should focus there.
Starters’ ERA- in Week 14 it climbed to 4.93 which was not great. Robertson had the worst outing (6 earned runs in 4 innings pitched) but he was not alone- Galarraga, Rogers and Bonine all had starts that ended up with ERA’s over 4.50. Balancing it out, Verlander and Galarraga also had solid starts during the week (2 runs/ 6 innings and 1 run/ 6 innings respectively).
Bullpen ERA- 2.61. Certainly not a terrible week. The bullpen allowed 6 runs during the week over 23 innings. Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney gave up 4 of those in only 2 2/3 innings to blow 2 games. Without those performances (or at least with better performances in those 2 2/3 innings we are talking about a 5 and 2 week instead of 3 and 4. Not – so – good was allowing 6 walks over those same 23 innings. Zach Miner paid the price of too many walks (4) by walking to Toledo. Meritocracy at its finest!
The Lineup did not hold up their end of the deal this week. I had some painful memories of early April that I believed I had successfully buried deeply into my subconscious. The BA for the week was .274, SLG was .403 and Runs Scored / Game was 3.4. A major factor was that Magglio Ordonez was on the DL. They were shutout for the 10th time this season on Wednesday (by the Twins). To add insult to injury, they committed 8 errors- the worst week of the year defensively.
This coming week the Tigers return to Detroit after one more game in Seattle (which they barely won) on Sunday. They have 2 games against the Indians and a 4 game series against the 2nd place Twins. Cleveland has the worst record in the AL Central and was the only team in the division to have a losing record in Interleague play. The Twins are playing great baseball at home but not so great on the road. Detroit really needs to win both of these series as they head into the All Star Break next week.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Rivalry
Tigers vs. Twins July ‘08
This has been a very interesting series. You have two good teams battling for every win they can get as they both chase the White Sox, and it’s only July 1.
Usually I look at the numbers, but this series brings up the softer(?) side of baseball- the personalities and emotions that make it a game. I didn’t see the bean ball that the Twins’ pitcher Glen Perkins threw at Carlos Guillen, but I saw Galarraga throw 2 at Mauer a couple of innings later and I thought “Wow! That looked weird.” Then I saw a replay of the ball thrown at Guillen earlier and those two pitches made sense. I kind of admire the way that Pudge and Galarraga dealt with it too, they didn’t go after the first batter they faced in the next inning. Nope, they waited- for the Twins’ catcher. No point in brushing back an outfielder, they can’t change anything anyway. Nope, since you can’t show the pitcher you’re pissed you wait for his “battery mate”.
I, personally, don’t see anything wrong with “purpose pitches” as long as the pitcher is simply keeping the batter from getting too comfortable on the plate. It all fits into strategy and tactics in the game. I don’t think letting go at somebody’s head is part of that. I’m not even sure that Perkins meant to do that against Guillen, but Guillen certainly did. When I saw the replay I was impressed with the “look” (stare?, death wish?) Perkins received in return. Then Galarraga returns the favor, just sending a message that “you can’t mess with my boys!”. Good baseball.
Then there is another story in this series- Craig Monroe. He was a huge part of 2006 for Detroit, but in 2007 he couldn’t duplicate and he was traded to the Cubs before he ended up in Minnesota, but not happy about it. He wanted to stay with Detroit and was bitter about how it all worked out. Well, 2008 has been much like 2007 for C-Mo. He hasn’t hit well for the Twins (.218 BA and .451 SLG with 8 home runs). But he saves up something special for when he plays Detroit. 3 of his 8 home runs have been against the Tigers, including a 3 run blast on Tuesday night that turned out to be the game winner. There is some serious emotion there. It reminds me of Magglio Ordonez playing against the White Sox, he just seems to take it up a few notches against his old team (which is should be really scary for Chicago). C-Mo lets his bat speak for him saying “This could have been for you, but now it’s going to hurt you Detroit!”. I admire that (even if I wouldn’t take him back).
There is much to this game that stats don’t really show. That’s why it’s fun to watch teams like Detroit and Minnesota play it the way it is supposed to be played. I just hope Detroit plays a little bit harder on Wednesday to take the series.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Half way there...
Rockies 6, Tigers 7
Well, they are half way there. With the win yesterday over the Rockies the Tigers reached .500 for the first time this season. After today's game they will have played 1/2 of the season. They are currently 5 games behind the first place White Sox in the AL Central.
For the first half of the year the Tigers are batting .274 and slugging .435. They have scored 389 runs for an average of 4.86 (with the trend moving up). They have hit 146 doubles, 17 triples and 86 home runs while taking 278 walks and striking out 489 times.
They are pitching with a ERA of 4.64* for the Starters with 238 earned runs over 461.9 innings pitched. The bullpen has an ERA of 4.81 over 132.8 innings pitched. The Starters' ERA is trending down.
Interleague play ends today. Detroits eats National League teams for dinner (12 and 5 so far). I believe I heard a stat saying that Detroit was 31 and 9 over the past few years of Interleague play. Certainly this year playing National League teams has been a factor in their resurgence. Monday they start the 2nd half of the year against the Twins who are the also playing very well against NL teams (.600 ball over the month of June). Then the Tigers play against Seattle and Cleaveland before the Twins again.
Looking at June for all teams in the AL Central I see that the White Sox scored more runs than any other AL Central team (147 or 6.1 per game) and that includes being swept twice! The White Sox also allowed the fewest runs (101 or 4.2 per game). A really good combo. Detroit won more games but scored "only" 121 runs (5.0 per game) while allowing 102 (4.3 per game). The Twins scored 128 (5.1/ game) and allowed 116 (4.6/ game). The Indians scored 130 (5.2/ game) and allowed 125 (5.0/ game) and the Royals scored 122 (5.1/ game) and allowed 113 (4.7/ game). I hope the White Sox cool down before the Tigers play them again.
They are half way done and have a clean slate. They have to make up 5 games and play .610 ball for the rest of the year to make 90 wins for the season. They did better than that for June.
Let's enjoy this last game against the NL today.
Well, they are half way there. With the win yesterday over the Rockies the Tigers reached .500 for the first time this season. After today's game they will have played 1/2 of the season. They are currently 5 games behind the first place White Sox in the AL Central.
For the first half of the year the Tigers are batting .274 and slugging .435. They have scored 389 runs for an average of 4.86 (with the trend moving up). They have hit 146 doubles, 17 triples and 86 home runs while taking 278 walks and striking out 489 times.
They are pitching with a ERA of 4.64* for the Starters with 238 earned runs over 461.9 innings pitched. The bullpen has an ERA of 4.81 over 132.8 innings pitched. The Starters' ERA is trending down.
Interleague play ends today. Detroits eats National League teams for dinner (12 and 5 so far). I believe I heard a stat saying that Detroit was 31 and 9 over the past few years of Interleague play. Certainly this year playing National League teams has been a factor in their resurgence. Monday they start the 2nd half of the year against the Twins who are the also playing very well against NL teams (.600 ball over the month of June). Then the Tigers play against Seattle and Cleaveland before the Twins again.
Looking at June for all teams in the AL Central I see that the White Sox scored more runs than any other AL Central team (147 or 6.1 per game) and that includes being swept twice! The White Sox also allowed the fewest runs (101 or 4.2 per game). A really good combo. Detroit won more games but scored "only" 121 runs (5.0 per game) while allowing 102 (4.3 per game). The Twins scored 128 (5.1/ game) and allowed 116 (4.6/ game). The Indians scored 130 (5.2/ game) and allowed 125 (5.0/ game) and the Royals scored 122 (5.1/ game) and allowed 113 (4.7/ game). I hope the White Sox cool down before the Tigers play them again.
They are half way done and have a clean slate. They have to make up 5 games and play .610 ball for the rest of the year to make 90 wins for the season. They did better than that for June.
Let's enjoy this last game against the NL today.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Almost there!
Rockies 1, Tigers 7
Detroit continues to rack up wins at an impressive rate. It is almost too good to be true. They have won 15 of their last 19 games (.790 ball). They have won their last 5 series (with back to back sweeps!). Tonight they finally have more Runs Scored (382) than Runs Against (380). That's not a lot more, but it's better than have more Runs Against. As of the end of tonight's play they are 1 game below .500. That sounds much better than it is, but it still sounds sooo sweet after being 8 full games below .500 on June 1st.
There is no single standout on the team. Marcus Thames was hitting a home run every time he hit the ball for about 2 weeks, but now Granderson and Sheffield (returned from 2 weeks on the DL) are taking their turn. The "a walk's as good as a hit" line that my coach used to tell me ('cause he knew I couldn't hit) turned out to be true when Clete Thomas drew two (2!) bases loaded walks against the Cardinals to "drive" in the first and third (game winning) runs.
Nate Robertson pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 11 hits- but 0 earned runs. Jason Beck reports that no Tiger has done that since 1956. I don't know if that is great or terrible pitching, but add another W to the column.
So far this week Detroit is 4 and 1 with one more game this week. This is the last series against National League Teams and then it is back to AL play. All of the American League Teams play well against the NL, but Detroit is just crazy. This year they are 11 and 5 with 2 games to go. They beat the Cards and the Padres, two teams picked by many to contend for the playoffs this year. Tigers just love NL teams!
Today they attempt to hit the .500 mark for the first time since March 30th.
Detroit continues to rack up wins at an impressive rate. It is almost too good to be true. They have won 15 of their last 19 games (.790 ball). They have won their last 5 series (with back to back sweeps!). Tonight they finally have more Runs Scored (382) than Runs Against (380). That's not a lot more, but it's better than have more Runs Against. As of the end of tonight's play they are 1 game below .500. That sounds much better than it is, but it still sounds sooo sweet after being 8 full games below .500 on June 1st.
There is no single standout on the team. Marcus Thames was hitting a home run every time he hit the ball for about 2 weeks, but now Granderson and Sheffield (returned from 2 weeks on the DL) are taking their turn. The "a walk's as good as a hit" line that my coach used to tell me ('cause he knew I couldn't hit) turned out to be true when Clete Thomas drew two (2!) bases loaded walks against the Cardinals to "drive" in the first and third (game winning) runs.
Nate Robertson pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 11 hits- but 0 earned runs. Jason Beck reports that no Tiger has done that since 1956. I don't know if that is great or terrible pitching, but add another W to the column.
So far this week Detroit is 4 and 1 with one more game this week. This is the last series against National League Teams and then it is back to AL play. All of the American League Teams play well against the NL, but Detroit is just crazy. This year they are 11 and 5 with 2 games to go. They beat the Cards and the Padres, two teams picked by many to contend for the playoffs this year. Tigers just love NL teams!
Today they attempt to hit the .500 mark for the first time since March 30th.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Week 12
This week saw most of a road trip to the west coast for Interleague Play against the San Fransisco Giants and the San Diego Padres (with the end of a homestand last Sunday against the LA Dodgers).
Results- 6 Wins against 2 Losses. Not too shabby at all. Let's break it down some more...
Starters- Robertson had the best outing on Sunday against the Dodgers (0 earned runs in 6 innings facing only 21 batters). Robertson also had the worst outing last night against the Padres with 5 earned runs in 6 innings with 26 batters faced). But, both ended up in W's for the Tigers! Galarraga continued to impress with 0 earned runs in 6 innings on Wednesday against the Giants. Verlander had a good outing on Monday with only 2 earned runs and 7 strikeouts over 6 innings, but the Tigers took the loss on one of 2 bullpen implosions this week (we'll get to that later). Rogers was dealing on Wednesday with 1 earned run in 7 innings and finally got a win for his efforts. Bonine (aka "the New Guy") pitched pretty well on Friday (2 earned runs in 7 innings) but Bull Pen Implosion #2 cost the Tigers a win. By my figures the Starters ERA was 2.37 for the week! (10 earned runs over 38 innings pitched). That will win a lot of ballgames!
Relivers- The Bull Pen saw the return of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumuya this week, 2 of the best arms of the incredible 2006 season. Both had been on the DL all summer. Bautista and Lopez were sent to Toledo to make room for the dynamic duo with the Tigers. Lopez will be pitching longer to possibly prepare him for a starter role later on (if necessary). Well, the only 2 losses of the week were directly the result of the Bull Pen. Tuesday Justin Verlander pitched well and handed it over after 6 innings and a one run lead- Dolsi did well at first, but in the 8th he couldn't get an out. Well, we've got Rodney back don't we? Let's see what he can do... Bless You Boys has the best graphical representation of the results. Rodney faced 5 batters and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk. Before it is all over the score is 8 to 4. Detroit did score 2 in the 9th to make it an 8-6 final, but it wasn't pretty. You can pretty much repeat the story for Friday's game (except it was tied up at 2 instead of Detroit having a 1 run lead). Rodney gets the ball after a strong start by Bonine and .... Ian brings out his nuclear fire ball again (he will run out of images before long if this continues). Rodney did not record an out but gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks and never got anyone out. His ERA at that point is 135. Fossum tried to put out the fire but couldn't. The tie game was now a 2-6 game with 3 outs left for the Tigers, sorry. The good news is that, aside from those two games, the bull pen did well giving up only 4 runs.
Batters- There are really only two words for the week: Marcus Thames! He hit a home run almost everytime he went to the plate this week. And they were key hits too, the kind that win the game. Overall there were 10 homeruns this week and they scored 5.3 runs per game! That will do it. SLG % was up to .473.
They committed 4 errors this past week.
So they won 4 and lost 2. Again the Starters gave strong performances and the Batters scored runs. This is a good combination. Detroit is now in 3rd place and 6 games behind the White Sox.
Results- 6 Wins against 2 Losses. Not too shabby at all. Let's break it down some more...
Starters- Robertson had the best outing on Sunday against the Dodgers (0 earned runs in 6 innings facing only 21 batters). Robertson also had the worst outing last night against the Padres with 5 earned runs in 6 innings with 26 batters faced). But, both ended up in W's for the Tigers! Galarraga continued to impress with 0 earned runs in 6 innings on Wednesday against the Giants. Verlander had a good outing on Monday with only 2 earned runs and 7 strikeouts over 6 innings, but the Tigers took the loss on one of 2 bullpen implosions this week (we'll get to that later). Rogers was dealing on Wednesday with 1 earned run in 7 innings and finally got a win for his efforts. Bonine (aka "the New Guy") pitched pretty well on Friday (2 earned runs in 7 innings) but Bull Pen Implosion #2 cost the Tigers a win. By my figures the Starters ERA was 2.37 for the week! (10 earned runs over 38 innings pitched). That will win a lot of ballgames!
Relivers- The Bull Pen saw the return of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumuya this week, 2 of the best arms of the incredible 2006 season. Both had been on the DL all summer. Bautista and Lopez were sent to Toledo to make room for the dynamic duo with the Tigers. Lopez will be pitching longer to possibly prepare him for a starter role later on (if necessary). Well, the only 2 losses of the week were directly the result of the Bull Pen. Tuesday Justin Verlander pitched well and handed it over after 6 innings and a one run lead- Dolsi did well at first, but in the 8th he couldn't get an out. Well, we've got Rodney back don't we? Let's see what he can do... Bless You Boys has the best graphical representation of the results. Rodney faced 5 batters and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk. Before it is all over the score is 8 to 4. Detroit did score 2 in the 9th to make it an 8-6 final, but it wasn't pretty. You can pretty much repeat the story for Friday's game (except it was tied up at 2 instead of Detroit having a 1 run lead). Rodney gets the ball after a strong start by Bonine and .... Ian brings out his nuclear fire ball again (he will run out of images before long if this continues). Rodney did not record an out but gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks and never got anyone out. His ERA at that point is 135. Fossum tried to put out the fire but couldn't. The tie game was now a 2-6 game with 3 outs left for the Tigers, sorry. The good news is that, aside from those two games, the bull pen did well giving up only 4 runs.
Batters- There are really only two words for the week: Marcus Thames! He hit a home run almost everytime he went to the plate this week. And they were key hits too, the kind that win the game. Overall there were 10 homeruns this week and they scored 5.3 runs per game! That will do it. SLG % was up to .473.
They committed 4 errors this past week.
So they won 4 and lost 2. Again the Starters gave strong performances and the Batters scored runs. This is a good combination. Detroit is now in 3rd place and 6 games behind the White Sox.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Lunch Time
It's lunch time and that gives me a few minutes to reflect on last week for our Detroit Tigers.
Week 11 had 6 Wins and 1 Loss- the best 7 day performance of the year.
Four of the Starters (Robertson, Verlander, Rogers and Galarraga) had a quality start (6 innings pitched with 3 earned runs or less). Dontrelle Willis made a terrible start against the Indians on Monday and Eddie Bonine made an "Okay" start against the Dodgers on Saturday. By my figures* their ERA in Week 11 was 4.55. If you take Willis' meltdown (8 runs in 1.1 innings) out of the picture the Starters ERA drops to 2.90! Galarraga allowed 2 and 0, Rogers and Verlander allowed 1 each and Robertson allowed 3.
The Lineup produced 5.3 runs per game, a definite improvement over most other weeks. This probably won't shock anyone, but when the Tigers average more than 5 runs per game they win more than they lose. This season they have scored over 5 RPG over the course of a week 4 times. Those are the weeks where they have had winning records (Week 3, 4, 8, and 11). Over those weeks their record is 19 and 8.
The Defense is still not really improving (despite Inge at 3rd more) a whole lot. There were 5 errors last week, higher than their average for the year, but most of those came in a very sloppy game on Saturday. Overall they are doing better defensively than they did in '07 or '06.
For the most part the Relief staff did very well this week. Bautista stepped in to stop the blood bath on Monday for Willis and from there on they just rolled. Their combined ERA was 1.00 over 18 innings pitched. That is outstanding!
So all of this together meant 6 wins. Going into the week Detroit was 10 games behind a White Sox team that had won 5 in a row. Coming out of the week Detroit has humbled those White Sox with a 3 game sweep and taken advantage of a weak Dodgers team with a second 3 game sweep! They are now 6 games behind the White Sox. The Tigers continue their Interleague play with 3 games against the San Fransisco Giants and 3 against the San Diego Padres. Both teams are beatable so it may be another good week.
*My ERA figures are open to question so don't bet your mortgage payment on them or anything. My spreadsheet is a work in progress and I'm always tweaking it and looking for errors in it. Just so you know...
Week 11 had 6 Wins and 1 Loss- the best 7 day performance of the year.
Four of the Starters (Robertson, Verlander, Rogers and Galarraga) had a quality start (6 innings pitched with 3 earned runs or less). Dontrelle Willis made a terrible start against the Indians on Monday and Eddie Bonine made an "Okay" start against the Dodgers on Saturday. By my figures* their ERA in Week 11 was 4.55. If you take Willis' meltdown (8 runs in 1.1 innings) out of the picture the Starters ERA drops to 2.90! Galarraga allowed 2 and 0, Rogers and Verlander allowed 1 each and Robertson allowed 3.
The Lineup produced 5.3 runs per game, a definite improvement over most other weeks. This probably won't shock anyone, but when the Tigers average more than 5 runs per game they win more than they lose. This season they have scored over 5 RPG over the course of a week 4 times. Those are the weeks where they have had winning records (Week 3, 4, 8, and 11). Over those weeks their record is 19 and 8.
The Defense is still not really improving (despite Inge at 3rd more) a whole lot. There were 5 errors last week, higher than their average for the year, but most of those came in a very sloppy game on Saturday. Overall they are doing better defensively than they did in '07 or '06.
For the most part the Relief staff did very well this week. Bautista stepped in to stop the blood bath on Monday for Willis and from there on they just rolled. Their combined ERA was 1.00 over 18 innings pitched. That is outstanding!
So all of this together meant 6 wins. Going into the week Detroit was 10 games behind a White Sox team that had won 5 in a row. Coming out of the week Detroit has humbled those White Sox with a 3 game sweep and taken advantage of a weak Dodgers team with a second 3 game sweep! They are now 6 games behind the White Sox. The Tigers continue their Interleague play with 3 games against the San Fransisco Giants and 3 against the San Diego Padres. Both teams are beatable so it may be another good week.
*My ERA figures are open to question so don't bet your mortgage payment on them or anything. My spreadsheet is a work in progress and I'm always tweaking it and looking for errors in it. Just so you know...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
5 in a row!
LA Dodgers 7, Tigers 12
The air is starting to get a little thin way up here, it's hard to catch your breath.
We are seeing some things that we have not seen much of this year. This afternoon the Tigers beat the Dodgers for their 5th win and 2nd series victory in a row. The game was really sloppy defensively (3 Tiger errors, 1 Dodger error) and neither starting pitcher did well- but Eddie Bonine didn't pitch as badly as Brad Penny did. One of the things we are starting to see is that the Tigers' line up seems to really enjoy weak pitching. I mean "enjoy" in the way that Tigers enjoy small, weak deer. Getting 12 runs on 15 hits and 6 walks makes it a whole lot easier for your pitcher to not be too hot, but still get a victory in their first major league game (congratulations to Eddie on striking out the first batter he faced in his Major League career).
The hitters had 27 total bases today. They had 18 last night. In fact they have averaged 15.8 total bases for this week (6/8-6/14/08). That is good enough for a Slugging % of .470 and 5.3 runs per game! More importantly, that was good enough for a 6 and 1 record this past week- by far their best week this year. Hopefully this is an awakening, a realization by the hitters that they can hit the ball and score runs on a consistent basis. Today there were 2 doubles (Larish and Ordonez) and 2 triples (Granderson and Polanco) as well as 2 homeruns (Thames and Cabrera). The only starter to not get at least a single today was Carlos Guillen.
The starters are really pulling things together. Even with Willis' 8 runs allowed in 1.1 innings earlier this week and Bonines 6 runs in 5.1 innings today the starters only allowed 21 earned runs this week for an ERA of 4.55 (by my figures). So let's see, the Starters allowed 4.55 runs per 9 innings and the Hitters scored an average of 5.3 runs per game- let me do some math here..... result = 6 wins and 1 loss!
Sunday (Fathers' Day) the Tigers attempt to complete a sweep of the Dodgers. Then they fly to San Fransisco to take on the Giants. I can finally say that I am getting excited again about this team's chances to make it exciting this year. I almost feel wrong saying this, but since the White Sox lost again today the Tigers are "only" 7 games out of first place.
Go Tigers!!
The air is starting to get a little thin way up here, it's hard to catch your breath.
We are seeing some things that we have not seen much of this year. This afternoon the Tigers beat the Dodgers for their 5th win and 2nd series victory in a row. The game was really sloppy defensively (3 Tiger errors, 1 Dodger error) and neither starting pitcher did well- but Eddie Bonine didn't pitch as badly as Brad Penny did. One of the things we are starting to see is that the Tigers' line up seems to really enjoy weak pitching. I mean "enjoy" in the way that Tigers enjoy small, weak deer. Getting 12 runs on 15 hits and 6 walks makes it a whole lot easier for your pitcher to not be too hot, but still get a victory in their first major league game (congratulations to Eddie on striking out the first batter he faced in his Major League career).
The hitters had 27 total bases today. They had 18 last night. In fact they have averaged 15.8 total bases for this week (6/8-6/14/08). That is good enough for a Slugging % of .470 and 5.3 runs per game! More importantly, that was good enough for a 6 and 1 record this past week- by far their best week this year. Hopefully this is an awakening, a realization by the hitters that they can hit the ball and score runs on a consistent basis. Today there were 2 doubles (Larish and Ordonez) and 2 triples (Granderson and Polanco) as well as 2 homeruns (Thames and Cabrera). The only starter to not get at least a single today was Carlos Guillen.
The starters are really pulling things together. Even with Willis' 8 runs allowed in 1.1 innings earlier this week and Bonines 6 runs in 5.1 innings today the starters only allowed 21 earned runs this week for an ERA of 4.55 (by my figures). So let's see, the Starters allowed 4.55 runs per 9 innings and the Hitters scored an average of 5.3 runs per game- let me do some math here..... result = 6 wins and 1 loss!
Sunday (Fathers' Day) the Tigers attempt to complete a sweep of the Dodgers. Then they fly to San Fransisco to take on the Giants. I can finally say that I am getting excited again about this team's chances to make it exciting this year. I almost feel wrong saying this, but since the White Sox lost again today the Tigers are "only" 7 games out of first place.
Go Tigers!!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Don't pinch me, I do not want to wake up!
White Sox 1, Tigers 2
SWEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not only a sweep, but of the White Sox- the reviled and 1st place White Sox. (BTW, if you don't already read it daily you should read Roar of the Tigers. Whether the Tigers win or lose, this is pure Tiger joy and frivolity that you should not miss.)
I was at work during this afternoon's game, so I had only Gameday to follow but I don't think that took away any excitement. Kenny Rogers threw another outstanding game. That makes 4 quality starts in a row for him and in those four starts opponents have scored 4 runs (yup, four runs. You can count them on one hand and still hitch a ride to the next game with the thumb you have left over). In fact he has allowed 2 runs (or fewer) in 8 of his 14 starts. Unfortunately the hitters have not even been able to come up with 3 runs in 3 of those 8 games. Try to wrap your brain around that....
Today Rogers allowed only 4 hits in 8 full innings of work. Todd Jones finished the game off with 1 hit and no runs allowed, picking up the win because....
MIGUEL CABRERA HITS A WALK OFF HOME RUN!!!! I saw on MLB.com's highlight reel that this was only his 2nd walk off home run. That seems hard to believe with the power he has, but why would they lie and why would I doubt them? MLB.com reports that this is the first walk off home run since August 25th, 2007. They also say that this is the first time the Tigers have swept the White Sox since 2003 (that doesn't seem so hard to believe, the CWS always seem to have Detroit's number).
Again, pitching makes the day. Cabrera gets the homer, but Rogers gets the credit (if not the win). Looking quickly at my handy, dandy spreadsheet it appears that the only starter to give up more than 2 runs per game lately is Nate Robertson (who gives up 4 runs as a matter of habit). If this keeps going the way it has been lately I see good things coming. Runs allowed per game is back to where it was last season (4.94). This may be something beautiful in the offing, we'll see.
But now- it's time to mow the lawn.
SWEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not only a sweep, but of the White Sox- the reviled and 1st place White Sox. (BTW, if you don't already read it daily you should read Roar of the Tigers. Whether the Tigers win or lose, this is pure Tiger joy and frivolity that you should not miss.)
I was at work during this afternoon's game, so I had only Gameday to follow but I don't think that took away any excitement. Kenny Rogers threw another outstanding game. That makes 4 quality starts in a row for him and in those four starts opponents have scored 4 runs (yup, four runs. You can count them on one hand and still hitch a ride to the next game with the thumb you have left over). In fact he has allowed 2 runs (or fewer) in 8 of his 14 starts. Unfortunately the hitters have not even been able to come up with 3 runs in 3 of those 8 games. Try to wrap your brain around that....
Today Rogers allowed only 4 hits in 8 full innings of work. Todd Jones finished the game off with 1 hit and no runs allowed, picking up the win because....
MIGUEL CABRERA HITS A WALK OFF HOME RUN!!!! I saw on MLB.com's highlight reel that this was only his 2nd walk off home run. That seems hard to believe with the power he has, but why would they lie and why would I doubt them? MLB.com reports that this is the first walk off home run since August 25th, 2007. They also say that this is the first time the Tigers have swept the White Sox since 2003 (that doesn't seem so hard to believe, the CWS always seem to have Detroit's number).
Again, pitching makes the day. Cabrera gets the homer, but Rogers gets the credit (if not the win). Looking quickly at my handy, dandy spreadsheet it appears that the only starter to give up more than 2 runs per game lately is Nate Robertson (who gives up 4 runs as a matter of habit). If this keeps going the way it has been lately I see good things coming. Runs allowed per game is back to where it was last season (4.94). This may be something beautiful in the offing, we'll see.
But now- it's time to mow the lawn.
The Sleepers awake?!
Can this be for real? Do we dare hope? Can we handle more ups and downs from these 2008 Tigers?
I don't pretend to know all of the answers, but let's look at the numbers and see what they say?
I've said before that although the hitting hasn't been that great this year it is really the defense and pitching that are hurting the Tigers, so how is that working out lately?
In Weeks 1 through 3 the ERA for the Starting Rotation was just north of 6 (6.17 by my figures) and they were facing an average of 4.67 batters per inning (BPI). During that stretch the Tigers' record was 5 and 13.
Compare that to Weeks 9 through 11 (we are finishing up Week 11 now)- ERA for Starters is 3.66. That number includes both Dontrelle Willis' terrible night Monday against Cleveland and Justin Verlander's amazing night on Wednesday against Chicago. Not giving up over two runs per game is huge! The Starters are also facing fewer batters per inning, only 4.21 since June 1 so they are staying in the game longer with lower ERA's.
Now to that hitting thing...
In the first two weeks the lineup scored 33 runs (3 runs per game). For this week and last week they have scored 43 runs (4.3 runs per game). Their Batting Average was .246 at the beginning. In the last two weeks is has been .254. Their slugging percentage (total bases/ at bats) was .356 in the early weeks and has been .375 in the last two.
All of these trends are in the right direction! In the first 3 weeks of the year their record was 6 and 12 (.333). In the last 3 weeks it has been 7 and 9 (with 3 games to play yet this week). If the Starting pitching continues at this rate and the batters continue to score runs there is still hope that they can make this race exciting for Tigers' fans.
I don't pretend to know all of the answers, but let's look at the numbers and see what they say?
I've said before that although the hitting hasn't been that great this year it is really the defense and pitching that are hurting the Tigers, so how is that working out lately?
In Weeks 1 through 3 the ERA for the Starting Rotation was just north of 6 (6.17 by my figures) and they were facing an average of 4.67 batters per inning (BPI). During that stretch the Tigers' record was 5 and 13.
Compare that to Weeks 9 through 11 (we are finishing up Week 11 now)- ERA for Starters is 3.66. That number includes both Dontrelle Willis' terrible night Monday against Cleveland and Justin Verlander's amazing night on Wednesday against Chicago. Not giving up over two runs per game is huge! The Starters are also facing fewer batters per inning, only 4.21 since June 1 so they are staying in the game longer with lower ERA's.
Now to that hitting thing...
In the first two weeks the lineup scored 33 runs (3 runs per game). For this week and last week they have scored 43 runs (4.3 runs per game). Their Batting Average was .246 at the beginning. In the last two weeks is has been .254. Their slugging percentage (total bases/ at bats) was .356 in the early weeks and has been .375 in the last two.
All of these trends are in the right direction! In the first 3 weeks of the year their record was 6 and 12 (.333). In the last 3 weeks it has been 7 and 9 (with 3 games to play yet this week). If the Starting pitching continues at this rate and the batters continue to score runs there is still hope that they can make this race exciting for Tigers' fans.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Well, that was different!
Tigers 7 Mariners 5
That was different...
It was different because the Tigers won on Sunday (the first time all year). I noticed this in 2007 also, they don't seem to do well on Sundays. I will have to go back and look at my calendar to see what their record was but I don't think it was very good.
It was different because they came from behind. In 2006 I never felt that the Tigers were out of a game, even if they were 5 or 6 runs down late in the game. This year if they haven't scored 6 runs I seriously expect them to lose the game. Today they battled it out and won after giving up the lead twice and even falling behind. They put together 4 runs in the ninth inning after taking a walk and then pounding out a bunch of hits from the top of the order. I couldn't really follow it because I was rebuilding a barn, but I could tell Dan and Jim were pretty excited on the radio!
It was different because they won a series on the road! Again, I have to check but if this isn't the first time this year it has been rare enough.
Bonderman didn't pitch great but he stuck it out. Miner got the win and again pitched well. Jones scared the crap out of me (again) but finished it out (that isn't different at all now is it?).
Detroit is still in 4th place but are now 6 games out of 1st place, picking up 1.5 games in the last 7 days (I told you all that Chicago would get cold). The Tigers have won 3 or the last 4 and 5 of their last 10.
Today they take on the A's in Oakland. The A's are on a 5 game winning streak going into the series. Kenny Rogers traded starts with Bonderman because Kenny's record in Oakland is ridiculously good. Hopefully that will not be any different.
That was different...
It was different because the Tigers won on Sunday (the first time all year). I noticed this in 2007 also, they don't seem to do well on Sundays. I will have to go back and look at my calendar to see what their record was but I don't think it was very good.
It was different because they came from behind. In 2006 I never felt that the Tigers were out of a game, even if they were 5 or 6 runs down late in the game. This year if they haven't scored 6 runs I seriously expect them to lose the game. Today they battled it out and won after giving up the lead twice and even falling behind. They put together 4 runs in the ninth inning after taking a walk and then pounding out a bunch of hits from the top of the order. I couldn't really follow it because I was rebuilding a barn, but I could tell Dan and Jim were pretty excited on the radio!
It was different because they won a series on the road! Again, I have to check but if this isn't the first time this year it has been rare enough.
Bonderman didn't pitch great but he stuck it out. Miner got the win and again pitched well. Jones scared the crap out of me (again) but finished it out (that isn't different at all now is it?).
Detroit is still in 4th place but are now 6 games out of 1st place, picking up 1.5 games in the last 7 days (I told you all that Chicago would get cold). The Tigers have won 3 or the last 4 and 5 of their last 10.
Today they take on the A's in Oakland. The A's are on a 5 game winning streak going into the series. Kenny Rogers traded starts with Bonderman because Kenny's record in Oakland is ridiculously good. Hopefully that will not be any different.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
1/3 of the way there
If the Tigers can get 6 more outs giving up less than 3 runs they will finish the first 1/3 of the year with a 23 and 31 record. Certainly that is nothing to get super excited about.
But I do see somethings about this team that are exciting (in a good way)-
But I do see somethings about this team that are exciting (in a good way)-
- The starters' ERA is dropping. Including tonight's game the ERA for this week is only 2.35 for the starting 5.
- Jim Leyland is managing again. I say "again" because I felt that earlier this month he stopped managing and just hoped it would all turn around. Realizing that he has some great talent that he puts on the field everyday and he should be able to count on them to perform at a high level, I feel that he should have gotten more involved sooner. But, he is involved now- Jones was released, Cabrera is moved to 1st Base (and as of today to 6th in the lineup), Sheffield was taken out of Left Field. Even Brandon Inge is getting more playing time at 3B! I'm not sure what the "biggest" move was, but I put a lot of weight on the decision to bring Dontrelle Willis back to the bullpen and leave Galarraga in the rotation. In my eyes this was clearly a merit based decision. Galarrago currently has the lowest ERA of any starter on the team. He has 4 wins (despite having 2 fewer opportunities than the rest of the starting rotation). If Leyland continues to play those who perform over those who have higher paychecks then he is managing and the Tigers have a chance.
- The Tigers are "only" 7 1/2 games behind the first place White Sox. That is not where anyone expected them to be, but they can still win this thing (do I feel giddy after watching the Tigers beat up on Seattle again as I write this?). The White Sox have been hot lately, but they are only playing just above .500 ball. The American League Central is just not seeing any team take over. I think that every team (except the Tigers) has been in first place this year.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Rainy Days and Sundays always get me down...
I apologize to those of you getting ready to tell me that it is supposed to be "Mondays". I tried, but that just didn't fit.
It's Sunday. In fact it's Mothers' Day. As a gift to all of their collective Moms the Lord sent rain to Detroit today. That allowed the Tigers to call their Moms without needing to explain why they hit 1 for 4 today and couldn't get the runner home when he was in scoring position. Of course it's entirely possible that they may have won today too. You don't really know with these guys.
What are they doing well?
Walks = 147 so far this year. That is actually a HUGE improvement over last year. The 147 is 3rd in the American League so far. In 2007 they ranked 12th (of 14) in walks with a total of 474. In other words- in 2007 the Tigers averaged 2.9 walks per game. So far this year they are averaging 3.9 walks per game. This helps to explain why the batting average can be .023 less this year yet their On Base Percentage (OBP) is basically the same as last years (.343 vs .345).
Runs = 180 YTD. That's still pretty good. 4.7 runs per game should win quite a few ball games. However, as good as that might be it is quite a bit less than they did in 2007 (5.5 runs per game) or 2006 (5.1 runs per game).
(Totally unrelated- as I write this the BoSox are doing to the Twins what they did to the Tigers earlier. The Twins came into the 9th up 9 to 6. It is currently 9 to 8 and Coco Crisp just stole 2nd to put the tying run in scoring position. What a great game! update- the Twins pulled it out with an infield grounder to SS to end it. Plus Craig Monroe hit 2 home runs in this game to give him 4 for the year. It's good to see that he found a home and is playing well. He was a huge part of 2006 for Detroit.)
Back to the Tigers...
What aren't they doing well?
Pitching- How does an Earned Run Average of 5.14 sound? Compare it to 4.57 (2007). Compare that to 3.84 (2006). If you just look at the starters so far this year the ERA actually jumps to 5.62 (including Dontrelle Willis' 4 runs in 5 innings before going on the DL).
Defense- Overall the Tigers aren't really any worse than previous years. In 2006 they averaged 0.62 Errors per game. In 2007 they averaged 0.61 per game and they are doing the same this year. But where the errors occur plays a part too. When you break it down by position you see that, although the overall error rate is slightly less this year, the infield is worse. 3B has the biggest decline- 0.391 errors per game (9/38). And for those of you wondering, Carlos Guillen has 4 and Miguel Cabrera has 5. Moving Guillen from Shortstop has improved that position from 0.303 per game in 2007 to 0.130 in 2008.
I'm not an expert at these defensive stats, so this is purely conjecture, but I have to believe that the drop in defense is not helping that Runs Against stat. Of course, by definition, an error cannot impact a pitcher's ERA. But that batter should have been out and instead they are still on base and the pitcher must face another batter. In 2007 (looking at Batters Facing Pitcher) the starters faced an average of 4.34 batters each inning. In 2008 that is up to 4.52 batters per inning.
What to do? Well, I am in the camp of people who believe that Brandon Inge should be given his old job at 3B again. I believe that he would save enough runs (and pitchers' arms) to balance out the drop in hitting from that position. Again, I don't see that this team can't score runs- they seem to do that quite well overall. Much more than that I see that they can't prevent the other teams from scoring runs. Brandon helps with that. Plus, he has played 30 of the 38 games so far this year anyway, so it isn't that his weaker bat hasn't been a part of the situation so far anyway. Brandon had 18 errors at 3rd base last year in 146 games (0.123 errors/ game). So far the Cabrera/ Guillen combo has achieved 9 in 38 games.
That's my $0.02 worth.
(all stats gathered from www.baseball-reference.com)
It's Sunday. In fact it's Mothers' Day. As a gift to all of their collective Moms the Lord sent rain to Detroit today. That allowed the Tigers to call their Moms without needing to explain why they hit 1 for 4 today and couldn't get the runner home when he was in scoring position. Of course it's entirely possible that they may have won today too. You don't really know with these guys.
What are they doing well?
Walks = 147 so far this year. That is actually a HUGE improvement over last year. The 147 is 3rd in the American League so far. In 2007 they ranked 12th (of 14) in walks with a total of 474. In other words- in 2007 the Tigers averaged 2.9 walks per game. So far this year they are averaging 3.9 walks per game. This helps to explain why the batting average can be .023 less this year yet their On Base Percentage (OBP) is basically the same as last years (.343 vs .345).
Runs = 180 YTD. That's still pretty good. 4.7 runs per game should win quite a few ball games. However, as good as that might be it is quite a bit less than they did in 2007 (5.5 runs per game) or 2006 (5.1 runs per game).
(Totally unrelated- as I write this the BoSox are doing to the Twins what they did to the Tigers earlier. The Twins came into the 9th up 9 to 6. It is currently 9 to 8 and Coco Crisp just stole 2nd to put the tying run in scoring position. What a great game! update- the Twins pulled it out with an infield grounder to SS to end it. Plus Craig Monroe hit 2 home runs in this game to give him 4 for the year. It's good to see that he found a home and is playing well. He was a huge part of 2006 for Detroit.)
Back to the Tigers...
What aren't they doing well?
Pitching- How does an Earned Run Average of 5.14 sound? Compare it to 4.57 (2007). Compare that to 3.84 (2006). If you just look at the starters so far this year the ERA actually jumps to 5.62 (including Dontrelle Willis' 4 runs in 5 innings before going on the DL).
Defense- Overall the Tigers aren't really any worse than previous years. In 2006 they averaged 0.62 Errors per game. In 2007 they averaged 0.61 per game and they are doing the same this year. But where the errors occur plays a part too. When you break it down by position you see that, although the overall error rate is slightly less this year, the infield is worse. 3B has the biggest decline- 0.391 errors per game (9/38). And for those of you wondering, Carlos Guillen has 4 and Miguel Cabrera has 5. Moving Guillen from Shortstop has improved that position from 0.303 per game in 2007 to 0.130 in 2008.
I'm not an expert at these defensive stats, so this is purely conjecture, but I have to believe that the drop in defense is not helping that Runs Against stat. Of course, by definition, an error cannot impact a pitcher's ERA. But that batter should have been out and instead they are still on base and the pitcher must face another batter. In 2007 (looking at Batters Facing Pitcher) the starters faced an average of 4.34 batters each inning. In 2008 that is up to 4.52 batters per inning.
What to do? Well, I am in the camp of people who believe that Brandon Inge should be given his old job at 3B again. I believe that he would save enough runs (and pitchers' arms) to balance out the drop in hitting from that position. Again, I don't see that this team can't score runs- they seem to do that quite well overall. Much more than that I see that they can't prevent the other teams from scoring runs. Brandon helps with that. Plus, he has played 30 of the 38 games so far this year anyway, so it isn't that his weaker bat hasn't been a part of the situation so far anyway. Brandon had 18 errors at 3rd base last year in 146 games (0.123 errors/ game). So far the Cabrera/ Guillen combo has achieved 9 in 38 games.
That's my $0.02 worth.
(all stats gathered from www.baseball-reference.com)
Where do we go from here?
May 10, 2008
Yankees at Detroit
Yankees win 5-2
Back by popular demand (a total of 50% of my readers have requested a return of this blog, thank you to both of you!!!)
I'm not even sure how to write this up (and it isn't because I haven't been posting and don't have any practice). It's more because there is so little to right about. It isn't really that the Tigers stink. They don't by most measures. Except, well - how do you put this? THEY'RE IN LAST PLACE! That is kind of hard to get around when they have played almost 40 games.
The Tigers are 3.5 games out of first as I write this. Although they have beaten the Yankees 4 games out of 5 this year, they have not done well against any other team. They have scored 180 runs (averaging 4.7 runs per game) but they have allowed 209 (averaging 5.5 runs per game).
What's weird about that is the Tigers have scored more runs than anyone in the American League except the Red Sox! It's certainly not like they can't score runs. In fact they have score 1/2 runs more per game than the rest of the Central Division. But they have also been shut out 5 times out of those 38 games, which points out the other side of the stat- they have allowed those 5.5 runs per game. The Central Division average is only 4.6 runs allowed. Now that 1/2 run per game they score above the Division average doesn't seem so hot does it?
Why? Why? Why? Well, it would be easy and cheap to blame Fox network (it certainly seems like the Tigers lose every time they are on national TV). But it seems more to be the pitching and the defense. The team's ERA is 5.15 right now and has actually been worse over the last week (5.75). In fact it is 4.99 at home in Comerica Park! Ouch!
Enough- throw strikes! Catch the ball when it comes to you! Then they will win.
Gotta go.
Yankees at Detroit
Yankees win 5-2
Back by popular demand (a total of 50% of my readers have requested a return of this blog, thank you to both of you!!!)
I'm not even sure how to write this up (and it isn't because I haven't been posting and don't have any practice). It's more because there is so little to right about. It isn't really that the Tigers stink. They don't by most measures. Except, well - how do you put this? THEY'RE IN LAST PLACE! That is kind of hard to get around when they have played almost 40 games.
The Tigers are 3.5 games out of first as I write this. Although they have beaten the Yankees 4 games out of 5 this year, they have not done well against any other team. They have scored 180 runs (averaging 4.7 runs per game) but they have allowed 209 (averaging 5.5 runs per game).
What's weird about that is the Tigers have scored more runs than anyone in the American League except the Red Sox! It's certainly not like they can't score runs. In fact they have score 1/2 runs more per game than the rest of the Central Division. But they have also been shut out 5 times out of those 38 games, which points out the other side of the stat- they have allowed those 5.5 runs per game. The Central Division average is only 4.6 runs allowed. Now that 1/2 run per game they score above the Division average doesn't seem so hot does it?
Why? Why? Why? Well, it would be easy and cheap to blame Fox network (it certainly seems like the Tigers lose every time they are on national TV). But it seems more to be the pitching and the defense. The team's ERA is 5.15 right now and has actually been worse over the last week (5.75). In fact it is 4.99 at home in Comerica Park! Ouch!
Enough- throw strikes! Catch the ball when it comes to you! Then they will win.
Gotta go.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
O-K then... 0 and 3 it is.
Alright, I need to put some perspective on this because it is starting to simply look bad. Of course I am not a professional sports writer. (Hey, it's only the third time I've posted to this blog so I won't even claim amateur status for sports writing.)
I will comfortably claim "Tigers' fan" and "baseball fan" status though and that gives me as much qualification as anyone else for looking at today's situation. Let's look at this hard and close-don't flinch now because it stings a little...
Tigers
Swept
at Home
by
the Royals
The mighty Tigers who (statistically) should score somewhere between 5 and 6 runs per game with all of the incredible hitters they have up there every day. The Tigers who have been picked by many of those professional writers to win the American League Central Division (aka "The toughest division in baseball"). The Tigers who we wish would just start selling 2008 World Series Tickets now so we can get it over with. Uh, yeah, those Tigers. I guess that's why Mr. Leyland reminds us that we have to actually play the games to see who wins. Because this series didn't show us any winning.
The first game was actually the most competitive for the Tigers. They scored runs, hit the ball and overall played well rounded baseball. The Royals simply did the same thing with one more run than Detroit when it was all said and done on Monday. Wednesday the batters (except for Renteria) simply never woke up. Thursday there were more hits, but only one more run. Brandon Inge showed us his power again with a solo home run that amounted to Detroit's only run of the day. Actually it was the only run since the Carlos Guillen solo home run on Monday.
Bonderman pitched a pretty good game until the 4th. He was throwing lots of strikes and getting outs. Then he gave up a 2 run home run to Alex Gordon. Not exactly "The Big Inning" people worry about with Mr. Bonderman (and much later than the 1st) but if Brandon Inge is your plan for run support then those 2 runs can seem like 20. Bonderman seemed to be losing his gas in the 6th and 7th innings and he gave up a run in each. He was certainly not dominating in those innings like he was early in the game (not one but TWO 1,2,3 innings today (the 1st and 3rd)!!
Now for the perspective part-
Flashback 12 months. April 6, 2007. The Tigers (defending American League Champion Tigers) have just completed 3 games. They are in last place because they have lost 2 of those 3 games. In fact the second loss was to the Royals. In fact I remember April of 2007 as being a rather dismal month for the Tigers. They came out of it with a winning record, but the hitters weren't hitting and the bullpen was scaring people (just like this week). So while we certainly don't like to see them lose. And we certainly don't like to see them get swept- At home- By the Royals. All in all these are three games with 159 (plus?) to go.
The White Sox come to Detroit Friday for a 3 game series. Let's see what happens with them.
Royals 4, Tigers 1
0 - 3
5th place
I will comfortably claim "Tigers' fan" and "baseball fan" status though and that gives me as much qualification as anyone else for looking at today's situation. Let's look at this hard and close-don't flinch now because it stings a little...
Tigers
Swept
at Home
by
the Royals
The mighty Tigers who (statistically) should score somewhere between 5 and 6 runs per game with all of the incredible hitters they have up there every day. The Tigers who have been picked by many of those professional writers to win the American League Central Division (aka "The toughest division in baseball"). The Tigers who we wish would just start selling 2008 World Series Tickets now so we can get it over with. Uh, yeah, those Tigers. I guess that's why Mr. Leyland reminds us that we have to actually play the games to see who wins. Because this series didn't show us any winning.
The first game was actually the most competitive for the Tigers. They scored runs, hit the ball and overall played well rounded baseball. The Royals simply did the same thing with one more run than Detroit when it was all said and done on Monday. Wednesday the batters (except for Renteria) simply never woke up. Thursday there were more hits, but only one more run. Brandon Inge showed us his power again with a solo home run that amounted to Detroit's only run of the day. Actually it was the only run since the Carlos Guillen solo home run on Monday.
Bonderman pitched a pretty good game until the 4th. He was throwing lots of strikes and getting outs. Then he gave up a 2 run home run to Alex Gordon. Not exactly "The Big Inning" people worry about with Mr. Bonderman (and much later than the 1st) but if Brandon Inge is your plan for run support then those 2 runs can seem like 20. Bonderman seemed to be losing his gas in the 6th and 7th innings and he gave up a run in each. He was certainly not dominating in those innings like he was early in the game (not one but TWO 1,2,3 innings today (the 1st and 3rd)!!
Now for the perspective part-
Flashback 12 months. April 6, 2007. The Tigers (defending American League Champion Tigers) have just completed 3 games. They are in last place because they have lost 2 of those 3 games. In fact the second loss was to the Royals. In fact I remember April of 2007 as being a rather dismal month for the Tigers. They came out of it with a winning record, but the hitters weren't hitting and the bullpen was scaring people (just like this week). So while we certainly don't like to see them lose. And we certainly don't like to see them get swept- At home- By the Royals. All in all these are three games with 159 (plus?) to go.
The White Sox come to Detroit Friday for a 3 game series. Let's see what happens with them.
Royals 4, Tigers 1
0 - 3
5th place
Monday, March 31, 2008
Opening Day- Tigers vs. Royals
Tigers 4, Royals 5 (11 innings)
Opening Day has come and gone and it looked pretty much like people have predicted the season would- good hitting, decent fielding and insufficient pitching.
Justin Verlander gave up 2 runs in 6 official innings and left 2 runners on without getting an out in the 7th. The Bullpen couldn't keep those runners from scoring with Bautista pitching well but giving up the losing run in the 11th.
Brandon Inge did well in Center Field. Carlos Guillen had some good plays at 1st but showed his inexperience there too. Cabrera had a throwing error, putting a ball in the dirt early, for the team's only error.
The batters did just fine, 10 hits and 6 walks were enough to score 4 runs and leave 10 men on base. Cabrera hit his first homerun as a Tiger and Carlos Guillen added one in the 8th for the last Tiger run of the game. Gary Sheffield had only 1 official at bat, but drew 4 walks on the day (one with the bases loaded to drive in a run). I love to watch Sheffield play baseball, he never loses sight of the goal and will do whatever he needs to do to get on base and score runs for his team. He did it again today.
The rain held off long enough to get a long game in. I was able to watch the first 9 innings at Fifth Third Park, home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, where WLAV set up a watch party for people to see the game. It was a great way to see the game with friends and stay out of the rain and cold. (It was 40 and raining here in Grand Rapids).
Hopefully this loss is a minor setback and on Wednesday they get a win.
Opening Day has come and gone and it looked pretty much like people have predicted the season would- good hitting, decent fielding and insufficient pitching.
Justin Verlander gave up 2 runs in 6 official innings and left 2 runners on without getting an out in the 7th. The Bullpen couldn't keep those runners from scoring with Bautista pitching well but giving up the losing run in the 11th.
Brandon Inge did well in Center Field. Carlos Guillen had some good plays at 1st but showed his inexperience there too. Cabrera had a throwing error, putting a ball in the dirt early, for the team's only error.
The batters did just fine, 10 hits and 6 walks were enough to score 4 runs and leave 10 men on base. Cabrera hit his first homerun as a Tiger and Carlos Guillen added one in the 8th for the last Tiger run of the game. Gary Sheffield had only 1 official at bat, but drew 4 walks on the day (one with the bases loaded to drive in a run). I love to watch Sheffield play baseball, he never loses sight of the goal and will do whatever he needs to do to get on base and score runs for his team. He did it again today.
The rain held off long enough to get a long game in. I was able to watch the first 9 innings at Fifth Third Park, home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, where WLAV set up a watch party for people to see the game. It was a great way to see the game with friends and stay out of the rain and cold. (It was 40 and raining here in Grand Rapids).
Hopefully this loss is a minor setback and on Wednesday they get a win.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Here we go...
Section148's Manifesto-
This blog is focused on Major League Baseball. Even more, it is focused on the Detroit Tigers. Maybe "focused" is too strong of a word, we may go in other directions too- as long as I can make some nebulous link to the Tigers (or at least MLB)than anything is fair game.
I love baseball as a professional sport. In my eyes baseball has many of the same challenges as life:
For example- baseball shows that perfection is not necessary! A couple of weeks ago the New England Patriots came very close to achieving the goal of a perfect season, only losing the Super Bowl in the final seconds of the game. I don't know about where you work, but perfection like that is probably beyond our organization's abilities. In baseball, however, the best teams ever win 6 or 7 games out of 10 over the course of a season. To me such an accomplishment seems more like life. If our organizations/ businesses/ whatever succeed 6 days out of 10 then we are on a solid path and should feel good about it! That's 3 good days out of a normal work week if you break it down. How does that compare to your week?
People make the difference in baseball. Different people bring different skills to the game every day, and nothing is for sure on any day. Again the basis for success is pretty lifelike. A MLB batter is doing well if he can hit the ball 3 out of 10 times he is at the plate. Just making in on base happens only 4 out of 10 times for the best players in the game. Of course hitting a 3" ball thrown by a guy who gets paid millions of dollars to keep you from hitting it is why the batter also gets paid millions (if he can do it well.) But in the workforce we also have to deal with "fastballs" and "curveballs" being thrown at us many times, so the comparisons survive. Even on defense the Game mimics life. Placido Polanco committed no errors in 2007 in 683 plays, that is perfection! Brandon Inge committed 18 errors in 434 plays but is considered an extremely good 3rd baseman because he makes more attempts than many 3rd basemen. Sometimes the fact that you try means you'll drop the ball, but at least you tried! Maybe you kept a runner from going to 2nd or 3rd on a ball you dropped. That's what it is about.
So it is February in West Michigan. The thermometer has risen to 5 above zero today. The wind is at 13 mph and nobody wants to go outside, but in just 4 days the pitchers and catchers for the Detroit Tigers will be starting Spring Training in Lakeland, FL and preparing for another 162 games (and hopefully a few more in the Post-Season!). I plan to follow them very closely and keep this going a few times per week as the 2008 MLB Season goes on. The blog may get a little bumpy, but hopefully the Tigers' season will be less so. I also read the blogs of many other Tiger and baseball bloggers daily and will be linking to them frequently. Once I figure out how, I'll put links to them in sidebar of this page.
Next time a prediction for the American League and some other thoughts.
This blog is focused on Major League Baseball. Even more, it is focused on the Detroit Tigers. Maybe "focused" is too strong of a word, we may go in other directions too- as long as I can make some nebulous link to the Tigers (or at least MLB)than anything is fair game.
I love baseball as a professional sport. In my eyes baseball has many of the same challenges as life:
For example- baseball shows that perfection is not necessary! A couple of weeks ago the New England Patriots came very close to achieving the goal of a perfect season, only losing the Super Bowl in the final seconds of the game. I don't know about where you work, but perfection like that is probably beyond our organization's abilities. In baseball, however, the best teams ever win 6 or 7 games out of 10 over the course of a season. To me such an accomplishment seems more like life. If our organizations/ businesses/ whatever succeed 6 days out of 10 then we are on a solid path and should feel good about it! That's 3 good days out of a normal work week if you break it down. How does that compare to your week?
People make the difference in baseball. Different people bring different skills to the game every day, and nothing is for sure on any day. Again the basis for success is pretty lifelike. A MLB batter is doing well if he can hit the ball 3 out of 10 times he is at the plate. Just making in on base happens only 4 out of 10 times for the best players in the game. Of course hitting a 3" ball thrown by a guy who gets paid millions of dollars to keep you from hitting it is why the batter also gets paid millions (if he can do it well.) But in the workforce we also have to deal with "fastballs" and "curveballs" being thrown at us many times, so the comparisons survive. Even on defense the Game mimics life. Placido Polanco committed no errors in 2007 in 683 plays, that is perfection! Brandon Inge committed 18 errors in 434 plays but is considered an extremely good 3rd baseman because he makes more attempts than many 3rd basemen. Sometimes the fact that you try means you'll drop the ball, but at least you tried! Maybe you kept a runner from going to 2nd or 3rd on a ball you dropped. That's what it is about.
So it is February in West Michigan. The thermometer has risen to 5 above zero today. The wind is at 13 mph and nobody wants to go outside, but in just 4 days the pitchers and catchers for the Detroit Tigers will be starting Spring Training in Lakeland, FL and preparing for another 162 games (and hopefully a few more in the Post-Season!). I plan to follow them very closely and keep this going a few times per week as the 2008 MLB Season goes on. The blog may get a little bumpy, but hopefully the Tigers' season will be less so. I also read the blogs of many other Tiger and baseball bloggers daily and will be linking to them frequently. Once I figure out how, I'll put links to them in sidebar of this page.
Next time a prediction for the American League and some other thoughts.
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