As I was originally shown by Lee Panas at Tiger Tales, the 162 games in a standard baseball season can be broken down into 9 innings of 18 games each. The Tigers have completed 36 games, which equal 2 innings of play. Let’s look at how they have done.
They are in 2nd place, 2 ½ games behind the Twins in the AL Central. The Tigers’ record is 20-16.
Their overall batting average for the 2nd inning is .265. Their OBP = .333. Their SLG = .422 (.265/.333/.422) Overall this shows some improvement over the 1st inning (.278/ .377/.410). They scored 80 runs in the 2nd inning. They also allowed 80 runs in the inning. Overall this team has allowed almost as many runs as it has scored all year.
The pitching for the 2nd Inning has improved over the 1st. The starting rotation pitched 99 1/3 innings and allowed 57 earned runs for an ERA of 5.16. This allowed them to win 6 and lose 7 during this inning. Their WHIP improved to 1.47 also.
The bullpen continues to dominate. They pitched 65 1/3 innings and allowed 20 earned runs (2.76 ERA). They walked only 31 and gave up only 2 homeruns during that time. There is little question that the bullpen is a significant reason for why the Tigers have won as many games as they have.
So far the Tigers are outperforming expectations. By scoring 164 runs and allowing 165 they should have a record of 18 - 18. But they have a record that is 2 games better than that (20 – 16) and are right in the fight for the pennant. Part of this is a result of how they lose: they have lost 3 games where the opposing team has scored 10+ runs and none of those games were close. They have also lost 0-8, which contributes to the skewing of the numbers toward mediocrity. Part of it is also that they are developing a reputation for coming from behind to win late in the game- this usually means a close final score that doesn’t show the heart of the team in a final score.
This inning the Tigers beat Minnesota, New York and LA. They also lost to Minnesota in a sweep at Target field (their worst series so far). This team can compete with the best teams in the AL. They must figure out the Twins in Minnesota, but they are certainly capable of winning against any team on the schedule.
The bottom line is that this is a very fun team to watch and will be long into the fall.
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
April in the D...
Best pitcher for April:
ERA Starter = Willis 3.13/ WHIP = Bonderman 1.35/ xFIP = Verlander 4.23 (26 K’s)
ERA Reliever = Valverde 0.75/ WHIP = Valverde 0.75/ xFIP= Zumaya 2.39 (0 walks!)
Best hitter for April
BA = Jackson .364/ OBP = Damon .431/ OPS = Cabrera 1.042/ BABIP = Jackson .530
Record for the month = 14 and 10
Series wins vs: KC, CLE, MIN,
Series losses vs: KC, SEA
Series split vs: LAA
Record vs East 0-0
Record vs Central 8-4
Record vs West 6-6
After the month of April the Tigers are sitting in 2nd place in the AC. They have a 14 and 10 record and accomplished this in spite of starting the season on the road and having an 11 game road trip out west to play Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before going to Texas. They managed to split the road with a 7-7 record. So far at home they have continued to show the dominance they have displayed in the past with a 7-3 record.
The beginning of the season showed a number of come from behind wins. Since then they have continued to win close games. The Tigers score an average of 4.9 runs per game and allow 4.5. In fact they are currently outperforming the Pythagorean Expectation by one game. I would give much of this credit to the Bullpen.
The Relievers have carried the Starters for the first month. Zumaya, Coke and Valverde have been able to shut down opposing lineups extremely effectively. Ni and Perry have also been huge so far this season. The only one who has not been steller has been Thomas, but he gets props for making an emergency start when Willis was sick and giving a surprising 3 innings allowing the bats to carry it through for a win.
The Starters have all struggled in some way. Verlander has not been dominating so far (just like last April). Porcello may be having a “sophomore slump” as his ERA is over 8.00 and his WHIP is 1.91. Yet his xFIP (a measure of how a pitcher is doing on the things he can control) is only 4.25. It does seem that everything batters make contact on from him becomes a hit- I doubt that continues. The biggest surprises have been Bonderman and Willis. Both have pitched well, Willis has allowed only 8 runs in 23 innings (3.13 ERA). That is the best ERA in the Starting Rotation!
On the offensive side there have been some great starts so far this year.
Austin Jackson has started his Tigers’ career in a Rookie of the Year pace with a .364 BA and a .917 OPS. Half of what he makes contact with falls for a hit (.530 BABIP). He is fast! He had 6 doubles, 2 triples and 5 stolen bases.
Johnny Damon, batting #2, started slowly but is more than making up for it to close out the month. He is batting .329 with a .890 OPS along with a walk rate of 14.7% (15).
Maggs is picking up where he left off last September with an average of .303 and a OPS of .906 (6 doubles + 4 home runs)! All of that extra base power has allowed him to drive in 18 RBI this month!
And if Maggs can’t get them home than Cabrera will. Cabrera seems to be a man on a mission so far this year. He has 25 RBI and has scored 16 runs himself. His BA is .344 and his OBS is 1.04! He has already drawn 3 intentional walks, expect that to rise as the year goes on.
Carlos Guillen was off to a hot start until he was injured. He was batting .311 with a OPS of .834 with 8 RBI in the first 16 games. He was replaced by a new guy, Brennan Boesch from Toledo. Brennan has stepped right in and provided hit .261 with an OPS of .813 (7 RBI) in the 6 games he played.
The bottom ½ of the order (Inge, Sizemore, Laird and Everett) have not hit nearly as well as the top ½ so far. Inge and Sizemore have kept their BA over .250 but Laird and Everett haven’t managed that yet.
Looking forward I continue to see that this team will be very competitive in the AL Central. The starting pitching will improve. I don’t know if the bullpen can continue to perform at this level (Zumaya is an injury waiting to happen). I believe that the batters can continue to perform at this level. Except for Jackson the top of the order is proven over many years to be solid.
The rest of May sees the Twins and the Indians on the road. Then the Yankees and Red Sox come to Detroit, along with a 2 game series with the White Sox. Then it’s another West Coast road trip to Oakland, LAD and Seattle before finishing the month at home against the Oakland A’s.
*all individual batting data from Fangraphs
ERA Starter = Willis 3.13/ WHIP = Bonderman 1.35/ xFIP = Verlander 4.23 (26 K’s)
ERA Reliever = Valverde 0.75/ WHIP = Valverde 0.75/ xFIP= Zumaya 2.39 (0 walks!)
Best hitter for April
BA = Jackson .364/ OBP = Damon .431/ OPS = Cabrera 1.042/ BABIP = Jackson .530
Record for the month = 14 and 10
Series wins vs: KC, CLE, MIN,
Series losses vs: KC, SEA
Series split vs: LAA
Record vs East 0-0
Record vs Central 8-4
Record vs West 6-6
After the month of April the Tigers are sitting in 2nd place in the AC. They have a 14 and 10 record and accomplished this in spite of starting the season on the road and having an 11 game road trip out west to play Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before going to Texas. They managed to split the road with a 7-7 record. So far at home they have continued to show the dominance they have displayed in the past with a 7-3 record.
The beginning of the season showed a number of come from behind wins. Since then they have continued to win close games. The Tigers score an average of 4.9 runs per game and allow 4.5. In fact they are currently outperforming the Pythagorean Expectation by one game. I would give much of this credit to the Bullpen.
The Relievers have carried the Starters for the first month. Zumaya, Coke and Valverde have been able to shut down opposing lineups extremely effectively. Ni and Perry have also been huge so far this season. The only one who has not been steller has been Thomas, but he gets props for making an emergency start when Willis was sick and giving a surprising 3 innings allowing the bats to carry it through for a win.
The Starters have all struggled in some way. Verlander has not been dominating so far (just like last April). Porcello may be having a “sophomore slump” as his ERA is over 8.00 and his WHIP is 1.91. Yet his xFIP (a measure of how a pitcher is doing on the things he can control) is only 4.25. It does seem that everything batters make contact on from him becomes a hit- I doubt that continues. The biggest surprises have been Bonderman and Willis. Both have pitched well, Willis has allowed only 8 runs in 23 innings (3.13 ERA). That is the best ERA in the Starting Rotation!
On the offensive side there have been some great starts so far this year.
Austin Jackson has started his Tigers’ career in a Rookie of the Year pace with a .364 BA and a .917 OPS. Half of what he makes contact with falls for a hit (.530 BABIP). He is fast! He had 6 doubles, 2 triples and 5 stolen bases.
Johnny Damon, batting #2, started slowly but is more than making up for it to close out the month. He is batting .329 with a .890 OPS along with a walk rate of 14.7% (15).
Maggs is picking up where he left off last September with an average of .303 and a OPS of .906 (6 doubles + 4 home runs)! All of that extra base power has allowed him to drive in 18 RBI this month!
And if Maggs can’t get them home than Cabrera will. Cabrera seems to be a man on a mission so far this year. He has 25 RBI and has scored 16 runs himself. His BA is .344 and his OBS is 1.04! He has already drawn 3 intentional walks, expect that to rise as the year goes on.
Carlos Guillen was off to a hot start until he was injured. He was batting .311 with a OPS of .834 with 8 RBI in the first 16 games. He was replaced by a new guy, Brennan Boesch from Toledo. Brennan has stepped right in and provided hit .261 with an OPS of .813 (7 RBI) in the 6 games he played.
The bottom ½ of the order (Inge, Sizemore, Laird and Everett) have not hit nearly as well as the top ½ so far. Inge and Sizemore have kept their BA over .250 but Laird and Everett haven’t managed that yet.
Looking forward I continue to see that this team will be very competitive in the AL Central. The starting pitching will improve. I don’t know if the bullpen can continue to perform at this level (Zumaya is an injury waiting to happen). I believe that the batters can continue to perform at this level. Except for Jackson the top of the order is proven over many years to be solid.
The rest of May sees the Twins and the Indians on the road. Then the Yankees and Red Sox come to Detroit, along with a 2 game series with the White Sox. Then it’s another West Coast road trip to Oakland, LAD and Seattle before finishing the month at home against the Oakland A’s.
*all individual batting data from Fangraphs
Monday, April 5, 2010
Opening Day 2010
Tigers at Royals
4/5/2010
Here it is! Opening Day for a brand new season! The Roster has been whittled down to 25 men. Names we have known for years are gone (Granderson, Polanco, Rodney, Robertson). New ones are now on the team (Sizemore, Jackson, Valverde).
No one really knows how well they will do (the individuals or the team). For today they are just as good as the eventual World Champions- for all that we know they will BE the eventual World Champions.
In order to do that they will have to beat weaker teams on a regular basis, and today's Royals should be one of those weaker teams. If there is anything we should understand after 2009 is that EVERY game counts, even the ones played in April and May. Just one more win along the way would have avoided Game 163 and the Tigers would have won the AL Central Pennant.
I believe that the 2010 Tigers can do that. Ordonez should be much better than last year (now that his wife is healthy). Inge has been to the repair shop and his knees appear to be strong again. Cabrera has apparently faced his demons and should focus better. Laird should bat better (more to his norm) also.
What I hope, more than anything, is that those players who are still here from Game 163 will be angry. They had the prize taken from them at the last moment. I'm not trying to take anything away from what the Twins did, they earned it- but the Tigers should be pissed about losing like that. And they have to take that energy and focus it.
I have read the story of the 1968 Tigers' team. They too had lost a chance at the post season taken away on the last day (in 1967). They came back angry and determined. They won the last true AL pennant and then the World Series that year.
Others may think I'm crazily optimistic, but I see a lot of talent on this 2010 team and I believe they can do this. Starting in about 10 minutes we're about to find out!
4/5/2010
Here it is! Opening Day for a brand new season! The Roster has been whittled down to 25 men. Names we have known for years are gone (Granderson, Polanco, Rodney, Robertson). New ones are now on the team (Sizemore, Jackson, Valverde).
No one really knows how well they will do (the individuals or the team). For today they are just as good as the eventual World Champions- for all that we know they will BE the eventual World Champions.
In order to do that they will have to beat weaker teams on a regular basis, and today's Royals should be one of those weaker teams. If there is anything we should understand after 2009 is that EVERY game counts, even the ones played in April and May. Just one more win along the way would have avoided Game 163 and the Tigers would have won the AL Central Pennant.
I believe that the 2010 Tigers can do that. Ordonez should be much better than last year (now that his wife is healthy). Inge has been to the repair shop and his knees appear to be strong again. Cabrera has apparently faced his demons and should focus better. Laird should bat better (more to his norm) also.
What I hope, more than anything, is that those players who are still here from Game 163 will be angry. They had the prize taken from them at the last moment. I'm not trying to take anything away from what the Twins did, they earned it- but the Tigers should be pissed about losing like that. And they have to take that energy and focus it.
I have read the story of the 1968 Tigers' team. They too had lost a chance at the post season taken away on the last day (in 1967). They came back angry and determined. They won the last true AL pennant and then the World Series that year.
Others may think I'm crazily optimistic, but I see a lot of talent on this 2010 team and I believe they can do this. Starting in about 10 minutes we're about to find out!
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