The Tigers have taken their lumps for stranding runners and not supporting some of their pitchers of the past few weeks. At almost the same time they have had some dramatic come-from-behind rallies to win games late. They have scored 220 runs in the first 49 games (averaging 4.5). This includes 4 shutouts and 7 games where they have scored 8 or more runs. Baseball-Reference.com lists them as 4th in OBS at .762 and 4th in Batting Average at .269.
But this Tigers’ team is split as far as performance goes: there are the Top 6 batters and the Bottom 3. The Top 6 are: Jackson, Damon, Ordonez, Cabrera, Boesch, and Guillen. These guys are hitting and scoring well. Through Sunday’s game (5/30) the Top 6 have scored 153 of the 220 runs (70%). They also have 144 of the 208 RBI this year (69%). “But wait a minute! Of course they score more runs, they have more opportunities because they get up to bat more often.” Well, although there is truth to that it doesn’t explain it all. The Top 6 have accumulated 1023 Plate Appearances (PA) which is 58%. Of much more importance is what they are doing when they get to the plate, which is to hit.
The BA for the Top 6 is .320. Yes, the average for the Top 6 Batters is .320. Led by Cabrera’s .352 but the worst(?) of them is Damon’s .283. And when Damon isn’t hitting he is taking walks. He leads the team with 14.1% walk rate. The On Base Percentage (OBP) for the Top 6 is .379 and that is pulled down by Boesch’s OBP of a mere .345 (he tends to strike out 20% of the times he goes to the plate). Of course the times Boesch goes to the plate he hits it. His Batting Avg for Balls In Play (BABIP) is .378! He bashes it hard. Boesch’s Slugging % (SLG) is .585 (second only to Cabrera’s on the team). The Top 6’s SLG is .513.
The point I’m making with all of these stats is that the Top 6 Batters are not just scoring most of the runs because they are in the first 6 slots. They are scoring the runs because they are getting on base and hitting for average and power. If the Top 6 were on their own they would be the best hitting team in the American League. The Yankees are the best overall at .811 OPS and the Tigers’ Top 6 is at .892.
This begs the question, “Why is Detroit chasing the Twins to win the weakest division in the American League?” Well, aside from pitching woes there are the Bottom 3 spots in the lineup. The Bottom 3 are: Brandon Inge, Gerald Laird and Adam Everett. These guys have been a pitcher’s dream so far this season. Combined they are hitting .202. They are not making up for it with walks either (combined 7.56% walk rate) and they are not hitting for power either. The SLG for the Bottom 3 is a weak .331.
I don’t know what the answer to this problem is. The worst starter is Laird (.168 BA with a .243 SLG), but he has been a defensive asset, but he is only throwing out 31% of the base stealers so far this year (9 of 29 attempts). Last year he was throwing base runners out at a 42% clip- which was the best in the League. He replacement is supposed to be Alex Avila but, aside from being a Lefty, Avila is no different. Avila is batting .153 with a .278 SLG. So there really isn’t much to do there. Adam Everett is hitting .189 and SLG .257. Santiago often replaces Everett, but Leyland doesn’t believe Ramon can play full time effectively and his limited numbers are not a huge improvement. Brandon Inge is the best of the Bottom 3 with a .229 BA and SLG of .417 (including 6 HR). Still, Inge strikes out 25% of the time. His fielding is certainly above average. Baseball-Reference.com puts shows him saving 21 runs above the average 3B this year, 2nd best in the AL. I just don’t see replacing Inge with a superior player right now.
The season not quite 1/3 of the way done. Trade deadlines are coming up and I trust that Dombrowski is planning on working something. If Detroit plays well through June they should be buyers and he might find someone. I would start with Shortstop. Again, according to Baseball-Reference.com, Everett’s defense is actually projected to cost Detroit 19 runs more than the average SS this year!
Showing posts with label SLG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SLG. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
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.
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
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.
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