Week 9 ended up as the first losing week of the season for the Tigers, who lost 4 and won 2.
Many people have mentioned it, but it must be said again- this team is not hitting right now for a lick! At least not when it counts. Here are the numbers....
Week 9 had a total of 44 hits in 187 At Bats, for a Batting Average of only .235. Their BA has been dropping like a rock for the past 4 weeks. In Week 6 they had a .304 BA, Week 7 was .260, Week 8 .272 and now .235. The number of runs scored per game has, of course, dropped right with it to 3.50 this week. And there is no power to make up for the lack of hits- Week 9 had 9 extra base hits (and only 1 home run- Thomas' grand slam today against the Angels).
Pitching is the biggest reason that this team is still in this race at all (that and a weak Central division). Here is a stat the entire pitching staff should be proud of: The Tigers have allowed the fewest runs in the American League. And it really isn't close- Detroit has allowed 241. The next best is Boston at 257 allowed. The starters' ERA is 3.92 for the year. Verlander earned Pitcher Of the Month for the AL in May. Porcello earned Rookie of the Month for the AL in May. Jackson just quietly shut down everything in front of him in May.
Defense also continues to be strength for the Tigers this season. As of today they have the 3rd best fielding percentage in the American League (.988) and have only committed 25 errors in 55 games. This past week was actually one of their worst with 5 errors committed.
Verlander and Jackson allowed a total of 1 run this week over 17 innings. The only blemish on the starters' record was Willis' melt down. There are many calls for his head because of his "performance" on Thursday (where he allowed 5 runs on 5 walks in the 3rd inning after shutting Boston down in the 1st and 2nd).
Another episode in Tiger related life was the on again, off again "final" destruction of Tigers' Stadium. I have great memories of seeing games in Tigers' Stadium when I was younger. But I have great memories of seeing games in Comerica Park too. As long as I have a place to see the Tigers play I'm a happy camper.
Week 9
2 W, 4 L
1st place
Place Games Back
Det 1st -
Min 2nd 3.0
Chi 3rd 4.5
KC 4th 6.5
Cle 5th 7.0
Next week is a rare 5 game series with the White Sox and then the start of the happy hunting grounds of Interleague play!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Some things I see out there...
It's an off day while the Tigers settle back into Comerica Park and wait for the Red Sox to show up. So I've been reading around the web. These are some posts others have made about the Tigers that I thought were cool:
These two are from Baseball Musings- both about Tigers' pitching. The first is about Verlander vs. Greinke. The second article looks at the extremes seen in the Tigers' staff. Here's the money quote:
Not to leave the batters out of the love, here is something Curtis Granderson wrote on his blog. Thanks to Ian at Bless You Boys for linking it.
The Detroit Tigers Weblog looks at where some of the ex-Tigers have ended up this year and how they are faring.
Mack Avenue Tigers looks at the catching situation.
Back to Verlander- Jason Beck tells us that Justin has been nominated for the MLB Clutch Performer of the Month (May) Award. Beck also tells us that Bonderman had a very good game last night for the Toledo Mudhens. Here's the quote you probably want to see:
I just saw that Cleveland has placed Rafael Betancourt on the DL also with a groin strain. Cleveland has 8 players on the DL right now. The Indians are 22-30 and 7 1/2 games behind the Tigers.
The White Sox are starting to put together a run up the standings again. Apparently their lead off guys are starting to figure some things out. On May 1st the White Sox were in 1st place in a very tight race. By May 15th they had dropped 4 games below .500 and 3 full games behind first place. Today they are back in 2nd place and 4 full games behind the Tigers, though they are on a 3 game winning streak. Detroit goes to Chicago for 4 games next week. It could be very interesting.
These two are from Baseball Musings- both about Tigers' pitching. The first is about Verlander vs. Greinke. The second article looks at the extremes seen in the Tigers' staff. Here's the money quote:
The Tigers, unfortunately, also produced the worst ERA in May...His (Galarraga's) 0-5 record helped keep the rest of the division in the pennant race.Here is a look at how Edwin Jackson is improving while pitching for Detroit (via TigerTales).
Not to leave the batters out of the love, here is something Curtis Granderson wrote on his blog. Thanks to Ian at Bless You Boys for linking it.
The Detroit Tigers Weblog looks at where some of the ex-Tigers have ended up this year and how they are faring.
Mack Avenue Tigers looks at the catching situation.
Back to Verlander- Jason Beck tells us that Justin has been nominated for the MLB Clutch Performer of the Month (May) Award. Beck also tells us that Bonderman had a very good game last night for the Toledo Mudhens. Here's the quote you probably want to see:
"he looked like a Major League pitcher."Looking at other teams in the AL Central there is some bad news for the Indians. Grady Sizemore was put on the DL for an imflammed elbow for 2 weeks. Apparently if rest doesn't help he will look at surgery, which could take him out for an additional 6 weeks.
I just saw that Cleveland has placed Rafael Betancourt on the DL also with a groin strain. Cleveland has 8 players on the DL right now. The Indians are 22-30 and 7 1/2 games behind the Tigers.
The White Sox are starting to put together a run up the standings again. Apparently their lead off guys are starting to figure some things out. On May 1st the White Sox were in 1st place in a very tight race. By May 15th they had dropped 4 games below .500 and 3 full games behind first place. Today they are back in 2nd place and 4 full games behind the Tigers, though they are on a 3 game winning streak. Detroit goes to Chicago for 4 games next week. It could be very interesting.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Week 8: 4 W- 3 L
Week in Review- Road Trip edition
This past week the Tigers ran into two men who seem to defy the laws of statistics: Matt Grienke pitching for the Royals and Luke Scott hitting for the Orioles. Other than that they played well. Here comes the science....
Detroit played a 3 game series against Kansas City early in the week. Verlander and Porcello dominated the Royals, Justin pitched a shutout through 7 and Porcello allowed only 2 through 6. Jackson ran into the amazing Matt Grienke pitching for the Royals. Grienke allowed 1 run and pitched an entire game. His ERA after that outing was 0.84! Detroit did nothing to damage his reputation.
Then Detroit went to Baltimore a.k.a. the Land of Luke Scott. Here is some perspective on Luke Scott- he was traded to Baltimore last year from Houston and since then has absolutely destroyed Tiger pitching. He has played in 13 games against Detriot and homered in 12 of them. It just seems that his purpose on earth is to keep the Orioles in games against the Tigers. Some of the best times of my week were spent reading the comments posted about Mr. Scott. Here are some of the best.
From Bless You Boys
All of this attention to Scott was deserved by the Tigers blogosphere. He hit the game winning home runs on Thursday, Friday and the game tying homerun on Saturday until Clete Thomas unloaded for his 2nd HR of the day to put Detroit ahead for good.
So, all in all the Tigers did well. They won more games than they lost on this road trip. In fact, they have not "lost" a week yet this year, playing at least .500 ball every week this year. Pitching and defense are keeping the team in the game until the batters put something together. The slugging percentage for the week was .407 and continues a 3 week slide in that category. Leyland keeps playing with the batting order to see what works the best. In fact today Granderson batted cleanup for the first time in his MLB career (and hit his 2nd HR in 2 days).
At the end of the week:
28 - 21
First place in the AL Central.
Team Place GB
Det 1 -
Chi 2 4
Min 3 4 1/2
KC 4 5 1/2
Cle 5 7 1/2
This past week the Tigers ran into two men who seem to defy the laws of statistics: Matt Grienke pitching for the Royals and Luke Scott hitting for the Orioles. Other than that they played well. Here comes the science....
Detroit played a 3 game series against Kansas City early in the week. Verlander and Porcello dominated the Royals, Justin pitched a shutout through 7 and Porcello allowed only 2 through 6. Jackson ran into the amazing Matt Grienke pitching for the Royals. Grienke allowed 1 run and pitched an entire game. His ERA after that outing was 0.84! Detroit did nothing to damage his reputation.
Then Detroit went to Baltimore a.k.a. the Land of Luke Scott. Here is some perspective on Luke Scott- he was traded to Baltimore last year from Houston and since then has absolutely destroyed Tiger pitching. He has played in 13 games against Detriot and homered in 12 of them. It just seems that his purpose on earth is to keep the Orioles in games against the Tigers. Some of the best times of my week were spent reading the comments posted about Mr. Scott. Here are some of the best.
From Bless You Boys
i hate that guy
http://www.fromthecopa.blogspot.com
by rock n rye on May 29, 2009 8:18 PM EDT 
All of this attention to Scott was deserved by the Tigers blogosphere. He hit the game winning home runs on Thursday, Friday and the game tying homerun on Saturday until Clete Thomas unloaded for his 2nd HR of the day to put Detroit ahead for good.
So, all in all the Tigers did well. They won more games than they lost on this road trip. In fact, they have not "lost" a week yet this year, playing at least .500 ball every week this year. Pitching and defense are keeping the team in the game until the batters put something together. The slugging percentage for the week was .407 and continues a 3 week slide in that category. Leyland keeps playing with the batting order to see what works the best. In fact today Granderson batted cleanup for the first time in his MLB career (and hit his 2nd HR in 2 days).
At the end of the week:
28 - 21
First place in the AL Central.
Team Place GB
Det 1 -
Chi 2 4
Min 3 4 1/2
KC 4 5 1/2
Cle 5 7 1/2
Monday, May 25, 2009
Tigers at Royals: Game 43
Tigers 13, Royals 1
A rare chance to blog about a game right after it happened! Aren't holidays wonderful?
Whatever was ailing the Tigers in Detroit those last two games was left behind when they landed in KC. The Tigers got 13 runs off of 19 hits. Laird hit another HR and Cabrera had 2 more doubles, adding to his MLB leading .378 batting average.
Verlander pitched another fantastic game allowing 0 runs in 7 innings (and only needed 96 pitches to do it). I wasn't able to watch much of the game (only the Tigers' 9th) but Verlander apparently allowed only 1 runner into scoring position for the whole 7 innings. With 8 more strikeouts Justin regains the strikeout lead in the MLB (at least until Peavy pitches again) with 85.
Once again the Tigers did not commit an error in the game.
I don't think KC was a flash in the pan to start the season. They are not the basement dwellers that they have been and I think that they will start to win again and challenge the Tigers for the division. I just hope that Detroit can at least take this series and then play well against Baltimore, because starting in June the schedule gets tougher yet- Boston comes to town and then the LAA Angels to start the month of June.
With this win Detroit leads KC by 4 games in the AL Central. Minnesota is 4.5 games back after losing to Boston earlier today.
A rare chance to blog about a game right after it happened! Aren't holidays wonderful?
Whatever was ailing the Tigers in Detroit those last two games was left behind when they landed in KC. The Tigers got 13 runs off of 19 hits. Laird hit another HR and Cabrera had 2 more doubles, adding to his MLB leading .378 batting average.
Verlander pitched another fantastic game allowing 0 runs in 7 innings (and only needed 96 pitches to do it). I wasn't able to watch much of the game (only the Tigers' 9th) but Verlander apparently allowed only 1 runner into scoring position for the whole 7 innings. With 8 more strikeouts Justin regains the strikeout lead in the MLB (at least until Peavy pitches again) with 85.
Once again the Tigers did not commit an error in the game.
I don't think KC was a flash in the pan to start the season. They are not the basement dwellers that they have been and I think that they will start to win again and challenge the Tigers for the division. I just hope that Detroit can at least take this series and then play well against Baltimore, because starting in June the schedule gets tougher yet- Boston comes to town and then the LAA Angels to start the month of June.
With this win Detroit leads KC by 4 games in the AL Central. Minnesota is 4.5 games back after losing to Boston earlier today.
Week 7: 5 Wins, 2 Losses
Lots of W's, not so many R's...
The Tiger's finished up what was, overall, an impressive week at home. They won 5 out of 7. They finished up a sweep of Oakland. Then they swept Texas. They lost the final series to Colorado.
Pitching: Galarraga continues to struggle badly. He had two starts and gave up 9 runs in a total of 6 innings over 2 starts. The first start lasted only 2/3 of an inning with 5 runs. The next one was better, but 4 runs over 5 1/3 wasn't enough to prevent the first loss of the homestand. Verlander continues to dominate everyone he pitches (77 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings- 2nd in the Major Leagues behind Peavy). Willis had 2 good starts (actually one great start and one good start). Jackson and Porcello also had solid starts.
Hitting: After starting very strong the bats kind of lost it this weekend against the Rockies. Both Marquis and Hammel pitched very good games for Colorado and Detroit only put up 4 runs in the last two games of the week. But prior to that they were averaging 5.6 runs per game as they swept their way through Oakland and Texas.
Defense: Tigers' defense this week was very solid. There were many great plays and only 1 error for the week. Lee Panas at Tiger Tales writes up the difference in defense between last year and this year. It adds up to a great cycle of "win"- the defense helps the pitchers and the pitchers help the defense. Starters go longer into games. Last week the starters averaged 5.5 innings of work (and that includes Galarraga's 2/3 inning).
Overall: This week saw the 40 game mark that Sparky used as his bench mark for determining if a team had what it takes to compete. Well, at the 40 game mark of 2009 the Detroit Tigers were 24 and 16. Their starting rotation has an ERA of 4.0 and the Bullpen has an ERA of 4.58. They are scoring an average of 5.29 runs per game. They have 2 lights out starters (Verlander and Jackson). Porcello, at 20 years old, leads the team with 5 wins and looks like a great pitchers. The team is in 1st place of the AL Central by 3 games and just had an 8 game winning streak. So far, this looks like a very solid team and one that the rest of the League won't be able to ignore.
The Tiger's finished up what was, overall, an impressive week at home. They won 5 out of 7. They finished up a sweep of Oakland. Then they swept Texas. They lost the final series to Colorado.
Pitching: Galarraga continues to struggle badly. He had two starts and gave up 9 runs in a total of 6 innings over 2 starts. The first start lasted only 2/3 of an inning with 5 runs. The next one was better, but 4 runs over 5 1/3 wasn't enough to prevent the first loss of the homestand. Verlander continues to dominate everyone he pitches (77 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings- 2nd in the Major Leagues behind Peavy). Willis had 2 good starts (actually one great start and one good start). Jackson and Porcello also had solid starts.
Hitting: After starting very strong the bats kind of lost it this weekend against the Rockies. Both Marquis and Hammel pitched very good games for Colorado and Detroit only put up 4 runs in the last two games of the week. But prior to that they were averaging 5.6 runs per game as they swept their way through Oakland and Texas.
Defense: Tigers' defense this week was very solid. There were many great plays and only 1 error for the week. Lee Panas at Tiger Tales writes up the difference in defense between last year and this year. It adds up to a great cycle of "win"- the defense helps the pitchers and the pitchers help the defense. Starters go longer into games. Last week the starters averaged 5.5 innings of work (and that includes Galarraga's 2/3 inning).
Overall: This week saw the 40 game mark that Sparky used as his bench mark for determining if a team had what it takes to compete. Well, at the 40 game mark of 2009 the Detroit Tigers were 24 and 16. Their starting rotation has an ERA of 4.0 and the Bullpen has an ERA of 4.58. They are scoring an average of 5.29 runs per game. They have 2 lights out starters (Verlander and Jackson). Porcello, at 20 years old, leads the team with 5 wins and looks like a great pitchers. The team is in 1st place of the AL Central by 3 games and just had an 8 game winning streak. So far, this looks like a very solid team and one that the rest of the League won't be able to ignore.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sweep!
Tigers SWEEP the A's!!!!!!
Good: Santiago with 4 RBI on 3 hits (including a 3 run HR). Granderson with 3 RBI on 2 hits (including a 3 run HR).
Bad: Galarraga with 5 earned runs in only 2/3 of an inning. His ERA for the day was 67.51.
Detroit scored 34 runs in this series while allowing only 9.
Bad: Galarraga with 5 earned runs in only 2/3 of an inning. His ERA for the day was 67.51.
Detroit scored 34 runs in this series while allowing only 9.
Week 6: Swept by Twins, beating up A's
Week 6 had the Tigers in Minnesota and at Detroit. Minnesota did not agree with them (although they should have won 2 games there). Being at home seems to have a great effect on this team (10-5 in Comerica).
We saw what appears to be a slide by Galarraga from strike throwing machine to more of a ball throwing machine. Over his last 5 starts he has allowed 17 walks in 27 2/3 innings. He has also allowed 21 runs in those starts. This is partly because he has allowed 6 home runs, rewarding opposing teams for being patient at the plate. The Tigers have only won one of those starts (Apr 26th). It is worth noting that in 2008 Galarraga had a WHIP (walk + hits per inning pitched) of 1.19. So far in 2009 his WHIP is 1.44. In 2008 he walked 2.98 per 9 innings. So far it has been 4.39! Maybe it is a good thing Bonderman is on the mend (more on that later). Tuesday Galarraga allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 2 more in the 3rd.
We saw Verlander continue to look like a Cy Young leader with another absolutely dominating performance on Thursday. He went 6 2/3 striking out 13 men (he leads the MLB in strikeouts). He allowed only 2 runs (which actually scored after he left the game).
Jackson again went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. Not only is that amazing, but he had a 1 hour and 15 minute rain delay between the 4th and 5th innings. I don't remember seeing a starter return after that long of a delay, much less to continue for 3 more innings! Dombrowski looks more and more like a genius every day that Jackson wears the D!
Porcello actually leads the team in wins after holding the A's to 1 run tonight.
Willis returned to the big leagues on Wednesday. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and only 2 walks. It wasn't a Quality Start. I'm not sure it was even a good start. Some say is was good enough. Some say it wasn't. I'm more inclined to say it wasn't good enough, but I'll leave that decision to Leyland and Dombrowski.
This was really the week that the 'Pen imploded for the first time. The Tigers should have won both Willis' game on Wednesday. They ultimately scored 10 runs in a 5 hour marathon (yes, I stayed up to watch it all). But Lyon couldn't close the deal, allowing a walk off grand slam. In Lyon's defense he pitched 2 2/3 innings because there wasn't anyone left to use. He is a closer by trade and he faced 15 batters. That must have felt like working a 14 hour day to him, but Detroit had the lead at least twice in late innings. I tuned in when the Tigers led 9-7. Then I watched Zoom give up that lead. Then Granderson tripled and was balked home (you don't see that very often). But Lyon was done when the Twins came up to bat and Minnesota won 14-10.
Thursday was worse. Verlander was walking all over the Twins. He left with a 5 run lead and 2 men on and 1 out in the 7th inning. Bobby Seay did something he hasn't done all year- he sucked. Seay allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk while getting only 1 man out. When Miner came on it was 5-4 with 2 outs. When the inning ended it was 6-5. The Tigers couldn't recover.
The lineup started weakly, but appears to have build some momentum this week. After scoring only 2 runs on Tuesday they averaged 9.5 for the rest of the week. Their SLG% was over .500 for the first week this year. Magglio is starting to hit again. If the batters can continue this trend this should be a great season.
Even after 2 blown games the Tigers end the week with a 3-3 record (19-16 overall) and they are alone in 1st place with a 1 game lead over KC.
We saw what appears to be a slide by Galarraga from strike throwing machine to more of a ball throwing machine. Over his last 5 starts he has allowed 17 walks in 27 2/3 innings. He has also allowed 21 runs in those starts. This is partly because he has allowed 6 home runs, rewarding opposing teams for being patient at the plate. The Tigers have only won one of those starts (Apr 26th). It is worth noting that in 2008 Galarraga had a WHIP (walk + hits per inning pitched) of 1.19. So far in 2009 his WHIP is 1.44. In 2008 he walked 2.98 per 9 innings. So far it has been 4.39! Maybe it is a good thing Bonderman is on the mend (more on that later). Tuesday Galarraga allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 2 more in the 3rd.
We saw Verlander continue to look like a Cy Young leader with another absolutely dominating performance on Thursday. He went 6 2/3 striking out 13 men (he leads the MLB in strikeouts). He allowed only 2 runs (which actually scored after he left the game).
Jackson again went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. Not only is that amazing, but he had a 1 hour and 15 minute rain delay between the 4th and 5th innings. I don't remember seeing a starter return after that long of a delay, much less to continue for 3 more innings! Dombrowski looks more and more like a genius every day that Jackson wears the D!
Porcello actually leads the team in wins after holding the A's to 1 run tonight.
Willis returned to the big leagues on Wednesday. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and only 2 walks. It wasn't a Quality Start. I'm not sure it was even a good start. Some say is was good enough. Some say it wasn't. I'm more inclined to say it wasn't good enough, but I'll leave that decision to Leyland and Dombrowski.
This was really the week that the 'Pen imploded for the first time. The Tigers should have won both Willis' game on Wednesday. They ultimately scored 10 runs in a 5 hour marathon (yes, I stayed up to watch it all). But Lyon couldn't close the deal, allowing a walk off grand slam. In Lyon's defense he pitched 2 2/3 innings because there wasn't anyone left to use. He is a closer by trade and he faced 15 batters. That must have felt like working a 14 hour day to him, but Detroit had the lead at least twice in late innings. I tuned in when the Tigers led 9-7. Then I watched Zoom give up that lead. Then Granderson tripled and was balked home (you don't see that very often). But Lyon was done when the Twins came up to bat and Minnesota won 14-10.
Thursday was worse. Verlander was walking all over the Twins. He left with a 5 run lead and 2 men on and 1 out in the 7th inning. Bobby Seay did something he hasn't done all year- he sucked. Seay allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk while getting only 1 man out. When Miner came on it was 5-4 with 2 outs. When the inning ended it was 6-5. The Tigers couldn't recover.
The lineup started weakly, but appears to have build some momentum this week. After scoring only 2 runs on Tuesday they averaged 9.5 for the rest of the week. Their SLG% was over .500 for the first week this year. Magglio is starting to hit again. If the batters can continue this trend this should be a great season.
Even after 2 blown games the Tigers end the week with a 3-3 record (19-16 overall) and they are alone in 1st place with a 1 game lead over KC.
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