It has been a long time. Much has happened, the world continues to turn. I think about this blog often. I work on it much less often. The world goes on anyway. As I muse about Section 148 I keep coming back to the same issue- I can't keep up with just Tigers' baseball as much as I should to do a blog justice. As much as I love the Tigers, my brain just isn't wired that way. To paraphrase one of my favorite movie lines- "(My) focus needs more focus."
So, rather than go against my own nature, I'm going to go with the flow and readjust my focus. Well, broaden it actually. I will hit on the things that strike my fancy, my brain or my bowels- it will depend on the day and the events of the day. You won't see rants here (at least not in my opinion), that's not my style. You may see some commentary, both mine and stuff I see as I bounce around the web. You may see some funny stuff (I enjoy the weirder side of life). You may see things that I believe are touching, poignant or worth pondering. For certain you will find things that I have learned and thought to be revealing/ interesting.
You will continue to see Tigers' stuff. I may comment about the day's game or something. I will certainly link to posts from the Tigers and baseball blogs that I read regularly. Please follow the links to those sites, I get a great deal of pleasure from them and I want others to also.
This is the relaunch post. Opening Day is only two weeks away. (I was amazed to find out that some people think of November 15 as "Opening Day" recently. It just goes to show how different people can be.) A huge earthquake and tsunami have recently struck Japan and they are desperately trying to prevent a nuclear disaster as a result. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day (so my daughter and I are off to buy a green scarf).
Slainte!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Tigers’ Batting Wonders and Woes…
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!
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!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Not a good week...
This past week has not been a good one for the Tigers. They went 1-4 (with 2 off days). Well, actually they seemed to have more than 2 “off” days, but there were 2 days they weren’t scheduled.
They wrapped up their last West Coast road trip against the Mariners before coming home to start a 4 game series against the A’s.
For one of those reasons that make no sense the Tigers cannot seem to beat the Mariners. The Mariners have not been a good team in 2010. They have good pitching and don’t allow that many runs (189 through the Tigers’ series or 4.1 per game) but they score even fewer (163 or 3.5 per game). With Verlander and Bonderman pitching for Detroit you might think that things look pretty good for a short series win. Yet the Mariners were able to score 5 runs in each game while the Tigers scored only 3 and then 4. Bondo actually pitched a great game, but Ryan Perry didn’t, giving up 5 hits and 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning to turn an apparent 4-1 win into a definite 4-5 loss. In fact, this was not a good week for Ryan Perry at all, but we’ll get to that later. So the Tigers again gave the Mariners a reason to feel good about themselves. So far the Tigers are 1-4 against Seattle this year, providing the Mariners with almost 20% of their wins for the year.
After losing to Seattle (and presumably stocking up on coffee) the Tigers headed home to face the A’s. Now the A’s are a decent team. They are contending in the West and have some good players. The Tigers had beaten them in a short series last week. Now they had a 4 game series here in Detroit. The Tigers are very good, strong at home (14-6 starting the series). Well, things didn’t work out exactly as hoped for. Willis pitched 5 1/3 innings of very interesting baseball, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and one walk. The Bullpen took over and, for the second time this week Perry could not get it done, allowing 2 runs on a hit and a walk (Ni allowing at least one of the runs to score). Even with newly-minted father Miguel Cabrara hitting 3 home runs the Tigers couldn’t get Willis the win. The next night (Friday) the Tigers bats simply didn’t show up (5 hits and 0 runs). Porcello pitched a pretty good game (2 earned runs in 6 1/3 on 7 hits and 2 walks). The Pen allowed 4 runs in another weak showing, but with 0 runs on the Tigers’ side of the scoreboard it didn’t really matter much.
This raises a question for me about the pitchers- can we have good showings from both the Rotation and the Bullpen in the same week? This week the Rotation had one weak outing (Verlander on Tuesday) but other than that Bonderman, Willis, Porcello and Scherzer each pitched well with 3 or fewer runs allowed. This is the dominant rotation that we have been begging for all year! Here it is! The Rotation’s ERA for the week was 2.84! Their WHIP was 1.17. This stuff can win some ball games! Before the week started the Tigers’ Bullpen was lights-out. Their ERA was 2.32 and their WHIP was 1.23. It has climbed to 2.85 and 1.27. Add the 2 losses (both, unfortunately, assigned to Perry but he had some help in giving them away) and we see a bad week. I’m hoping that this was simply that- a bad week- and not some horrible Greek-economy-type slide toward failure. I say this because I’m not sure where the bailout might come from.
Related to dominance of the Rotation- Dontrelle Willis was Designated for Assignment last night to make room for Max Scherzer. Dontrelle seems to be the happiest (and luckiest) pitcher in baseball but his on again- off again relationship with the strike zone had finally become too much for Dombrowski. With Scherzer having figured out his issues down in Toledo the Tigers needed to make some room on the roster. Galarraga had pitched well enough to stay, so Willis was DFA’d. I must say that I admire what the Tigers have done for Willis. Something happened inside his head and he lost his game. Unfortunately this happed right after Dombrowski signed him to a 3 year worth $29 million. The Tigers gave him every opportunity to turn it around (for both their own interest and his), but ultimately they decided that they could do better.
The bats remain a story of split personality. The top 5 are the best in baseball (in my opinion). The bottom 4 have been terrible. Overall the OPS is .755 for the last 13 games, but the squandering by the bottom has been epic. Inge is hitting .215 and that is the best of the group. Everett is .189 and Laird/ Avila is .154 It is a fair question as to how long these guys can hit like that and stay on the lineup card. I don’t know the answers to this problem, but there has to be a SS or Catcher out there who can hit better than what we have with enough defense to make the outs. If something doesn’t happen with these guys soon then Willis may have only been the first to be shown the door.
So, as Memorial Day starts off the summer season here in Michigan we have a team that is going through some changes and challenges. Their Bullpen slipped but their Rotation stepped up. The bats have been slumbering but woke up in a big way today to support Scherzer. The team is 26-23 and sits 3 games behind the Twins. They are certainly in the race. This upcoming week they finish the 4th game with the A’s and then host the Indians for 3 before going to KC for 3. These are not good teams, these are teams that Detroit should dominate. This should be a good week to be a Tigers’ fan.
Go Tigers!
They wrapped up their last West Coast road trip against the Mariners before coming home to start a 4 game series against the A’s.
For one of those reasons that make no sense the Tigers cannot seem to beat the Mariners. The Mariners have not been a good team in 2010. They have good pitching and don’t allow that many runs (189 through the Tigers’ series or 4.1 per game) but they score even fewer (163 or 3.5 per game). With Verlander and Bonderman pitching for Detroit you might think that things look pretty good for a short series win. Yet the Mariners were able to score 5 runs in each game while the Tigers scored only 3 and then 4. Bondo actually pitched a great game, but Ryan Perry didn’t, giving up 5 hits and 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning to turn an apparent 4-1 win into a definite 4-5 loss. In fact, this was not a good week for Ryan Perry at all, but we’ll get to that later. So the Tigers again gave the Mariners a reason to feel good about themselves. So far the Tigers are 1-4 against Seattle this year, providing the Mariners with almost 20% of their wins for the year.
After losing to Seattle (and presumably stocking up on coffee) the Tigers headed home to face the A’s. Now the A’s are a decent team. They are contending in the West and have some good players. The Tigers had beaten them in a short series last week. Now they had a 4 game series here in Detroit. The Tigers are very good, strong at home (14-6 starting the series). Well, things didn’t work out exactly as hoped for. Willis pitched 5 1/3 innings of very interesting baseball, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and one walk. The Bullpen took over and, for the second time this week Perry could not get it done, allowing 2 runs on a hit and a walk (Ni allowing at least one of the runs to score). Even with newly-minted father Miguel Cabrara hitting 3 home runs the Tigers couldn’t get Willis the win. The next night (Friday) the Tigers bats simply didn’t show up (5 hits and 0 runs). Porcello pitched a pretty good game (2 earned runs in 6 1/3 on 7 hits and 2 walks). The Pen allowed 4 runs in another weak showing, but with 0 runs on the Tigers’ side of the scoreboard it didn’t really matter much.
This raises a question for me about the pitchers- can we have good showings from both the Rotation and the Bullpen in the same week? This week the Rotation had one weak outing (Verlander on Tuesday) but other than that Bonderman, Willis, Porcello and Scherzer each pitched well with 3 or fewer runs allowed. This is the dominant rotation that we have been begging for all year! Here it is! The Rotation’s ERA for the week was 2.84! Their WHIP was 1.17. This stuff can win some ball games! Before the week started the Tigers’ Bullpen was lights-out. Their ERA was 2.32 and their WHIP was 1.23. It has climbed to 2.85 and 1.27. Add the 2 losses (both, unfortunately, assigned to Perry but he had some help in giving them away) and we see a bad week. I’m hoping that this was simply that- a bad week- and not some horrible Greek-economy-type slide toward failure. I say this because I’m not sure where the bailout might come from.
Related to dominance of the Rotation- Dontrelle Willis was Designated for Assignment last night to make room for Max Scherzer. Dontrelle seems to be the happiest (and luckiest) pitcher in baseball but his on again- off again relationship with the strike zone had finally become too much for Dombrowski. With Scherzer having figured out his issues down in Toledo the Tigers needed to make some room on the roster. Galarraga had pitched well enough to stay, so Willis was DFA’d. I must say that I admire what the Tigers have done for Willis. Something happened inside his head and he lost his game. Unfortunately this happed right after Dombrowski signed him to a 3 year worth $29 million. The Tigers gave him every opportunity to turn it around (for both their own interest and his), but ultimately they decided that they could do better.
The bats remain a story of split personality. The top 5 are the best in baseball (in my opinion). The bottom 4 have been terrible. Overall the OPS is .755 for the last 13 games, but the squandering by the bottom has been epic. Inge is hitting .215 and that is the best of the group. Everett is .189 and Laird/ Avila is .154 It is a fair question as to how long these guys can hit like that and stay on the lineup card. I don’t know the answers to this problem, but there has to be a SS or Catcher out there who can hit better than what we have with enough defense to make the outs. If something doesn’t happen with these guys soon then Willis may have only been the first to be shown the door.
So, as Memorial Day starts off the summer season here in Michigan we have a team that is going through some changes and challenges. Their Bullpen slipped but their Rotation stepped up. The bats have been slumbering but woke up in a big way today to support Scherzer. The team is 26-23 and sits 3 games behind the Twins. They are certainly in the race. This upcoming week they finish the 4th game with the A’s and then host the Indians for 3 before going to KC for 3. These are not good teams, these are teams that Detroit should dominate. This should be a good week to be a Tigers’ fan.
Go Tigers!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
40 Games into it...
Well, due to a couple of rainouts we are technically at 39 games, but I’ll buck tradition on this point. So Sparky Anderson is famously quoted as saying that you can’t tell how good or bad a baseball team is until they have played 40 games. Is that the magic number? Can’t you tell at 20 or should you wait until 60? Well, I have enough respect of sample size to resist the urge at 20 and I’m too impatient to wait until 60. Plus, this is Sparky Anderson we’re listening too here! C’mon, he led teams to championships in both leagues and is in the Hall of Fame! We are really students to his teaching here.
The Tigers stand at 22 wins and 17 losses overall. They are competitive in every sense of the word so far- they have beaten the Angels, Yankees, Twins and Red Sox in series match ups this season. They have also lost series I thought they should win (KC and Seattle in April). They are very good at Comerica Park (14-6). If they can keep that up for the season there is a lot of promise there. On the road they have held their own (8-11) but have struggled. Part of that may be due to the types of road trips they have had (11 games out west and on little rest). But Detroit typically plays much better at home than on the road. Since 2007 they are 136-107 (.560) at home and 112- 132 (.459) on the road.
The stat where the Tigers are most even with their competition is in runs scored. Detroit has scored 178 runs. Opponents have scored 178 runs! That averages out to 4.6 per game for each team. Most of the experts claimed that this would be a .500 team and the scoring bears this out with 25% of the season completed. Looking deeper I see some interesting things: The Tigers are out hitting their opponents. OPS for Detroit is .764 while opponents are around .722 The most significant differential here is in the “slugging %” aspect of OPS. Detroit is slugging at a rate of .415 while opponents are slugging at only .378. The Tigers average 18.5 total bases per game while allowing only 16.8. Yes, the Tigers have given their fans far too many reasons to complain of “squandering” runners (averaging 15.6 left on base per game vs. 14.6 for their opponents) but they do get men on base and score enough runs to win ball games.
It seems to be the run prevention side of the equation that needs the most help. The Team ERA is 4.22 and most of that is due to an under performing starting rotation. The Starters are 11-12 so far this year and have an ERA of 5.31 and a WHIP of 1.51. No one has really had a good year (although Verlander has started to show signs of pulling out of his funk). Max Scherzer, who came from Arizona, has recently been sent down to Toledo to work on things after dumping a 7.29 ERA on the mound (our old friend Galarraga has taken his place in the rotation). The Bullpen has more than held its own so far, with an ERA of only 2.49 and a WHIP of only 1.26. Zumaya has helped that by allowing only 4 walks in 24 innings so far. The ‘Pen, as a whole, has allowed only 6 homeruns in 131 2/3 innings also.
Adding to the pitchers’ woes are defensive miscues that prolong innings and add base runners. The Tigers average .8 errors per game. Their opponents only give them .5 per game. The Tigers rank dead last in Fielding % for the American League (.977) and have had 34 errors charged to them. Ryan Raburn being sent to Toledo should improve on that, but this is an area where they should be strong. Detroit seems to be either an excellent defensive team or the Bad News Bears from year to year and it hurts their chances of winning the division.
So where is this team after 40 games? As we saw above, they are competitive. They have proven that they can beat the teams that you would expect to face in October. They have proven that they can score runs. They have proven that their Bullpen can hold leads or stop the bleeding. Yet they have also shown that their starting rotation is not very strong. Their defenders are not very strong either. I believe that if either of those last two factors improves this will be a contender right down to the wire and will have a strong chance of winning the AL Central title.
The Tigers stand at 22 wins and 17 losses overall. They are competitive in every sense of the word so far- they have beaten the Angels, Yankees, Twins and Red Sox in series match ups this season. They have also lost series I thought they should win (KC and Seattle in April). They are very good at Comerica Park (14-6). If they can keep that up for the season there is a lot of promise there. On the road they have held their own (8-11) but have struggled. Part of that may be due to the types of road trips they have had (11 games out west and on little rest). But Detroit typically plays much better at home than on the road. Since 2007 they are 136-107 (.560) at home and 112- 132 (.459) on the road.
The stat where the Tigers are most even with their competition is in runs scored. Detroit has scored 178 runs. Opponents have scored 178 runs! That averages out to 4.6 per game for each team. Most of the experts claimed that this would be a .500 team and the scoring bears this out with 25% of the season completed. Looking deeper I see some interesting things: The Tigers are out hitting their opponents. OPS for Detroit is .764 while opponents are around .722 The most significant differential here is in the “slugging %” aspect of OPS. Detroit is slugging at a rate of .415 while opponents are slugging at only .378. The Tigers average 18.5 total bases per game while allowing only 16.8. Yes, the Tigers have given their fans far too many reasons to complain of “squandering” runners (averaging 15.6 left on base per game vs. 14.6 for their opponents) but they do get men on base and score enough runs to win ball games.
It seems to be the run prevention side of the equation that needs the most help. The Team ERA is 4.22 and most of that is due to an under performing starting rotation. The Starters are 11-12 so far this year and have an ERA of 5.31 and a WHIP of 1.51. No one has really had a good year (although Verlander has started to show signs of pulling out of his funk). Max Scherzer, who came from Arizona, has recently been sent down to Toledo to work on things after dumping a 7.29 ERA on the mound (our old friend Galarraga has taken his place in the rotation). The Bullpen has more than held its own so far, with an ERA of only 2.49 and a WHIP of only 1.26. Zumaya has helped that by allowing only 4 walks in 24 innings so far. The ‘Pen, as a whole, has allowed only 6 homeruns in 131 2/3 innings also.
Adding to the pitchers’ woes are defensive miscues that prolong innings and add base runners. The Tigers average .8 errors per game. Their opponents only give them .5 per game. The Tigers rank dead last in Fielding % for the American League (.977) and have had 34 errors charged to them. Ryan Raburn being sent to Toledo should improve on that, but this is an area where they should be strong. Detroit seems to be either an excellent defensive team or the Bad News Bears from year to year and it hurts their chances of winning the division.
So where is this team after 40 games? As we saw above, they are competitive. They have proven that they can beat the teams that you would expect to face in October. They have proven that they can score runs. They have proven that their Bullpen can hold leads or stop the bleeding. Yet they have also shown that their starting rotation is not very strong. Their defenders are not very strong either. I believe that if either of those last two factors improves this will be a contender right down to the wire and will have a strong chance of winning the AL Central title.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The 2nd Inning...
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Great Ernie Harwell has left us
Ernie Harwell (1918-2010) passed away tonight. He has been fighting cancer of the bile duct for much of the past year. He died at home in Novi, MI with his wife Lulu at his side.
Harwell was the voice of the Tigers for many years (1960-2002). He was teamed up with Paul Carey from 1973-1991 and so it was their two voices that I associate most with the Tigers as a kid.
Here are some links...
Wikipedia
The Detroit News
The Freep
Tigers.com
and some of his greatest lines (at least the ones I remember from my days listen to the radio):
"He stood there like a house by the side of the road." (when a batter watched a strike go by)
"He was called out for excessive window shopping!" (same)
"Two for the price of one!" (when a double play was turned)
"It's loooooooong gone!" (a home run)
"That was caught by a fan from (pick any city/town in Michigan)" (when a ball was hit foul)
One of the greatest aspects of Ernie's style was that he was a lover of the game, not so much the home team. He never criticized players or umpires. He simply told his listeners what was happening on the field so that we knew. He was certainly a fan of the Detroit Tigers, but he never let that get in the way of complementing a good play by the other team. He cared about the players and everyone he met (according to those who were around him). He helped out other broadcasters and journalists (even some bloggers as they came into the picture).
Ernie was to receive the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award for broadcasting tomorrow (5/5/10). Al Kaline was going to represent Ernie at the ceremony and now will accept it for him posthumously.
There aren't many broadcaster like Ernie anymore. He was missed when he finally left the booth a couple of years ago. But it will always be his voice I hear when I remember growing up as a Tigers' fan in Michigan.
Harwell was the voice of the Tigers for many years (1960-2002). He was teamed up with Paul Carey from 1973-1991 and so it was their two voices that I associate most with the Tigers as a kid.
Here are some links...
Wikipedia
The Detroit News
The Freep
Tigers.com
and some of his greatest lines (at least the ones I remember from my days listen to the radio):
"He stood there like a house by the side of the road." (when a batter watched a strike go by)
"He was called out for excessive window shopping!" (same)
"Two for the price of one!" (when a double play was turned)
"It's loooooooong gone!" (a home run)
"That was caught by a fan from (pick any city/town in Michigan)" (when a ball was hit foul)
One of the greatest aspects of Ernie's style was that he was a lover of the game, not so much the home team. He never criticized players or umpires. He simply told his listeners what was happening on the field so that we knew. He was certainly a fan of the Detroit Tigers, but he never let that get in the way of complementing a good play by the other team. He cared about the players and everyone he met (according to those who were around him). He helped out other broadcasters and journalists (even some bloggers as they came into the picture).
Ernie was to receive the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award for broadcasting tomorrow (5/5/10). Al Kaline was going to represent Ernie at the ceremony and now will accept it for him posthumously.
There aren't many broadcaster like Ernie anymore. He was missed when he finally left the booth a couple of years ago. But it will always be his voice I hear when I remember growing up as a Tigers' fan in Michigan.
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
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