The Tigers still have 45 players in camp, so there are a couple of sizable cuts coming. The next one will probably be before the end of the week. Until then, here are some items of note:
The rotation is set – sort of
Jim Leyland had already decided that Kenny Rogers would take the first turn, followed by Bonderman. Now it appears that Nate Robertson will be the number 3, with Mike Maroth being number 4. There’s still no decision on Detroit’s 5th starter of course. While Leyland has said Joel Zumaya still has a shot (and really, he’s pitched good enough to deserve it), he’s slated to come out of the bullpen on Thursday. According to John Lowe, Zumaya could be the one to come in and face left handers, in lieu of another southpaw in the pen.
Pulling for Craig
Jason Beck has a real nice article about Craig Monroe
“I like the struggle,” he said. “I can appreciate what I went through with this team, with myself, and now I honestly feel like it’s all made me a better person, a better player and to continue to grow from that. There’s only one way to go, and it’s up, and it looks bright. I’m just going to continue to get every piece of information, every advice, and continue to try to put it all in my game and try to make me that much of a better player.”
The more I read about, and hear about Monroe, the more I really want to see him succeed. He doesn’t seem to take his career for granted, and is so eager to seek out experts to help him improve. This year it appears he’s tweaked his swing to be able to drive the inside pitch. So far it’s working. In his 14 at-bats he’s accumulated 4 extra base hits, and has had success driving the ball up the middle.
Whether it is a 3 game hot streak, or the result of adjustments remains to be seen. At age 29, it is probably a little late for Monroe’s breakout season, but the same could have been said about Carlos Guillen in 2004.
In any case, I’ll be rooting for him, as well as Curtis Granderson who seems to have many of the same traits.
More Previews
Deadspin has posted their 4 Tiny Tiger Tidbits. While it isn’t really a preview per se, it’s DeadSpin so it has to be good right?
Meanwhile, Brian plays 5 questions for the Hardball Times and sees the team winning 79 games.
Also, Lee has begun his preview series.
If you were wondering when to expect the extensive type forecasts I’ve done the last few years, well I don’t think it’s going to happen. They are just way to time consuming, and not the least bit accurate anyways. I will have a team projection, but I’m going to take a pass on the player-by-player stuff this year.
Now that we know Robertson has been slotted into the 3rd spot, why hasn’t anybody published the obvious conclusion regarding the 5th spot? Maroth (soft-tosser) will pitch 4th, and Rogers (soft-tosser) will pitch 1st, so obviously the 5th spot will not be filled by another soft-tosser. Of the three remaining viable options for the 5th spot, Grilli is the obvious “soft-tosser” (though not in MM or KR’s soft-tossing league, of course). Couple that with the fact that Zumaya has been pitching exclusively 2- or 3-inning stints out of the bullpen for weeks, and I think it’s fairly safe to conclude that our 5th starter is going to be Verlander.