Toledo 8 Columbus 5
Mike Hessman homered, singled, and walked. Mike Hollimon added a triple. Dane Sardinha had two doubles and 4 RBI. Francisco Cruceta pitched two innings and allowed 1 run on a hit, a walk, and 4 K’s. Blaine Neal fanned 2 in his inning of work for his 7th save.
Altoona 4 Erie 10
Wilkin Ramirez picked up 3 hits and stole his 6th base. Jef fFrazier went 2 for 5. Kody Kirkland homered and singled. Dan Christenson allowed 4 runs, only one of which was earned, in 6 innings. Casey Fien got the 2 inning save.
Dunedin 5 Lakeland 4
James Sketon was 2 for 5. Brennan Boesch also added two hits. Justin Justice homered. Duane Below allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks while fanning 6.
West Michigan 3 Cedar Rapids 7
Kyle Peter, Audy Ciriaco, and Justin Henry each had 2 hits. Lauren Gagnier allowed 7 runs in 4.2 innings.
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Verlander arm angle follow-up
Prior to Justin Verlander’s last start we discussed his dip in velocity and a change in arm angle is he was looking to make. Verlander had some improved results in his Tuesday night start against the Rangers. Looking at his pitch f/x data he averaged 93.9mph with his fastball and peaked around 97mph. A definite improvement to be sure.
As for the arm angle, I added his Tuesday night release point data to the previous graph. Now there may be some calibration issues because the latest data was from Comerica Park and the other data was from Chicago. But there appears to be a marked difference, and maybe even an over adjustment.
Game 24: Angels at Tigers
PREGAME: The Tigers once again welcome in a team coming in from Fenway Park. But while the Rangers had just been swept, the Angels took 2 of 3 from the Red Sox.
The Tigers send out no-luck Nate Robertson. Robertson has been the one guy in the rotation who hasn’t been plagued by walks. He’s fanned 21 while only walking 6. But the trouble is guys are hitting line drives (27.9%) nearly as often as they are hitting grounders (30.9%). Plus Robertson is only stranding 58% of runners so the result is a 7.48 ERA.
The Tigers will be taking on Ervin Santana. Santana has been tough this year and has a 2.67 ERA through his first 4 starts. He’s been killing right handed hitters to the tune of a .128 BAA with only 2 extra base hits.
One thing to watch in this series are the starter’s pitch counts for Detroit. The Angels actually see fewer pitchers per plate appearance than anyone else in the AL and are near the bottom in walks. They just hit the snot out of the ball instead.
LAA @ DET, Friday, April 25, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
Game Time 7:05
POSTGAME: Sometimes you play a pretty good game, but still come up short. The Tigers got a solid start, some good bullpen work, played some nice defense, generated some scoring chances, worked long at-bats, but they still fell to the Angels 4-3.
Robertson breezed through the first 3 innings. He doubled his pitch count with a 4 run fourth inning. Then retired the next 9 batters on 25 pitches with only one ball leaving the infield. I was actually surprised to see him lifted at only 89 pitches. He was sharp, continually getting first pitch strikes and throwing 65% of his pitches in the zone.
The offense tried to grind out at-bats. Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge each had 10 pitch at-bats. But they just couldn’t get the big hit. Gary Sheffield took one to the wall with the bases loaded. Pudge Rodriguez ripped a line drive that was right at Casey Kotchman with 2 men on. The only really bad plate appearance of the night came when Ordonez popped to first on the first pitch with the bases loaded in the 6th. The Tigers only picked up 1 run from the loaded-no out scenario and that proved to be the difference.
Programming note
I’ll be on WDFN this morning at 10:35 this morning talking Tigers with host Sean Baligian. So if you’re in the Detroit area tune into 1130 AM. If you’re any place you can listen to the stream on WDFN.com. If you miss it the audio will be posted both here, and on the WDFN podcast page this afternoon.
UPDATE: Here’s the noise. Thanks as always to Sean for the opportunity.
[audio:http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/DETROIT-MI/WDFN-AM/ferris.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=DETROIT-MI&NG_FORMAT=sports&SITE_ID=1128&STATION_ID=WDFN-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=Sports_Radio_1130_WDFN&PCAST_CAT=sports&PCAST_TITLE=WDFN_-_Sean_Baligian]
Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-24-08
Minor League Baseball: Scoreboard: Scoreboard
Mike Hessman had 3 hits. Clete Thomas homered and singled in his AAA debut. Brent Clevlen homered, singled, and walked. Eddie Bonine pitched 7 innings allowing 2 runs.
Altoona 8 Erie 3
Danny Worth followed up his 5 hit night with his 2nd homer. Freddy Guzman added 2 hits and a stolen base. Andrew Kown allowed 4 runs in 5 innings.
Dunedin 3 Lakeland 1
LFT Blog has the report on Porcello’s outing. Like his other turns, he started off excellent before running out of steam in the middle innings. Not a big concern at all at this point. Lou Ott had 3 hits.
West Michigan – DNP
links for 2008-04-24
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Interesting notes from Ken Rosenthal on the position switch. Those who click through will read that MLB sources say Inge is livid.
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Don’t worry, it’s Orlando Cabrera. Fun stuff. (hat tip Jamie Samuelson)
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Bless You Boys reminisces about Ramon Santiago’s last homer in 2003
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Among the clutch starters are Dontrelle Willis and former Tiger Mike Maroth.
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Curtis being Curtis
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The Tigers rank 7th overall. Hey, check out that blurb about the team…
Game 23: Rangers at Tigers
PREGAME: The Tigers try to extend their 4 game home winning streak as they look to finish off a sweep of the Rangers. Texas pitchers have thrown a lot of pitches the last two nights and I’d guess that there are probably at least 3 pitchers in their pen who are unavailable today. So getting to the starter early could prove fruitful.
That starter is Scott Feldman who is making his second start. He went 6 innings against the Blue Jays on April 13th and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strike outs.
The Tigers send out Jeremy Bonderman who has more walks than strike outs so far this year. That ratio swung the wrong way after his 6 walk effort on Saturday against the Blue Jays.
TEX @ DET, Thursday, April 24, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
Game Time 1:05
POSTGAME: Let us take a moment to rejoice in a sweep and a 4 game winning streak. A series in which the Tigers went from a middling offensive team to the 2nd scoring-est team in the AL. A series in which Curtis Granderson returned to his rightful place at the top of the lineup and Placido Polanco avoided a DL stint. A series where the bullpen was nearly flawless.
Now let’s look at the warts… Continue reading Game 23: Rangers at Tigers
Tigers Minor Leauge Wrap 4-23-08
Columbus 1 Toledo 4
Mike Hollimon was 2 for 4 with a homer in just his second game back. Jeff Larish added his 6th homer and a walk. Chris Lambert pithed 5 shut out innings on 4 walks, 2 K’s, and 3 hits. Blaine Neal is still unblemished with a scoreless 9th.
Erie 7 Harrisburg 0
Lucas French pitched 8 inninigs of 3 hit, no walk ball. Danny Worth had a 5 for 5 night missing the homer for the cycle.
Dunedin 1 Lakeland 3
Scott Sizemore had 2 hits, as did Ryan Strieby and Jeff Kunkel. Luis Marte fanned 11 over 7 innings and allowed 1 unearned run on 3 hits. He has 28 K’s in 22 innings.
Beloit 4 West Michigan 5
Kyle Peter was 4 for 6 with a walk and 2 stolen bases. Audy Ciriaco added 3 hits. Manny Miguelez allowed 4 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 8 K’s over 6.2 innings
Minors news
Detroit Tigers Thoughts does a run down of all the first baseman in the system.
Detroit Tigers Thoughts also notes that Virgil Vasquez has hit the DL with shoulder tendinitis.
Baseball Race and Integration Symposium
The very newly created Detroit Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is hosting a pretty big program this weekend. The Baseball Race and Integration Symposium is a two day event looking at integration at the major league level.
The itinerary includes a bus tour of historic Detroit baseball sites on Saturday. On Sunday there is a brunch and panel discussions at the Marriott hotel. Participants include Willie Horton, Gates Brown, Mickey Briggs, Don Lund, Jim Rile, and others.
This is open to everyone – meaning you don’t have to be a SABR member to attend. Also, there is a raffle that is coinciding with the event. They are also still looking for sponsors so if you have a business (large or small) I’m sure they would love to hear from you.
For more information see the SABR Detroit website.
Game 22: Rangers at Tigers
PREGAME: For those anxious to see the Tigers new defensive alignment, you’ll have to wait. Gary Sheffield and Placido Polanco miss tonight’s game so Miguel Cabrera DH’s and Carlos Guillen plays first. Here’s your lineup:
- Granderson CF
- Rodriguez C
- Guillen 1B
- Ordonez RF
- Cabrera DH
- Jones LF
- Renteria SS
- Inge 3B
- Santiago 2B
That line up will be taking on Luis Mendoza. In his last start Mendoza allowed 5 hits and 3 walks and 7 runs in 3 innings. In his two starts so far this year he has twice as many walks as strike outs.
He’ll be opposed by Kenny Rogers. Rogers nearly picked up quality start against the Blue Jays on Friday night but was hurt by 4 walks. For the season he has 12 walks and only 9 K’s over 4 starts.
TEX @ DET, Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
BTW – Please don’t post pretending to be a player/coach type person. Your post will be deleted as outlined in the comments policy. Thanks for your cooperation.
Game Time 7:05
POSTGAME: That was a nice offensive performance. Granted, the Rangers pitchers weren’t putting up much resistance (unless you count the 10 walks and 2 HBPs as resistance). But this one started off pretty ugly.
Continue reading Game 22: Rangers at Tigers
Grandy’s Back!
Curtis Granderson has been activated and will be leading off and patrolling center field. Just like old times. The only person in Detroit to view this as bad news is Clete Thomas who was sent to Toledo to make room. Thomas did well for himself and made the most of his time with the big club. A 298/338/393 line isn’t too shabby for a last minute roster addition who didn’t figure to be in the Tigers plans.
Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-22-0
Columbus 5 Toledo 3
It’s amazing what a big story Francisco Cruceta has become. I’m certainly intrigued but you’d think he’s the second coming of Mariano Rivera. Well, in his AAA debut he certainly impressed, even if he may have been tipping his pitches. Striking out the side on 10 pitches is a nice debut. In all he pitched 3 scoreless innings fanning 6. Mike Hollimon also made his season debut and went 1 for 4 with a double. Mike Hessman hit his 6th homer.
Erie 12 Harrisburg 2
Dusty Ryan had 3 hits and a walk. Wilkin Ramirez doubled and homered. Deik Scram homered and walked twice. Ben Fritz went 6.1 innings allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while fanning 3.
Lakeland 9 Fort Myers 10
Cale Iorg went 3 for 5. Justin Justice added 3 hits including a home run. Matt O’Brien started and allowed 3 runs in 5 innings. Jordan Tata made an appearance and struggled. He didn’t make it out of his inning before allowing 4 runs on a hit and 4 walks.
Beloit 3 West Michigan 5
Casper Wells had 3 hits and a walk. Ronnie Bourquin and Jordan Newton each had multi hit games. Alfredo Figaro allowed 2 runs on 6 innings and now has a 0.75 ERA.