-
Lee takes a look at some of the numbers behind the numbers for Inge's Awesome April in the D
-
I love it when Lynn Henning gets rolling: "Perry is a different situation entirely. He has pitches that are utterly lethal. His fastball and slider are lightning bolts that hitters have had an awful time trying to center. Perry has allowed only four hits, which tells you a 22-year-old with an artillery piece for an arm has been in command of everything but the strike zone."
-
I love this quote. Enough of this being nice business. Just come out and say you hate another team.
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Off day statistical nuggetry
Some things to chew on while the Tigers lick their wounds after dropping a series to the Yankees…
- Curtis Granderson hit his 7th homer of the year Wednesday night. It was also his 8th extra base hit of the year.
- Tigers pitchers throw the fastest average fastball in the league at a robust 92.8. That’s .9mph more than the Dodgers who are next closest – and Joel Zumaya just got here. Verlander’s 95.3 mph heater is the fastest among starters. Ryan Perry’s 95.5 is 6th best for qualified relievers (Joel Zumaya checks in at 98.4)
- Tigers hitters have also faced the fastest average fastball at 91.5 (next closest is 91.4). Maybe it has something to do with where they’ve played.
- Tigers pitchers rank 5th in terms of first pitch strikes.
- Brandon Inge leads the team by a large margin in terms of win probability added at 1.42 (.5 is essentially worth 1 win). And when I say large margin, the other 8 players who have non-negative WPA are a combined 1.29.
- Miguel Cabrera is tied with Josh Anderson, Inge, and Placido Polanco for the team lead in infield hits with 4.
- Cabrera has 2 RBI in the last 12 games. One of which came on an infield hit.
- Ramon Santiago has the highest strike out rate on the team at 34.3%
Tigers Minor Leauge Wrap 4/29/09
Bowie 6 Erie 1
Alex Avila went 2 for 4. Scott Sizemore homered. Jeff Frazier walked twice. Jay Sborz walked 4 and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) in 3.1 innings. Alfredo Figaro was supposed to start this game but was shelved with back stiffness.
Tampa 0 Lakeland 5
Audy Ciriaco and Kyle Peter were both 2 for 3 with a walk. Andy Dirks walked twice and singled. Thad Weber pitched 7 innings of 2 hit ball with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. Lester Oliveros walked 3 in his 2 innings but didn’t allow other baserunners.
West Michigan 0 Cedar Rapids 3
Bryan Pounds, Gustavo Nunez and Ronnie Bourquin had the only hits for the Whitecaps. Victor Larez allwed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 3 innings.
Game 2009.021: Yankees at Tigers
PREGAME: It’s kids day at Comerica Park with Joba Chamberlain taking on Rick Porcello. Porcello has been solid in his first 3 starts, but he has been susceptible to the homer with 5 dingers allowed in his 18 innings.
Chamberlain is making his 4th starter and he brings in a 3.94 ERA. But Chamberlain hasn’t been striking out many by his standards (6.2/9) and he’s been walking quite a few by anyone’s standard (5.6/9).
The Tigers bats have been relatively quiet of late with only 17 runs scored in their last 5 games – and 9 of those came in one game. But Ramon Santiago returns to the lineup tonight:
- Granderson, CF
- Polanco, 2B
- Ordonez, RF
- Cabrera, 1B
- Guillen, DH
- Laird, C
- Inge, 3B
- Anderson, LF
- Santiago, SS
Over at Tigers Corner you’ll be able to get a different perspective as Gary Gillette blogs from the press box.
Game Time 7:05
NY Yankees vs. Detroit – April 29, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday
POSTGAME: Another disappointing game. Porcello struggled in his first home start and he was shelled for 6 hits to go with 3 walks and didn’t get out of the 4th inning. And what a 4th inning it was with 7 runs plated for the Yankees. And that was that.
In terms of positives, the defense wasn’t bad and Miguel Cabrera made a couple nice plays. Also Joel Zumaya looked quite good and is probably ready to assume the set-up duties. And with 3 more walks Ryan Perry looks ready to relinquish the role.
Also, after the offense went very quiet for 2 games, they woke up in the 9th inning for 5 runs. Hopefully it carries over.
I hate off days.
Tigers Minor League Wrap 4/28/09
Game 2009.020: Yankees at Tigers
PREGAME: It looks to be a chilly and blustery night at Comerica Park. The Tigers are looking to extend their winning streak to 4 games and will send out Edwin Jackson to battle Philip Hughes.
Hughes was just added to the Yankees roster to replace Chien Ming Wang. Hughes has dominated AAA for 3 starts this year with 19 K’s and 3 BB’s in 19.1 innings.
The Yankees are a familiar foe for Jackson from his days in the AL East. Derek Jeter has lit him up in 27 at-bats with a 417/481/667 line.
Game Time 7:05
NY Yankees vs. Detroit – April 28, 2009 | MLB Gameday
POSTGAME: It’s my fault guys. I’ll take the hit on this one. I’ve been to 2 Edwin Jackson starts and I’ve seen him pitch 13.1 innings and allow 1 earned run. I’ve seen the bullpen allow 14 runs in those 2 starts. It must be me and Brandon Lyon would prefer never to see me again.
Of course the Josh Anderson misplay is the play that really stood out, but it was actually the 4 pitch walk that Ryan Perry issued to Melky Cabrera that really messed things up. Cabrera was trying to give the Tigers an out, but 4 pitches out of the zone set-up the 2nd and 3rd situation in the first place. But yeah, the Anderson play was catastrophic because the ball was shallow enough that it would have been a tough tag-up situation.
The defense was pretty awful. Beyond the Anderson play there was Everett botching a grounder (more on this in a minute), and Miguel Cabrera not corralling a foul pop-up. There was also a tough play with Granderson and Magglio but I’m not to upset about it.
As for that Everett misplay of a Robinson Cano grounder, the misplay and the at-bat itself may have had a huge impact on the game. Cano battled Jackson for 13 pitches, and he started 0-2 in the count. Jackson was one strike away from being out of the 4th inning and he was at 56 pitches. After Cano’s battle, Everett’s stumble, and a walk to Swisher, Jackson’s pitch count had run to 76. If Cano doesn’t hang in there that long, or if Everett makes the play, there’s a chance that Jackson is still pitching in the 7th.
And to top it all off Hughes was awesome and the Tigers offense didn’t muster anything making runs 2-11 largely irrelevant.
There’s a lot of freaky stats to look at it in this one, but I’ll leave you with this one: Edwin Jackson threw 41 pitches for balls in 6 innings. The bullpen threw 38 pitches for balls in 3 innings.
Tigers swap lefty bat for lefty arm
The Tigers optioned Jeff Larish down to Toledo to make room for lefty reliever Clay Rapada. My read is that this has little to do with Larish and more to do with Bobby Seay pitching every day and a bunch of games against lefty heavy teams coming up. Seay has pitched 3 days in a row and it would have meant Nate Robertson was the only lefty available for today’s game. With Carlos Guillen gimpy I’d expect Larish’s stay in Toledo to be brief.
The First Inning – 2009 edition
Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. When the Tigers completed the Royals series that also completed the first inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The First Inning is over.
Aside from the fact that the Tigers won more games than they did last year, a couple things jumped out at me. First, this was their best offensive first inning since Sam has been doing this (2006). I’m not sure who much had to do with the weather, but due to a dome and a west coast swing the Tigers only played 1 game in rough conditions.
Also, a look at the bullpen usage numbers is interesting. Your bullpen leaders in innings pitched through the first 18 games were 1. Brandon Lyon, 2. Eddie Bonine, and 3. Juan Rincon. Rincon is also the pen leader in strike outs.
There’s a bunch of other good stuff there so I encourage you to check it out.
Tigers Minor League Wrap 4/27/09
Columbus 6 Toledo 9
Clete Thomas doubled twice and homered. Don Kelly had 3 hits. Eddie Bonine started and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings. Ron Chiavacci fanned 6 in 5 innings of 2 run ball.
Bowie 9 Erie 7
Alex Avila doubled and tripled. Jeff Frazier went 3 for 5. Jonah Nickerson allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 4.1 innings. Zach Simons fanned 5 in 2 innings, but he allowed 2 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks.
Tampa 6 Lakeland 0
Jordan Newton in his first game after being promoted went 2 for 4. Audy Ciriaco and Chris Carlson each had 2 errors. Andrew Hess allowed 4 runs in 5 innings, but only one was earned. Scott Green fanned 3 in 2 innings.
Lansing 1 West Michigan 5
Luke Putkonen pitched 6 shut out innings allowing 2 hits and 2 runs while fanning 4. Ronnie Bourquin tripled. Brent Wyatt had 2 hits and a walk.
Game 2009.019: Yankees at Tigers
PREGAME: The Tigers finally return home after spending a good chunk of the season batting first. The Tigers played a MLB leading 13 games on the road to date (the Dodgers have played 13 roadies also). It will also be the first night game at Comerica Park this season. Tonight they get to face the New York Yankees, a grumpy group of guys who were just swept in Fenway Park.
CC Sabathia will pitch the first game of the 3 game series. Sabathia has had 2 good games and 2 clunkers so far this season. Of course the Tigers are familiar with him from his day’s on Lake Erie. Surprisingly Sabathia has 14 BB’s against 12 K’s. Sidney Ponson had a similar ratio heading into yesterday’s game and the Tigers could barely hit him. For more on the Yankees check out Bronx Banter.
Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers, still looking for his first quality start of the year. Here’s hoping he finds some solid defense behind him. Coincidentally Ryan Raburn is in the lineup for the first time since his adventures in right field during Verlander’s last start.
Tonight’s Starting 9:
- Granderson, CF
- Polanco, 2B
- Ordonez, RF
- Cabrera, 1B
- Guillen, DH
- Laird, C
- Inge, 3B
- Raburn, LF
- Everett, SS
Game Time 7:05
Tigers Minor Leauge & Dontrelle Wrap: 4/26/09
Louisville 10 Toledo 3
Clete Thomas went 2 for 4 with a walk. Dusty Ryan homered and walked. Scott Drucker allwoed 7 runs on 10 hits including 3 homers in 4 innings. Fu Te Ni walked 2, but also struck out 2 in 2 innings. Clay Rapada allowed 2 runs on 3 hits with 2 K’s in his inning of work. Casey Fien allowed 2 hits and a walk in his inning.
Harrisburg 4 Erie 8
Dontrelle Willis was the high profile starter in this one. Willis struck out 6 and walked 3 in his 6 innings with 2 runs on 3 hits. Overall, it was another encouraging outing. Willis did an interview prior to the game (h/t Kurt) and you can’t help but pulling for him. Cody Satterwhite fanned 4 in 2.2 innings but also walked 3 and allowed 2 hits. Brennan Boesch had 2 doubles and a homer. Ryan Strieby also homered.
Lakeland 3 Daytona 5
Mike Bertram and Andy Dirks both doubled and singled. Lauren Gagnier allowed 5 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings due in large part to 2 homers.
Lansing 1 West Michigan 3
Bryan Pounds homered and doubled. Jordan Lennerton went 3 for 3. Casey Crosby fanned 3 and walked 2 in 5 shut out innings.
Lansing 2 West Michigan 4
Bryan Pounds and Jordan Lennerton had the 2 multi hit games. Matt Hoffman went 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, no walks, and 6 K’s.
What’s up with Verlander in the stretch?
Justin Verlander has gotten off to a rough start in 2009. People are starting to question his “ace-hood” and with an ERA of 9.00 after 4 starts it is probably justified. What makes his start so perplexing is that his “stuff” appears to be back. His fastball velocity is over 95mph and he’s fanning 10.7 batters per 9 innings. The numbers that really need a deeper examination though are those when runners are on base. Verlander is stranding only 39.6% of runners (a normal rate is 65-75%) and hitters post a 457 OBP with men on and only 296 with the bases empty. What’s up with that?