Detroit Tigers, 26-31, 6 games behind Chicago.

Day-to-Day injuries: 2 (Benoit, Laird). 15-Day DL: 4 (Jackson, Fister, Avila, Dirks).

The Tigers hop on the bus and ride their 1-game winning streak south to Cincinnati, where they will engage in a 3-game Sparky Bowl series with the Reds.

The Reds have taken over first in the Other Central, led by MLB Most Valuable Player Joey Votto (if you take WAR rating as a guide), who failed to get the memo about how performance should tail off after signing a huge contract.

The Reds will be facing Rick Porcello, who tries to follow up an a good 1-run, 6 inning outing against New York. The Reds will counter with Mat Latos, who they received this offseason from the Padres in exchange for Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Yasmani Grandal, and Brad Boxberger. Just wanted to type those names.

Austin Jackson,  Doug Fister, and Andy Dirks are all preparing for their returns.  If there are any more setbacks, Jim Leyland may be singing a different tune, as StorminNorman posted.

So here is today’s challenge.  In Jim Leyland’s future career as a singer, his signature song will be:  ______.

In other news, Detroit won’t have Omir Santos to kick around anymore: he has refused his assignment to Toledo and is now a free agent.

Stat of the Day: Something is foul here.  The Tigers lead the AL in the propensity to foul off pitches: 29% of the team strikes are from foul balls.  I have a feeling this is a good thing, although I can’t quite articulate why.

Tonight’s Player of the Pre-game:  Rick Porcello. Rick Porcello and his .250 career average gladly grabs some lumber and helps his own cause.

Tonight’s Un-Designated Lineup

1. Quintin Berry CF
2. Brennan Boesch RF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young LF
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Gerald Laird C
8. Ramon Santiago 2B
9. Rick Porcello P

25-31, 3rd place (barely), 6 games back.

That’s 0-5 against those star laden Indians this season. But who is beating Jeanmar Gomez this year anyway?

So what can we do with this lineup? (AJax is starting a rehab stint today, he should be back on Saturday.) Really, not much. We could sit Boesch, who has become the latest Rabinge at the plate, and his error yesterday on a routine fly ball is only exacerbating this situation. So to remedy that, Smokey moved him up in the lineup for today’s game. Berry should be a fixture in RF or LF until Raburn has a multi-hit game in Toledo and Smokey gets a cablegram about it at his bunker underneath  Kinsel’s. Thus, we’re stuck with Boesch/Kelly as the 3rd OFer, and Santiago/Worth at 2B.

The Tigers have to figure out a way to start hitting. As Buster Olney pointed out in gruesome detail (you need Insider), the Tigers rank in the bottom half (and mostly towards the very bottom) defensively at every position save CF and C. The only way out of this mess to for them to slug their way out of it. Because the defense has been so bad, a Toledo carousel can’t hurt, maybe we can uncover something. But if Peralta, Avila and Young don’t start hitting soon, there really will be no way out of this.

Then there is also the issue of the mental breakdowns. Bad errors, poor decisions and a lack of fundamentals have really been the difference between poor range and a recurring clown show. The Indians, who are likely less talented than the Tigers, do the little things right. That’s a reflection of coaching. Not other way around it.

There’s also been much written in the comments here regarding plate discipline and swing counts. In my mind, that’s been an issue here for years and I think that the organizational philosophy is a swing at your pitch, no matter what the count; as opposed to the work the pitcher philosophies in Boston, NY and the like. Like most of you, I prefer the patient approach, but I don’t expect the at bats to change anytime soon. Not until DD and JL are long gone.

A few notes:

– The draft is over, at least someone inside the organization is happy.
– AJax should start in Toledo tonight.
– Today’s game should be G.R.E.A.T., let’s hope that the play on the field reinforces the message on the stands.

Only takes one win to start a streak.

Your Tigers Split Squad Lineup Today Is:

1. Berry, CF
2. Boesch, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Kelly, LF
8. Worth, 2B
9. Holaday, C

25-30, 3rd place, 6 games behind CWS.

Been a pretty frustrating run as of late, but  here are a few noteworthy items.

– Avila to the DL, Bryan Holaday up from AAA (and starting!); Santos down.

– AJax took a few swings in BP today. It’s been three weeks since he last played. And I don’t think that taking a few swings means he’s coming back anytime soon.

– Jose Ortega was also called up from AAA, look for him to come on in a 2 on, 1 out, up by 1 situation in the 7th tonight.

– Jurickson Profar tops the list of a few 2B trade prospects to dream about (Profar would move from SS).

Tonight’s Could This Be Our First Win Of The Season Against Cleveland? Lineup:

1. Berry, CF
2. Santiago, 2B
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Boesch, RF
7. Peralta, SS
8. Kelly, LF
9. Holaday, C

25-29, 3rd place, 6 games back.

Well, here we sit, 1/3 of the way through the season, and in third place. The season has been a great disappointment for just about everyone so far, save maybe Quentin Berry. If you’re projecting stats over the final 2/3 of the season, Cabby would end up with 33 HR and 132 RBIs (sounds about right), Fielder with 27 HR and 105 RBIs (a little low), and no one else with more than 15 HRs or 60 RBIs. This last point really highlights the Tigers’ woes thus far, as no one else is hitting. Jackson’s 17 XBH have contributed to only 17 RBIs, and Young, Peralta and Boesch have woeful OPS’s dwarfed by the current likes of Berry and Laird.

The pitching hasn’t been much better (10th in ERA – 4.24, T9th in WHIP – 1.35), and Valverde and Scherzer have been downright awful. Valverde can’t find the strike zone posting 15 walks in 21+ innings, to go along with 2 HB for an ugly 1.59 WHIP. As I’ve mentioned before, Scherzer is getting pummeled by the BABIP gremlin, so while he’ll likely get better, Valverde’s grip on the closer’s role is hopefully loose, at best.

As far as fixing the above…the Tigers simply need to play better. The defense is what it is, though Berry will help the OF significantly. I think the pitching will be fine with Marte up and Scherzer getting better (so I hope); but the bats need to get going. Past performance indicates that they will – even if Peralta, Young and Avila can just be average players, we’ll score more runs. Maybe VMart in the dugout will spark the team a bit.

A few notes:

– Nick Castellanos was promoted to AA Erie today, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be up here anytime soon. Castellanos is a 3B, and if he’s going to play for the Tigers, it will likely be in LF. Let’s see if he starts to log some innings in LF.

– The Tigers have drafted two HS pitchers thus far in the amateur draft, including Jake Thompson who’s about 15 miles east of me right now (if he’s home).

– Matt Young is up, and starting in LF tonight, batting second like everyone should in their season debut.

– Don’t forget to vote for your Tigers for the All Star game.

– Very little on AJax as of late, which has me very concerned.

Tonight’s Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry, CF
2. Matt Young, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Delmon Young, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Brennan Boesch, RF
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

Detroit Tigers, 25-28, 5 games behind Chicago. Day-to-Day injuries: 3–Add Benoit, with forearm tightness. Dirks officially to the 15-day DL. Matt Young called up from Toledo.

He had only been on the team a couple of days, and had been having a nightmare of an evening, committing 2 errors and seeing 5 runners steal on him. But Omir Santos had one thing in his favor: he hadn’t been around long enough to fall into the Tiger runner-on-3rd-less-than-2-out malaise, and his sacrifice fly redeemed a great outing by Rick Porcello and a Cabrera power show (Santos also had a sac bunt).

And in case you were wondering what Leyland would have done if he needed another player to take the field (he used his entire bench), Villarreal would have put on the glove.

Today is Magglio Ordonez Day at Comerica, with official retirement ceremonies beginning at 12:30.

This afternoon Justin Verlander steps on the rubber for the series rubber game, and looks to maintain Detroit’s winning record against the AL East (9-8). Verlander, impressed by last night’s game, is working on developing a 2-HBP, 2-Walk, 3-SB inning, except that he thinks he can do it without giving up a run. At any rate both Benoit and Valverde are likely to be unavailable today, so go Justin!

Stat of the Day: Miguel Cabrera hit 910 feet of home run ball last night (they were listed at 466 and 444). “That was a lot of footage, to say the least,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Magglio Ordonez, who is literally the player being celebrated in the pre-game.

Today’s Hey-It-Worked-Last-Night Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry CF
2. Danny Worth 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Brennan Boesch RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Don Kelly LF
9. Omir Santos C

Detroit Tigers, 24-28, 6 games behind Chicago. Day-to-Day injuries: 3.

Alex Avila was scratched from tonights lineup with right hamstring tightness.  Gerald Laird is out with hamstring issues.  Suddenly the move to bring up Omir Santos looks prescient.

Ramon Santiago will go into tonight’s game as the only position player available on the Tiger bench.

Stat of the Day: Detroit and Minnesota are tied for the AL lead in grounding into double plays with 56 each.  Not surprisingly, the Twins also lead the league in ground ball to fly ball ratio (1.09).  Surprisingly, the Tigers have one of the league’s lowest ratios (0.74).  So they really aren’t hitting the ball on the ground–but they are making it count when they do.

Tonight’s Player of the Pre-game:  Don Kelly.  The Donkey will do his best to not clown it up at his weakest position, while keeping his fingers crossed for the health of Omir Santos–Don Kelly is now the only backup catcher on the team (which means he will not be pinch-hit for or otherwise replaced).

Tonight’s Day-to-Day-to-Day Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry CF
2. Danny Worth 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Brennan Boesch RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Don Kelly LF
9. Omir Santos C

Detroit Tigers, 24-27, 5 games behind Chicago, winning streak: 1 game. And it’s Polish-American night.

It was all a terrible misunderstanding.

A lot has been written about the last day of the current installment of the Ryan Raburn Experience, mostly about the surprise appearance of Raburn in the 2nd spot in the order.

Subsequent stories have described this as a last ditch effort to see if Raburn could produce before lopping off his head, or at least fitting it for a Mud Hens hat. Because nothing relaxes a player who is pressing like being moved up to the 2nd spot in the order (there are two ways, of course, to look at this: Leyland is a fool, or Leyland is a genius, who could have predicted Raburn would strike out 3 times and just wanted to get this demotion thing done with).

The real story though is much simpler, and shows the importance of good communication within an organization.

Dave Dombrowski walked by while Leyland was in a pre-game fret about Raburn, and was asked for advice on what to do with Raburn.  Dombrowski: “He would be a good table setter.” Leyland, already stumped at how to get a table setter in the 2 spot on base in front of Cabrera and Fielder, jumped at the suggestion.  Much to his embarrassment, only later did he find out that Dombrowski was suggesting Raburn spend the day setting up the post-game buffet.

When asked why he didn’t question Dombrowski immediately about the unusual suggestion, Leyland said it fit with what he thought Dombrowski had previously said about Raburn: “He’s scrappy.”  Turns out he had misheard that.

***

Of course, the Raburn affair was overshadowed by the foul tip in the dirt which was neither tipped nor in the dirt, which joined the balk which was not a balk and the bunt off the invisible leg at the top of the list of Tiger umpiring travesties.  But be that as it may, how would you like to have to deal with what the Yankees have had to deal with from the umpires?

Why just Wednesday, the Yankees had to contend with an umpire throwing new balls to the pitcher, instead of letting the catcher do it! Remarkably the Yankees were able to prevail under these adverse conditions, and still beat the Angels 6-5.  Still catcher Russell Martin had no hard feelings over the incident, leaving umpire Laz Diaz with the conciliatory words, “you’re such a d—. You’re a d—, dude. Like, for real. Unbelievable.”

***

Tonight the Yankees will have to overcome the unknownness of Tiger rookie Casey Crosby, making his MLB debut against the enormous talent of C.C. Sabathia. Crosby posted an uninspiring 4.26 ERA at Toledo, but will be aided by the Yankee inability to recognize him from his generic Gameday photo.  I hesitated before posting the Game Post pic (it clearly reveals Crosby as a lefty), but have been assured that Yankee players rarely frequent this blog.

No word on whether Avila is out as a precaution after getting his mask knocked off, or whether Leyland is playing the usual RH/LH strategy.  Dirks is out with a sore achilles, which is apparently getting worse. And still no Jackson. We may see Raburn back at this rate.

***

Stat of the day: Prince Fielder (at 275 lbs) just hit his 10th career triple. According to baseball-reference.com, Prince Fielder is the second player in MLB history weighing at least 275 pounds to have 10 career triples. Adam Dunn (285 lbs) also has 10. I’m not sure which is more astonishing: the 10 triples, or that Fielder is listed as 10 lbs less than Dunn. Although if I read this correctly, all Austin Jackson has to do to break this record is to gain 90 lbs.

***

Tonight’s Player of the Pre-game:  Prince Fielder. The matchup between Fielder and fellow ex-Brewer Sabathia will be huge. Apparently, Sabathia was trying to convince Fielder to become a Yankee.  Tonight Sabathia will really wish Fielder was a Yankee.

Tonight’s Rookie Hazing Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry CF
2. Danny Worth 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young LF
6. Gerald Laird DH
7. Brennan Boesch RF
8. Omir Santos C
9. Ramon Santiago SS

23-27, 3rd place, 5.5 games behind CWS (who have won 8 in a row).

Short and sweet for the Win.

1. Berry, CF
2. Boesch, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH (Maybe Verlander should DH)
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Kelly, LF
9. Worth, 2B

23-26, 3rd place, 5 games behind Cle.

The Boston Red Sox, who started the season 0-3 after being swept by the Tigers, crept above .500 for the first time all year after yesterday’s 6-3 victory. JV had his worst outing since May 2011, allowing 5 ER in 6 IPs. He’s now 0-2 following a Tigers loss after a remarkable 12-0 run in his previous 13 games following a loss. I know that things look bleak, and it’s fashionable to write the Tigers off, but here are a few reasons why I’m not going to do so just yet:

1) Fielder and Cabrera are not hitting up to their standards, but they will. Both have below career average walk and slugging rates. Superstars do not forget how to hit. They alone are going to win several ball games individually, and jointly.

2) Scherzer will get better. His stuff is too good, and his K rate suggests that he should be significantly better. Moreover, his BABIP is .394, which is ridiculous, even with our infield. That number will come down.

3) We can’t get any worse at DH or 2B. I haven’t looked at WARP, but I’m pretty sure that we are deep into the negatives for both of those positions. The OPS+ for DH is 50, and for 2B is 46. It may take a few weeks to find better players, but DD knows that Delmon Young and Santiago / Worth are not viable solutions for DH and 2B. The key is that we just need better players. Laird, Berry, etc. Even if they can get to an OPS+ of 75, we’ll be fine.

4) The bullpen is coming around. Villareal, Dotel, Coke, Benoit and Valverde should get it done most nights.

Drew Smyly on the hill tonight, he’s come down to earth a bit after his incredible start. Smyly hasn’t pitched past the 5th in any of his last 3 starts.

A few notes:

– Raburn down, Santos up. Kind of anti-climatic. Look for Laird/Avila to get more ABs at DH. Santos was hitting .310 with 9 RBIs in 27 games at Toledo.

– Fister to the 15 day DL again with that same oblique strain.

– Ordonez will announce his retirement during a pregame ceremony on Sunday.

– Leyland is back to .500 for his career, 1,611 up, 1,611 down.

Tonight’s Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry, CF
2. Danny Worth, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Delmon Young, LF
6. Brennan Boesch, RF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Gerald Laird, DH

23-25, third place, 4 games behind Cle.

A missed strike three on a foul tip that was caught cleanly, but ruled to have hit the dirt first, gave the Red Sox an extra strike and 3 extra runs in the 2nd inning yesterday, and though Doug Fister will never admit it, you can’t help but wonder how different the game could have been. The margin of victory was, after all, 3 runs. I can’t see what the Boston press is writing about the call, but it seems that even they know the call was bogus. Leyland knew it from the time he left to dugout on his way to his 2nd ejection in a week, but his post game interview left me wondering why he’s so anxious for everyone else to address the problem other than him. His anger towards the media makes me think that the Raburn articles are getting to him; and perhaps he’s batting Raburn 2nd in an effort to prove everybody wrong. I know that it sounds ridiculous, but watch the video and tell me what you think.

As for the umpiring, Leyland is on to something. The blown call yesterday was made by Bill Welke at 1B. That name may sound familiar, because his brother Tim Welke missed a bunt by Alberto Gonzalez of the Rangers that hit him in the field of play in the 10th inning on April 22nd, and led to another Tigers’ loss (Tim Welke also had the blown call of the year when Todd Helton was 2 feet off the bag in early May). Throw in the missed balk in Cleveland last weekend, and the Tigers umps really have our number. I don’t remember umpiring being this bad in the good ol’ days, but then again, there has never been so much scrutiny on the game in terms of camera angles and coverage.

Fister fell to 0-3 and saw his ERA go up to 3.16 (after yesterday’s poor outing). Prior to the game Jeff Jones gave a little insight on Fister, Smyly and Porcello. Berry only had 1 hit yesterday, but he has hit safely in 6 games to start his Tigers career, something no one else has done since 1918. Leyland likes the spark he’s given the team, but said “don’t get crazy” thinking about possibilities for Berry, presumably once Jackson gets back.

JV is on the hill tonight looking for a little more run support this time than the 1 run he was given last time out. A complete game tonight would give JV three straight, something he’s never done in his career.  JV’s lost to the Indians last week was his first following a Tigers loss in some time…according to Elias “Verlander (had been) 12-0 over his previous 13 starts that immediately followed a Tigers defeat, including a 4-0 mark in five previous starts under those circumstances this season.” That’s incredible. He’s got a chance to start a new streak tonight. JV is 3-2 with a 2.78 ERA covering 8 starts in his career against the Red Sox.

A few bits of good news…The bullpen has a 1.00 ERA since May 17th covering 27 IPs. Fielder is starting to rake, hitting .429 with a 1.089 OPS over the past two weeks.

Other notes:

– I’m starting to get a little nervous about the CWS. Sale looks to be the real deal.
– Rumor is that Jackson will be back for the Yankees series, hopefully for the opener on Friday. Jeff Riger says Berry must remain on the roster, and Chris Iott predicts that Raburn will be sent down since Kelly is out of options, yet Raburn has one remaining.
– We’ve been talking a lot about bringing up Justin Henry to play 2B, but keep an eye on Castellanos, who is tearing up Lakeland to the tune of a .414 BA and 1.030 OPS. They’re not going to bring him up any time soon (likely not this year), but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get promoted in a month or so and then start taking some balls at 2B.
– Kurt Mensching of BlessYouBoys.com and DetNews.com writes today that fans should be leery of firing Jim Leyland.
– Ordonez will officially announce his retirement on Sunday at CoPa.
– Verlander’s parents are releasing a book on how to raise a child who will star in commercials with the likes of Kate Upton. Book signing coming your way soon.

********************

Today’s Lineup:

1. Berry, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Boesch, RF
7. Peralta, SS
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, 2B

Some last minute notes from the Freep: Leyland said a few hours ago that Raburn is on a “short leash” and Young was originally out of the lineup b/c his travel to and from New York for his court appearance; thank goodness for modern travel.

Detroit Tigers, 23-24, 3 games behind Cleveland, winning streak: 3 games.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

Ah yes, the Boston Red Sox.  Remember when the season started with a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox in Detroit? The Tigers scored 26 runs in 3-games, they pulled off a clutch 11-inning victory for the sweep, and Duane Below managed to rack up 2 of the 3 wins. The Tigers had a legendary offense that was going to just crush the opposition, and cruise to an easy Central title. Oh well.

Boston had problems of its own, but seems to have righted the ship somewhat, and both teams go into this series with identical records. Austin Jackson again will miss this series with his abdominal strain, so Detroit is hoping the Q-Berry magic continues.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Quintin Berry. Run, Quintin, Run!

Today’s What-Could-Be-More-Obvious-Than-Batting-Raburn-2nd Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry CF
2. Ryan Raburn RF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Andy Dirks LF
8. Gerald Laird C
9. Danny Worth 2B

Detroit Tigers, 22-24, 4 games behind Cleveland, winning streak: 2.

I can finally stop worrying how the Tigers are going to get back to .500 without winning winning consecutive games.  We are now in the midst of a full-blown 2-game winning streak. It’s almost enough to make one forget the shaky defense they have been playing.

The offense came through again, and the icing on the cake was the bullpen performance. Scherzer struck out 9, after striking out 15 his previous performance, but was faltering even before a rain delay ended his day early.  Dotel came in with runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out, struck out Willingham, got Morneau to foul out, then struck out the side in the 7th.  All in all the Tigers struck out 16 in the game.

Manager Jim Leyland said “a good game and everything but to me the hero of the game was Octavio Dotel.” As for Dotel, when asked how he keeps throwing 94 m.p.h. at his age, he said, “Yeah, I’m 38, but I feel 15.”

Speaking of the bullpen, we may need it today.  Rick Porcello takes the mound for Detroit, and he has gone 3 straight outings without making it through the 6th inning.  Porcello faces P.J. Walters, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Twins, filling in for Nick Blackburn with a 2-1 record and 2.95 ERA, including his first complete game last time out. He also beat the Tigers 4-3 in his previous appearance against them.  On the other hand, past performance is not a guarantee of future results, and he is named after pajamas.

***

I often find it entertaining to take a peek at the ESPN game previews and see what the two predictions for the game are, the AccuScore prediction and the fan prediction.  Today AccuScore says Minnesota has a 52% chance to win this afternoon, Detroit 48% (I’m guessing home field is what swings it their way). The ESPN fan poll says: Tigers 96.2% Minnesota Twins 3.8%.  On behalf of the Twins, we’d like to think you fans for your support. Both of you.

***

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Prince Fielder. The Tigers’ slump and Fielder’s slumps coincided. Fielder was 4-for-4 yesterday, and homered off of Walters the previous time they met. Fielder keeps the hot bat, and we forget that he takes the field wearing clown shoes.

Today’s Leyland-Read-The-Vince/Coleman-Posts-and-is-Trying-Boesch-At-DH Lineup:

1. Quintin Berry CF
2. Andy Dirks LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Brennan Boesch DH
6. Alex Avila C
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Don Kelly RF
9. Ryan Raburn 2B