Wil Ledezma had a solid debut pitching 5 shut out innings. He only allowed 4 hits and no walks to go along with 4 strike-outs. Ledezma threw 72 pitches, and 47 of them for strikes. I was thrilled with the performance, and happy that Trammell kept his pitch count fairly low. His previous high for pitches was a 4 inning 58 pitch relief outing. Ledezma left with a 1-0 lead which Chris Spuling let disappear the in the 7th.

Speaking of Chris Spurling, he is in a serious funk. This was his 5th straight appearance where he allowed runs to score. After an impressive May where his stats were 14 G, 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 9K, 2BB, .275 OPP BA, he has become highly ineffective. Since May his stats are 15 G, 17.2 IP, 7.02 ERA, 6K, 2BB, .400 OPP BA. He’s not really walking more guys, and I’m not sure why he’s getting hit so hard. Because he is a Rule 5 guy, the Tigers can’t send him to Toledo without risking losing him.

Deja Vu moment: When the Tigers played the White Sox on May 25th, Kevin Witt was due to come to the plate in the 8th with the bases loaded, nobody out, and facing a struggling left handed reliever (Kelly Wunsch). The same thing happened tonight, only the reliever was Marte instead of Wunsch. In both games Kevin Witt was 2 for 3. In both games Trammell pinch hit Craig Monroe for Kevin Witt, thus inviting Tom Gordon to enter the game. In both games Craig Monroe struck out. I complained about this last time, and I’ll do it again. If you’ve got a pitcher on the ropes, don’t give the other manager the opportunity to take him out, especially since the guy you’re pinch hitting for had been having a good game. Back in May Munson managed to drive in a run with a sac fly, and Torres singled in another one with a bloop single. Tonight Munson followed with another strike out and the inning end when Ross grounded out. Bases loaded, no outs and no runs to show for it. While the Tigers got the win, that is exactly the type of thing that will often come back to haunt you.

But, let’s not dwell on the negative and just enjoy the win.

Baseball America – Triple-A Notebook-Cody Ross

-Don’t look now, but the Dodger have only scored 7 more runs than the Tigers heading into Monday night’s game (289 to 282, both in 86 games). Now an American League team threatening to move out of last in the Majors in runs scored shouldn’t be news. However, Tiger fans have to grab at whatever bright spots they can find, and not being last in something is a definite step up.
-Cody Ross got the call last week when Bobby Higginson went on the 15 day DL. Both moves are probably overdue. Ross reached base after getting plunked in the heiny (tailbone-that’s gotta hurt), and then needed a pinch runner.
-Tiger trade speculation is starting to swirl. Mike Maroth and Jamie Walker appear to be the most likely candidates to be on the move. Maroth looks to have the most value being a solid left handed starter. Add in the fact he’s 25 and is making $300k and it is possible the Tigers could get a decent hitting prospect. Then again, as Tim D has commented on, the Tigers could have had a proven decent hitting 2nd basemen for even less and they passed (Jimenez). In all fairness to Dave D, it’s possible he did make a play and the White Sox may have not wanted to trade him to a division foe (I don’t know this happened, just giving the benefit of the doubt).
-With 3 errors this weekend at third base, Eric Munson is strengthening the “move him to catcher” argument. Unless the Tigers could somehow trade with Cincinnati and get Brandon Larson (doubtful) then you might as well keep Munson at third. Offensively he did have 3 walks and a homer on Sunday.
-Shane Halter started 6 of the last 9 games. My only question is, “Why?” Unless he’s catching, he isn’t an offensive upgrade at any position over the other options. Even in platoon situations, Halter’s OPS is only .691 against lefties. Munson has a .693 OPS which is a wash, but Munson maybe part of the future for the Tigers, and Halter definitely isn’t. At first base Pena has struggled against lefties (.551 OPS). However, the Tigers aren’t looking for Pena to be a platoon option, and this year would be a nice chance for him to get used to seeing southpaws. Warren Morris has also struggled against lefties with a .551 OPS, but 17 AB isn’t a large enough sample. Against left handed pitching he does have a 70 point OPS advantage of Santiago at short. So I guess that you could make the argument that Shane should get starts against lefties and play second or short. Unfortunately during this last stretch, only one of his starts fits that criteria (started for Morris against Hendrickson). Most of the starts came at the expense of Munson, and most were against righties. I guess I’ll hold out hope they were “showcasing” him for a potential trade.
-Time to read some more of Moneyball and head to bed

ESPN.com – Gammons: :

Danny Knobler:

Tanana says Bonderman will be better off for losing start to career

Catching up with the 62 Mets…and can the Tigers catch the 62 Mets?:

You knew it had to happen at some point. Trammell indicated that later in the season he may go with a 6 man rotation to protect his 3 rookies

Other stuff In the 6th inning Bonderman intentionally walked Michael Tucker it ended a string of 34 innings without a walk…Dmitri Young (9 games) and Carlos Pena (7games) saw their hit streaks end last night…Opponents have stolen 11 bases in 13 attempts against AJ Hinch.

Have a fun and safe holdiay weekend!

Jayson Stark’s Rumblings

I was hoping that I’d be able to link to a story about how Adam Bernero has been demoted from the starting rotation after another ineffective outing. Alas, no such article exists…yet. Bernero’s ERA has climbed all the way to 6.05. He failed to go 4 innings for the second time in his last 4 starts, and hasn’t had a quality start since June 11.

What’s frustrating is that the Tigers have other options to take his spot. Wil Ledezma definitely comes to mind (although he didn’t help his cause giving up a couple runs last night). Also, Shane Loux has pitched well for Toledo (8-4, 2.79 ERA). I don’t know that Ledezma or Loux will be great starters, but given Bernero’s recent performance the time has come to give either one a chance.

Miscellaney Gene Kingsale cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Toledo… Anthony Giarratano and Jay Sborz both signed, leaving Kyle Sleeth as the only one of the top 5 picks not signed.

Owner is mum, but Tigers’ play does the talking

Munson unlikely to play catcher

This discussion would have made sense before they had moved Eric to third base. He’s done an admirable job of making the switch, and I think another position change at this point might ruin him. Although, I would have given this more serious consideration if Travis Chapman were still on the roster.