All posts by billfer

2009 Season, Roster Management

Wilkin Ramirez recalled

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The Tigers have called up Wilkin Ramirez. Ramirez is hitting .316 with 6 extra base hits and 5 walks in his last 10 games…with 13 strike outs. Casey Fien was optioned out. Fien had an impressive debut coming in with the bases loaded against the White Sox, but he struggled in Cleveland this weekend.

Those are the facts, but this move doesn’t make sense to me. Carlos Guillen is close to returning to the outfield and joining Marcus Thames, Ryan Raburn, Clete Thomas, and Magglio Ordonez in the corners. If there were an injury you’d think somebody would get DL’d. I can’t help but think there is another move on the near horizon.

UPDATE: Steve Kornacki reports that Ramirez will lead off and play left field.

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/3/09

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Buffalo 2 Toledo 3
Max St. Pierre doubled and homered. Scott Sizemore walked 3 times. Eddie Bonine allowed 2 solo homers, but that was it for the scoring as he tossed 7 innings with 5 hits, 2 walks and 4 K’s.

Erie – DNP

Lakeland – DNP

South Bend 0 West Michigan 1
Ben Guez doubled, tripled, and stole a base. Luke Putkonen pitched 8 shut out innings with 6 K’s, 5 hits, and a walk.

Tri-City 4 Oneonta 1
Jamie Johnson went 3 for 4 with a double. Cory Hamilton went the first 3 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits.

Oneonta 10 Tri-City 0
Jamie Johnson doubled and homered. Rawley Bishop doubled and singled. Clemente Mendoza went all 7 innings allowing 2 walks, 6 hits, and fanning 3.

GCL Blue Jays 4 GCL Tigers 3
Jordan Cruz singled, homered, and walked. Luis Castillo doubled twice. Jared Wesson fanned 7 and allowed just a hit and a walk in 3 innings.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.104: Orioles at Tigers

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PREGAME: It’s looking like there might be some weather tonight, and a mid game rain delay would really work against the Tigers with their ace on the bump.

Justin Verlander has stepped up huge like his last 2 times out with a complete game against the White Sox when the team was reeling, and a 13 K’ performance against the Rangers when the team was reeling. The Tigers are more floundering now than reeling, but another ace-esque performance should come in handy. The O’s ran his pitch count to 112 in 6 innings the last time the teams met.

Chris Tillman will make his 2nd career start tonight. He was knocked out with 2 outs in the 5th inning after 93 pitches and 3 runs against the Royals in his debut.

Baltimore vs. Detroit – August 3, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Ideally you don’t need a walk-off homer when a rookie pitcher is going up against the staff ace, but a walk-off is a walk-off. No complaints here. Thank you very much Clete Thomas.

Justin Verlander got knocked around pretty good in the first inning. I was out with the family and was recording the game. I was on fast forward through the opening and before I could hit stop 1 run was in and 2 were on base. I couldn’t believe how the hits rolled of the bat and the night had disaster all over it, but the Tigers answered right away.

After 2 games with no extra base hits, the Tigers started off triple, double, walk, double. And then Verlander locked in. He came up with 9 K’s and amazingly lasted 8 innings. Verlander is a stud.

  • Miguel Cabrera has been maligned for his lack of clutch production, but he got the big 2 run double in the first and the game tying homer later on. In between he hit a ball sharply up the middle that Brian Roberts made a nice play on
  • The defense was also impressive with Cabrera making a nice play at first and Marcus Thames making some dramatic catches in left field.
  • The offense overall was impressive. They plated 6, but made a number of hard outs as well. They were consistently centering the ball for a change.
  • Fernando Rodney was quite good, fanning Luke Scott and getting a couple of quick outs for the win.
  • But I have to mention one negative and that was Granderson. He’s looked lost at the plate too often since the Texas series. He did smoke his triple tonight, and hit another ball well. But his last 2 at-bats were awful. He got ahead 2-0 in his next to last PA and tried pulling a fastball off the plate. In the 9th he was ahead 3-1 and swung at ball 4, again off the plate, before taking strike 3 right down the middle. I’m not hating on Grandy, he’s still my Tiger, but there have been too many of those types of “backwards” at-bats lately. He’s taking too many good ones and swinging at too many bad ones and the check swings are on the rise. He may need a day off and I wouldn’t mind seeing him take a breather the next time there is a lefty starter.
2009 Season, Injuries, Pitching, Statistics

Infirmary report and other thoughts

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Aside from Joel Zumaya’s season ending surgery, the news is actually pretty good on the injury front. So much so that the only wound licking to take place should be residual pain of a 2-4 road trip.

  • Carlos Guillen, already swinging a productive stick from the left side, could be playing in left field by the end of the week. Now Guillen in left isn’t necessarily good news from a defensive perspective but it also means he isn’t locked into the DH role. Beck’s Blog: Guillen close to playing in field
  • Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson had good reports the day following their simulated game and head out on rehab assignment. Both will be in Toledo starting Tuesday (so the Mud Hens should eat well) with the goal to stretch Robertson out as a starter while Bonderman will be pitching out of the pen. I wouldn’t expect Robertson back before September 1st when the rosters expand. Tigers Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson to pitch in Toledo on Tuesday | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
  • After Saturday’s effort I’m in no hurry to bump Porcello from the rotation, but the addition of either pitcher, or someone else after September 1st could help to curtail Porcello’s workload down the stretch. With a bigger roster to work with Leyland could do some split starts with Porcello if need be.
  • Brandon Inge’s balky knees have bothered him less of late due to a change in his treatment regimen, and the fact he’s been working with a specialist on a way to put the pain out of his mind.
  • Gerald Laird has been the Tigers best baserunner. Who knew? Tiger Tales: A Detroit Tigers Blog: Gerald Laird Leads Tigers in Base Running
  • Speaking of Gerald Laird, i was wondering if he might have any soft of advantage working with Jarrod Washburn since they spent several years in the AL West together. Turns out Laird only has 16 plate appearances against him. And in case you were wondering, Luke Scott is only 1 for 3 off of Washburn lifetime. 
  • Finally, a look at Rick Porcello’s awesome outing through the lens of pitch f/x. Fire Jim Leyland: Rick Porcello’s Start Through PITCHf/x
2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/2/09

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Buffalo 1 Toledo 6
Don Kelly was a triple short of the cycle. Mike Hessman homered. Scott Sizemore had 2 hits. Chris Lambert was one out short of a complete game with 9 K’s against 1 walk.

Reading 1 Erie 3
Cale Iorg homered and tripled. Michael Bertram also tripled. Pat Stanley allowed 4 walks and 6 hits in 7 innings, but only 1 run crossed the plate.

Lakeland 11 St. Lucie 12
Justin Henry went 5 for 6. Christopher White singled, doubled, and walked twice. Mark Sorensen made his Lakeland debut and was rocked for 10 hits and 6 runs in 3.1 innings.

Cedar Rapids 4 West Michigan 10
Ben Guez went 5 for 5 and needed a triple for the cycle. Adam Wilk made his West Michigan debut and pitched 6 innings of 2 hit, shut out ball with 7 K’s.

Tri-City 7 Oneonta 6
John Murrian, Alexis Espinoza, and Chris Sedon all had 2 hits. Jeff Gerbe fanned 6 in 4 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.

GCL Tigers DNP

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.103: Tigers at Indians

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PREGAME: Maybe the third time will be a charm. Armando Galarraga and the Tigers take on Carl Pavano for the 3rd time this year. Galarraga pitched kind of okay in both of the previous outings, and the bullpen would allow an add on run or two. But the Tigers couldn’t do much of anything against Pavano and a bullpen come back ended up a run or two short.

Time to flip the script today.

Pavano has thrown his 2 best games against the Tigers but he has allowed 4 homers in each of his last 2 starts. Hopefully the home run ball is still working because a win today means a rare .500 road trip.

Detroit vs. Cleveland – August 2, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Pathetic. I’m not sure what was worse, Galarraga or the 8 guys behind him. Carl Pavano has a 6.16 ERA against teams that aren’t the Tigers and a 1.93 ERA against Detroit. That is all.

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/1/09

Buffalo 10 Toledo 11
Scott Sizemore homered twice and Brent Clevlen, Jeff Larish, and Max St. Pierre all went deep as well. Brooks Brown only lasst 3.1 innigns before being touched up for 5 runs on 6 hits and a walk.

Reading 7 Erie 6
Brennan Boesch homered twice and now has 23 on the year. Casper Wells homered and walked twice. Deik Scram had 2 doubles. Jon Kibler allowed 6 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings with 6 K’s.

Lakeland 1 St. Lucie 5
Adrian Cassanova had 2 of the 4 hits for the Flying Tigers. Lauren Gagnier fanned 4 but allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk in 5 innings.

Cedar Rapids 2 West Michigan 3
Billy Nowlin homered. Gustavo Nunez and Bryan Pounds doubled. Brandon Hamilton allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk with 3 K’s in 5 innings.

Oneonta 5 Tri-City 2
Keith Hernandez doubled and singled. Luis Palacios homered and singled. Luis Angel Sanz allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings.

Oneonta 8 Tri-city 1
Michael Rockett went 4 for 4. Rawley Bishop had 3 hits. Eric Roof homered and singled. Mike LaLuna pitched 5 innings of shutout ball allowing 2 hits and 4 walks with 4 K’s.

GCL Tigers (box not available)

Game Post

Game 2009.102: Tigers at Indians

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PREGAME: Not that there isn’t any pressure on Rick Porcello today, but Edwin Jackson’s struggles and some extra innings have thinned out the bullpen a little. Fortunately Jim Leyland made sure that only Brandon Lyon would be unavailable today with everybody else working relatively short outings.

And things haven’t been easy for Porcello lately. Maybe he was rusty after a multi-week layoff in his first post All Star start. Maybe he was a little amped up on national TV in his second start. Or maybe he’s just struggling.

The Tigers bats will try to knock around Jeremy Sowers. Sowers shutout the Mariners for 7 innings his last time out, but that has been the extent of good news with Sowers this year. He hasn’t started against the Tigers this year but he held them to 1 run over 6 innings last September.

Detroit vs. Cleveland – August 1, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: I recently started a diet and these extra inning games are keeping me up to late and it’s making me hungry, but the postgame celery tastes much sweeter after a win.

Rick Porcello was outstanding and I’d call this his best outing of the season. He got some swings and misses, and he got lots and lots of swings and ground balls. He kept the ball down, he controlled the sink on his 2 seamer and his breaking ball was excellent. The fact he was able to eat 8 innings on only 91 pitches on a night when the bullpen was taxed was huge. And that brings us to the 9th inning.

I completely understand the sentiment to keep Porcello on the mound for the 9th. He was cruising and didn’t appear to be tiring and was still a hair under his pitch count limit. Porcello hasn’t gone over 100 pitches this year as Leyland tries to protect his arm for beyond this season. If he was going to let Porcello exceed that limit, today certainly would have been a worthy cause. But I fully support going to Rodney in that situation.

Porcello hasn’t been stretched out yet and Rodney has been very good in save situations. I’d rather have a fresh guy than someone who was pretty much at the limit his arm has been conditioned for. Rodney blew his first save and Porcello doesn’t get the win, but it doesn’t mean Porcello’s performance was wasted at all.

As for the offense, the good news is that they kept generating scoring chances and eventually they cashed in. And in watching the at-bats tonight, I thought many of them were decent approaches. They worked the count (after the first time through the order). They fouled off pitches. They drew walks. Inge hit a fly ball to the wall. Raburn and Polanco hit liners to second. Those were simply bad breaks.

The bullpenning was pretty good and Ryan Perry looks so much better after his stay in the minors. Throw in some Bobby Seay magic and Zach Miner not blowing it and it’s another much needed win.

2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7/31/09

Toledo 8 Louisville 6
Jeff Frazier homered and doubleed. Wilkin Ramirez doublded wice. Nate Bump went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 K’s.

Reading 6 Erie 4
Cale Iorg doubled and singled. Danny Worth went 2 for 5 with a triple. Ramon Garcia allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk with 2 K’s in 5.1 innings. Robbie Weinhardt allowed 3 hits and a walk, but 4 K’s in 2.1 innings kept anyone from scoring. Brett Jensen took the loss giving up 2 homers and 3 runs in 2.1 innings.

Lakeland 5 St. Lucie 3
Joe Tucker doubled and singled. Devin Thomas homered and walked. Ryan Ketchner went the first 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Matt Hoffman went the next 4 and allowed an unearned run, but only 1 hit. Brett Jacboson got the save with 2 K’s.

Cedar Rapids 5 West Michigan 3
Brent Wyatt, Alden Carrithers, and Avasail Garcia each had 2 hits. Casey Crosby fanned 6 and walked none in 4.1 innings. He was hung with 4 unearned runs.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Tigers 2 GCL Yankees 1
Eddie Rush doubled, singled, and walked. Giovany Soto fanned 3 and walked 2 and allowed just 1 unearned run on 2 hits in 6 innings.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.101: Tigers at Indians

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PREGAME: It will be an interesting game tonight as the Detroit travels to the home of former Cleveland Indians. The Tribe sent away Ryan Garko, Cliff Lee, and Victor Martinez this week. And they brought back Fausto Carmona.

Carmona has been garbage for most of the year, simply awful. So bad he got sent to A ball and he has since worked his way back to the bigs after posting some impressive numbers. He faced the Tigers once, and he wasn’t that good with 6 walks, but only 2 runs scored in 6.2 innings.

Edwin Jackson and the search for run support will be on the mound for Detroit. Jackson has faced Cleveland twice this year and has allowed 1 run in 14 innings with 11 strike outs.

Tonight’s lefty heavy lineup is:

  1. Granderson
  2. Polanco
  3. Guillen
  4. Cabrera
  5. Thomas
  6. Thames
  7. Inge
  8. Laird
  9. Santiago

Detroit vs. Cleveland – July 31, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

2009 Season, Trades

Tigers get Washburn

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The Tigers bolstered their rotation today by acquiring Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners. The Tigers give up Luke French and Mauricio Robles.

I’ll have more on this later (I’m at the zoo with the family and I want to keep Mrs Billfer happy) but I love this move for the Tigers (and the Mariners). I like Robles a lot but a good prospect isn’t a bad price to pay to upgrade a spot in the rotation.

If memory serves Washburn is a type B meaning the Tigers should net a draft pick as well.

UPDATE: This stuff is new since the initial “walking through the zoo updating the site” post.

Mauricio Robles pitches for the Lakeland Flying Tigers cr- Roger DeWitt
Mauricio Robles pitches for the Lakeland Flying Tigers cr- Roger DeWitt

Washburn sports a very sexy 2.64 ERA. It’s likely an unsustainable ERA due to a low strike out rate. But his FIP is still a very solid 3.75. This is a run below where Washburn has been since the 2002 season (when his numbers were very much like they are this year.

A couple things are working in Washburn’s favor. He has added a new pitch and he’s had tremendous outfield defense behind him. In Detroit he should be able to bring his new pitch, but the outfield defense won’t be as good. Granderson and Thomas are no reason to worry, but Ordonez/Thames/Raburn wouldn’t play in the Mariners outfield.

French’s FIP is nearly identical and is 3.87. French was a fringe prospect until he was pushed to AAA this year and saw his strikeout rate jump and his walk rate drop and he elevated his prospect status. A favorable debut at the MLB level is certainly encouraging.

So here we have 2 pitchers who are both pitching much better than anyone expected going into the season, and their numbers are similar now. The Tigers are banking that Washburn is a better bet to sustain his success throughout the season than French is. It’s not a bad bet.

Of course if French performs as well or better than Washburn (as some expect) we’ll look back at this trade with disgust because then the Tigers will have parted with a lefty 20 year old fanning better than a batter an inning at high A ball. Because Robles is the cost of “upgrading” to whatever level of performance that Washburn will bring over French.

2009 Season, Trade Rumors

How many wins would Halladay add?

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Lynn Henning reports today that the Tigers and Blue Jays discussed Roy Halladay and the price would be Rick Porcello, Ryan Perry, and Casey Crosby. Essentially the top 3 arms drafted and signed in the last 2 years by the Tigers. It’s a very steep price that had me balking on first blush. But after a deeper dive and this trade looks a lot more interesting.

Continue reading How many wins would Halladay add? →