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Game 2009.097: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: A series split would have been acceptable. Going 3-1 tilted towards the home team would have been a positive step. A sweep, well, that would be freakin’ awesome (technical term). Fortunately the forecast for the Tigers is a positive step with a chance of freakin’ awesome.

Rick Porcello had some rust last time out and he wasn’t keeping the ball down and getting his customary bevy of of groundballs. The rust should be off, but there may be some adrenaline and jitters in play on the ESPN National stage.

Clayton Richard goes for the White Sox. Richard has struggled completing 6 innings just twice in his last 7 starts. But one of those times was his last start when he held the Rays to 1 run in 8 innings, with 7 Ks and 2 walks. The Tigers faced him in June and ran his pitch count to 100 before the end of the 5th inning.

The righty-heavy line up is:

  1. Granderson, CF
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Ordonez, RF
  4. Cabrera, 1B
  5. Thames, DH
  6. Raburn, LF
  7. Inge, 3B
  8. Laird, C
  9. Everett, SS

Chi White Sox vs. Detroit – July 26, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Rick Porcello had a rookie moment…either that or he just had no control tonight. From the beginning Porcello couldn’t locate the ball and to the White Sox credit they made him pay. An infield single was fine, but then Porcello hung a curve ball that Alexei Ramirez ripped to left. And then a walk. And then a near double play ball that wasn’t. And then falling behind to Paul Konerko. And then the get-me-over fastball that got over the seats. And that was the ball game.

Like his last outing, Porcello’s pitches didn’t appear to be lacking in movement, but they sure were in location. He eventually settled in, but the damage was already done from the top of the first inning.

The offense didn’t get the favorable bounces that they had found in the first 3 games and Detroit only managed 1 run. It looked like they might break through in the 4th when Ordonez and Cabrera ripped back-to-back singles, and then Marcus Thames crushed a ball to centerfield that Podsednik tracked down. Three hard hit balls in a row could have been a sign that they were figuring Richard out, but that really was the only rally to speak of.

  • Casey Fien made his debut in a bases loaded situation, and got Konerko to pop out. He went on to pitch 2 more innings and strike out 2. Very nice outing and very encouraging.
  • Zach Miner was awful. He threw only 13 of his 34 pitches for strikes and created the aforementioned bases loaded situation on walks.
  • Ryan Raburn had a pretty poor game as well. He went all out on a ball ealier in the game, but he also dropped a routine fly and hit into a double play. He did drive in the only run, but that was on a ground ball force out.
  • The announcers went on and on about Porcello being late to the bag in the first inning. Yes, he was late but Thome still beat the throw. It wouldn’t have been a double play. Plus the throw wasn’t good. Maybe they save the 2nd run from scoring on that play, but Konerko hit the homer in the next at-bat anyways. Clearly there is room for improvement there and I’d guess he won’t be late to the bag again for quite some time, but I don’t think it was that big of a deal.
  • Speaking of the announcers, I rejoiced a little bit when I saw Joe Morgan wasn’t in the booth and he was replaced by Orel Hersheiser. But I was disappointed in the overall broadcast. The announcing team didn’t seem to have enough information about the Tigers, and didn’t provide enough context for a lot of the situations. For example, they talked about the Ordonez platoon without mentioning the vesting option (or if they did I missed it).
  • Richard balked when he picked off Granderson. It was so blatant I have a hard time figuring out how it was missed. He started coming home, and then changed direction. I can’t blame Granderson at all on that one. He didn’t progress his secondary lead until Richard made the motion towards home.
  • Inge looked awful at the plate. I know his knees are hurting, but that shouldn’t effect pitch selection that much. He is totally out of whack. He’s taking pitches down the middle and repeatedly swinging at pitches at his eyes.
2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.096: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: Can the Tigers pick up another win against the White Sox? To do so they’ll have to get past Gavin Floyd who has kind of owned the Tigers since even before he was good.

Floyd has fanned 14 and walked just 2 in his last 2 starts. However he has allowed 5 of his 12 homers in those last 2 starts as well.

But things aren’t that easy for the White Sox either who will have to deal with Edwin Jackson. Jackson has been walking too many lately but has still pitched into the 7th inning in his last 5 starts.

This is a Fox game of of the week. Chris Rose and Mark Grace are your announcers, and unfortunately if you’re not in Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, or Indianapolis you’ll be watching this one through the magic of MLB Gameday.

Chi White Sox vs. Detroit – July 25, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Yay. Baseball is fun again. The Tigers have found some clutch mojo and the timing couldn’t be more clutch. This team was a disaster 48 hours ago and now they have a 3 game lead in the division. I love baseball.

Edwin Jackson’s control wasn’t as sharp as it was early in the season, but once again you look and he’s gotten the team into the 7th inning stretch and has only allowed 3 runs. Yay.

The offense never really figured out Gavin Floyd, but they took advantage of Paul Konerko error and did that whole “score the runner from 3rd with less than 2 out thing.” Miguel Cabrera got a hit with a runner in scoring position. Yay.

And when the Tigers needed some late inning runs, they got bloopers and worked counts and scratched out a run in the 9th off of Jenks and one more in the 10th, and you can put it on the board.

  • The number 3 hitter sacrifice bunting in the 1st inning is, well, unconventional. But it worked.
  • I can’t figure out why the Tigers weren’t more aggressive on the bases today. Granderson and Thomas both found themselves on 1st base but weren’t green lighted and both ended up the front end of double plays. AJ Pierzynski is throwing out nobody. Run wild on him. Raburn got caught stealing, but that’s only because he slid off the base.
  • Carlos Guillen seems pretty comfortable. The winning hit wasn’t crushed by any means, but he hung in there with 2 strikes and got his second hit of the day.
  • What do you think of the decision to not bunt Guillen in the 10th. I really wanted to see what Guillen would do in that situation, but I have to say I would have bunted to get the winning run to 3rd. It worked out, but that took some stones from Leyland because if that grounder turns into a double play ball he’d never hear the end of it.
  • Fernando Rodney, 11 pitches and 3 outs. That’s 2 very clean outings in a row. Knock on proverbial wood.
  • Ryan Perry looked very much in control and turned in 2 clean innings.
2009 Season, Minors, Trade Rumors

The Weekend Trade Rumor Roundup

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It’s that time of year when trade rumor talk is through the roof. Combined with the Tigers recent struggles, I know this is top of mind stuff for many. I don’t do a lot of trade speculation here, mostly because I’m too lazy to conjure up potential deals. However, I do know this is a hot topic so please use this space to discuss things. Below are a couple of my thoughts on who the Tigers shouldn’t give up, as well as some links to current-ish rumors.

Continue reading The Weekend Trade Rumor Roundup →

2009 Season, Roster Management

Casey Fien gets the call

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Casey Fien had his contract purchased and will join the team tomorrow. He’ll technically take the place of Eddie Bonine, but practically take the place of Freddy Dolsi.

Fien has been nails for the last 2 months and since the end of May he has pitched 23.2 innings with 28 strike outs and only 7 walks. He is much better against righties than lefties, almost to the point of being a ROOGY.

I thought it would be Zach Simons getting the call, and that was from a 40 man roster point of view. What I forgot was that a space opened on the 40 man when Anderson was DFA’d this morning.

2009 Season, Minors, Trade Rumors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7/24/09

Toledo 8 Scranton/WB 7
Scott Sizemore went 2 for 5 with a homer. Jeff Larish doubled twice and walked twice. Scot Drucker allowed 11 hits, 6 runs, and a walk with 3 K’s in 4.1 innings.

Minor League Baseball: Gameday: Scranton/WB vs. Toledo (in progress at blog time)

Binghamton 3 Erie 16
Supposedly the Nationals had scouts watching Erie, and they had quite a show. Alex Avila (one of the guys I would put in the untouchable category) homered 3 times. Brennan Boesch went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and ahomer. Casper Wells, Ronnie Bourquin, and Michael Bertram also went deep. Thad Weber fanned 7 in 7.2 innings and Robbie Wenihardt struck out 2 and allowed 2 baserunners in 1.1 innings.

Lakeland 2 Jupiter 3
Chris Carlson had 2 hits and a walk. Ryan Ketchner allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 3 K’s in 2.2 innings. Trevor Feeney fanned 4 in 4.1 1 run innings.

West Michigan 4 Quad Cities 8
Alden Carrithers went 2 for 3. Luke Putkonen only recorded 1 out and he allowed 2 hits and walked 3.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Tigers 3 GCL Pirates 1
Gustavo Nunez went 3 for 4 with a double. Jacob Cruz had 2 hits. Zach Samuels allowed 1 unearned run in 7 innings on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 K’s.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.095: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: Wouldn’t a doubleheader sweep make for a nice mood lifter heading into the weekend? Tonight’s game will be Eddie Bonine against Bartolo Colon.

Bonine had kind of a rough streak when he was with the team earlier in the year when he allowed homers in 3 straight appearances out of the bullpen. For Toledo he’s only fanning 4.3 per 9 innings, but he’s only walked 11 in 69 innings.

Colon is making his first start since June 7th.  Since then he disappeared for a little while, literally.

Chi White Sox vs. Detroit – July 24, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Wow, who knew doubleheaders could be so fun? Everything was awful yesterday, but the Tigers have bought themselves at least 2 more days in first place by taking the first 2 games of the series.

  • How about Eddie Bonine? A quality start from the 6th starter is nothing to complain about. He did allow 2 homers, but he fanned 5 in 6 innings and really limited the damage.
  • Bonine works VERY SLOW when he gets someone on base. Unfortunately he had someone on base every inning.
  • Both centerfielders started off the game with nice catches. Granderson tracked down a Podsednik drive but he was one upped when DeWayne Wise made a spectacular catch on a Granderson drive. Watching Wise and the ball, I thought there was absolutely no way he gets close, let alone makes the play. Simply incredible.
  • Carlos Guillen looks to be ready. He looks comfortable at the plate, and drove the ball well in both games. He also worked the count and saw quite a few pitches. Maybe he really can be the lefty bat.
  • Magglio Ordonez turning on a fastball and pulling it down the line for a double set up the go ahead walk. Ordonez is taking to the platoon (thought tonight was against a righty).
  • The White Sox put on a full shift against Marcus Thames. I’ve never seen one that extreme for a right handed batter, and Thames beat it by singling right where Alexei Ramirez should have been playing.
  • Fernando Rodney and Brandon Lyon were both awesome. Let’s not forget night’s like tonight when we complain about the bullpen. Seay was shaky but man did he bounce back.
  • Some interesting managerial moves from Leyland tonight. Everything worked in retrospect, but I thought taking Thames out after the 6th inning and the game tied was premature. Of course when the White Sox had a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs, it could have been a big move if there would have been a flyball to left. Also, it meant that the Tigers would effectively have 2 lefties back to back making things easier for Guillen.
  • That part proved to be true as Guillen turned to the lefty with the bases loaded. Here I was surprised to see Raburn pinch hitting for Guillen rather than pinch running for Ordonez (as he could then be a defensive replacement the next inning). I understand the platoon situation, but I wanted to see Guillen up. Raburn battled, but ultimately fanned.
  • And that brings us to Clete, who had a heck of an at-bat (and a swing that looked pretty long early in the count) culminating in a take-the-lead walk.
  • Disappointed in the crowd tonight. Some big moments in the top of the 7th and bottom of the 8th, and they were dead. Too quiet. I don’t know if people were too nervouse to cheer or what, but they didn’t seem as “into the game” as I would have expected.
2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.094: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: It was about a month ago I downplayed the significance of a series in the Metrodome. I’m not going to downplay this one. A sweep by the White Sox would be pretty devastating. So let’s not get swept okay?

Justin Verlander is going for the Tigers which is usually a good thing. But the Tigers starter hasn’t been a factor lately, except in the sense that the performances get wasted.

Lately it has come down to a lack of offense, and today that offense gets a boost, but will it be enough to knock down Jose Contreras? Contreras has been up and down of late. One of the ups was an 8 inning 1 hitter against the Tigers. In his last 7 starts Contreras has a 2.62 ERA with 39 K’s and only 10 walks in 48 innings with only 4 homers allowed.

Your new Guillen-ized lineup:

  1. Granderson, CF
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Thomas, RF
  4. Cabrera, 1B
  5. Guillen, DH
  6. Raburn, LF
  7. Inge, 3B
  8. Laird, C
  9. Everett, SS

Chi White Sox vs. Detroit – July 24, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: This definitely qualifies as a big win. If the Tigers lose this afternoon they are relying on Eddie Bonine to try and muster a win. And it’s not that he isn’t capable, it’s that you’re putting a whole bunch on him and the rest of the series. Ideally the Tigers win the nightcap, but now the don’t have to.

And what makes it even bigger is that Justin Verlander went the distance, preserving the entire bullpen. Verlander was awesome. He battled control a little bit early on and his pitch count was in precarious shape after 4 innings when he was sitting at 73 pitches. But the White Sox got swing happy and started lofting lazy fly balls early in the count allowing Verlander to throw the final 5 innings on just 54 pitches. The last fastball coming on pitch 125 was clocked at 99.9mph.

The offense? Well they didn’t really kill the ball, and they struck out too much, but they scored. The hits were bloops and tweeners and things that fell just out of reach, but they fell. It’s like a week’s worth of cheap hits all fell in a span of 9 innings, but they fell. The Tigers were aggressive on the bases and kept putting themselves in scoring position which helped to pull the defense out of position and open up spots. Everybody take a breath and get ready for the night game.

2009 Season, Injuries, Trade Rumors

Frustration

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When things start to get really dire for the Tigers, I usually use this space to try and provide some perspective. This isn’t only for you the reader, but for me the Tigers fan as well. I’m really having to scrounge for perspective right now as the team has tanked since the All Star Break and have surrendered sole possession of 1st place.

There are cliches that I can always employ, about it being a long season and what not. It rings a little bit hollow today though. But…it is a long season. Losing 4 out of 5 games 2-1 is freakishly consistently bad. So freakishly and consistently bad it is hard to sustain – which could be the good news. As is usually the case, when the team is playing bad it is easy to assume things will stay bad or get worse. Just like when things are going well, people can’t imagine the team tanking.

It’s hard to believe that the offense will get better given what has been on display lately, but it will. Everything is going wrong when the Tigers are at the dish, everything won’t continue to go wrong. The team will score more runs and it is probably not best to make rash decisions based on 6 games. Of course this isn’t just a 6 game thing. The offense has been bad for a month and isn’t showing signs of getting better.

I’d like to see the Tigers add a bat as much as anyone, but the bulk of the improvement will need to come from the current roster. I don’t know what Clete Thomas will provide, or Ryan Raburn, or Marcus Thames. But I still believe that Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, and Miguel Cabrera will produce more than they have been. Beyond that where can the Tigers find help?

Carlos Guillen

I don’t think the Tigers are putting all their eggs in the Carlos Guillen basket, but it’s worth checking out the Guillen basket before surrendering limited resources for another basket. Guillen is close to coming back, I think he’ll be back for Saturday’s game and the Tigers sent scout Dick Egan to see Guillen’s 3 hit night tonight. He doesn’t have the extra base hits yet, but he’s been on base in half of his plate appearances.

The problem with Guillen though is that he is likely limited to DH duties as he hasn’t played the field on his rehab assignment. That means the at-bats would come from some combination of Raburn and Thames, two of the hitters that have been producing somewhat. It could also mean the end of Josh Anderson.

Trade

The non-waiver trade deadline is fast approaching, but I think the deadline isn’t that critical. I’d anticipate that a number of players would clear waivers and be movable until August 31st. Of course the trade deadline is the MLB sanctioned portion of a deadline. The Tigers may feel the need to accelerate the timeline if they continue to struggle. Matt Holliday has been a hot rumor, and the Tigers have expressed interest, but it doesn’t seem that the Tigers are willing to meet the A’s price. And for a farm system that isn’t exactly flush, the Tigers probably shouldn’t wipe it out. At least not for this team.

I don’t think this is a World Series team, but they are a team that is strong enough to compete and make the playoffs. I don’t think that Holliday would push them into the WS team category either.

But the Tigers do need to remain competitive. The Tigers have a ton of payroll, and will next year as well. The best thing for business would be a sustained pennant race and not a firesale (which I’ve heard people calling for already). They are going to be limited in terms of cost cutting, but they do have a chance for a nice revenue bump. Attendance is down 10K, but that is off a record setting year. Attendance is still quite good relative to the AL and the Tigers own history.

The Inge Factor

And then there are Inge’s knees. They are in bad shape, though there seems to be a little confusion on the actual injury. Inge said one was 75% torn, but I don’t know that is accurate. Kevin Rand said there were significant microtears, which is different than the condition that Inge was describing which would be more of a ruptured tendon. In any case, he’s not moving well and the Tigers don’t have great options to take his place either in the field or the lineup. The situation either makes getting a bat more important, or perhaps it changes the focus of what they are looking for.

Uncategorized

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7/23/09

Syracuse 1 Toledo 18
It took the Mud Hens 7 innings to out produce the Tigers post All Star break run total. Carlos Guillen went 3 for 4. Brent Clevlen homered 3 times. Lot’s of people got lots of hits. Check out the boxscore. And Chris Lambert went 8 innings and allowed just 1 run with no walks and 6 K’s.

Akron 4 Erie 3
Brennan Boesch homered. Deik Scram doubled. Pat Stanley went the 4 innings before this was suspended and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, no walks, and 1 strike out. Jared Gayhart walked 2 in one inning. Brett Jensen got the blown save when he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 1 inning of work.

Akron 5 Erie 6 11 innings
Brennan boesch homered, singled, and walked. Andy Dirks also singled and homered. Jonah Nickerson fanned 4 and walked none allowing 5 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings. Cody Satterwhite pitched 2 innings and fanned 2.

Lakeland 6 Jupiter 14
Joe Tucker went 3 for 5 with a triple. Christopher White went 2 for 4. Charlie Furbush struck out 6 in 4 innings, but he also allowed 2 homers. Lester Oliveros was rocked for 5 runs and only recorded 1 out.

West Michigan 6 Quad Cities 2
Mark Sorensen allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 5 K’s in 8 innings. Bryan Pounds doubled and homered. Ben Guez and Billy Nowlin each had 2 hits. Hernan Perez went 3 for 4.

Oneonta 13 Tri-City 2
Michael Rockett went 3 for 6. Rawley Bishop doubled and tripled. John Murrian doubled twice. Luis Palacios went 3 for 5. Andy Wilk fanned 8 and allowe no runs or walks and only 3 hits in 7 innings.

GCL Pirates 10 GCL Tigers 4
Eddie Rush went 3 for 4. Luis Castillo had 2 hits. Ramon Lebron struck out 7 and allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks in 4 innings.