All posts by billfer

2009 Season, Pitching

Willis will start Sunday

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The Tigers have made a decision, at least for the time being, to stick with Dontrelle Willis in the starting rotation. Jeremy Bonderman will head to the bullpen…for now. Keeping Willis in the rotation is probably the right decision if Bonderman is the other option. Of course I kind of agree with Lee that perhaps that pool should include Zach Miner. That doesn’t seem like an option the team is exploring at the moment though, so what can we take from this decision?

First of all, Bonderman isn’t ready. I don’t think there is a lot of questioning of this point. I don’t see him being able to rebuild his arm strength pitching in sporadic low leverage situations in the pen. My guess is he gets optioned to Toledo (assuming he clears waivers and agrees to it) to work in the rotation and hopefully get his velocity back. He’s in the pen now because they need another arm in the pen, and likely want to bring Ryan Perry back. But Perry has to stay on optional assignment for a minimum of 10 days.

As for Willis, it appears he is pitching just well enough (not necessarily good) to hang in the rotation. This will be another test. I guess the goodish news is that we get to see Dontrelle hit for the first time.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.059: Tigers at White Sox

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PREGAME: It seems like only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting the Tigers first round pick, and waiting to see if the Wings would clinch, and kind of dreading a Buehrle-Willis pitching match, and trying to figure out how to fix my refrigerator. Well, it was only yesterday. The Tigers got their flame thrower, we’re still waiting on the Wings, the Buehrle-Willis pitching match-up wasn’t so bad, and my refrigerator still doesn’t work.

With that in mind let’s turn our attention to the less dreaded Justin Verlander and John Danks pitching match-up. Verlander has been kind of awesome for about 6 weeks now. BUT…things haven’t always gone swimmingly for Verlander at the Cell. In his career he has a 5.92 ERA and 11 homers allowed in 51.1 innings.

Danks has been struggling this year, sort of. He only has one quality start in his last 5 outings and his ERA is 5.10. BUT…his peripherals aren’t as bad as his ERA. He’s actually striking out more batters this year than last, but he’s also walking more meaning the ratio has dipped from 2.79 to 2.25. Not as good as last year but not bad either. What has hurt him is that he’s allowed 1.35 HR/9 this year compared to .69/9 last year.  And really, it’s not like the Tigers have been feasting on struggling pitchers anyway.

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 10, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: The Tigers had lost 4 games in a row, people were freaking out and the Twins were only a couple games back. Then Edwin Jackson pitched a complete game 1 run effort striking out the heart of the Angels order to end the game with 98mph heat. That started a run of 5 wins in 6 games culminating with Justin Verlander pitching a complete game 2-1 effort and punching out Josh Fields (who came in for Paul Konerko when Verlander jammed him on a ground ball) with 98mph heat. I like symmetry.

Verlander was incredible once again with only one bad pitch to Thome against 121 pretty good ones. Some of you may be expecting me to be upset about the pitch count, and I’m not in the least. This is the time to extend him, in a tight game where he’s still got gas against a team he’s owning, on a night with a depleted bullpen. This is when you lean on your guys.

The offense wasn’t much to speak of, but Adam Everett homers always deserve mention. The other run came on a bases loaded walk so the Tigers weren’t really crushing Danks. But with a series win assured, there isn’t really anything to complain about.

2009 Season

The rest of the draft

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NOTE: I added in all the day 2 picks and did some Googling for half of them so far. Feel free to use this post to make comments. I’ll drop it off the top spot in a day or two.

After the first round, there are like lots more. The Tigers made 2 additional selections Tuesday night. Andrew Oliver, a hard throwing lefty from OSU was their second selection, and Western Kentucky third baseman Wade Gaynor was their 3rd pick. Mack Avenue Tigers has already done some hunting and gathering for these guys.

This post will be here for those who choose to comment on the draft, I won’t be able to upate the picks though until much later tonight.

  1. Jacob Turner – yeah, we talked about him already
  2. Andrew Oliver – Keith Law has him ranked as the 54th best prospect and notes that while his fastball is a plus pitch, the rest of his arsenal leaves something to be desired. Baseball America notes that the fastball is good enough that even if he fails to develop a breaking ball, at worst he should succeed as a reliever. Tigstown thinks that the organization will give him a shot to start though.
  3. Wade Gaynor – The scouting reports are a little thin on Traynor, but he does have some big time power with 25 homers. Considering the Tigers only have one 3rd base prospect and he’s yet to play in the states, this might be a need pick.
  4. Edwin Gomez – He’s a 6-3 shortstop our of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy HS. Alex Cintron is his cousin.
  5. Austin Wood – In the 5th round the Tigers selected an arm surgery. You may know Wood from his 169 pitch relief outing in the college world series. (video interview)
  6. Daniel Fields – Fields is a shortstop, a top 50 prep talent, and the son of former Tigers coach Bruce Fields. He also has committed to Michigan and the Tigers will need to pay him way over slot.
  7. Jamie Johnson – Johnson is a Sooner and a centerfielder.
  8. Craig Fritsch – Another college product, a 6′ 4″ right hander from Baylor. He features a low to mid 90’s fastball and a change-up. (video)
  9. John Murrian – the first catcher the Tigers select is a 20 year old from Winthrop University.
  10. Chris Sedon – the 5′ 10″ 175 pound second baseman from Pitt won first team All Big East honors.
  11. Adam Wilk – He’s a Dirtbag and a southpaw. He made the transition from the pen to the rotation this year. (video profile)
  12. Matthew Thomsom – Another college player, this time a righty from San Diego. (video interview)
  13. Michael Rockett – He’s a centerfielder with the name Rockett. What’s not to like. And he’s a collegian.
  14. Kevan Hess – He’s the brother of Tigers prospect, FSL All Star, and blogger Andrew Hess.
  15. Mark Appel– A big tall high school kid with a commitment to Stanford could be a tough sign.
  16. Kenny Faulk – LHP, 22yr, Kennesaw State University
  17. Nathan Newman – RHP, 22yr, Pepperdine
  18. Eric Roof – C, 22, Michigan State
  19. Rawley Bishop – 3B, 23, Middle Tennessee State University
  20. James Gulliver– SS, 23, Eastern Michigan
  21. Giovanni Soto – LHP, 18, Puerto Rico
  22. Matthew Mansilla – CF, 23, College of Charleston
  23. Cory Hamilton – 21, UC Irvine
  24. Wade Kapteyn – RHP, 21, University of Evansville
  25. Almon Roache – RF, 17, Lincoln High School (MI)
  26. Edgar Corcino – 3B, 17, Adolfina Irizarry De Puig HS (PR)
  27. Patrick McKenna – SS, 21, Bryant University
  28. Tobin Mateychick – RHP, 18, Enid HS (OK)
  29. Michael Morrison – RHP, 21, Cal State Fullerton
  30. James Robbins – 1B, 18, Shorecrest HS (WA)
  31. Andrew Walter – RHP, 18, Cactus HS (AZ)
  32. Parker Markel – RHP, 18, Mountain Ridge HS (AZ)
  33. Cody Keefer – CF, 18, Davis Senior HS (CA)
  34. Derek Kline – RHP, 21, Millersville University (PA)
  35. Patrick Biondi – CF, 18, Divine Child HS (MI)
  36. Benjamin Crumpton – SS, 18, Lakeside HS (AR)
  37. Daniel Canela – C, 18, Florida Christian School (FL)
  38. Tarran Senay – OF, 18, South Park HS (PA)
  39. Chad Duling – SS, 18, Bishop Carroll Catholic HS
  40. Ben Bechtol – C, 18, Neshannock HS (PA)
  41. Larry Balkwill – C, 17, Ursuline College Chatham (ON)
  42. Nicholas Avila – RHP, 20, Central Florida Community College
  43. Andrew Allen – 1B, 19, Central Arizona College
  44. Charles Markson – 18, Whitefish Bay HS (WI(
  45. James Brennan – RF, 18, Suffern HS (NY)
  46. Nathan Goro – 3B, 18, Lafayett HS (MO)
  47. Kevin Chambers – RHP, 19, Capistrano Valley HS (CA)
  48. Jake Porcello – RHP, 18, Seton Hall Prep School (NJ)
  49. Cameron Giannini – RHP, 17, Hargrave Milittary Academy
  50. Nicholas Rosthenhausler – LF, 20, South Mountain Community College
2009 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/10/09

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Toledo 9 Norfolk 4
Wilkin Ramirez walked 3 times and homered. Brent Clevlen and Jeff Frazier each had 2 hits. Jeff Larish doubled and walked. Luke French allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 6.2 innings. Casey Fien fanned 2 in 1.1 innings.

Portland 2 Erie 11
Brennan Boesch homered and drove in 5. Scott Sizemore and Alex Avila had multi-hit games. Alfredo Figaro fanned 8 and walked none pitched 7 innings of 2 run ball.

Lakeland 0 Fort Myers 2
Lakeland had 2 hits so there is no offense to speak of. Matt Hoffman allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, no walks and 3 K’s in 5 innings. Lester Oliveros struck out the side in 1 inning.

Lakeland 4 Fort Myers 5
Michael Bertram walked twice and doubled. Christopher White went 3 for 3. Trevor Feeney allowed 4 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings.

West Michigan 5 Lansing 3
Ben Guez and Avasail Garcia both singled and tripled. Jared Gayhart pitched 4 innings of relief allowing a walk and a hit while fanning 3.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.058: Tigers at White Sox

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PREGAME: There’s a lot going on tonight. The MLB draft, the Red Wings trying to clinch the cup, and my refrigerator isn’t working. So this is a pretty short game post. Basically this as lopsided of a pitching match-up as you’ll see. Mark Buerhrle against Dontrelle Willis. Party on.

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 9, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: It seems so long ago since I wrote the pregame. This is one of those nights when I’m glad I’m not a real writer and have to craft a game story. For one thing they had to rewrite the story a couple times. For another, I couldn’t put a cohesive one together and I can resort to bulleted thoughts.

  • I honestly thought the Tigers had little hope going into this game. The pitching match-up wasn’t favorable. Mark Buehrle struggled with his control, which is rare, but to the Tigers credit they waited him out. They also executed multiple times.
  • Dontrelle Willis wasn’t good, but he gritted it out enough to give them a chance to win. It looked scary when the first 6 pitches missed the zone, and he looked rattled during the Pierzynski altercation. But he did enough. Did he do enough to save his spot in the rotation? I don’t know.
  • Pretty much everybody chipped in with the bat. Inge had a great night, Raburn did his part, Laird had 2 big sac bunts, Everett and Polanco with clutch knocks and Miggy with the big blast to win it.
  • But the bullpen. (Except Zach Miner who was excellent). Everyone else walked at least one batter. Rodney looked like his delivery was all out of whack and he completely lost it. Brandon Lyon fanned Dye but allowed a 2 out double to Konerko to tie the game after a Thome walk (not a horrible strategic decision). And he did get the last 3 outs relatively easily.
  • What’s left of the bullpen for tomorrow is Robertson/Seay/Rodney.
  • And yes, I think the White Sox have a beef. I think Wise got the hand in there. It wasn’t a blatantly bad call (notice I said “I think”), but I do think Wise was safe.
2009 Season

The Tigers take Jacob Turner 1st

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The Tigers went with high school right hander Jacob Turner. Turner went to Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis and Baseball America has him ranked as the top high school right hander in the draft. He is advised by Scott Boras and is said to be seeking Porcello money and he’s got that commitment to North Carolina in his back pocket as well.

Tyler Matzek was the higher rated prospect on many boards, but Jim Callis reported on MLB’s draft coverage that he was looking for unprecedented money. Even though they didn’t go for Matzek, the Tigers didn’t exactly go with a signability pick.

Keith Law had Turner ranked 7th overall and said he second only to Stephen Strasburg in terms of consistent velocity.

There is a conference call at 8:25 and I’ll add more to this report as I spend some more time googling (notes are below the video now). In the mean time here is a nice profile piece that paints a very favorable picture and some video of Turner at work.

Conference Call Notes

Some notes from the conference call with David Chadd and Jacob Turner:

  • Chadd: Has been following Turner since last June on the showcase teams as well as the spring. Turner meets the profile for the organization (excellent athlete, lots of power, fastball up to 96, control of all his pitches, strong make-up)
  • Turner: As a baseball fan he knows about the Tigers but wasn’t worried where he’d be drafted and was focusing on his season.
  • Chadd: Thinks the delivery is sound with clean arm action and 3 pitch mix. He doesn’t anticipate much tinkering and is real high on his make-up.
  • Turner: All spring he viewed North Carolina as Plan A. Now he’s viewing the Tigers as another option.
  • Chadd: The draft was quite unsettled, right up until their pick, but they were excited when Turner was available.
2009 Season

Baseball Amateur Draft – Tigers Mock Draft Roundup

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5:03pm Jim Callis has locked in the first 8 picks and says the Tigers will have their choice between Tyler Matzek, Jacob Turner, Shelby Miller, and Michael Leake depending on how much they want to spend.

The Tigers will have the 9th pick in the draft today. I can’t speak with much authority about the pool of players they will be selecting from. Amateur baseball is something I just don’t have the depth or breadth of knowledge to talk about. So I’ll look to the experts. Here are what some of the mock drafts are saying about the Tigers pick:

Jonathon Mayo – MILB.com

9. Detroit Tigers: Jacob Turner, RHP, Westminster Christian Academy, MO
Staying put with this pick as it’s still a definite possibility. Two of the Draft’s wild cards, Scheppers and Tate, could feasibly find a home here. For now, though, Turner remains the pick.

BaseballAmerica.com: Draft:John And Jim’s Fantasy Draft (not a mock draft, that’s farther down the page)

9. TIGERS (Jim). Here’s where it gets tough, because Texas high school lefty Matthew Purke is the best player on the board. The Tigers haven’t been afraid to spend big to get players such as Justin Verlander, Andrew Miller and Rick Porcello, and they’re happy with how all three of those guys have turned out. But Purke’s father apparently wants Porcello money ($7 million) for his son, and while Matthew is very talented, that’s at least twice what I’d want to pay him. I’m not ready to pull the trigger on St. Paul Saints (American Association) righthander Tanner Scheppers yet either. He has thrown hard this spring, but he had serious shoulder issues a year ago, and shoulder issues scare me. I’m going to go for a little gamesmanship here, because there are a couple of players I like that I don’t think you’re going to pop, so I’ll take Texas high school righthander Shelby Miller. He’s got the best high school fastball in this draft, and that works for me.

MLB draft: Keith Law’s mock draft 3.0 – ESPN

9. Detroit Tigers Jacob Turner, RHP, Westminster Christian Academy: They’re also on Tanner Scheppers, and they’re having Reymond Fuentes in for a workout today. Mike Trout was rumored to be in the mix here a month ago.

SportingNews.com – MLB Draft Blog

9. Detroit Tigers
Jacob Turner, Westminster Christian (St. Louis) HS, RHP
Scott Boras representation won’t scare off Tigers, who have paid over slot for Rick Porcello and Casey Crosby.

BaseballAmerica.com: Draft: Mock Draft: Mock Draft 4.0

9. TIGERS. Late word is that Detroit won’t have a blank check to sign its favorite player who falls because of signability, which would have been Matzek, Turner or Purke. The Tigers could draft Crow and dig in, assuming he won’t want to head back for a second season in independent ball. Candidates for a slot deal include Lipscomb lefthander Rex Brothers, Trout and James.
Projected Pick: REX BROTHERS.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.057: Tigers at White Sox

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PREGAME: The nice thing about winning the first game of a doubleheader is that there is no pressure of being swept. But, a sweep sure would be nice.

The Tigers welcome back Jeremy Bonderman who will be throwing his first big league pitch in over a year. He’s still looking for all of his fastball velocity to return, so we’ll see what a craftier Bonderman can bring to the table.

Jose Contreras will be on the mound for the White Sox. The Tigers have scored at least 4 runs in each of their last 5 starts against Contreras. Hopefully that continues today.

Your lineup for tonight’s action:

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

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 8, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Well that game sucked. Jeremy Bonderman wasn’t good. Not at all. It wasn’t just the homers, it was all the other hard hit balls, and the walks. I think it’s safe to say that Armando Galarraga’s spot in the rotation is safe for the time being. Jeremy Bonderman has options, he also has the right to refuse, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Tigers ask him to go to Toledo if there isn’t progress in his next start. And based on Bondo’s comments earlier it doesn’t sound like something he’d resist.

And then there was the offense which didn’t exist despite the fact Jose Contreras was pitching. Weak ground balls and lazy flyballs were the recipe for a near shutout. Finally, let’s not bat Josh Anderson leadoff anymore.

2009 Season, Roster Management

Ryan Perry optioned to Toledo

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The move to make room for Jeremy Bonderman was the optioning of Ryan Perry to Toledo. I don’t think this is a bad move at all and it could be for no more than the minimum 10 days. The Tigers can’t continue with 6 starters and I think a decision on the rotation will be made after Dontrelle Willis’s next start. Someone will get bumped from the rotation which will then answer a question about the bullpen, and then Perry’s recall could be scheduled.

2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.056: Tigers at White Sox

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PREGAME: It’s the start of a 5 game series, which just seems kind of crazy. I guess the nice thing is that for the team that loses the first game they have 4 more chances to avoide the sweep.

Armando Galarraga gets the day shift in the double header today. He’s coming off of back-to-back quality starts after really struggling in his previous 5 outings. Clayton Richard gets the ball for the White Sox. To contrast, he’s coming off a rough start after a string of 3 games where he only allowed a combined 4 runs in 20 innings.

There’s more stats and stuff here: Baseball Reference Preview

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 8, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday