All posts by Kevin in Dallas

2013 Season

The Brad Ausmus Era Begins

146 Comments

The Tigers have not officially announced it, but all signs point to Brad Ausmus as your new manager. From what I can tell, this guy out of Houston broke the news.

Though the home opener next March against KC will be the first game that Ausmus ever manages, this is a hire that I’m excited about. Ausmus has a tremendous baseball brain, as he spent 18 years in the majors, including two stints with our Tigers. He was a hot candidate this off-season, making the rounds with the Cubs and Nationals. Some are already drawing parallels to Mike Matheny in St. Louis, a former catcher who was a rookie manager in 2012. All he’s done in 2 seasons with the Cards is go to game 7 of the NLCS and game 6 of the World Series.

Ausmus made the All Star team with the Tigers, in 1999 (which means he beat out Tony Clark & Dean Palmer) and won 3 gold gloves later in his career.

 

2013 Season, Playoffs

Game 2013.Playoffs 9: Red Sox at Tigers

153 Comments

Wrong side of 2-1, 7 games left to go.

So, my intention was to just post a “short and sweet for the W” and then let the chips fall. It worked pretty well back in the day (meaning 2011 – 2012).

Well, I’m glad I put something up last night. There has been (understandably) so much chatter pre-game on the Relaxing post from last night, that even if I did want to get into things, there is not much to cover.

I have noticed that the DTW is calmest between the hours of 11 pm and 1 am central, which are prime reflecting hours for me. It gets a little lonely,I must admit. Refresh. Refresh. MLB network is too painful, so I pass the time on the Golf Network. Their late night show is actually pretty awesome.

Then I step into one little meeting during the day, get back to my desk, and bam, T Smith and KW have already dealt Prince Fielder. Interesting topic. That and Max Scherzer. But we’ll discuss that in November.

For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, Jim Leyland has made some radical changes to the lineup. Not only did he bump the leadoff hitter, a surprising move for loyal Leyland, though not surprising in light of the situation, but he also moved up everyone else in the order. I LOVE the move. Leyland recognizes that this is win or go home (basically) and that it is imperative to have his best hitters hit more often, conventions be damned.

1. Hunter, RF
2. Cabrera, 3B
3. Fielder, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Peralta, LF
6. Avila, C
7. Infante, 2B
8. Jackson, CF
9. Iglesias, SS

Beyond the relief to Jackson, this also it presumably gives one of the guys at the top an extra AB. And if anyone can handle leadoff in a crucial game like this one, it’s Torii Hunter.

Honestly, I don’t know what to expect, other than thrilling baseball between two of the best teams in the Majors. It’s hard to fault the hitters while we reap so much praise on the starters. Shouldn’t we acknowledge how dominating two of Boston’s starters have been? And Uehera? Good night. He’s throwing golf balls to guys trying to hit with pencils out there.

I will readily admit that I expected a deep playoff run this year. In fact, I felt entitled to it. What I forgot was the anxiety, heartache, and frustration that comes with it. I know, I want to scream “it’s just not fair” as badly and as loudly as you do.

But this is the playoffs. We’re all in this together.

I’ll be back here for game 7.

2013 Season, Playoffs

Relax

43 Comments

It’s just 2-1. We’re playing the best regular season team in baseball, not Minnesota.

There’s no home field advantage in MLB playoffs.

We have the best rotation in baseball, and the best hitter too.

Big game tomorrow.

We’ll be alright.

More to come.

2013 Season, Game Post, Playoffs

Game 2013.Playoffs 6: Tigers at Red Sox

140 Comments

(credit to Detroit News for the image. Note to Detroit News – we’re not making any money off of this. Still, if you want us to take it down, just post here and we will)

3-2, 8 more to go.

Look, I’m happy to be here.

I am.

It’s better than the alternative.

But champagne parties seems a little excessive for one playoff series win. That I can think of, baseball is the only sport that goes to such extremes for advancing in the playoffs.

We’ve been here before. This is our fourth time in eight years to make it to the ALCS. We could be in the midst of a dynasty, to be honest (though we’d need two WS wins I think to qualify). At least perhaps we are building one. But let’s not act as if winning the first round of the AL playoffs means we have accomplished anything. This team was built to do one thing and we’re still 8 wins away.

Tom Verducci of SI had some fascinating stats in the SI playoff preview last week. The gist of the article discussed the whimsical nature of MLB playoffs, especially with the advent of the wild card. I think we’re all well aware of the A’s struggles in recent years, mostly at the hands of the Tigers, but did you know that Atlanta has now lost 7 straight post-season series? Over the past 22 postseasons, only 3 teams with the regular season best record went on to win the WS. In the 22 years before that, 8 teams did it. Last year’s Giants finished last in the majors in home runs…we saw what happened in the World Series. Home teams went 2-5 in elimination games last year, and are 2-3 so far this year.

On to the series at hand. The 2013 American League Championship series pits the top two offensive teams in the Majors, and numbers 3 (Boston) and 4 in terms of payroll. The Red Sox are good, very good. They led the AL with 97 wins this year, and really ran away with the toughest division in Baseball. As one of my friends remarked to me this year, how? How different are they than last year’s last place team?

Well, for one, the entire lineup is solid. Napoli was a steal in free agency. Ortiz has regained his science assisted form, and they still have Ellsbury and Pedroia, two of the better all-around players in the game. Their starting pitching has been solid top to bottom, and their bullpen as been one of the best, ending in the nearly unhittable Koji Uehara. Uehara’s WHIP this year was .565. In 74 1/3. I’m serious. BAA – .130, OPS against – .400. Oh, and Bobby Valentine is gone. Maybe there is something to that morale thing.

Your 2013 AL ERA title holder, Anibal Sanchez, gets the call for game one. Trivia for you – Sanchez started his career in the Red Sox system, before being traded away to Florida, and ultimately stolen by the Tigers. Despite his poor outing against Oakland last week, I love this match-up. Sanchez doesn’t have much of a track record against the current Red Sox lineup, which generally is an advantage for the pitcher.

The Red Sox take more pitches than any other team in the majors. In fact, they saw over 1,000 more than the next most patient team. That can wreak havoc on a staff. The key tonight will be first pitch strikes. Sanchez was 16th in the AL last year,a t 61.5%. That’s good, but it won’t be good enough tonight. Lester was just a few spots behind Sanchez at 60.9%.

Phil Coke was added to the playoff roster today, replacing Putkonen. The reason is likely because Ortiz is a lifetime 2-18 off of Coke, or perhaps Leyland likes to stress everyone out. Probably the former.

Lineup notes: Looks like Leyland is going to stick with Jackson in the leadoff hole. I’m okay with this. If we can win without him going, imagine what we can do when he does get going. And he’s bound to do so, soon. Peralta and Iglesias start today. This makes me very nervous with the Green Monster in left, but with a left-handed pitcher, I get it. What contradicts this is Avila getting the start again despite just 2 hits and a .449 OPS in the ALDS. He’s doing a great job of calling games and I’m sure that’s whey Leyland has him back there, but you gotta give Pena a chance to give your offense some help, especially with the struggles at the 1 & 9 spots.

Tonight’s lineups:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. FIelder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, LF
7. Infante, 2B
8. Avila, C
9. Iglesias, SS

 

1. Ellsbury, CF
2. Victorino, RF
3. Pedroia, 2B
4. Ortiz, DH
5. Napoli, 1B
6. Nava, LF
7. Drew, SS
8. Middlebrooks, 3B
9. Ross, C (this is literally the first time I have ever heard of this guy)

2013 Season, Playoffs

Game 2013. Playoffs 3: Athletics at Tigers

64 Comments

1-1, 10 games to go.

Relax. Take a deep breath. The Tigers own home field advantage for the rest of the ALDS. Yes, the hitting is a concern. Dare I say a grave one. But offense can be restored as quickly as it was lost, and this offense is simply too good to disappear forever. As KW pointed out, just look at what the Giants did (or didn’t do) during their first playoff series last year. They certainly didn’t have any problem scoring runs in the World Series.

Anibal Sanchez takes the rock this afternoon. Our #3 playoff starter is the reigning AL ERA leader. How sick is that? He was incredible during last year’s WS run, posting a 1.77 ERA and .192 BAA despite a 1-2 record. He allowed 2 ER on 5 hits in 6 1/3 in Game 3 of last year’s ALDS versus Oakland, but I feel confident that things will be better today.

Selected Sanchez Splits for 2013:

– v. Oak: 1-0, 12 IP, 3.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP (7 BBs), .596 OPS

– Day games: 4-3, 3.23 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, .589 OPS

– at Comerica: 8-3, 2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .606 OPS

Same for Jarrod Parker

v. Det: 0-1, 3.1 IP, 21.60 ERA, 3.30 WHIP, 1.345 OPS

– Day Games: 5-3, 4.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .705 OPS

Johnny Peralta will get his first start of the series in LF this afternoon. Unfortunately, Dirks and Kelly have been so bad against righties this year, that Peralta’s .750 OPS versus righties will be a remarkable improvement.

It’s expected to be overcast with temperatures in the upper 50s this afternoon.

A few notes:

– Cabrera has reached base in every postseason game he’s played in – 26 in a row now.

– Today’s game will be exclusively broadcast on the MLB Network.

– For the A’s, Josh Donaldson moves to the No. 2 spot and Jed Lowrie falls to third. Seth Smith will DH for a second straight game. He’s 6-for-17 with two career homers off Anibal Sanchez.

Today’s Take the Series Lead Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, LF
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Iglesias, SS

1:07pm ET start today. So take a long lunch.

 

2013 Season, Miscellaneous

News and Notes: Playoff Off Day (for us)

38 Comments

Props to the Pirates. Good luck in the playoffs.

I’m really looking forward to tonight’s Cle/Tampa game. I’m going to pull for Cle.

A few interesting tidbits from the WSJ last week:

– According to Baseball Info Solutions there have been more than 7,800 “defensive shifts” in 2013, up from 4,500 in 2012.

– The frequency of sacrifice bunts and intentional walks fell to record lows this year. Stolen-base attempts sank to their lowest since 1973. The stats guys are winning out.

I heard this during a radio broadcast (can’t remember which game)

– There were 12 guys with 100+ RBI this year, two on the Tigers. In 2000 there were over 51 (including Bobby Higginson and Dean Palmer)

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

And a thought which I’m carrying over from a Coleman/Smoking Loon exchange last week.

– I had a Strat-0-Matic set when I was young. Actually, it was my father’s and the player cards were from ’77-’79. Not the best Tiger years, but the Yankees and A’s could kill it. I remember playing whole games and keeping score. When I was very young, the great Jon Miller did play-by-play for the Rangers and lived a few houses down from us. I didn’t have any baseball consciousness then, but my parents buddied up with the Millers. Several years later he was in Arlington for an Orioles/Rangers series and he came by the house. Strat-O-Matic came up and he told me that he use to simulate entire seasons with one team, and would call the play-by-play and do the PA as he progressed through the games.

– With that in mind, can we talk for a bit about baseball video games? When I was six, my next door neighbor, Kyle, had baseball for his Atari. He used to dominate me when we played and would turn to me and do a menacing laugh every time he hit a home run. In fact, he’d load up the bases on purpose and then hit a grand slam. Over and over and over. Finally, he turned to me to start his laugh and I punched him in the nose. The laughs stopped and my team’s performance improved.

– I would like to single-handedly claim responsibility for the incredible Matt Williams 1990 season. If you’ll remember, Baseball Stars came out in 1989. Unless you wanted to play with the Lovely Ladies or the Japan Robins, you had to name your own teams (playing with the American Dreams just wasn’t fair). My buddy and I named every MLB team, including a 3B for the Giants named Matt Williams whom we had never heard of. He hit about .660 with 54 home runs in our first Baseball Stars season, and in 1990 he became an All-Star for the first time. Coincidence?

– I played RBI Baseball when I went to my friends’ houses who weren’t as fortunate to have Baseball Stars like me, but I felt sorry for them.

– I also played a lot of Tony La Russa baseball in the early 90’s on my PC. In fact, that’s how I really came to know many of the all-time Tiger greats. This was, of course, when I wasn’t playing Leisure Suit Larry.

– Baseball games kind of got lost for me once the consoles improved, as the focus shifted to Madden and NHL.

– I did, however, pick up MLB The Show a few years ago, and that game is unbelievable. I’d play more if the games just didn’t take so long. Plus, that was 2 years ago so I’m tired of trying to win with Brad Penny. They really have done an amazing job of making sure that you buy the new edition every year.

 

2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.159: Tigers at Twins

102 Comments

92-66, 1.

Since this won’t be my last post this season, I won’t feel bad about a short one on a busy day.

You know that a win tonight, or a Cle loss, will clinch a third straight division title. That’s the first time since…ever. They did win three straight pennants from 1907-1909, but they have never won 3 straight division titles. Please keep that in mind as you shake up a can of frustration at the first negative play tonight. If we win a WS in the near future, we’ll always remember this stretch as one of the best in club history.

21-3 just sounds so much cooler than 20-3, doesn’t it?

A few notes:

– Igelsias is rehabbing nicely, he hit off of a tee today. I think they’ll keep him out until the playoffs start.

– Peralta is eligible to start in LF on Friday.

– Rondon may not be quite as alright as we were hoping. Leyland says his arm condition is “not good.”

Tonight’s Central Division Clinching Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Dirks, LF
7. Infante, 2B
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, SS

2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.158: Tigers at Twins

70 Comments

91 – 66, 2.

Not much to like about yesterday’s game. Even though JV went 6 with 0 ER and 12 Ks, he walked 3 and got in enough trouble to not pitch into the 7th. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I’m certain that the bullpen has pitched significantly more innings in JV starts this year than in any year in recent history.

I recognize that the Tigers have been pretty average over the past few weeks, a time span that coincides greatly with Cabrera’s nagging injuries. But I don’t put any stock into momentum heading into the playoffs in MLB. None whatsoever. It would be great to catch Oakland. In my mind, that is what we are playing for right now. Any momentum we may pick-up will be lost in the break before the first playoff series.

If we don’t, we’ll re-evaluate come game 1 post for the ALDS.

Rotation as listed…

Tonight: Fister

Tomorrow: Scherzer

Friday: Porcello

Saturday: Sanchez

Sunday: Verlander

That Sunday game is on the 29th, and there will be 5 days between the last game of the regular season and game 1 of the ALDS on Friday the 4th (assuming Detroit is not in a play-in/WC game). So really, Leyland can do whatever he wants with the rotation. I’m thinking that the home/away will play a role with Porcello out of the pen.

To be honest, this exercise was much less enjoyable that I thought it would be. Or perhaps I’m still frustrated that JV didn’t win #18 last night.

2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.157: Tigers at Twins

58 Comments

91 – 65, 2.

I liked it better when you got all of your baseball stats from one place: the sports page. Or really, one to two pages of the sports section. Everything was laid out right in front of you, so you could jump from team to team, or stat to stat, without clicking anywhere or waiting for a page to load. Once I became stat aware, I regularly read the Fort Worth Star Telegram and then the Freep and Detroit News when I was visiting the D, and they did it the same, so I assumed that everyone did; the league leaders were published daily, and then all team stats were be published on a regular basis. I loved scanning the full stats for the all-stars, but what I really enjoyed was seeing the long lists of the league leaders. They would usually list the top 10, maybe the top 20. Top 10 was awesome, and top 20 was still pretty darn good.

Anyway, I was doing some in depth stat searching the other day. The was on my mobile phone, so it was pretty artificial, but I saw something interesting. Which prompted more research, and then led me to find these:

1) 7 1/3 IP 7 H 3 ER 2 BB 4 K

2) 7  IP 9 H 2 ER 1 BB 12 K

3) 7 IP 8 H 1 ER 1 BB 4 K

4) 7 IP 3 H 0 ER 2 BB 8 K

5) 8 IP 9 H 2 ER 4 BB 4 K

6) 8 IP 7 H 2 ER 2 BB 6 K

7) 7 IP 4 H 0 ER 2 BB 6K

8) 7 IP 4 H 3 ER 3BB 6 K

Total for the eight games: 58 1/3 IP, 51 H, 13 ER (2.00 ERA), 17 BB (1.17 WHIP), 50 Ks (7.71 K/9, 2.94 K/BB). Record: 0-3 with 5 no-decisions.

Know that those are? Those are JV lines from selected games this season. Eight very winnable games with no wins to show for it.

Now, on to step two of my point. AL rankings for selected JV stats:

ERA: 18

IP: 8

K: 5

W: 8

K/9: 8

fWAR: 6

BABIP: 4 (from the bottom – .303, Fister’s .314 is 3rd; note that Senchez’s .301 is 7th and Porcello’s .300 is 8th; I’d love to know what the team BABIP is post-Iglesias).

But here’s my point. Had the Tigers simply won 4 of those winnable games above, JV would have 17 wins, good for 2nd in the AL. How does our impression of his season change then? 2nd in the AL in wins, top 20 ERA, 5th in Ks, 6th in fWAR.

While this has been a disappointing JV season, it’s really a matter of perception. He’s still in the upper echelon of AL Starters.

For fun, here are the ERAs of some of the pitchers above JV in the wins column – Porcello (4.38), Fister (3.71), Dickey (4.27), Sabathia (4.78), Guthrie (4.09), Griffin (3.78), Lester (3.67), Tillman (3.70).

Note, what prompted this is that JV is still 18th in ERA.

We’ll get into the post-season rotation tomorrow.

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Back on the 13th I suggested that the Tigers should close their final 16 games at 10-6 or 11-5. Winning the 3 series at home puts them at 7-3 and on pace for 10 to 11 wins. Unfortunately, that probably won’t be enough to wrestle away home field from the Bo Sox, and may not be enough to pass Oak.

The Wild Card stuff is great. I’m pulling for the Royals. People are being talked off of ledges around here regarding the Rangers.

Lots of scoreboard watching these days.

Lineup coming later.

 

2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.149: Royals at Tigers

42 Comments

85-63, Magic Number is 10.

Gotta hop on a plane, so a few disjointed thoughts.

Tigers lose a playoff type game last night in a game where the AL’s best pitching flexed some muscle and completely shut down the Tigers. I wasn’t able to tune in early but did catch the Infante double. I agree with Brookens’ decision to send Fielder there, though I hardly agree that it takes “2 perfect throws” as the second throw from Escobar was actually pretty marginal but still got a slow Fielder. The Tigers weren’t hitting at all and there was no reason to think that Holaday was going to change that much (or anyone else on the bench).

But the Royals are a good team playing for something, and the Tigers were in a position to take the game to extra innings because their pitching was almost as brilliant as that of the Royals’.

I thought Hosmer’s statement that last night’s win was the “biggest of his career” was hilarious, and I expect that he had a few laughs at the expense of the Twitter when he got home.

The fact that the Tigers have been thrown out so much at home is a reflection of poor team speed (not a surprise) and more opportunities than their competitors. Let’s not be too upset about that.

I’m traveling today, so I won’t get to post the lineups. Someone please do when they are up.

Gotta win the series today. More importantly, Max needs to get on track. Hard to believe that Jeremy Guthrie has more wins that Justin Verlander.

I admit it, I love the expanded wild card.

2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.148: Royals at Tigers

73 Comments

85-62, Magic Number is 10.

Good win last night in a game where Justin Verlander had 0 walks. In fact, he didn’t get to a 3 ball count until the 4th, and had only 2 such counts all night. 9 Royals’ hits in 6 2/3 drove up the pitch count, but if JV issues his 2-3 walks along with those 9 hits, we’re talking about a different ball game. Interestingly, all 3 runs that the Royals scored last night came with 2 outs, and JV has allowed 42 runs with 2 outs this year. That’s nearly 1/2 of his runs allowed all year.

More two out JV fun – all stats are 0 outs/1 outs/2 outs.

  • BAA: .260/.230/.284.
  • BB: 19/19/30.
  • OPS+: 92/68/132.
  • BABIP: .304/.299/.353.
  • K/BB: 3.05/3.58/2.10

How do you explain/fix that?

Fister gets the rock tonight. Despite a respectable 5-3 and 3.32 ERA over his last 10, he needs to get into post-season shape as well. His WHIP during that time is 1.38 and he’s been drilled in 2 out of his last 3 starts. Fister was lights out in the playoffs last year, let’s get back to that.

Since my post yesterday, Boston has won twice and Chris Davis hit #50. Home field advantage and the triple crown are going to be very difficult and nearly impossible to achieve, respectively.

So let’s focus on four issues which I’d like to see worked out over the remaining 14 games – 1) can Cabrera get healthy, 2) can the bullpen pitchers settle into defined roles, 3) who will play LF and 4) can JV be dominant in the postseason.

A few notes:

– Remember, Iglesias is only a rookie. AL ROY?

– A little run support in the Game Poster League would be nice.

– Peralta in LF is a real thing. I’m not against it.

– 2B prospect Devon Travis is the Tigers’ minor league player of the year.

Tonight’s Regulars Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Dirks, LF
7. Infante, 2B
8. Avila, C
9. Iglesias, SS