PREGAME: The Tigers will once again try and pick up their first win against their Central Division foes. It won’t be any easier tonight with Jose Contreras taking the mound. He shut down the Tigers earlier in the season.
Meanwhile Justin Verlander, who was rocked by the Sox in his second start, will try to play the role of stopper once again.
My big game pick tonight is Carlos Guillen.
Ivan Rodriguez left tonights game with back spasms. Pudge is currently listed as day to day.
I’ll campaign for Marcus Thames to assume the #3 spot in the order until Rodriguez is able to return.
PREGAME: The Tigers will look to avenge an early season sweep by the White Sox. While I’m trying not to place too much importance on any one game, it would be nice to get the series opener and get that first ChiSox win out of the way.
I know that Tiger fans are thinking, “The Sox are struggling, now is a great chance to get back at them and maybe build a little seperation.” Meanwhile, I’m sure White Sox fans are thinking, “The Tigers are stuggling, now is a great chance to keep piling on and close the gap.”
Nate Robertson will take the hill for Detroit and he will be opposed by Freddy Garcia who has been giving the Tigers fits for years.
Who’s your pick for Tiger hero tonight? I’m going to go with Chris Shelton and hope he breaks out of his slump.
POSTGAME: I’m late to the party on this. I saw it all last night, but I was up late and up early prepping for a presentation. The loss blew. There’s no getting around it. It seemed like the Tigers were cruising, but on closer inspection it wasn’t a complete game at all. They blew an easy double play – again. They made Freddy Garcia throw 100+ pitches in 5 innings, he didn’t have good stuff, but only managed 3 runs. Nate Robertson put men on in every inning, but worked his way out of numerous jams. The Tigers were teetering all night and it caught up with them.
Yes, it is frustrating to see Cintron hit his first homer of the year to give the team the lead. Much like it must have been frustrating for Twins fans to see Vance Wilson hit his first homer of the year for the only runs the Tigers scored off of Johan Santana.
Things happen. They just all seem to be happening at the same time and it doesn’t feel good.
Alexis Gomez is the mystery player that the Tigers activated (thanks to Kyle for letting us know). To make room on the 40 man roster Mike Maroth was moved from the 15 to 60 day DL.
My only apprehension with Gomez is if Jim Leyland gets platoon happy with a hot hitting Marcus Thames. It looks like there will be a platoon tonight, but it will be with the struggling Craig Monroe in left field.
As time permits, I’ll update the Tigers draft picks throughout the day. I will caution though that this isn’t my area of expertise. Any opinions or thoughts expressed are those I’ve gleaned from others.
UPDATE: Darn work kept me away from this all day. I’ll get caught up on the picks for the sake of completeness, but for more player detail check out the excellent work compiled by Kurt on Andrew Miller and the rest.
At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, Miller has an ideal frame with a clean delivery and easy arm action. His fastball registers consistently in the 93-95 mph range and can touch the upper 90s. Miller also has a major league offering with a mid-80s slider with a sharp bite.
BA also projects him to be in a major league rotation by 2007.
It’s nice once again to see the Tigers not scared off by a player’s bonus demands. They are thinking and acting like a big market team. Here’s hoping they sign him quickly, or at let’s hope there are shorter negotiations than Cameron Maybin and Justin Verlanders.
Tigers Steal Another One
2:59 p.m.: The Tigers found a nice value when Andrew Miller dropped to them in the first round, and might have landed another gem in the second in Ohio State third baseman Ronnie Bourquin. He led the Big 10 with a .416 average, .612 slugging percentage, .492 on-base percentage and 66 RBIs. He’s the highest-drafted Buckeye since the A’s grabbed Nick Swisher in the first round (16th overall) in 2002.
Toledo 4, Buffalo 2
Jack Hannahan homered and added two singles. Ryan Ludwick added two hits. Wil Ledezma had another strong start allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 8 innings. He struck out 5.
Erie-DNP
Lakeland 9, Clearwater 3
Clete Thomas and Garth McKinney each had 3 hits. The offensive start though was Jeff Larish with two homers and two walks. Jair Jurrjens allowed 5 hits and 3 walks for 3 runs in 7 innings (3 K’s). Kevin Whelan pitched a scoreless ninth allowing one baserunner while fannings 2.
West Michigan 6, Quad Citiies 5 (11 innings)
Michael Hollimon had two hits and two singles. Pedro Cotto and Matt Joyce added two hits as well. Erik Averill threw 7 innings allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits and two walks.
Okay, I got a little giddy and deemed this past 10 games the most significant homestand in Comerica Park’s history. I’m not sure it lived up to the billing, but I still can’t think of another stretch in the last 6 years that was on par in terms of the talent coming in and the Tigers stature.
I was going to be content with 5-5, and thrilled with anything beyond that. Considering they finished 4-6 I shouldn’t be too disappointed, and I’m not really. I am a little concerned though in that they didn’t seem to play good baseball consistently. I’ve often heard that they could have very easily been 6-4, but they also could have very easily been 2-8. The fact that they really only had a chance to win 6 or maybe 7 of the games is what’s more disturbing. Continue reading Homestand Thoughts
I feel bad that here it is the night before the draft, and I’ve yet to mention anything. The current Tigers have been interesting enough to keep me busy. Plus, I just don’t know that much about the players except what I read from Baseball America.
The Tigers appear to have locked in on two players, Texas outfielder Drew Stubbs and high school pitcher Clayton Kershaw. However, in the latest Baseball America mock draft the Tigers are slated to pick righthander Luke Hochevar. Now mock drafts are historically inaccurate, but BA nailed the early portions of the first round last year so it is worth a look.
Here is some paraphrasing on each of the likely candidates from BA’s premium content: Continue reading Draft Eve
Toledo 6, Ottawa 2
Ryan Raburn doubled and singled to continue his hot hitting. Josh Phelps had 3 hits, including his 6th homer. Victor Mendez who was recently promoted from Lakeland added a double. Colby Lewis started and was one out short of a complete game (7 inning CG). He allowed six hits and a walk against six strikeouts.
Ottawa 6, Toledo 1
Jordan Tata went 5 innings and was knocked around for 8 hits and 2 walks. He allowed 5 runs (4 earned) with only one strikeout. Josh Phelps had two hits, as did Tike Redman.
Akron 4, Erie 3
Kody Kirkland singled and doubled twice. Brent Clevlen posted yet another 0’fer dropping his average to .199. Preston Larrison started and allowed 4 runs on 4 hits in 4 innings. Eulogio De La Cruz struck out 7 in 4 innings of scoreless work. He allowed one hit and two walks.
Lakeland – PPD
Quad Cities 6, West Michigan 0
The Caps managed only 4 hits so there isn’t a lot to report. Michael Hollimon doubled and walked. Sendy Vasquez allowed 8 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (4 earned) in 5 1/3 inning of work.
Jason Beck reports that Chris Spurling was optioned to Toledo following today’s game. It does sound like Chris took the news well:
“I just get the impression I’m not well-liked anymore around here,” Spurling said, “which is fine. The staff changed, the opinions changed.”
I can’t blame him for being discouraged, especially considering the way some his bullpen mates threw today.
Since his recall on May 26th, he made 3 appearances and wasn’t charged with any runs. It included a 2 2/3 inning effort in mop-up duty against he Indians, and 1 1/3 innings today where he followed Jason Grilli. He hasn’t been used in high leverage situations, but he’s still been effective.
Frankly I’m perplexed by the move. Yes he has options, as does Roman Colon. And I’m not convinced that they couldn’t pass Jason Grilli through waivers
I understood when he was sent down the first time. He wasn’t pitching well, and Toledo pitching coach Jeff Jones was able to fix him. This time it makes little sense.
The Tigers were carrying 13 pitchers because they thought they would need an extra bullpen arm. Fortunately Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers, and Jeremy Bonderman were able to go deep into games. The Tigers also have an off day tomorrow meaning the full complement of arms will be available. A yet to be named position player will be recalled. Ryan Raburn has been hitting well, but he currently isn’t on the 40 man roster which is now full. Essentially an additional move (ie Mike Maroth going to the 60 day DL) would have to be made to get someone other than Jack Hannahan back.
PREGAME: The Tigers are looking for a series win, and a 5-5 record on the homestand. Going in I was hoping for .500 and anything else would be a bonus. So if they win I’m satisfied.
Today will feature the Major League debut of Zach Miner, who is filling in for the injured Mike Maroth. Surprisingly, I have a Zach Miner story. Well, its not much of a story, but a brief encounter. When I was at the game on Wednesday, I went down to the 3rd base line with the boy. Joel Zumaya and Miner were walking together out to the bullpen. Of course people called for Zumaya to come over. Joel broke off and started signing, leaving Miner standing there.
Now keep in mind that Miner had been with the club for all of 3 hours so he was a little unfamiliar to fans. I called “Zach” and he got a big smile and came walking over. I told him congratulations and while he was signing the boy’s ball I told the boy that this was Zach’s first day in the majors. He smiled and said, “it’s a good day.”
IN GAME: Memo to Jason Grilli: When your manager argues balls and strikes on your behalf and gets himself ejected, it’s not advisable to walk the next two batters.
POSTGAME: Well Miner can breathe now. His first start is complete. And while he wasn’t great, or even that good, he kept the Tigers in the game for 4 innings. Minimally he showed enough to warrant a 2nd start, which should come with not quite as many nerves.
Toledo – PPD
Akron 6, Erie 4
Tony Giarratano had two hits and two walks. Danilo Sanchez hit his first homer and added a single. Brent Clevlen continues to scuffle with an 0 for 5. Virgil Vasquez went 6 1/3 innings scattering 8 hits for 3 runs. He only struck out one batter.
Brevard County 3, Lakeland 2
Jeff Frazier doubled and singled for Lakeland. Lance Davis started and went 5 1/3 allowing no runs on 5 hits with 5 K’s.
Quad Cities 3, West Michigan 2
Michael Hernandez continues to rake with 2 more hits. His line is now a very robust 383/444/532. Josh Rainwater allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings or work. He walked one and fanned 4.