Category Archives: 2007 Season

Eulogio De La Cruz gets the call

Eulogio De La Cruz
Credit Roger DeWitt

The Tigers called up pitcher Eulogio De La Cruz today to take a shot at being a bullpen stud.

De La Cruz has spent a good chunk of his minor league career as a reliever, until last year when he was moved to the rotation and started to find success. This year he put together a remarkable string of outings and as the injuries in the Detroit bullpen mounted he was moved up to Toledo and into the bullpen. After walking 5 and allowing 3 runs in 1 inning in his first outing on June 4th, he has thrown 7 2/3 scoreless innings over 3 appearances.

De La Cruz (or DLC as he’s often referred to on Motown Sports) is a shorter guy standing only 5′ 11″ but can crank it up into the high 90’s.

Yorman Bazardo will be sent down to make room. I think this is less about Bazardo’s performance, which wasn’t bad, and more about seeing what the team has in De La Cruz and whether he can provide the help they need in the pen.

Tigers Minor League Wrap – 6/17/07

Toledo 4 Syracuse 6
Timo Perez went 2 for 5. Mike Hessman and Jack Hannahan each homered. Ryan Raburn walked twice. Dennis Tankersley didn’t make it out of the 2nd inning before allowing 5 runs on 6 hits.

Erie 5 New Hampshire 11
Clete Thomas doubled twice as part of a 3 hit day. Mike Hollimon homered for the second consecutive day and is hitting 264/384/446. Matt Joyce hit his 7th homer as part of a 3 for 3, 1 walk day. Eddie Bonine allowed 5 runs on 10 hits with no walks and 3 K’s in 5 innings.

Dayton 4 West Michigan 7
Ronnie Bertram and Audy Ciriaco each doubled and singled. Angel Castro allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 strike out.

Game 68: Tigers at Phillies

PREGAME: So today will be Justin Verlander’s turn to flail hopelessly at the plate. Of course, no one really cares about Verlander’s lack of hits at the plate, but they do want to see how long he can keep this no hitter thing going on the mound.

The Tigers will hope for better success against Adam Eaton than they had with Jamie Moyer. Craig Monroe has yet to play in this series, so we’ll see if Leyland works him into the lineup today against the right hander.

Oh yeah, and I think Sean Casey homers today.

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: Happy Father’s Day by the way. I kind of forgot about that this morning. On to the game.

Great win for the Tigers. Solid starting pitching, timely late inning hitting, and a relatively stress free outing from the bullpen. But let’s focus on the 7th inning and Jim Leyland for a few minutes. This was the inning when all the managing took place, and it’s an example of why I have a hard time blaming managers for losses. I’ll walk you through my thoughts as the action transpired.

Brandon Inge doubles with one out and Jim Leyland pinch hits Carlos Guillen for Neifi Perez
Me: Finally this offense starts to resemble something. Let’s hope it’s not too late – but good move Jim.
Carlos Guillen singles to put runners on the corners and Gary Sheffield steps to the plate
Me: It’s all or nothing this inning, but of course Sheffield can stay in the game and go to left field. Monroe’s almost as bad today with 3 straight pop outs. I guess it depends on how deep this inning goes, but if Monroe makes the last out the pitcher can take his spot. And why didn’t Inge score on that play, Rings and EZ are going to come on here in the comments and bash him and I’ll another Inge war on my hands.
Sheffield hits a rocket to score Inge and put runners on first and second. Charlie Manuel brings in the lefty and Leyland pinch hits Infante for Granderson.
Me: Nice job Sheff, but what is Leyland doing? Granderson has been hitting rockets all series, off of both lefties and righties. This is exactly what Manuel wanted to happen and Leyland played right into it. Not to mention weakening the outfield defensively. This game is still in doubt either way, and why do you want Grandy out?
Omar taps the ball to the pitcher advancing the runners, Polanco gets intentionally walked to pitch to Monroe.
Me: Nice job with the lineup today Leyland. How many teams will give a free pass to the number 2 hitter to face the number 3 hitter? Then again how many teams have their out making-est regular hitting in front of their best run producer? So much for this rally. Oh man Craig, please do something. For everyone’s sake.
Craig singles in two, and Magglio knocks in two with a double before Casey ends the inning.
Me: Now what should Jim do? He could put the new pitcher in Casey’s spot since he made the last out, and bring in Thames. Trouble is he’s the last position player. Well, I guess he’ll just put Sheffield in left and the pitcher can take Craig’s spot in the lineup, it won’t come up for 7 more batters.
The new pitcher Bobby Seay takes Sheffield’s spot
Me: What the heck is going on? You burned through Sheff for one at-bat, and now the pitcher is scheduled to bat 4th in the next inning as well? Why do that? This better not come back to haunt us.

My point in this exercise is that there were a couple moves that I really questioned – starting with the lineup – and yet the Tigers won going away. Sometimes the decisions, even the ones that don’t make sense, work out. That doesn’t make them the right decisions, but they ended up with the Tigers picking up a W. I also wanted to show that I’ll even second guess decisions that pan out and I’m not just slamming things after the fact. Thanks for joining me in my head.

Other notes:

  • Very nice outing today by Fernando Rodney. He came in a high pressure situation and got the strike out. He then followed it up with a strong 8th inning allowing only a double, and ground ball right through Carlos Guillen’s legs to score the run. Inexplicably that was ruled a hit and an earned run. Just as curious a scoring decision as Pudge’s double in game 1 that Rowand dropped.
  • Rodney threw 39 pitches meaning that he probably won’t be available tomorrow at least, and possibly not until Wednesday.
  • Todd Jones kept it simple allowing just a single. It’s almost like the bullpen of last year reappeared for an afternoon.
  • A couple of awesome defensive plays in this one with Granderson showing his ups, and Casey showing his moxie. I can’t believe that Dobbs, the runner on 3rd didn’t score on the Casey play, but it was a nice job regardless.
  • Granderson picked up his 8th steal and is closing in on a quadruple double – double digits in homers, triples, doubles, and steals. I just made that up, but considering he’s one homer and 2 steals away and it’s mid June, that seems impressive.
  • The strike zones the last 2 games were ridiculous. Guillen got hosed on Saturday night, and then Bill Welke’s zone was all over the place today. And the Phillies were right to be pissed on that Marcus Thames pitch. Whether or not he swung (which he did) shouldn’t have mattered. That pitch was a strike regardless. And to not appeal is just foolish on the part of the home plate ump.

Tigers 7 Phillies 4

Tigers Minor League Wrap – 6/16/07

Toledo 12 Syracuse 3
Chris Shelton went 2 for 4, homered, and walked. Mike Hessman and Jack Hannahan each had 3 hits. Ron Chiavacci threw 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7.

Erie 1 New Hampshire 5
Matt Joyce was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and Erick Almonte added 2 hits. Jair Jurrjens returned from the DL and allowed 1 run on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts in 6 innings.

Florida State League All Star Game
Ryan Roberson, Cameron Maybin, and Michael Roberson represented Lakeland. Maybin was the only one to pick up hits, with a double and a single. Lucas French recorded the final out in relief.

West Michigan 9, Dayton 1
Jeff Gerbe returned after a brief stint at Erie and allowed only 1 unearned run over 7 innings on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 5 K’s. Deik Scram singled, tripled, and walked. Gorkys Hernandez added 2 singles and a walk. James Skelton also doubled and walked and had 2 RBI.

Game 67: Tigers at Phillies

PREGAME: Andrew Miller is pitching for the Tigers so the opposing starter must be an ancient 40 year old – ah look, it’s Jamie Moyer. Okay, so it’s only the second time it happened (with Braden Looper being the other starter Miller has faced), but the only possible way to move up the old crafty left hander ladder from Tom Glavine is to go to Jamie Moyer right?

In any case, Miller has limited opponents to a .622 OPS in his 2 starts. A key may be taking care of the leadoff hitter who has reached base in 5 of the 12 innings Miller has started. Of course it hasn’t bothered Miller to pitch from the stretch because over 27 PA’s with men on, he’s held the opposition to a 130/231/261 line.

As for Moyer, he made his major league debut when Andrew Miller was 13 months old. Moyer has been pitching like a guy who is older than dirt over his last 6 starts with a 6.69 ERA and 55 baserunners allowed in 35 innings. Ivan Rodriguez is hitting 369/423/615 against Moyer in his career and that spans 65 at-bats.

Game Time 7:05 – This game is on FSN + so check here for the channel on your cable/satellite system

Tigers Minor League Wrap – 6/15/07

Toledo 5 Syracuse 2
David Espinosa had quite the game with 4 hits. Ryan Raburn continues to rake and knocked his 15th homer. Jordan Tata started and once again battled control issues with 4 walks in 5 2/3 innings but only 2 runs came in. Aquilino Lopez pitched a scoreless inning for the save.

Erie 8 New Hampshire 7
Kody Kirkland continues to swing a hot bat with a homer, a single, and a walk. Mike Hollimon added a homer and a walk as did Matt Joyce. Jon Connolly lasted 7 innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 k’s. Randor Bierd got into trouble in the 9th and was charged with 2 runs.

Lakeland – DNP

Dayton 10 West Michigan 0
I blame Kenny Rogers…In all seriousness Rogers went 5 innings and allowed 7 hits, 2 walks and he fanned 4. This is spring training for Rogers so I’m not too worried with results, just that he feels okay after 76 pitches. He very well could be in the rotation next week.

Game 66: Tigers at Phillies

PREGAME: The Tigers make their first journey to a National League park this season. So here we are, real baseball. Pitchers hitting. Double switches. There’s nothing like seeing a sacrifice bunt with 1 out. Or the excitement of seeing a pitcher who’s having a great game lifted for a pinch hitter. Maybe it’s because I’m from an American League city, and I’m at an age where the DH has always existed, but I just don’t get the appeal of the NL. I’m pro DH all the way.

But on to tonight’s contest. The Phillies are currently residing in second place in the NL East. They lead the NL in scoring, walks, and on base percentage. They’re 2nd in slugging percentage and 3rd in home runs. So it’s probably a good thing that Bonderman-Miller-Verlander (aka The Future) are set to throw in this series.

Tonight it’s Jeremy Bonderman’s turn. In his last start, he seemed to pitch pretty well but his final line was an unimpressive 6 runs allowed in 6+ innings with 4 K’s.

The Tigers will be facing Jon Lieber. Lieber’s last start was a complete game 11 K shut out of the Kansas City Royals. He’s been much better on the road with a 651 OPS allowed on the road and 824 at home. Sean Casey is 17 for 38 lifetime off Lieber and Neifi Perez has 2 homers in 21 at-bats against him.

And as a final note, Jose Mesa made his first appearance for the Phillies and allowed 2 runs in 1 1/3 innings with 2 wild pitches.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME Ergh the bullpen. Again. Is there any other team that can really use every bit of an 8 run cushion like the Tigers?

  • Bonderman had allowed 5 homers all season, and then 4 solo shots tonight. He wasn’t nearly as sharp as his last outing against the Mets, yet the result was the same.
  • Great game once again by the offense, and everybody contributed in one way or another. Casey had 4 hits, but Pudge gets the nod for blowing the game apart with 5 two-out RBI.
  • I really think Casey will get his first homer this series, and really thought he had it tonight.
  • Brandon Inge drew 2 intentional walks. That was the good. After having a great couple of weeks, he went back to looking tentative with a couple half/check swing strikeouts.
  • The one good thing about pitchers batting is watching all the other pitchers laugh at the sacrificial lamb from the dugout. And with Bondo going station to station tonight, there was quite a bit to take in.
  • Technically, Fernando Rodney’s string of 5 straight appearances allowing a run was snapped. Yes he only recorded one out, and yes an inherited runner scored, but the streak is broken.


Detroit 12 Philadelphia 8

Vance Wilson done for the year, Roman Colon suspended

Not much in the way of good news for the Tigers today with Vance Wilson undergoing surgery and Roman Colon undergoing suspension.

Vance Wilson

So Vance Wilson finally gets a multi-year deal, and he’s going to spend the bulk of it on the DL. After spending 2 1/2 months trying to rehab his elbow, he underwent Tommy John surgery today. He will be out for 9 to 12 months.

Fortunately Mike Rabelo has proven to be a reliable back-up. Unfortunately, that’s one more element of depth that isn’t available. Let’s hope Rabelo and Pudge can stay healthy.

Roman Colon

I can’t imagine that Roman Colon had a lot of margin for error. So an off field altercation that results in injury probably did nothing to enhance his chances on the team, even one desperate for bullpen help. He’ll be suspended for 7 days.

I figured that the Tigers were hoping Colon could be a no-cost option to at least give a try in the bullpen, and possibly one of the reasons the Tigers have waited to make a trade. Eulogio De La Cruz may be the benefactor of this incident, as he’s strung together 3 good outings in a row for Toledo.

UPDATE: The Freep has more on the incident, which took place in the clubhouse. It appears that Virgil Vasquez, Kevin Hooper, and Jordan Tata all played different roles, but Jason Karnuth paid the biggest price with what amounts to a broken face. Colon was the only one suspended and had this to say:

“I should not be the only one suspended,” Colon said. “Why would I be suspended when they were calling me a (expletive) to my face?”

Asked why he believes he was the only player suspended, Colon said, “When they called people into the office to ask what happened in the fight, there were no Latino people in there. So, I was alone.”

Nice knowing you Roman. At least Zach Miner has panned out from the Kyle Farnsworth trade.

Tigers Minor League Wrap – 6/14/07

Toledo 12 Syracuse 6
Timo Perez had 2 doubles and 2 walks. Ryan Raburn had 3 hits with a double and Jack Hannahan had 3 hits including a homer. Chris Shelton was 0 for 5 with 2 K’s. Virgil Vasquez was rocked for 6 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks. Eulogio De La Cruz pitched 3 scoreless innings allowing 3 singles and fanning 3. Since his first relief stint in which he was lit up, he’s pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings allowing 6 hits and fanning 4.

Erie 4 Portland 7
Jackson Melian homered and singled. Andres Torres tripled and walked. Dallas Trahern started and allowed 11 hits leading to 7 runs, only 3 of which were earned.

Tampa 2 Lakeland 1
Wilkin Ramirez went 4 for 4, but was caught stealing twice. Guillermo Moscoso started and allowed only 2 hits and a walk over 3 innings while fanning 4.

West Michigan 1 Fort Wayne 2
Audy Ciriaco, James Skelton, and Santo De Leon had the only hits of the day. Chris Cody allowed only 2 runs on 7 hits and no walks while fanning 9.

Game 65: Brewers at Tigers

PREGAME: Afternoon tilt today. Ben Sheets against Chad Durbin.

Tigers are fielding the Sunday lineup with Mike Rabelo catching, Perez at shortstop, and Omar Infante playing 2nd.

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME
: I missed the bulk of this game, catching bits and pieces on the radio between meetings. I’ve since lived it through the comments here and the FSN Squeeze Play.

I don’t think there are words to overstate how bad Craig Monroe was. He whiffed in his final at-bat on Wednesday night, meaning that in 6 straight trips to the plate now he has failed to put in the ball in play. And the 3 AB’s prior were another K, a double play, and a single. From what I gather from the condensed game as well as last night’s performance, it doesn’t appear that he’s reverted to his old form of chasing a bunch of bad pitches. He’s just swinging right through belt high fastballs.

I can’t profess to be able to break down someone’s swing. But Rod Allen mentioned that he was working on the bat wiggle and taking the ball the other way last night. If that’s what is causing the problems, go back to swinging away because his timing is all mucked up.

As for pinch-hitting for him, of course it is the move that makes the most sense for all of us watching. Tactically in that game it would have been the right move. But right or wrong I think we all knew it wasn’t going to happen. Leyland is going to stick with his starters (the bigger debate is should he be a starter). There are probably issues about what it would do to his confidence to pinch hit for him, but at the same time what did 5 K’s do for his confidence either? I thought Leyland was crazy when he left Jones out there that night in Cleveland (he was) and questioned how he’d motivate a team who he let that happen to. Then they won 7 of the next 9. Clearly I have no ability to evaluate these “soft” issues.

I’m not saying it’s right, just that I didn’t expect anything else. And no amount of complaining is going to get Leyland to change his ways and the guy isn’t getting fired – nor should he. Jim Leyland brought winning baseball back to Detroit. Part of the deal is that we’re going to have to suffer through odd strategic decisions.

Maybe because I didn’t watch it unfold, I don’t view it as crushing. Disappointing to be sure, but not crushing. When you’re going up against the other team’s ace and your starter doesn’t make it through 4 things aren’t looking good anyways.

  • The bullpen combined to throw 5 2/3 allowing only 3 runs, one out short of a kind of quality start. (ed: my bad, 4 runs in 5 1/3, nothing like a quality start) And yet it was largely unsatisfying. Probably because a run scored on a freak balk and another on a wild pitch.
  • Curtis Granderson had his 13 game hitting streak snapped.
  • Placido Polanco was ill which is why he didn’t pinch hit.
  • Bill Hall. Shakes Head. Freakin Bill Hall.

Game 64: Brewers at Tigers

PREGAME: I know I should probably write something about tonight’s match-up between Chris Capuano and Mike Maroth. Instead I’m still basking in the glow of yesterday’s events. The obsession has been fed by all the attention, both national and local. Claims that it was the greatest pitching performance many have ever seen kind of lends to the intrigue. Plus, unlike the Magglio Ordonez homer last year which was a specific moment that will never be forgotten, this was a novel. A page turner that you couldn’t put down for a little over 2 hours. You knew how you wanted it to end for the protagonist, and even if you were sure of the outcome, you wanted to see how the author brought the story to conclusion.

Plus this was our guy. This wasn’t watching the last 3 outs from some other pitcher on some other team when ESPN breaks into coverage. Sure you root for them because you want to see history. But this was our history, with our team.

Oh yeah, tonight’s game. Sorry, got carried away there. But one more thing…Craig Monroe didn’t field a single ball last night. Dude stood out there all night and he could have packed his glove full of stale bread to give the seagulls.

Mike Maroth’s biggest bugaboo this year has been the home run. He’s allowed 15 in 66 innings and only made 3 starts – including his last one – in which someone didn’t trot around the bases. Too complicate matters, the Brewers are one home run off the lead in the National League.

Neifi Perez starts at shortstop again, and he’s probably earned a little reprieve from being called Neifi $&#*@! Perez.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME
: Ugh. Rodney. The things is, this wasn’t bad Rodney tonight. Stick with me for a minute, while I’m still sick, I think I’m lucid enough for the moment. Bad Rodney is when he comes in and the count is already 2-0. Or when he gets ahead of a hitter, then throws 3 straight pitches no where near the strike zone. Rodney actually had control last night. Of his 21 pitches, 18 were strikes and all 3 balls went to Bill Hall who has implemented some kind of force field around the strike zone – just ask Justin Verlander. And even 2 of those balls to Hall were pretty good pitches, just off the plate on the outside. They were pitches that could have been tantalizing enough to Hall to swing at, or for the ump to call a strike. It didn’t happen though so with the payoff pitch he grooved a fastball down the middle and Hall grooved it over the bullpens.

Is this the pitching equivalent of a slump. That you struggle and struggle, and then when you finally do something pretty well, your rocket off the bat finds someone’s glove? I know many of you think that’s probably crazy and that Rodney just sucks and I don’t have the energy, confidence, or evidence to refute you given his recent performances.

  • Mike Maroth allowed 13 runners in 7 innings, but only 1 scored. He was helped by some double plays and some bad baserunning. Yet he stuck around and ate up 7 innings. He also kept the ball in the park.
  • The Tigers offense wasn’t that bad. They had 12 baserunners of their own. The trouble was they were spread out, and only 2 of the hits were for extra bases. So while there were baserunners, they weren’t blowing a ton of scoring opportunities.

I’m feeling a little better, so the minor league wraps should resume tonight.

Verlander says no-no

Verlander's No-No
Reuters
I wish I could type up something poetic or dramatic or chuck full of literary goodness. I don’t really have that in me, and I don’t think I could muster it right now anyways. But watching this unfold was a thing of beauty. Justin Verlander was good in the first inning, and better in the 9th. His defense helped him of course, but with strikeouts accounting for 12 of the 27 outs, he certainly didn’t overtax them. A triple digit fastball, a sharp curve, and a masterful change-up had a pretty good Brewers offense shaking their heads after flailing helplessly at the plate.

Selfishly, I could care less about the Tigers offense tonight. Brandon Inge was great again, and Curtis Granderson added his 13th triple (and only his 3rd at home), but mostly I just wanted to see Verlander take the mound. The 7th and 8th innings when the Tigers were up only served to help me catch my breath and sigh before moving back to the edge of my seat. I was doing the mental out count down starting in the 5th. “There’s number 14, half way home.” I cursed Bill Hall as he saw pitch after pitch and earned walk after walk. I was thinking that if anyone broke it up, it would be Hall – or worse yet he’d run Justin’s pitch count up too high to finish.

And yet in the 8th inning when Hall walked, it was the much maligned Neifi Perez who cut down Hall at second base on a fabulous play before Placido Polanco turned over the double play, saving Justin a few more pitches, and a little more energy.

Not that Justin needed more energy, he was feeding off the crowd that stood when Justin stood and didn’t sit down until they got in their cars to go home. Verlander reached back and hit 102 on the FSN gun at around pitch number 109. After hanging an 87mph curve on pitch number 111 he took a moment for a walk behind the mound. Dan Dickerson later asked if it was to soak in the moment, which was my first thought as well. But it was just so Verlander could harness his adrenaline before throwing pitch 112 which sealed history as it nestled into Magglio Ordonez’s glove. History. Awesome.

Some other thoughts that didn’t fit in the narrative:

  • Magglio Ordonez who gets hammered for his defense, has really been pretty good this year and a diving grab rescued a liner from a fate on the turf. Probably the closest threat to a hit in the game.
  • I flipped on the radio in the 9th, and if you missed it Dan Dickerson was money. He conveyed the moment without spelling it all out. People knew the situation, they could hear the crowd. Jim Price pretty much stayed out of the way, and Dickerson carried us on the tension in his voice. I’m not saying this just because Dan’s been nice enough to do some interviews for the site, but he is a very very very good broadcaster.
  • I love watching the emotion from Dave Dombrowski, and I love the fact that he keeps score during a game. The fact he’s a fan, just like the rest of us, I find to be very endearing.
  • This was Pudge’s 2nd no hitter after catching Kenny Rogers perfect game in 1994.
  • This was home plate umpire Ron Kulpa’s first no hitter. I thought he was quite good, but a called 3rd strike to Craig Counsell to start the game appeared off the plate. That set up a pretty big strike zone that Verlander used to his advantage. And he threw the same pitch to Counsell in the 9th with the same result.

A listing of all no-hitters.