Category Archives: 2007 Season

Game 121: Tigers at Yankees

PREGAME: The Tigers head to the Bronx to take on the Yankees, and they’ll continue their battle with the flu as well. Carlos Guillen is still sick, but will play. Pudge Rodriguez is back in the lineup, but Placido Polanco is still out. Todd Jones is available, but Zach Miner isn’t.

Regardless, it’s always special playing the Yankees because, well they’re the Yankees. Add in the fact that they are the hottest team in baseball, and it will be the first time the Tigers have faced them since October, and the 2 teams are battling for a playoff spot, and Gary Sheffield returns to New York, and there is a little extra juice tonight.

As for the pitching match up it will be Justin Verlander taking on Mike Mussina. Verlander returned to form against Oakland with 6 strong innings and 7 K’s. His pitch count was run up a little, but a solid 2 run effort regardless.

Mussina has had 4 straight strong outings and hasn’t walked a batter in his last 3 starts. The Tigers always seem to struggle against Mussina, but then again it’s an older Mussina and a different Tigers team so maybe things will better.

For more on the Yankees check out the esteemed Bronx Banter.

Game Time 7:05

DET @ NYY, Thursday, August 16, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME
: A very delayed post game today. After running a workshop at work this week, I was exhausted and decided to just enjoy a bottle of shiraz and retired to bed immediately following the game. But enough about me.

The Tigers picked up an important win in the opener of the series. While a loss wouldn’t have been the end of the world, getting that first win out of the way has to make it easier in what is essentially a playoff atmosphere. Of course, if they drop the next 3 the point is rendered moot.

The offense, led by everybody really, beat up on Mussina. For a pitcher that hadn’t walked a batter in his last 3 starts, getting the ball over the plate proved to be a struggle and the Tigers waited until he came with pitches in the zone. What was really nice to see is that after the initial onslaught, featuring the Carlos Guillen granny, the Tigers kept tacking on runs and got into the Yankees pen in the 6th.

Getting to the pen early was especially relevant with Justin Verlander throwing a ton of pitches. He also uncharacteristically fanned only 2 in 5 1/3 innings. It was a rough and draining performance for a guy who is fighting the flu.

And the Tigers bullpen is a whole ‘nother thing, but in a good way. Tim Byrdak allowed a hit, and fanned a batter. Zach Miner allowed a walk, but recorded all 4 of his outs on the K. Fernando Rodney allowed a hit and a walk, but recorded all 3 outs via the punchout (kinda like in Cleveland the other night). Todd Jones scuffled a bit, but picked an opportune time to give up a couple runs but the lead was never really threatened and even he ended the game with a, you guessed it, a strikeout.

Now the downside is that the Tigers used their top 2 relievers to protect a 5 run lead. Jones and Rodney threw 22 and 21 pitches respectively in a game that wasn’t really in doubt. So despite chasing Mussina early, the Tigers expended more bullpen juice. Hopefully it’s a nonissue for the rest of the series.

More Porcello, the contract, and a lot of bonus

Danny Knobler breaks down the Rick Porcello contract:

Signing Bonus – $3.85 million
2007 – $95,000 ($380,000 prorated for August 15th to the end of the season)
2008 – $1.1 million
2009 – $1.2 million
2010 – $1.025 million

There are also option years for 2011 and 2012 and those years are priced on whether he’s in the bigs and whether he’s arbitration eligible.

I’ve updated the payroll spreadsheet to reflect Porcello’s deal.

According to the Baseball America draft database the Tigers committed nearly $11 million dollars in their first 7 picks. It’s thrilling to see the Tigers go after high ceiling, hard sign guys and it’s even better to see Mike Ilitch do what it takes to bring them in the fold.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/15/07

Toledo 8 Richmond 7
Andrew Miller had strike zone issues tonight in his rehab start. He threw 75 pitches in 3 innings with 5 walks. The other numbers weren’t any better. Joel Zumaya had better luck retiring the side on 7 pitches. That was almost too quick for a rehab stint, he didn’t get much of a chance to try stuff. His next appearance will be Saturday and if all goes well he’ll be with the team on Monday. Jose Capellan pitched a scoreless 9th for the save.

Erie 7 Reading 3
Cameron Maybin returned to his homering ways after taking a night off to reach base 4 times on Tuesday. Tonight he added a single and a walk. Clete Thomas went 3 for 5 and Matt Joyce homered to round out a productive night for the outfield. Jon Connolly allowed 2 unearned runs in 6 innings on 6 hits, 1 walk, 2 K’s.

Lakeland 1 Clearwater 2
Deik Scram was the offense with a triple and a homer. Angel Castro pitched all 6 innings and allowed 2 runs, 3 walks, and fanned 3.

Lakeland 2 Clearwater 3
Justin Justice and Dusty Ryan each had 2 hits. Gabriel Benitez allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, 3 walks, and 2 K’s in 3 2/3 innings.

West Michigan – DNP

Oneonta DNP

GCL Tigers – Box not available

Minors news

Kody Kirkland and Kyle Sleeth were outrighted to their respective farm clubs to make room for Rick Porcello and Jair Jurrjens on the 40 man roster. There’s something, um…don’t know what it is, about one former first round pick being removed to make room for another.

Game 120: Tigers at Indians

PREGAME: A depleted Tigers team will take on the Indians tonight. Placido Polanco and Craig Monroe remain out, and it has now spread to Carlos Guillen, Pudge Rodriguez, Todd Jones, and Kenny Rogers. Mike Rabelo will start at catcher, but Carlos Guillen will remain in the lineup and play shortstop. Todd Jones may or may not be available.

A different kind of fever is probably impacting Jair Jurrjens who makes the jump from AA Erie to make his Major League debut tonight. Jurrjens has been lights out in Erie his last 3 starts with 2 earned runs allowed and a 24:1 K/BB ratio.

The Tigers will try to get to Fausto Carmona. Carmona has gone at least 7 innings in his last 6 starts so getting him to throw a lot of pitches early will be a challenge. They did get to him for 10 hits and 5 runs in 6 innings back on June 1st. You remember June 1st don’t you?

POSTGAME: Some losses are easier to take than others. tonight was one of those easier ones. Carmona was pretty darn unhittable as he racked up a career high 10 strikeouts. It wasn’t until the 8th inning that the Tigers picked up their first extra base hit, which was also Curtis Granderson’s 19th triple.

What made it palatable is that the Tigers got a strong start from Jurrjens. He didn’t look rattled, and even after being a little roughed up in the 3rd he came back with strong innings in the 4th and 5th. He lasted 7 innings and held the Tribe to 5 hits which is all you could ask from a 21 making his debut on national TV.

There were some disappointing elements to the game though. With Granderson on 3rd and nobody out, the Tigers had the chance to cut the deficit to one. Instead the 2-3-4 hitters failed to get the bal lout of the infield. And instead of hanging close, Bobby Seay had a rough inning and walked Travis Hafner to force in a run – although he did make a couple nice pitches to Hafner that he couldn’t get calls on. Which was surprising since the strike zone was big for both teams tonight. Still, Seay made his own mess in the first place.

Also, the Indians weren’t exactly sharp tonight. Victor Martinez made a baserunning mistake, and Ryan Garko forgot to stand on first base for a force play. But Carmona was just too much to overcome.
Game Time 7:05

DET @ CLE, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game 119: Tigers at Indians

PREGAME: Am I crazy for being geeked about this stretch of games? Given the way the Tigers have played lately I probably am, but I guess I’m anxious to see what the team is made of. I’m not going to take the position that the season will be decided over the next 2 weeks, that’s just silly. Unless the team is 4-9 or worse, or 9-4 or better, their status probably won’t really change. Still, the chance to see them take on the teams they are competing with for playoff spots should be exciting.

It starts tonight with Jeremy Bonderman. As much as baseball is a team game, Jeremy Bonderman is going to be critical to the team’s success down the stretch. With the injuries to Rogers and Miller, the Tigers need to get consistent efforts from Robertson, Verlander, and Bonderman. The other 2 have at least given decent outings of late, whereas Bondo has been in a tailspin. He’s giving up a ton of hits, more walks than normal, and not striking out many while racking up big pitch counts. And of course there’s that pesky first inning issue which has become ridiculous as of late.

He’ll be face by C.C. Sabathia. The Tigers knocked him around pretty good the last two times they faced him, and chased him after 4 innings in July. We’ll see if the Tigers are a little extra juiced to face C.C. after he predicted a title for the Indians earlier this month.

Marcus Thames will play left field instead of his usual post at first base against the left hander. Carlos Guillen will man first with Omar Infante at short and Ryan Raburn at second. Curtis Granderson gets the start in centerfield. Jason Beck reports that the Placido Polanco and Craig Monroe are battling the flu. Let’s just hope it doesn’t spread.

For the Indians Travis Hafner, bad knee and all, will be in the lineup and bat 5th.

Game Time 7:05pm
DET @ CLE, Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME
: Nice. I was IM’ing Ian of Bless You Boys and in the 9th inning I commented that regardless of the outcome I was happy with the team’s performance. There was sweet defense, the offense chipping away at a pitcher with his A game, some nice bullpen performances, and most importantly a strong start from Jeremy Bonderman.

Jeremy Bonderman had a bad 2 batter sequence where he shook off a change up and instead h is Casey Blake with a fastball. He then fell behind Grady Sizemore 3-1 before surrendering the homer in the first. After that he picked up 3 ground balls, 2 for outs, and the inning was over. He induced 8 ground outs, 2 infield pop outs, and he fanned 8. So the outfielders weren’t really tested during those first 7 innings. Bondo needed an outing like that, the Tigers needed an outing like that, and I think all fans needed an outing like that.

  • Tigers pitchers fanned 14 Indians tonight. Three of those K’s were by Fernando Rodney with the winning run on 2nd base. One of those was by Tim Byrdak with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. And one was by Todd Jones with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out. That’s slamming the door.
  • Of course Byrdak needed a little help slamming the door and he got it from Curtis Granderson who preserved the lead going into the 9th by making a fabulous diving catch on a sinking liner from Travis Hafner. It was on par with his catch this past Saturday and a catch he made against the Twins in that 1-0 Sunday Night game.
  • Omar Infante turned in some nifty plays at short and reached base 4 times. Nice from the back up infielder.
  • Magglio Ordonez is doing his best to make it an MVP race. I still think it is A-Rod’s right now, but Magg’s recent surge has closed the gap. His slugging is back over 600, he’s only 6 behind in RBI, and he holds a big advantage in batting average and OBP.
  • Brandon Inge was 0 for 5 with 4 K’s, 2 of the check swing variety.
  • Fernando Rodney has made 5 appearances since coming off the DL. He’s faced 16 batters, and only 2 have reached base while he has fanned 7. Tonight his fastball was sitting in the 96-98mph range. But with 25 pitches I don’t know if he’ll be available tomorrow.
  • The roster move that was made to accomodate Jair Jurrjens was Yorman Bazardo being optioned to Toledo. But there will need to be another move to free up a spot on the 40 man roster. (actually 2 to make room for Rick Procello)


Tigers 6 Indians 2

Tigers continue to shell out the big bucks

First went Rick Porcello, now it looks like the Tigers are dishing out more money. Lynn Henning reports that the Tigers have an agreement with 5th round pick Casey Crosby in the 800K neighborhood. The right handed high school pitcher from Illinois hums along in the low 90’s and was thought to be a sandwich pick (all those extra picks between the 1st and 2nd rounds) but slid due to those wonderful signability issues.

Meanwhile BA reports that the Tigers are close to a $1.5 million deal with 6th round pick, shortstop Cale Iorg. (Hat Tip: Take 75 North) Iorg is coming off a 2 year mission and has a verbal commitment to ASU. The same article mentions that the Tigers also inked 26th round pick Matt Hoffman, a prep lefty.

Getting both Crosby and Porcello in the fold is a huge boost to the system and both could factor in newly developed top 10 lists. Adding Iorg would just be icing on the cake at this point. I haven’t seen any reports on 10th round pick Dominic De La Osa.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/13/07

Toledo 2 Norfolk 5
Timo Perez hit a homer, but the bigger news of course is Joel Zumaya making his first rehab appearance. He threw 18 pitches, 11 for strikes and struck out a batter but also allowed a double.

Erie – DNP so no Maybin homer.

Lakeland – DNP

West Michigan 4 Wisconsin 2 in progress
Brennan Boesch and Ryan Strieby went deep. Charlie Furbush had another great outing with 10 K’s and no walks over 7 innings.

Oneonta-DNP

GCL Tigers 3 GCL Braves 1
Marc McBratney came up a double short of the cycle. Brandon Johnson went 7 shut out innings allowing just 5 hits, no walks while fannign 4.

Minors News

Jair Jurrjens to start

The Tigers will reach down to Erie for their Wednesday night starter. They’ve tabbed Jair Jurrjens to take on the Indians. Jurrjens has been on quite the roll allowing just 2 earned runs in his last 3 starts. He’s fanned 24 over that 23 inning span.

The safe roster move would have been to go with Virgil Vasquez. With Jurrjens coming up a spot will need to be cleared on the 40 man roster, but Kyle Sleeth could be let go without much hassle. The only other issue is that if the Tigers send Jurrjens back down to the minors, they will burn an option year.

Nonetheless I’m excited to see what Jurrjens can do.

Jurrjens to start Wednesday in Cleveland – Detroit Tigers Insider – MLive.com

Game 118: A’s at Tigers

PREGAME: Chad Gaudin and Chad Durbin
Game time 7:05pm
OAK @ DET, Monday, August 13, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Huh. I’m really surprised. I thought these brief pregame posts were to the key to success. Oh well. Tonight was pretty brutal. Bad pitching, bad fielding, bad hitting. All they were missing was a baserunning mistake.

  • Chad Durbin was pretty awful. He walked 4, but even when he was getting ahead of hitters he couldn’t put them away. It was foul ball after foul ball until a hanging breaking pitch said “hit me!” Andrew Miller is scheduled to make a rehab start on Wednesday, but even if things go well he won’t be able to start until Monday. Does Chad Durbin make his next start or does Zach Miner or Virgil Vasquez get a shot.
  • Jason Grilli came in to a tough situation and got a ground ball, that should have scored one were it not for a Carlos Guillen error. But then the next inning was terrible with 8 straight balls resulting in a run being walked in. Not the difference in the ball game by any means, but yet another bullet point on his resume. I’d get upset about Grilli still having a spot on the team, but really what’s the point anymore? If he hasn’t pitched his way off the team, what is walking in a run in a blowout?
  • The offense was no where, and that was disappointing against a pitcher who just hasn’t been good for quite a while. This wasn’t Scott Kazmir, it was Chad Gaudin. And yet he posted a career high in strikeouts with 9. The Tigers couldn’t take advantage of limited scoring opportunities and never chipped away at the lead after plating 2 quick runs in the first. Really, they never hit the ball hard save for 2 or 3 well stuck pitches.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/12/07

Toledo 2 Indianapolis 4
Ramon Santiago went 1 for 3 with a walk. Erick Almonte walked 3 times. Anastacio Martinez went the distance allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits, 1 walk, and 4 K’s.

Connecticut 6 Erie 7
Three games at AA and 3 homers for Cameron Maybin. He also singled and walked. Mike Hollimon was a homer short of the cycle. Dallas Trahern started and only lasted 4 innings getting knocked around for 6 runs on 9 hits.

Vero Beach 8 Lakeland 2
Justin Justice was 3 for 4, as was Mark Haske. Burke Badenhop allowed 2 unearned runs on 4 hits in 6 innings pitched.

West Michigan 4 Wisconsin 5 (10 innings)
Brandon Timm was 3 for 5 with a triple. Jeff Gerbe fanned 7 and walked none, but allowed 4 runs on 7 hits.

Williamsport 8 Oneonta 9
Casper Wells and Mike Sullivan each had 3 hits. Cory MIddleton homered.

GCL Tigers DNP

Game 117: A’s at Tigers

PREGAME: Dallas Braden and Nate Robertson.
Game time 1:05pm
OAK @ DET, Sunday, August 12, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Okay, the Tigers have secured at least a split of the series and have won back to back games. We were here last Wednesday too, and look how grumpy we turned out. But for now, relishing in a thumping by the good guys will suffice.

Today the Tigers beat up on a bad pitcher, exactly what they haven’t been doing enough of. Of course you’ve heard that Magglio Ordonez homered twice, and he’s the only Tigers not named Al Kaline to accomplish the feat in the same inning. With the week he’s had, he’s pushed his slugging percentage up to .599 and is back in the MVP discussions.

Nate Robertson wasn’t great, but the 5 walks were in large part due to Angel Hernandez’s awful strike zone. The two teams combined for 15 walks, so it wasn’t an issue that was exclusive to Robertson.

Again, I went with the super short pregame post, and it worked, so we’ll do that again tomorrow. Just didn’t want to think I was mailing it in or anything.

Oh yeah, and thanks to the Indians and Yankees the Tigers are back in first…barely…for now.

Tigers 11 A’s 6