Category Archives: 2008 Season

2008 Season, Game Post, Injuries, Roster Management

Game 62: Indians at Tigers

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PREGAME:: The Tigers are going for something rare, back to back wins. They did it once on the 9 game road trip and, well that’s it. Today it is replacement starters, turned regular starters, Jeremy Sowers and Armando Galarraga.

The Tigers have a 1 game winning streak on Sundays this year.

Renteria remains in the leadoff role, but Granderson returns to the lineup in the 9 spot. Clevlen starts in right field with Raburn sitting today and Ordonez DH’ing.

Also, the club has activated Clay Rapada who will assume Bonderman’s place on the 25 man roster.

CLE @ DET, Sunday, June 8, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

GameTime 1:05

POSTGAME: Wow. That was a pretty complete effort. Some early offense. Some add on runs. Some two-out hitting. A nice starting pitching effort. Good bullpen-ing, save for those 3 batters that Zach Miner put on base (which just made getting out of the inning all the more exciting).

Placido Polanco snapped a mini-slump with a couple hits. Miguel Cabrera built on his big RBI last night by knocking in the first run of the game today and adding a double. Man it would be nice if he really got going. And Granderson even homered off a left hander.

Galarraga threw strikes, and did so consistently up until he fell 1 out shy of a quality start after a couple walks. Casey Fossum shaved over 100 points off his ERA and Todd Jones had a 1-2-3 9th inning.

I’m not going to make too big of a deal when a win moved you to “only” 10 games below .500. But a win is a win.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 61: Indians at Tigers

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PREGAME: The Tigers are on Fox again today, and that’s gone so well this season. At least the Tigers get to face a lefty starter so there is some hope. Although that hasn’t helped the last two times they faced southpaw starters.

It’s Aaron Laffey and Kenny Rogers doing battle today. And because of the generosity of DTW reader Mark, I’m going with my family. Thanks Mark!

CLE @ DET, Saturday, June 7, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 3:55

POSTGAME: Winning kicks losing’s ass. I don’t know if it was the Stanley Cup being on the field before the game, or they were rallying around Bonderman, or if it was just time for them to finally win, but a late inning come from behind win is always nice.

I was at the game, and as I mentioned earlier thanks Mark, and perched above third base. Unfortunately, you guys are stuck with some pictures today (after the jump)
Continue reading Game 61: Indians at Tigers →

2008 Season, Injuries

Jeremy Bonderman out for season

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Jeremy Bonderman is officially out for the season due to circulatory problems in his shoulder.

Bonderman was examined yesterday at the Detroit Medical Center and it was determined he has a blood clot of the axillary vein due to thoracic outlet compression syndrome. Bonderman underwent a thromblysis last night, followed by an angioplasty this morning at the Detroit Medical Center, performed by Dr. Monte Harvill under the supervision of team physician Dr. Stephen Lemos. He will undergo further examination of his condition at a later date.

This is devastating news for a team that has been pretty much devastating. A corresponding roster move hasn’t been announced yet. Aquilino Lopez is expected back from bereavement leave shortly, and in the interim Toledo is at home this weekend if the need arises.

This is a pretty serious condition and if it sounds familiar you can look to Kenny Rogers last year. While it is terrible news as it relates to the season, in the scope of shoulder discomfort this is probably relatively good news long term. There isn’t talk of labrums or rotator cuffs which provide bigger challenges.

Best wishes to Jeremy on his recovery.

2008 Season, Site News

DTW hacked

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Detroit Tigers Weblog (as well as my other sites) were hacked this week. Thanks to those of you who contacted me via email and Twitter to give the heads up.

For those of you coming directly to the site you probably didn’t notice anything different. But for those who come from Google or Yahoo, you were being redirected to another site. This appears to be a pretty widespread problem for blogs powered by WordPress at the moment.

I have everything corrected now, but I don’t know how to ensure it doesn’t happen again. So if you see more of the weirdness, don’t hesitate to contact me. Sorry for any confusion and frustration this may have caused.

2008 Season, Injuries

Bonderman headed for DL?

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Danny Knobler, now of national baseball writing fame, reports that Jeremy Bonderman is experiencing shoulder pain.

After reporting some discomfort around his right shoulder, Bonderman went to see a doctor this afternoon. The Tigers weren’t sure what’s wrong, but two club sources said he would be checked for a possible circulation problem in the shoulder. The Tigers made no announcement before or after tonight’s game against Cleveland, but Bonderman isn’t expected to make his scheduled start Sunday, and will likely be placed on the disabled list.

Bonderman has had elbow problems in the past, but never issues with the shoulder. His velocity has been down, but he’s found a way to pitch through it lately. I guess this would help to alleviate that whole Willis versus Galarraga situation though. Argh.

2008 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6-6-08

Toledo 2 Louisville 8
Freddy Guzman had 2 hits. Wilkin Ramirez who was part of the organization shuffle today was 0 for 4 in his AAA debut. Fernando Rodney wasn’t good with 3 runs being charged to him. He allowed a hit, a HBP, a wild pitch, and 2 walks while recording just one out. In all he threw 29 pitches and only 15 for strikes.

Erie 9 New Hampshire 4
Dusty Ryan homered, singled twice, and walked. Kody Kirkland had 4 hits. Casper Wells was 2 for 4 in his AA debut. Josh Rainwater allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 6 K’s, over 5 innings.

Lakeland 4 Daytona 12
Joel Zumaya pitched a perfect inning fanning 1. Ramon Garcia was rocked for 12 runs, 8 of which were earned in 4.1 innings. Mike Bertrm homered and singled. Lou Ott added 2 hits.

West Michigan PPD

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 60: Indians at Tigers

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PREGAME: The Tigers return home after that long west coast swing. I noticed a lot of Tigers hats on the Red Wings players in today’s parade. I wonder if Lord Stanley’s Cup will be making an appearance at the game tonight.

As for the pitching match-up it will be Paul Byrd and Justin Verlander. Byrd per usual is allowing a lot of hits, but walking nobody (only 8 this year). In fact he’s only been in 9 3-1 counts all year. That’s a typical start for Nate Robertson.

He’s the kind of guy that could give a confused offense like the Tigers fits. He has some pretty dramatic platoon splits to the tune of 914 OPS for lefties and 664 OPS for righties. We’ll see if Leyland goes with a bold move and puts Mike Hollimon in at shortstop for a struggling Renteria.

Byrd has allowed 14 homers this year, and it is hot and windy in Detroit today so maybe we’ll see some big flies.

Verlander has seen his ERA trending downward with quality starts in 3 of his last 4 starts (and would have been 4 for 4 if not for some poor defense in his last outing). He’s still walking too many and not striking out enough, but his high 90’s heat has returned. Verlander struggles against Cleveland though, with a 7.03 ERA in his career against the Tribe.

CLE @ DET, Friday, June 6, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Nice job by Verlander, again. Crappy job by the offense, again. These things really do start to write themselves. Oh, and to torment ourselves a little more here is Cabrera’s last at-bat. Pitch 5 is the one he swung at. I guess pitches 3 and 4 weren’t far enough away for his liking.

2008 Season

Chatting up scouts about the Tigers

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Frequent commenter Craig (aka West Coast Tiger) attended the Oakland series and sat near some scouts. Craig engaged them in some conversation and had the following report. This is from the Tuesday game.

I feel like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day. This is the same thing over and over and over again.

I have to begin by, Oakland fans have to be the most lame fans in all of baseball. I used to think it was confined to Pac 10 college football crowds. (I married a UCLA Bruin). The A’s fans have set a new benchmark. Even when they had the bases loaded, they were quiet, distracted and seemingly disinterested.

I hope for all of you that it was less painful watching it at home. Here were my observations. And those of the scouts sitting in front of me.

1. Clete Thomas and Running the bases. He was like a deer in headlights when the ball was hit. He stood there 10 feet off 2nd, when it was clear to everyone that it was going to drop, then he hesitated it seemed at third. He should have scored standing up. That was my take. I made a comment regarding the ability of Gene Lamont to do his job. At that point one scout turned to me and said you got that right, and said. “You know there are reasons teams lose”. He went on to say in his opinion Thomas made two errors and Lamont one. Thomas’ first and most costly was not getting to third on Granderson’s line drive to left. And the second being frozen on Polanco’s single. Lamont’s obvious error was once Thomas hesitated, not holding him at third. He added “and that’s a pinch runner.

2. ON WILLIS. He felt he had pretty effective stuff and thought his best was after the injury time out when he seemed to be really just letting it go. Feels he can still be an effective pitcher who can get inside hitters heads.

3. On CABRERRA. Both scouts had the same opinion. The question around the league has always been his motivation. In their opinion handing him 150mm before he’s had a single RBI for your team has it’s risks. Especially a 25 year old. On the upside he’s one of the most explosive hitters in all of baseball. Who will make Tiger fans happy in the long run.

4. ON THE TEAM AS A WHOLE . Fundamentals are killing them. They feel they are in the bottom three of worst base running teams in baseball. They will continue to to flounder until the bullpen issues are resolved. Most salient comment was “look at their body language”. “This is a great team that is struggling in every aspect of the game right now.” “To many moving pieces” “A different lineup evey day” “ Inge is a 275 BA away from being incredible” “Zumaya and Rodney not being healthy have put a strangle hold on Leyland.

Lastly. I’d like to leave this out because I love his offense. General consensus was Guillen should have had the Ball hit by Ellis in the 11th. They all felt Inge makes that play.

And to all the Renteria haters. He was absolutely robbed on his line drive. Crosby made a great play.

2008 Season

Tigers Draft Results

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We’ll use this post to track the draft. I’ll be largely unavailable this afternoon/evening, but will try to chime in.

First Round: Ryan Perry RHP Arizona

The Tigers went with collegiate right hander Ryan Perry with their first round selection. Perry has a high 90’s fastball, a change up and a slider. He’s 6′ 4″, 200lbs and 21 years old.

He pitched as a reliever, but we’ll see if the Tigers keep him in the pen or if they make a starter out of him.

Baseball America thinks that if he signs quickly he could be in the Tigers pen later this year.

Baseball Prospectus notes the following about Perry:

Perry is a story, let me tell you. Ryan Perry was, simply, not good enough to earn an invitation to the Cape Cod League last summer. However, when a different Arizona reliever needed to drop out of the league, Arizona coach Andy Lopez pushed for the Orleans Cardinals to take Perry instead. They did, and Perry might not have thrown a fastball less than 95 mph all summer.

Catcher target Jason Castro went early. And relievers Josh Fields and Andrew Cashner went in the 2 picks prior to the Tigers.

Analysis: Take it with a grain of salt because I’m not particularly informed. But with Casey Kelly and Shooter Hunt still on the board I would have preferred going a different direction. Perry got rocked as a starter this year and if they spent the pick on a reliever I’m disappointed.

Second Round: Cody Satterwhite RHP Mississippi

Satterwhite sounds a lot like Perry. He’a a 6’4″ college junior with electric stuff, but who has gotten hit a little more than he should. He pitches in the low to mid 90’s and has a good but inconsistent slider along with an inconsistent delivery.

Third Round: Scott Green RHP Kentucky

An even bigger right hander at 6′ 7″ but this seems to be a full potential pick. He hasn’t put together a solid track record at the collegiate level. His fastball is high 80’s to low 90’s with a meh slider and below average change. Oh, and he’s had TJ surgery already. I don’t really get this pick.

Fourth Round: Brett Jacobson RHP Vanderbilt

Hey, it’s a big tall (6-6) right handed college pitcher. A high 80’s fast ball with deception and a big curve and decent change.

Fifth Round: Alexander Avila C Alabama-Tuscaloosa

Yes, that is the son of Al Avila. BA says he’s being drafted more for his bat which has good power potential.

Sixth Round: Tyler Stohr RHP North Florida

Yeah, another collegiate right hander who struggled in the rotation and had some success in the pen.

2008 Season, Injuries, Minors

Middle infield depth takes a hit

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Ramon Santiago dislocated his shoulder on a diving play today and appears headed to the disabled list. I have to believe that Mike Hollimon would have his contract purchased to be the new utility infielder. At the same time, Lakeland second baseman Scott Sizemore is hitting the DL after injuring his wrist swinging.

The Santiago news is disappointing – and this is from someone who was stumping for Hollimon to make the team over Santiago this winter. Santiago had been playing better than I would have ever expected hitting 353/476/618 in limited playing time going into today. This afternoon he added another walk and one of the Tigers 3 hits. I know small sample sizes and all, but he’d looked very good.

Hollimon stuck in big league camp this spring until he had a sublaxation of his shoulder. He got a late start to his season. He’s not hitting for a lot of average with a 253/325/552 line, but he does have 12 homers and is a switch hitter.