Category Archives: 2008 Season

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 30: Tigers at Twins

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PREGAME: From the Tigers perspective this game could be deemed the quest for .500. After the 0-7 and 2-10 start the Tigers and their fans would like nothing more to effectively hit RESET on the season. And it can all come true with a drubbing of Livan Hernandez and another surprising start from Armando Galarraga.

Galarraga continues his tour of the upper midwest (and Canada) as he heads to the dome in Minnesotra. He’s two for three in quality starts and has spun a 1.50 ERA.

Hernandez was a target of the Tigers this offseason while they were looking for a 5th starter. Actually I think he was leverage to use against Scott Boras while negotiating Kenny Rogers contract but that’s neither here nor there. He started off the season in dazzling fashion allowing 6 runs total in his first 3 starts while going 7 innings in each. But he’s struggled a little as of late including being tagged for 7 runs by the Rangers in his last start.

DET @ MIN, Friday, May 2, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:10

POSTGAME: It could have been worse. Okay, not much worse. Galarraga wasn’t sharp. Guillen had a costly error. The Tigers couldn’t take advantage of numerous scoring opportunities. The bullpen got shelled. And Denny Bautista left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. Yeah. This wasn’t good.

2008 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 5-1-08

Rochester 1 Toledo 5
Mike Hessman went 3 for 3 with a walk including his 9th homer. Brent Clevlen homered and tripled and is now hitting 284/346/526 – but still striking out in a third of his at-bats. Yorman Bazardo only allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 5 innings, but he did walk 3. Casey Fossum added 3.1 innings of 1 hit relief.

Erie 2 Akron 6
Danny Worth singled and walked. Max St. Pierre was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and is hitting a surprising 371/443/532. Danny Christensen allowed 4 runs, only 2 of which were earned, in 5.2 innings.

Lakeland 7 Dunedin 2
Justin Justice was 3 for 4 with a homer and a walk. James Skelton singled and added 3 walks. Duane Below allowed 7 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings, but only 2 runs crossed the plate and he added 6 K’s.

West Michigan – DNP

2008 Season, Offense, Statistics

Patience is a virtue and a technique

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Early in the season during the time of the great losing, there were numerous complaints about the Tigers approach at the plate. They were going up their swinging early and swinging often. I didn’t totally buy into the theory because the pitches per plate appearance were in line with league norms. But we didn’t know whether or not they were really chasing more pitches. But thanks to the folks at Fangraphs we now have a handle on this information.

Just this week they started to report out stats related to plate discipline. We now know how often players swing at pitches out side of the strike zone (O-Swing%) versus how often they swing at pitches in the zone (Z-Swing%). And how often they make contact with said pitches.

I brought in the Tigers data through April 29th and added the pitches per plate appearance and the percentage of time players swung at the first pitch. These data are found on the individual player pages at Baseball Reference. The results as well as some league norms for a point of reference are below:
Tigers Pitch Watching Abilities

Some things to note:

  • Granderson, Inge, Guilen, Rodriguez and Jones are all seeing more pitches per plate appearance than at any point in their career.
  • Pudge, Polanco, and Sheffield, are all swinging at the first pitch less than they have at any point in their careers – and there are some serious track records to work with. For good measure you can add Thames to the list as well.
  • Inge, Santiago, and Jones rates of swinging at the first pitch are less than half of their career rates at this point.
  • And yes, Pudge is still chasing more than the league norm. But understand that in the last 3 years his O-Swing% were 37%, 38%, and 41% so this is considerable improvement.

The take away is that everybody in the lineup (and even on the bench) is either meeting or exceeding their career levels of patience. And in terms of first pitch swinging there are some significant, significant changes underway. It’s still early in the season and these numbers could certainly, and I’d expect in many cases, to normalize. But if the team has a quick inning here or there or seem to swing at a few too many first pitches or pitches out of the strike zone, know that they’ve still been better than most in this regard.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 29: Tigers at Yankees

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PREGAME: Nate Robertson takes the mound looking to earn a 3rd straight quality start for the rotation. Robertson pitched well his last time out working 7 innnings on only 89 pitches. But the Angels bunched their baserunners in the 4th inning when 4 runs scored.

He’ll be opposed by Ian Kennedy who has struggled so far this year. He’s been knocked out in the 3rd inning on two different occasions and with a 15:17 K:BB ratio he looks like he good be pitching for the Tigers. One positive for Kennedy is that he’s only allowed 1 homer in 19 innnings this year.

The Tigers lineup is:

  1. Granderson, CF
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Sheffield, DH
  4. Ordonez, RF
  5. Cabrera, 1B
  6. Guillen, 3B
  7. Jones, LF
  8. Inge, C
  9. Santiago, SS

DET @ NYY, Thursday, May 1, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: We’ll probably hear the naysayers talk about how this wasn’t the Yankees at full strength. They didn’t have two big guns in Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. Well, tough. Yes it’s a break to play a team when they are struggling or banged up. Just ask the White Sox who took 5 of 6 from a slumping Tigers team that had the top third of the line-up banged up or missing altogether. But they still count as wins.
Continue reading Game 29: Tigers at Yankees →

2008 Season, Game Post

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-30-08

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Toledo 3 Louisville 4
Matt Joyce was 2 for 4. Erick Almonte singled and homered. Jon Connolly allowed 4 runs, 2 of which were earned, in 6.2 innings.

Erie 4 Akron 8
Wilkin Ramirez who homered twice yesterday was a homer short of the cycle today. Deik Scram and Ryan Roberson each had 2 hits and Scram added 2 walks.Andrew Kown allowed 4 runs on 4 walks, 4 K’s, and 6 hits in 5 innings.

Lakeland 5 Dunedin 6
Rick Porcello pitched 4 innings of shut out ball before allowing 2 runs in the 5th. He walked 3 and didn’t fan anybody. Ryan Strieby had 3 hits, including a homer, and a walk. Jeramy Laster bested him with 2 homers and a single.

West Michigan 6 Wisconsin 1
I just noticed that every team in the org is on the road tonight. Joe Tucker had 4 hits. Kody Kaiser doubled and homered. Kyle Peter singled twice and doubled. Lauren Gagnier fanned 11 in 6 shut out innings of work.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 28: Tigers at Yankees

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PREGAME: The Tigers look to get an early grip on the series in New York.

Jeremy Bonderman will look to not walk everyone. He’s allowed 13 in his last 2 starts and 21 in 27.1 innings this season. Somehow he has a 4.28 ERA but it won’t stay that low if he can’t find the strike zone with any kind of consistency.

Andy Pettitte has been up and down this season with 3 quality starts and a couple un-quality ones. His last time out Cleveland got to him for 5 runs in 5 innings on the strength of 11 baserunners and two homers.

The Tigers lineup is:

  1. Rodriguez, C
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Sheffield, DH
  4. Ordonez, RF
  5. Cabrera, 1B
  6. Guillen, 3B
  7. Renteria, SS
  8. Thames, LF
  9. Inge, CF

DET @ NYY, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Did the Tigers just make it through a game with only 2 pitchers? Did a starter get 23 outs? Did Placido Polanco hit 2 homers? Yes, it all really did happen.

Continue reading Game 28: Tigers at Yankees →

2008 Season, Trades

Jason Grilli traded!

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The Tigers have dealt Jason Grilli to the Colorado Rockies for Zach Simons. This frees a spot for the activation of Francisco Cruceta who will join the team tomorrow.

I’m surprised on a number of levels.

  1. That the Tigers would part with a pitcher given the woes of the starting rotation. The starters aren’t going deep and have generally been unreliable. Meaning the Tigers could use extra options as spot starters (like Zach Miner) and the Tigers have leaned heavily on their long men.
  2. That they’d make the move without Cruceta available to join the team considering Bonderman has walked 13 in his last 2 starts. They might need that arm tonight.
  3. That Grilli would be trade-able at any point in the season.
  4. That Zach Miner wasn’t optioned to Toledo. I think Miner can be effective but the guy has given up runs in 5 of his 10 outings this year. He’s been good in 3 of the last 4 appearances, but still…Grilli has been more effective this year and has pitched 11.1 scoreless innings since some early season rockiness. The longest scoreless streak for a reliever this year is 13.1 IP just as an aside.

As for Simons, he’s a 23 year old right hander in High A ball. He was transitioned to the bullpen last year and bumped up his strike out rate to nearly one per inning. He does struggle some with control with a walk almost every other inning.
Beck’s Blog: Cruceta to join Tigers, Grilli traded

2008 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-29-08

Toledo 4 Louisville 3
Mike Hollimon doubled, tripled, and walked. Brent Clevlen added 2 hits and a walk. Derek Wathan homered. Eddie Bonine moved to 5-0 with a 6 inning, 3 run, no walk, 8 K effort.

Erie 7 Akron 4
Wilkin Ramirez homered twice, doubled, and walked and is now hitting 316/350/621. Max St. Pierre, Danny Worth, and Ryan Roberson all had multiple hits. Lucas French allowed 3 unearned runs in 4 innings. Freddy Dolsi got his second Erie save with a scoreless inning.

Lakeland – DNP

West Michigan 5 Wisconsin 7
Jordan Newton was a homer short of the cycle. Justin Henry added 2 hts. Manny Miguelez allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, 4 walks, and 5 K’s in 5 innings.

2008 Season, Game Post, Uncategorized

Game 27: Tigers at Yankees

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PREGAME: It will be two pitchers going tonight with a combined ERA of 15.51. That combined is added of course and not the average of Kenny Rogers’s and Phillip Hughes’s lines.

Hughes has nearly as man walks as strike outs (10 versus 11) but that bests Kenny’s 15:9 ratio.

The Tigers trot out their full lineup, fresh from an off day.

  1. Granderson, CF
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Sheffield, DH
  4. Ordonez, RF
  5. Cabrera, 1B
  6. Guillen, 3B
  7. Renteria, SS
  8. Rodriguez, C
  9. Jones, LF

The Yankees however are a little short and coming from a late night in Cleveland. Jorge Posada is out with shoulder issues and Alex Rodriguez is out with a quadricep injury.

  1. Johnny Damon, CF
  2. Derek Jeter, SS
  3. Bobby Abreu, RF
  4. Hideki Matsui, LF
  5. Jason Giambi, DH
  6. Shelley Duncan, 1B
  7. Morgan Ensberg, 3B
  8. Robinson Cano, 2B
  9. Chris Stewart, C

Programming Note: This will be simulcast on FSN and FSN+ until 10pm. At that time the Red Wings will be on FSN and the Tigers on FSN+.

DET @ NYY, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05
POSTGAME: That’s not a bad way to start a road trip…other than twice walking the bases loaded. Continue reading Game 27: Tigers at Yankees →

2008 Season, Game Post

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-27-08

Indianapolis 1 Toledo 7
Mike Hessman, Jeff Larish, and Mike Hollimon all homered for the Hens. Jeremy Johnson allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and no walks in 7 innings.

Altoona 4 Erie 5
Wilkin Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a homer. The Seawolves stole 6 bases, 3 by Freddy Guzman. Benjamin Fritz allowed 4 runs in 6.2 innings. Freddy Dolsi got his first save at Erie with a scoreless inning.

Fort Myers 3 Lakeland 8
Justin Justice, Brennan Boesch, James Skelton, and Jeramy Laster all had 2 hits. Matt O’Brien had a quality start and got the win allowing 3 runs in 6.1 innings with 1 walk and 2 K’s.

West Michigan 9 Cedar Rapids 2
Kody Kaiser singled plus added 2 walks and stole 2 bases. Ronnie Bourquin tripled, singled, and walked. Ramon Garcia pitched 7 strong innings fanning 5 and walking 1.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 26: Angels at Tigers

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PREGAME: It’s the rubber game against the Angels after two pretty well contested battles. For the Tigers tonight is noteworthy because it will be the first time that the Tigers have their full projected lineup together. It will also be Carlos Guillen’s first start since his Mariners days at third base.

On the mound it will be Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver. Verlander reclaimed some of his missing velocity his last time out after tweaking his arm angle. He also earned his first quality start going 6 innings allowing one run.

Weaver has struggled with consistency – or a lack thereof. He’s allowed 10 hits in each of his last two outings. The time before that he allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks. And the time before that he pitched 7 innings of 3 hit shut out ball. The Tigers have a limited, but productive history against Weaver.
LAA @ DET, Sunday, April 27, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:05

POSTGAME: Well that kind of sucked. Justin Verlander looked like the Verlander of old through the first 3 innings. The first run came in the 4th on a poorly played ball by Ordonez in which Verlander should have been out of the inning. And the run that scored in the 5th came on a single, a weird balk/rushed-delivery-thingy, and two fly outs. But oh man, that 6th inning…

A walk and a single and a bobble by Guillen put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Verlander quickly got ahead of Torii Hunter 1-2 who had chased a curve ball down and away. After another curve ball which Hunter fouled off it seemed that Verlander had him set up for the elevated fastball for a much needed K. Instead he went back to the curve which Hunter grounded down the line, out of the reach of a pulled in Guillen scoring two more. Hardly a rocket, but why couldn’t Verlander put a free swinger like Hunter away? Why go with 3 straight curve balls?

And then the intentional walk was followed by an unintentional walk, and a ground ball single and the game was out of reach. Verlander was hardly “rocked” in this game. But in the end it added up to a horrible night as he was undone by the 3 walks in the 6th.

As for his velocity, it looked good on the ESPN gun with him at 95-96 on the fastball, but pitch f/x had him 3 mph slower. I don’t know where the truth is.

As for the offense, they were doing a good job laying off of borderline pitches and picked up two walks in each of the 3rd and 4th innings. But a double play, a caught stealing, and a pick off made sure that Weaver didn’t have to work too hard at all.

I guess the bright spot for the night was Pudge Rodriguez gunning down two baserunners with perfect throws to second.

2008 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 4-26-08

Indianapolis 6 Toledo 7
Jeff Larish doubled, tripled, and walked twice. Erick Almonte was 3 for 3 with a homer and two walks. Derek Wathan was a homer short of the cycle. Yorman Bazardo allowed 3 runs in 4 innings on 6 hits with 1 walk and no strike outs. Casey Fossum allowed 3 runs in 2.1 innings as he walked 3 and allowed 2 hits.

Altoona 3 Erie 9
Max St. Pierre was 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and is hitting .383. Danny Worth has been batting in the two-spot and has lifted his line to 316/375/494. Not bad for a guy drafted last year playing at AA. Josh Rainwater allowed 2 runs in 6 innings on 3 walks and 6 K’s.

Fort Myers 2 Lakeland 3
Jonah Nickerson didn’t allow a baserunner until the lead off man reached in the 8th inning. He only allowed 2 singles, both of which scored, and he fanned 4. Justin Justice had 2 hits and 2 RBI.

West Michigan 7 Cedar Rapids 8 (11 innings)
Joe Tucker had 3 hits. Chris Carlson and Kody Kaiser each had 2 hits. Jon Kibler allowed 5 runs on 5 hits and a walk with 5 K’s in 7 innings.