International man of mystery, Francisco Cruceta, has finally been allowed into the country. His visa problems have kept him out of action and the country for the last two months. Jason Beck reports that Cruceta will head to Lakeland.
I’d imagine he spends a week or so in Florida before joining the Mud Hens, and perhaps the Tigers.
Charlotte 9 Toledo 7
Ryan Raburn homered and knocked in 3 while Mike Hessman doubled and tripled. Brent Clevlen went 3 for 4 and continues a promising start to his season. Matt Joyce hit his second homer of the year to go along with a walk. Virgil Vasquez was knocked around for 7 hits but limited the damage to 2 runs while fanning 6 in 5 innings. Clay Rapada and Preston Larrison combined to allow 6 runs in 3 innings.
Erie 3 Harrisburg 2
Wil Rhymes 3 run homer was the offense. Wilkin Ramirez doubled and walked. Josh Rainwater went 5 2/3 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, no walks, and 6 K’s. Brett Jensen recorded his first save of the season with a scoreless 9th inning.
Lakeland 3 Sarasota 7
Rick Porcello made his 2nd start and was excellent again. He was tagged for 4 runs, but all were unearned and came in a 3 error 4th inning. He allowed 4 hits, one of which was an infield single, while fanning 4 and walking none. Cale Iorg, who made 2 errors, went 3 for 5. James Skelton and Scott Sizemore each added 2 hits.
Great Lakes 5 West Michigan 1
Kyle Peter doubled and walked and Jordan Newton added 2 singles. Ramon Garcia gave up all 5 runs on 7 hits, no walks,and 6 K’s over 6 innings. Wilton Garcia fanned 4 in 2 scoreless innings of relief.
So MLB.com integrated video highlights with their popular Gameday tracker this year. The thing is, the Tigers have been short on highlights this year. Today MLB.com decided to throw the Tigers a bone.
That little blue arrow denotes that you can see Gary Sheffield’s end of the bat bloop that eluded a heavily shifted Dustin Pedroia. The result was that the Tigers got a runner all the way to third second who would later advance to 3rd after a Miguel Cabrera walk. That of course and sadly would be the farthest that the Tiger would advance a runner on this day.
They later showed Pudge flying out deep to center field in the 9th inning, but I think that was more of a Coco Crisp highlight. Given the Tigers recent offense though it’s debatable.
PREGAME: We’ll see if it is the home whites that were the problem for the Tigers as they embark on their first road trip of the season. They’re taking on the Red Sox who have already played in 3 countries and on 2 continents this season.
In addition to a 6 game losing streak the Tigers also will be dealing with a ring ceremony and a lot of hoopla. Edgar Renteria will bat lead off as Jim Leyland returns to the opening day lineup. Renteria and Boston don’t really mix so this should be interesting.
On the mound today will be Kenny Rogers and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Rogers was solid his last time out allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings but was out dueled by Brian Bannister. Matsuzaka is making his 3rd start of the year and has a 2.31 ERA with 15 K’s in 11.2 innings.
Game Time 2:05
DET @ BOS, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
POSTGAME: Go ahead. Panic. Do whatever you have to do. I feel sick. I have nothing encouraging to say. Just more of the same.
I should clarify that title right away. There’s no debunking the crapitude of the week for Detroit, but just some of the complaints and theories. Regardless, I present a statistical tour of the week that left Tigers fan confused, irritated, and pissed off.
This one is partially true. The Tigers are in the upper half of team walks with 21, and none have been intentional so there is some element of patience. But 15 of those walks have come from the trio of Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, and Brandon Inge (yes, Inge).
As a whole the team is seeing 3.64 pitches per plate appearance when the league average is 3.75. Magglio Ordonez is really dragging down the average. If it seems like he’s swinging at a lot of first pitches, it’s because he is. He’s offered at the first pitch in 56% of his at bats which is well above the 36% he’s averaged in his career and part of the reason he’s only seen 2.6 pitches per PA. If there’s a silver lining it’s that he’s making contact with 89% of the pitches he’s offered at so he’s not being fooled badly.
Curtis Granderson is my Tiger and Detroit is a better team when he’s playing. But center field the position and the lead-off spot in the order haven’t been major problems.
From the lead-off spot the Tigers have had a .407 OBP which is 5th best in the AL. Now every hit has been a single so the extra base power is missing but it’s not like the lead-off hitter isn’t creating opportunities for the rest of the order.
As for center field, they’ve had a .318 batting average from the position but it’s been an Alex Sanchez-ian .318 with little else. The .711 OPS is in the lower half of the AL. I’m not going to pretend it’s not an issue at all, but I’m confident it has little bearing on Polanco’s struggles and no bearing on Miguel Cabrera’s problems.
Again, elements of truth abound here. The Tigers have a slightly below average on base percentage, a below average rate of hitting ground balls, and yet they are tied for the league lead in grounding into double plays.
The offense is hitting .149 with runners in scoring position which just won’t continue to happen (the Yankees are actually at .146 if it makes anybody else feel better).
The Tigers FIP ERA (an ERA estimator using walks, strikeouts, and homers as the main inputs because those are the only elements the pitcher has complete control over) is 4.66 but their actual ERA is 5.30. Often you’ll see the disparity and it can be explained by variation in DER (Defensive efficiency ratio or the rate at which defenses convert balls in play into outs). But the Tigers DER of .706 is right at the league average. The problem is that Tigers pitchers have stranded a league low 62% of runners despite having a better than average line drive rate and better than average pop up rate.
That’s the bad luck part. But there is also a bad play component. Tigers pitchers are walking 4 batters per game which is 3rd worst. And they’re balancing it out by striking out 5.2 batters per game which is 3rd worst.
Jacque Jones has fanned in a third of his plate appearances and Pudge Rodriguez has struck out in a quarter of his. And then there are the base running errors which were sprinkled through out.
This is no myth for the infield. Carlos Guillen has been extremely disappointing at first base. Miguel Cabrera doesn’t move well to his left. Placido Polanco hasn’t been quite as sure handed and everything seems to be a step away from everything. Revised Zone Rating has the Tigers infield at .689 which is dead last by a large margin. For every ten balls in the infield the Tigers are missing one more than an average team. That’s a couple plays a game and part of the reason why Tigers starters aren’t making it to the 7th inning.
But at least the outfield defense has been above average.
Like any extended losing streak, this one can’t be pinned on any one thing. The team hasn’t played well. Things aren’t working out for them. They aren’t pitching particularly well. The hitting is awful and the defense has been poor. Throw in some questionable managerial calls and mounting pressure and it’s a recipe for failure.
The stats used here can be found at The Hardball Times, Baseball Reference, and ESPN.com
Charlotte 4 Toledo 11
It was Timo time in Toledo as Perez had 2 doubles and 4 RBI as part of a 3 hit night. Derek Wathan added 2 hits and a walk and is hitting .429. Ryan Raburn picked up 3 walks to go with a double. Eddie Bonine allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, 3 walks, and 2 Ks.
Erie 5 Harrisburg 12
Freddy Guzman went deep for the only Erie extra base hit and added a single. Deik Scram was 3 for 4. Danny Christenson, Matt Rusch, and Juan Cedeno all allowed 4 runs.
Clearwater 5 Lakeland 6 (completion of yesterday’s suspended game)
Scott Sizemore is a tough out with 2 more hits and a walk today as did Justin Justice. Ryan Strieby homered and finished with 5 RBI. A combination of relief pitchers saw this one through. Freddy Dolsi struggled allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while retiring only one.
Clearwater 3 Lakeland 2
Lou Ott homered and doubled and Ryan Strieby hit his second homer. Luis Marte allowed 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 6 K’s in 4 innings of work.
Great Lakes 1 West Michigan 11
Casper Wells did the bulk of the damage with 2 homers and 2 singles. Chris Carlson followed him with 2 doubles. Marc McBratney added 3 hits as well. Jon Kibler allowed 1 unearned run on 3 hits and no walks while fanning 4 in 5 innings. Santo Mieses was perfect for 3 innings of relief and notched 4 punchouts.
Durham 5 Toledo 4
Matt Joyce had a big game coming up a triple short of the cycle. Chris Lambert allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings. Aaron Fultz pitched 2.1 innings and took the loss allowing 4 hits and walking 3.
Erie 5 Bowie 0
Wil Rhymes had two doubles and a triple. Wilkin Ramirez hit his second homer to go along with a single. Jeff Frazier doubled and walked. Andrew Kown pitched 6 innings of shut out ball allowing only 3 hits. Casey Fien and Danny Zell combined to finish off the shut out.
Clearwater and Lakeland were suspended in the first inning with Clearwater ahead 2-0
West Michigan 11 South Bend 5
Chris Carlson had a 4 hit day including a homer and a double. Audy Ciriaco had 2 singles to go along with a home run. Ronnie Bourquin had 3 hits as well. Lauren Gagnier went 3.2 innings and allowed just 2 hits while fanning 7.
PREGAME: I may be asking for trouble here given the way the Tigers are playing, but I’m going to live blog this game tonight. It’s the first game I’ve been able to sit home and watch, and I’m going to take advantage of it. Plus, it’s not like the live blog is going to screw up any good karma the Tigers have going. The biggest obstacle for me will be spelling Mark Buehrle’s name right.
It will be Mark Buehrle taking on Justin Verlander. Both were opening day starters for their clubs and both took losses. Buehrle didn’t make it out of the second inning as he was rocked for 7 runs and sports a Grilli-esque 37.80 ERA.
Verlander was better making it into the 7th inning before leaving with runners at the corners. Both would score denying Verlander a quality start.
Gary Sheffield returns to the lineup, but Placido Polanco sits with back stiffness. Good thing that Ryan Raburn was sent down yesterday so we get treated to Ramon Santiago.
Game Time 8:05 Joe Morgan and Jon Miller with the call
The live blog is after the jump…
Continue reading Game 6: White Sox at Tigers – Live Blog
That didn’t take long. The Tigers are already raiding the Mud Hens bullpen promoting reliever Francis Beltran. Beltran was a non roster invitee this spring and one of the last cuts. He should be your basic replacement level type arm in the pen. But I don’t understand the corresponding roster move at all.
To make room for Beltran Ryan Raburn was optioned to Toledo. Now Raburn’s only time on the field was in a pinch running role on Friday. And the emergence of Clete Thomas has made Raburn somewhat redundant. Still, with Gary Sheffield injured the Tigers bench consists of Marcus Thames and Ramon Santiago now. So there will be no apprehension on the part of the opposing manager when it comes time to bring in a different armed pitcher.
There was a time when I suggested the Tigers might go with an 8 man bullpen to avoid losing players who were out of options. Of course at the time Fernando Rodney was healthy, Tim Byrdak hadn’t imploded, and there was every expectation that Francisco Cruceta would get in the country.
It may be a short term move with Jim Leyland knowing that the bullpen had been taxed the previous day and he may have been expecting a short outing from Dontrelle Willis. He probably also knows he can’t (or at least shouldn’t) use Jason Grilli again for the rest of the homestand.
The move came down the same day that Fernando Rodney suffered another set back. I view this as nothing more than coincidence because I doubt that Ryan Raburn was only on the team because Rodney was injured. Sadly, given Rodney’s lack of progress and our earlier conversation with Will Carroll, I doubt that we see Rodney at all this year – or perhaps ever again. The fact that his shoulder problems showed up so early this year, after a season which was injury plagued to begin with, can’t bode well. At this point I view a Joel Zumaya return as more likely than a Rodney one.
Durham 1 Toledo 6
Jeff Larish is acclimating well with 2 more homers and 4 more RBI. Mike Hessman had tow doubles and Brent Clevlen added a triple. Macay McBride started but only went one inning before being pulled because of elbow tenderness. Clay Rapada pitched 3 perfect innings fanning 3.
Erie 9 Bowie 6
Jeff Frazier continued his hot start with a 2 for 4 night and a walk. Wilkin Ramirez doubled and walked. Lucas French allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, no walks, and 1 strike out in 6 innings.
Erie 3, Bowie 2
Wilkin Ramirez homered. Jeff Frazier had 2 more hits and 2 walks. Ben Fritz started and allowed 1 run in 6 innings on no walks, 7 hits, and 2 K’s. Brett Jensen took a blown save allowing 1 a homer in his inning of work.
Clearwater 3 Lakeland 4
Scott Sizemore reached base all 4 times with 3 hits and a double. His DP partner Cale Iorg had a rough night with 3 K’s as part of an 0 for 5. Justin Justice homered, walked and singled. Jonah Nickerson allowed 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Whitecaps 5 – Silver Hawks 4
PREGAME: Remember when THE TRADE was made and there was talk about how Dontrelle Willis wouldn’t have to be “the guy” and would flourish with the absence of that additional pressure? Well, the Tigers need him to be “the guy” and on National TV to boot.
Plus Willis will be trying to overcome the control issues that plagued him this spring. He was even given a detention to work things out while the rest of the team left Lakeland.
The White Sox send out Gavin Floyd who improved down the stretch last year including some great performances against the Tigers. In his last 3 starts against Detroit he allowed just 2 runs in 19 innings.
CHW @ DET, Saturday, April 5, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
Game Time 3:55
Durham 2 Toledo 9
Jeff Larish went deep and added a single. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 RBI. Armando Galarraga pitched 5 shut out innings allowing only 3 hits and a walk while fanning 6. Aaron Fultz pitched a scoreless inning but allowed 2 hits.
Erie 8 Bowie 3 (11 innings)
Big game for Jeff Frazier who had 4 hits including a homer and 5 RBI. Wilkin Ramirez is playing again after his shoulder injury and he had 2 hits. Deik Scram had 2 doubles and Freddy Guzman added 2 hits and 2 stolen bases. Jon Connolly allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings with no K’s. Matt Rusch had a blown save, but allowed only 1 hit and no walks while fanning 4 in 3 innings of work.
Lakeland 4 Tampa 5
Scott Sizemore homered to go along with 2 singles and a walk. Duane Below allowed 3 runs, only one of which was earned, on 3 hits and a walk while fanning 4 over 4 innings.
West Michigan 2 South Bend 1
Jordan Newton had catching duties tonight and had the only multi hit game, including a triple. Casper Wells struggled striking out 4 times. Alfredo Figaro allowed a single unearned run on 2 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings of work.