Category Archives: 2008 Season

2008 Season, Free Agents

A reliever worth targeting

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Junichi Tazawa is an amateur reliever from Japan. He’s decided to skip Japanese professional baseball and come stateside.

Tazawa is younger than the typical Japanese import, because he’s not waiting the 9 years required for international free agency as a pro player. He’s 22 and features a low 90’s fastball, a 12-6 curve and a shuuto (kind of like a screwball it moves in on righties). That repertoire led to a a 56K:4BB ratio in 54 innings.

The advantage of pursuing Tazawa, is that he wouldn’t require any compensation beyond the contract. There’s no players to trade. There’s no draft picks floating away (like with Juan Cruz – is he worth a first round pick?). And he’s young.

2008 Season

The 8th Inning – 2008

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Last year Sam Hoff started breaking down the season into 18 games segments, each representing 1/9th of the season, or an “inning.” Here is the 7th inning report.

The 8th Inning is over.

Each 18 games represent 1 inning of a baseball season. The Tigers record for the first 8 innings in 2008:

                                        Starters:         Bullpen:
    W-L   RS –RA     HR-SB-AVG/OBA/SLG    W-L-IP-   ERA     W-L-S-ERA
1:  6-12  74 -112    15-10-262/345/404    3-9- 96.2-5.96    3-3-3-5.28 
2:  9-9   98 -87     21- 6-261/350/426    5-8-105.2-5.11    4-1-2-3.61
3:  8-10  89 -75     19- 2-275/326/442    8-5-109.2-4.19    0-5-4-3.83
4:  11-7  85 -74     19- 8-268/350/416    8-4-113.0-3.27    3-3-5-5.17
5:  12-6  86 -78     25- 6-297/347/476    6-4-106.1-4.23    6-2-6-3.43
6:  9-9   118-96     25- 8-299/368/483    8-6-105.0-5.49    1-3-2-4.03
7:  7-11  93- 103    26- 8-265/353/455    7-7-104.0-4.67    0-4-4-4.92
8:  8-10  91- 118    27- 8-263/335/475    4-8- 92.2-6.90    4-2-5-4.68

In the 8th inning ended with a three game winning streak, otherwise it would have been really ugly. The pitching has completely fallen apart. They gave up seven or more runs in 50% of the games in the inning. The team is playing out the string and it is clear that most of the team cannot wait until September 28th comes. Looking back at all the expectations that this team had in March, it is hard to believe how bad this team is.

The starting pitching was abysmal. Galarraga was the only pitcher with an ERA under 5.00 (and he barely made it). Miner has come back down to earth after some very good starts and the great mystery of Verlander’s 2008 struggles continue. Kenny Roger’s career looks over and Nate Robertson gave up 5 homeruns in his only start! 

Name	               GS	IP	       W	L	K	ERA	WHIP
Zach Miner	        4	23.1	       2	0	10	5.40	1.37
A Galarraga	        3	20       	0	1	15	4.95	1.45
Chris Lambert	       3	11.2	       1	1	8	6.17	1.89
Justin Verlander	4	20    	        1	2	20	6.30	2.10
Kenny Rogers	       3	14    	        0	3	8	11.57	2.14
Nate Robertson	       1	3.1	        0	1	0	14.73	3.27

In the Bullpen, Kyle Farnsworth was terrific. The 2 Tampa reject (Glover and Fossum) also pitched well. Francis Beltran pitched 2.2 scoreless innings. No one else had a WHIP below 1.64. Do not be fooled by Rodney’s 5 saves, He gave up 7 walks and 10 hits in 8 innings! 

Name	                G	IP	W	L	S	K	ERA	WHIP
Kyle Farnsworth	       0	7.2	1	0	0	10	0.00	1.17
Casey Fossum	       0	10.2	1	0	0	5	2.53	0.94
Gary Glover	             0	10    	1	1	0	5	3.60	0.90
Francis Beltran	       0	2.2	0	0	0	2	0.00	0.00
Aquilino Lopez  	    0  	14    	0	0	0	11	4.50	1.64
Fernando Rodney	       0	8    	0	1	5	11	4.50	2.13
Clay Rapada	       0	2.1	1	0	0	1	3.86	2.14
Freddy Dolsi	       0	2.1	0	0	0	1	7.71	3.00
Nate Robertson	       0	5    	0	0	0	3	12.60	2.00
Bobby Seay	        0	4.2	0	0	0	3	13.50	2.57

The offense scored over 5 runs/game. Cabrera, Ordonez, and Granderson are leading the pace. Can anyone give a good reason why Sheffield is continuing to garner his regular playing time? If he gets to 500 homeruns (he needs 4 more) is he going to retire? If that is the case, bat him leadoff so he can get his milestone and save the Tigers 14m next year. Displaying from best to worst:

Name	                G	AB	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
Miguel Cabrera	        18	67	8	20	0	.299	.347	.716
Magglio Ordonez	        18	70	4	16	1	.386	.408	.700
Curtis Granderson	18	68	3	9	1	.324	.459	.632
Edgar Renteria	        14	48	2	5	2	.292	.327	.521
Mike Hessman	         7	17	2	3	0	.235	.350	.647
Marcus Thames	        13	40	3	5	0	.250	.279	.500
Placido Polanco	        16	71	0	7	1	.282	.301	.338
Carlos Guillen	         5	15	0	0	0	.267	.353	.400
Dusty Ryan	        2	4	1	2	0	.250	.400	1.000
Dane Sardinha	        2	3	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333
Ramon Santiago	       10	21	0	1	0	.238	.333	.286
Matthew Joyce	       16	31	0	2	0	.161	.308	.258
Brandon Inge	       17	53	1	7	2	.189	.279	.283
Gary Sheffield	       16	61	3	8	0	.180	.254	.361
Ryan Raburn	       11	14	0	1	0	.143	.143	.214
Jeffrey Larish       	8	25	0	3	1	.160	.192	.160

The Tigers must now go 12-6 in the final inning to have a winning record. DO NOT BET ON IT. As long as they keep trotting out Sheffield, Thames, and 29-year old minor league legend Mike Hessman and do not play any youngsters, there is absolutely no reason to watch the train wreck known as the 2008 Tigers. Watch the Lions, their 50 year run of futility will make you feel better about the Tigers.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 145: A’s at Tigers

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PREGAME: It’s a crisp fall evening tonight as the Tigers look to manufacture a 4 game winning streak. The Tigers send out Nate Robertson who takes the spot of the gimpy-hip’d Kenny Rogers. It is Robertson’s first start since he filled the Ballpark in Arlington with firework smog during a 5 homer, 3.2 inning stinker.

The A’s send out Dana Eveland. The Tigers faced him once this year and he walked 7 batters and didn’t make it out of the 5th inning. He was later demoted, but since returning has walked only 4 spanning 3 starts to go along with 14 K’s and no homers.

OAK @ DET, Tuesday, September 9, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: Well, Nate Robertson wasn’t the problem. Nate went 7 innings on only 79 pitches, 60 of them for strikes. The A’s are a poor offensive club, but that is a very nice line regardless. But then there was the bullpen. Leery of the fact that Robertson hadn’t started in a few weeks, he didn’t want to extend him to far so he went to a Farnsworth-less (groin injury) bullpen in the 8th.

Leyland ripped into the Bobby Seay walk and the Fernando Rodney 0-2 pitch leading to a triple. Rodney ended up blowing the save. His first blown save since the Tampa melt down, a span that included 14 games, a 2.12 ERA, and 9 saves in 14 games.

The offense did little, except return to their double play ways. Ordonez is an amazing 2 for 12 in bases loaded situations this year, and was one of the culprits. Inge lined into a tough luck double play. Granderson is a remarkable 0 for 11 in this series. Remarkable in the sense that he hasn’t reached base in the last 2 games after having pushed his OBP to .391. Ergh.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 144: A’s at Tigers

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PREGAME: It’s my birthday, so if the Tigers don’t win I’m going to be pissed. It is also Samara’s birthday. And it’s Natalie’s birthday, and while she’s not quite as emotionally invested in the team, she’ll still be a little sad. So win damn it. So if they don’t win she’s going to be pissed.

Of course if it keeps raining things might be out of their control.

OAK @ DET, Monday, September 8, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 143: Tigers at Twins

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PREGAME: The Tigers look to end their Metrodome misery by taking the series. They’ll send out Chris Lambert. Lambert allowed half as many runs and lasted almost twice as long in his second start. If he can continue on this improvement trajectory the Tigers hould be in good shape.

The Twins will feature Glen Perkins. Perkins has uninspiring peripherals, but he’s held the Tigers to 5 runs in 20.2 innings this year with 13 K’s and 5 walks.

Also worth pointing out, the 250,000th Major League homer will be hit some time today.

DET @ MIN, Sunday, September 7, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

2008 Season, Injuries, Pitching, Players

Rotational Flux

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The Tigers are going to be mixing and matching down the stretch it appears. Kenny Rogers will miss his next start. This is due to hip pain that is believed to be rendering him completely ineffective. (Yes, the old guy has a bad hip. The jokes seem to easy to make, but too easy to ignore also.)

In his place will likely be Nate Robertson. I think it’s a safe assumption that this has more to do with needing a starter than Robertson pushing his way back.

Also, it looks like Dontrelle Willis may get a start. Willis and Freddy Garcia will pitch against each other in another simulated game on Tuesday, and the decision will probably be made at that point.

If Willis is healthy and the mechanical tweaks are in place, then by all means start him. I know it would be nice to wait until everything is perfect, but Willis needs to be in game situations, and at this point it won’t cost the Tigers anything. But the key is if he’s healthy.

Between the knee and more recently the forearm, you have to question if Willis has been healthy at any point this year. Sending an injured pitcher out there to see what you’ve got doesn’t help anyone.

2008 Season, Pitching

Verlander and Leyland do lots of talking, and Hernandez chimes in

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As the Tigers season has slid out of control, Jim Leyland has taken to reading and the newspapers and responding to what his players say in the newspapers. The latest was with Justin Verlander. Verlander mentioned a tight strike zone as a reason for his Labor Day labors.

Leyland didn’t like the excuse making. The two had a chat and everyone is happy now, but Verlander still isn’t pitching well. So his pitching coach comes out and makes an excuse for Verlander. Verlander was trying too hard in many of those starts. Whatever.

Chuck Hernandez screwed up Justin Verlander from the start this year. His intentions were fine, trying to make Verlander a more efficient pitcher and keep him strong for later in the season. Unfortunately Herandez took something that wasn’t broken and broke it. Verlander altered his mechanics, with poor results. He switched back, and had some success as he regained velocity and bite. But now he’s back to struggling again and back to working on his mechanics.

When Verlander was drafted there were concerns about control and mechanics, but the Tigers got those straightened out quickly and turned him into a stud pitcher. Now he’s still trying to regain what he once had in his first 3 years in pro baseball.

Hernandez has been under considerable scrutiny over the last year and a half. Not being privy to the coach/player interactions it is hard to know how much is the coach’s fault and how much is the player failing to execute. The pitching staff has just done too poorly though at this point for Hernandez to retain his job, and the management of Verlander may be the most damning evidence.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 142: Tigers at Twins

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PREGAME: Woo hoo. Saturday afternoon baseball on Fox. There was a time when this match-up would have been about the Tigers. Not so much anymore.

Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers. He’s coming off the shortest outing of his career, which actually bodes well for him pitching decent today since he was well below 110 pitches last time out. Plus, he’s fared okay against the Twins this year, going 7 innings in each of the 3 starts against.

But Scott Baker has done prett good against the Tigers as well.

DET @ MIN, Saturday, September 6, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 3:55

POSTGAME: I don’t know if it makes anyone feel better, but the Tigers aren’t alone in their bullpen woes. The Twins bullpen has been killing them for the last week or so and the Tigers took advantage. Oddly enough, the Tigers bullpen did a nice job. Clay Rapada cleaned up Verlander’s mess, Farnsworth had an uneventful inning, and then Fernando Rodney made things interesting.

On Rodney’s outing, he did manage to throw 17 of his 23 pitches for strikes. He did walk Punto, but that was actually a pretty nice at-bat. He allowed a hit on an 0-2 slider, which might be why he doesn’t throw it that often. But blowing away Joe Mauer was damn impressive. That just doesn’t happen. And then the Tigers got some good fortune when Justin Morneau roped a ball, but right at Polanco.

Offensively it was all about Granderson, Ordonez, and Cabrera again. In case anyone hadn’t noticed, Granderson is now 7th in the AL in OPS and this season is probably better than last season, at least from an offensive standpoint.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 141: Tigers at Twins

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PREGAME: Hey, it’s a trip to the Metrodome. Whoopee. It’s also a travel day with the team not getting until today because of the RNC sucking up all the hotel rooms.

The good news is that the Tigers send Armando Galarraga to the hill. The bad news is the Twins seem to be his nemesis. Not in a Justin Verlander fears the Indians way, but Galarraga is 0 for 4 in QS against the Twinks (although he was just an out short of one the last time.

The other bad news is that Francisco Liriano is pitching for the Twins. And he’s kinda really good. In his last 4 starts he’s allowed 5 runs total with 19 K’s and 6 walks and only one homer allowed.

DET @ MIN, Friday, September 5, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:10

POSTGAME: Galarraga looked eerily like bad Jeremy Bonderman last night. You know the Bondo, where his 2 seam fastball tails way into the right hand batters box. But where the catcher and the pitcher don’t seem to make the adjustment, so the catcher still sets up on the outside corner only to see the ball end up 3 feet off the plate? And so he goes to his slider more, but it’s the only pitch that’s really working, and then he inevitably hangs one? Yeah, thought we saw that script before.

Marcus Thames gets the position player gold star. He dove twice (once successfully), and hammered two homers. I know the Tigers have tipped their cap to the opposing starter way to often this season. But Ervin Santana and Francisco Liriano back to back is pretty daunting. Still, the Tigers seemed to look extra helpless last night.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 140: Angels at Tigers

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PREGAME: An afternoon delight today as the Angels leave town. It will be Kenny Rogers and Ervin Santana doing battle today. The last time Rogers faced the Angels he shut them out for 7 innings and held them to 5 hits. The last time Santana faced the Tigers he held them to 2 runs on 3 hits in 9 innings. Santana’s numbers are pretty filthy of late, with 4 straight quality starts and a 33:4 K:BB ratio over the last 28.1 innings.

Sheffield’s shoulder is barking so Magglio will DH. Mike Hessman returns to third base. One other note from Beck’s pregame blog: Dusty Ryan hit the Charlie Gehringer statue during batting practice. That’s a long freakin’ ways from home plate.

LAA @ DET, Thursday, September 4, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com