It’s Friday. It’s lunchtime. It’s June. Let’s talk Tigers
Category Archives: 2009 Season
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PREGAME: Four game losing streaks warrant backwards game threads. The Tigers top 2 in the rotation couldn’t coax out a win, so it is now up to the kid to stop the losing streak.
Rick Porcello was on the mound for the Tigers last start, and hopefully he’ll be on the mound for their next one as well. He does get the benefit of not facing Albert Pujols tonight.
Joel Pineiro has some pressure himself. Opposing pitchers have kept the Tigers under 4 runs for 7 straight games. I’m actually stunned that Pineiro is only 30. He’s having a solid season with only 11 walks and 2 homers allowed in 76.2 innings.
Detroit vs. St. Louis – June 18, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday
POSTGAME: It’s a win. Sigh.
The Tigers finally had a big inning, and they got it early in the game and took some of the pressure off of everyone. Grandy and Polly each had 2 hits and the top of the lineup produced. Inge and Laird had big hits. Thames with a foul-poul thump. Sigh. Runs. Whee!
Porcello was good again. He gave up a number of hits, but got a ton of ground balls as well. He also slithered out what could have been a bad inning after a Gerald Laird error (Laird’s throw wasn’t good, but Inge seemed like he could have reached it).
Bobby Seay was very good. Brandon Lyon was fine. Fernando Rodney was nearly a train wreck as he was throwing the ball all over the place. Fortunately Rick Ankiel decided to swing to end the game with a double play.
The benching of Magglio
The Tigers announced that the slumping and entirely unproductive Magglio Ordonez will be benched indefinitely. I don’t know that means he’s out of the starting lineup, or in a deep freeze. Ordonez has been a harmless groundball machine of late (though he did manage a sac fly last night). The bigger issue though surrounds his plate appearance option for next season.
As has been well documented at this point, Ordonez has an option that vest if either of these criteria are met:
- 135 starts or 540 PA’s in 2009
- 270 starts or 1080 PA’s in 2008-9
In 2008 Ordonez amassed 144 starts and 623 plate appearances leaving him 126 starts and 457 plate appearances away from an $18 million option. So far this year he has started 57 of the team’s 65 games and he is at 243 plate appearances meaning he is 69 starts or 214 plate appearances away.
Ordonez has been playing less of late and batting lower in the lineup. Over the team’s last 27 games Ordonez has 22 starts and 92 PA’s or 3.4 PA’s per team game. At that rate going forward Ordonez would pick up 330 more PA’s this season. Avoiding the option would mean limiting his playing time by another third.
There are 97 games left in the season. We’ve discussed why his release is unlikely but there is a small chance the Tigers could limit his plate appearances enough that the option doesn’t vest. Of course, if Ordonez continues to struggle and it means more at-bats for Josh Anderson types that is likely bad news as well.
Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/17/09
Erie 11 Portland 5
Deik Scram went 2 for 4 with a homer and a walk. Ryan Strieby doubled twice and walked. Casper Wells had 2 hits, and 3 K’s. Luis Marte fanned 7 and allwed 3 runs in 6 innings. Jay Sborz struck out the side in his inning of work, and allowed 2 hits.
Lakeland 3 Charlotte 7
Michael Bertram homered and walked. Charlie Furbush only last 4 innings as he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and a walk.
Fort Wayne 12 West Michigan 2
Brandon Douglas went 3 for 4. Maurico Robles was rocked for 6 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks in 3.1 innings. Brayan Villarreal fanned 4 and allowed 1 run in 3.2 innings.
Game 2009.065: Tigers at Cardinals
PREGAME: I figure we’re one bad game away before I have to post this backwards again. Hopefully the team will fare a little better. Did you know that through 64 games the 2008 team outscored the 2009 team 09 version has only outscored the 08 version by 7 runs?
Edwin Jackson is the man tonight and hopefully he can work deep into the game with Verlander leaving early yesterday and Porcello on the mound tomorrow.
Todd Wellemeyer hasn’t had a quality start since May 22nd. That doesn’t mean a lot given the Tigers recent struggles against struggling pitchers. Who knows, maybe tonight’s new look lineup will be the one to get it done:
- Granderson
- Polanco
- Cabrera
- Thames
- Ordonez
- Inge
- Laird
- Everett
- Jackson
Detroit vs. St. Louis – June 17, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday
POSTGAME: Another day, another loss. I guess the difference is this wasn’t an awful game. Edwin Jackson was fine, 3 runs in 6 innings wiht 7 K’s, just not great. He hurt his cause with an error on a pickoff throw and Magglio Ordonez butchered what might have been caught and at the least should have been a double.
Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera hit, but again that was it. The Tigers had some good at-bats early on, forcing Wellemeyer to throw a boat load of pitches in the 1st and in the 3rd, but the big inning continues to elude them instead settling for solo homers and other 1 run innings.
And then there was Joel Zumaya who had another tough outing. He didn’t get hammered and he mixed in a number of curves. But he also couldn’t find the strike zone and he walked in the Tigers 13th run of the season. Nine of those have come in the month of June (the Tigers had 20 in 2008).
Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/16/09
Toledo 3 Scranton/WB 7
Brent Clevlen went 3 for 4 with a homer. Brooks Brown (with him pitching tonight he won’t make Dontrelle’s next start for Detroit) allowed 5 runs on 3 walks and 7 hits in 4.1 innings. Freddy Dolsi pitched 3 innings (are they stretching him out for Miner’s role?) and allowed 2 hits and fanned 2.
Erie 0 Portland 5
Erie only managed 3 hits. Casper Wells had one of them. Jonah Nickerson allowed 4 runs in 7 innings on 9 hits, 0 walks, 2 homers, and 3 K’s.
Lakeland 0 Charlotte 1
Chris Carlson and Santo De Leon each had 2 hits. Thad Weber deserved better after giving up just 1 run on 5 hits, no walks, and 6 K’s in 7 innnings.
Fort Wayne 3 West Michigan 7
Gustavo Nunez and Brandon Douglas each had 3 hits. Nunez also had 3 stolen bases pushing his season total to 33. Jordan Lennerton homered. Luke Putkonen lasted 5 innings and surrendered just 1 run on 4 K’s, 3 walks, and 6 hits.
Scott Sizemore
Tigers 2nd base prospect was promoted to Toledo on Sunday. Take 75 North provided some depth and background to the move and shows that it was definitely warranted and Sizemore has positioned himself as the top 2nd base prospect in the system. Beyond that, I read this as a fairly significant promotion as it relates to the big league club. This will give the Tigers 6 weeks to see what Sizemore can do at AAA prior to the trade deadline. Making a decision on 6 weeks of data is shaky, but Sizemore does have a decent track record beyond that. Sizemore’s and Polanco’s performance over the next 6 weeks, and possibly the season, will likely dictate whether or not Polanco is offered a contact for 2010.
Willis out…of rotation
Dontrelle Willis will not take his next turn in the rotation. And that was the extent of the news from Jim Leyland’s pregame presser. I understand not naming a starter at this point as the Tigers probably consider options such as Zach Miner, Eddie Bonine, Luke French, and Alfredo Figaro (who coincidentally is on the same schedule as Willis). All are already on the 40 man roster so that doesn’t present a problem and any of them kind do as well as Willis.
But what I don’t understand is why Willis is still on the 25 man roster? Are they keeping him around for pinch hitting duties while in St. Louis? He hasn’t been moved to the bullpen. He’s just there and I don’t understand why. Option him out, release him, DL him, it doesn’t matter.
Game 2009.064: Tigers at Cardinals
PREGAME: So, is this game going to be first team to 4 runs wins? The Cardinals have scored more than 3 runs only 4 times in their last 15 games. The Tigers have scored more than 3 runs only 4 times in their last 15 games, and are riding a streak of 5 straight games without topping that mark.
Further complicating things is the pitching match-up which features Justin Verlander and Adam Wainwright. Verlander has been outstanding of late and is coming off a complete game, 1 run effort.
Wainwright has been solid with 7.5 K/9 and 2.1 K/BB ratios. Lefties knock him around to the tune of an .822 OPS while righties struggle at a .602 clip.
Unfortunately the Tigers lineup only has 3 lefty hitters in it tonight (not that I’m stumping for Josh Anderson):
- Kelly, LF
- Polanco, 2B
- Ordonez, RF
- Cabrera, 1B
- Granderson , CF
- Inge, 3B
- Laird, C
- Santiago, 2B
- Verlander, P
Detroit vs. St. Louis – June 16, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday
POSTGAME: That was just a pathetic display. Awful, and coming on the heels of the last 2 games, this is a very ugly 3 game stretch.
- Verlander couldn’t get the swings and misses on the fastball and didn’t have good control of the curve. And he got beat-up. He made a fielding error. He balked. He wasn’t good. But he’s been awesome of late so he gets a pass.
- Cabrera swung the bat well. A homer, a walk, and a sharp single is definitely a positive.
- The Tigers had awful at-bats with runners on. In the first Polanco struck out with a runner on third and nobody out. Then Ordonez couldn’t get it past the pitcher. Polanco also fouled out on the first pitch with runners on first and second later int he game. Curtis Granderson tried to pull an outside fastball on a 3-1 count. Too many bad at-bats.
- And the defense was poor also.
Ilitch: We’re going to do whatever we’ve got to do
There has been quite a bit of speculation that the Tigers would have a fire sale this summer, including trading off Miguel Cabrera. But Mike Ilitch seemed to paint a different picture in a conversation with Drew Sharp:
“We’re going to do whatever we’ve got to do,” Ilitch said. “We’re three games in first. What are we going to do? There are a lot of things that we can do. We’re going to try to improve one way or the other.”
Doesn’t sound like a fire sale is imminent or that the Tigers are entirely locked into their current payroll or roster despite the economy and unproductive contracts.
Thrilled by Wings, Mike Ilitch hopes to help pennant push next | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Inge
The campaigning has been going on since April when teams started to promote their players for the All Star Game. On basic principle I try to wait until at least June before filling out a ballot. So much changes so quick early in the season and hot starts can be misleading. But, with 60 games in and the game only a month a way it is time.
The All Star game doesn’t really matter, and when the fans and players and managers make mistakes in the voting people are sure to either a)complain or b) further announce the game doesn’t mean anything. Others say they don’t want their team’s players going and that they’d rather see them rest. I don’t buy any of it. The game is supposed to be fun and I know I have more fun when my guys are playing.
The trouble with the Tigers this year is that it is hard to find a candidate to throw support behind. Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson are certainly deserving at this point, but fans don’t get to vote for pitchers. Miguel Cabrera started off strong, but his recent fade and the seasons of Mark Texeira, Kevin Youkilis, and Justin Morneau don’t even leave him in the top 3. Curtis Granderson has been okay but not nearly good enough to warrant a big push. But fans do have one position player who they can throw their support behind without feeling too homerish. The man, the myth, the most polarizing force among Tigers fans, Brandon Inge.
How much would you give up for offense?
The Tigers bats have been scuffling to say the least. The Tigers received unexpected offense from a number of places early in the year while Magglio Ordonez, Placido Polanco, Carlos Guillen, and to a lesser extent Curtis Granderson, were struggling or injured. But the thumpers still aren’t producing consistently and you can add Miguel Cabrera to the list of slumping bats. So the pitching which has been a very pleasant surprise has been pitching with little margin for error.
But that pitching has also benefitted from the lineup as it is constructed. The Tigers have one of the top defensive teams in all of baseball and we are looking at a 71 run swing due to defense from last year. A lot of the Tigers who aren’t carrying their bats to the dish are certainly carrying their gloves to the field.
So with an off day, how about a little discussion of how much you trade to improve the offense? How much defense would you sacrifice for offense? What prospects or current members of the team would you be willing to part with acquire a bat (and don’t mention people on the DL or those who are untradeable -like Wilils or Robertson)?
This has to stop now
Dontrelle Willis came into action today with yet another chance to solidify his spot in the rotation and on the roster. He did neither today and his time on the Tigers roster has to have come to an end. This isn’t brilliant thinking by any means, and it’s late, but it’s time.
Today’s effort included 8 walks in 3.2 innings, 4 of those were to the leadoff hitter in each inning. He also allowed 6 hits and a lot of loud outs. That he was only charged with 6 runs was a matter of luck and not grittiness or some ability to bounce back. Sadly this carnage was a continuation of a pattern rather than a blip.
Whether this is anxiety or mechanics or another injury, Willis is not an effective big league pitcher. The Tigers have been patient, as they needed to be due to the contract. But he can’t be allowed to hurt this team anymore. He needs to be off the roster now. I don’t care if he gets optioned to the minors or outright released but he can’t be allowed to pitch for this team any longer.
I wish Willis the best of luck. He seems to be universally loved by players, media, and fans. The way he has handled his adversity the last 2 years is a testament to the type of individual he is. But if he is on the roster after today’s debacle it is nothing more than a charity case.
UPDATE: No moves have been announced and with an offday tomorrow they have some time to make a decision. In the meantime Jason Beck has blogged Dontrelle’s reaction to the start. I encourage everyone to check it out.