Category Archives: 2009 Season

Thames to start Sunday

In his postgame press conference Jim Leyland announced that Marcus Thames will start on Sunday. With his activation from the DL, Jeff Larish will be optioned to Toledo.

I’m a little surprised to see Larish sent out over Raburn. The Tigers are flush with outfielders and with Cabrera’s hamstring hurting they are thin at first base.

You may remember a game in Anaheim last year where Thames took Joe Saunders (tomorrow’s starter) deep twice and to the wall another time. Maybe he can do it again and break the Tigers string of 7 straight games at Comerica without a homer.

sregiT ta slegnA: 045.9002 emaG

PREGAME: Time to change things up a little because nothing else is working. I’m changing my underwear everyday now, looking for that magic pair that brings the Tigers some offense and a win.

Edwin Jackson is coming off his best start of the season, but as Justin Verlander will tell you, even shut out ball isn’t enough given the Tigers offense.

Kelvim Escobar makes his first start of the year which means he’s looking for his first win of the year meaning the Tigers are in trouble.

It’s another ill-conceived lineup tonight:

  1. Anderson
  2. Polanco
  3. Thomas
  4. Ordonez
  5. Granderson
  6. Inge
  7. Larish
  8. Laird
  9. Santiago

Seriously, this lineup looks a lot better when the guys Leyland has batting 1-2 are batting 8-9.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 6, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Now that’s an exclamation point. To finish off a complete game by humping up 98 and 99mph heat in the 9th inning and striking out the 2-3-4 hitters (who happen to be Bobby Abreus – Vlad Guerrero – Torri Hunter) almost makes you forget how good Edwin Jackson was throughout the first 8 innings. That he was able to finish the game with 109 pitches is a testament to his efficiency and the fact he only walked 1 batter.

The offense continued to struggle in run scoring situations. At least there were run scoring situations tonight though. They made Escobar work and he needed 92 pitches to get through 5 innings. It didn’t really help getting into the bullpen as it turns out, but 10 pitch innings are really unsatisfying.

As for the title of this post, should I keep it this way until they lose of was this a one time way to break the losing momentum?

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/5/09

Toledo 1 Durham 4
Brent Clevlen was 4 for 4 and a homer short of the cycle. Marcus Thames went 0 for 4 with 2 K’s. Brooks Brown allowed 2 runs on 3 walks and 4 hits in 6 innings. Casey Fien allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits in 2 innings with 1 K.

Erie 3 Bowie 0
Andy Dirks had 2 singles and he added a walk. Luis Marte pitched 7 innings of shut out ball on 4 hits, 1 walk and 6 strike outs. Josh Rainwater fanned 4 in 2 innings allowing 1 walk and 1 hit.

St. Lucie 5 Lakeland 3
Jeramy Laster had the only extra base hit, a double. Thad Weber lasted 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strike outs.

Great Lakes 16 West Michigan 4
Brandon Douglas and Ronnie Bourquin each had 3 hits. Luis Salas homered. Luke Putkonen and Luis Sanz combined to allow a lot of runs.

Game 2009.053:Angels at Tigers

PREGAME: Remember a few weeks back. The Tigers had won the first 6 games of a 9 game homestand and the Rockies came to town. The Tigers took the Friday night game and things were looking great. That was the last time the Tigers won a home game and now have a 5 game losing streak at Comerica.

Fortunately the Tigers have their ace, Justin Verlander on the mound tonight. Of course the last time Verlander faced the Angels he allowed 7 runs in 5 innings as the Angels ran his pitch count up by fouling off a ton of pitches, and then there was the little matter of Ryan Raburn playing really bad in right field.

The Angels send out Ervin Santana. He’s a pitcher trying to regain his form after spending time on the DL, kind of like when they face Matsuzaka on Tuesday night. Santana has been absolutely rocked in his last 2 starts allowing a combined 15 runs to Seattle and Boston.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 5, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Just home from the game. Yes I’m frustrated. The Tigers are fighting it. I’m going to try and boil this down to a couple thoughts:

  • Verlander was quite good again. He walked a few too many and as a result it was probably best he wasn’t out for the 9th. You don’t beat up a pitcher because the offense is terrible.
  • Fernando Rodney picked up his first loss. It is June 5th. Really. How many teams would love to say that about their closer? Don’t complain about Rodney. He wasn’t especially sharp going to several 3 ball counts but he also wasn’t shelled. He was ground balled to death and the second run scored because the grounder wasn’t hit hard enough. This stuff happens.
  • When the Tigers made the decision to go with a defensive mindset (which also brought in additional speed), they knowingly gave up offense. We knew before the season started that there would be holes in the lineup. This situation has been exacerbated by a couple of the Tigers bigger bats performing well below career norms and even normal expected aging curves (the curve became a cliff). And when you take your biggest thumper out of the lineup you aren’t going to score a lot of runs. The Tigers need more offense, but just remember that to get it they will need to sacrifice some defense.

Friday’s Bloops and Blasts

A bunch of stuff that I should highlight or comment on that I just haven’t gotten around to doing so I’ll let others do it for me:

  • Ian drops the hammer on Dontrelle after yesterday’s debacle. I give Ian credit for coming strong (damn, I sound like Jim Rome). I’ve yet to comment because while I’ve watched the replay, I still can’t even digest what happened. So take it away Ian: D-Train Disaster: Red Sox 6, Tigers 3 – Bless You Boys

    Congratulations, Dontrelle. You pitched well enough in the first four years of your career to get a $29 million contract. You benefited from a career-worst decision by a general manager and owner who felt they needed to push their team through an open championship window before it closed. You got to cash in on a 22-win season that took place four years ago. Kudos to you, sir. But this has been a massive failure. Seriously, man – you and the Tigers should be done professionally.

  • Here is a look at Edwin Jackson’s Success Through Pitchf/x. It’s one of those posts that I’ve been wanting to do. It looks like the slider has more down action this year than last. (h/t Bless You Boys)
  • The folks at It’s Just Sports just relaunched their blog, and I was honored to be part of the Better Know a Blogger feature this week.
  • The Tigers recent struggles have people wanting change. Kurt takes a rational look some of the options the Tigers may have
  • And from the Good News department, Rick Porcello was AL Rookie of the Month and Justin Verlander took him the AL Pitcher of the month honors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/4/09

Toledo 4 Durham 3
Jeff Frazier went 2 for 4 with a double. Marcus Thames walked twice. Wilkin Ramirez returned to the lineup and fanned 3 times. Luke French fanned 8 and walked 2 allowing 3 unearned runs in 6.2 innings. Freddy Dolsi went 2.1 innings allowing a hit and a walk and no runs.

Altonna 4 Erie 3
Brennan Boesch was a triple short of the cycle and added a walk. Ryan Strieby went 3 for 5. Jonah Nickerson allowed 10 hits in 7 innings but didn’t walk anybody and he fanned 4 allowing 4 runs (2 earned). Zach Simons fanned 3 and allowed just 1 hit in 2 innings.

St. Lucie 4 Lakeland 2
Jordan Newton homered. Michael Bertram and Audy Ciriaco doubled. Andrew Hess lasted 6.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 K’s.

St. Lucie 5 Lakeland 6
Kody Kaiser and Chris Carlson both homered with Carlson added a double. Matt Hoffman allowed 6 hits 2 walks and 2 runs in 5.2 innings with 2 strike outs. Scott Green walked 3 and allowed 2 hits and 3 runs in 1 inning of work.

Great Lakes 3 West Michigan 4 (12 inn)
Bryan Pounds went 3 for 5 with a walk. Brandon Douglas, Gustavo Nunez, and Luis Salas all had 2 hits. Mark Sorenson fanned 5 and walked 2 in 6 innings. Jared Gayhart fanned 3 in 2 perfect innings. Tyler Stohr got the blown save despite fanning 4 and allowing just a hit, a walk, and a run in 3 innings.

Clearing up some roster confusion

The Tigers have some roster decisions looming with the imminent return of Jeremy Bonderman and Marcus Thames. In both cases there aren’t clear cut performance based decisions on who gets sent down so things like options come into play. There has been some confusion about the option status and service time of various players so let’s clear that up.

MLB roster rules are never simple and chuck full of exceptions. While salary data and service time data is generally findable, options are harder to find and often requires combing through transaction lists. Fortunately for Tigers fans Eddie Bajek compiled this information during the offseason.

Continue reading Clearing up some roster confusion

Game 2009.052: Red Sox at Tigers

PREGAME: It is time for this series to mercifully come to an end. The Tigers have not so much looked good in these first 2 games and now have dropped 4 in a row at home. As for today’s afternoon tilt, I don’t really know what to expect.

Tim Wakefield will be heaving knucklers  towards home plate. I’ve seen the Tigers beat up Wakefield, and be stymied by Wakefield. Hitting conventional pitching hasn’t been their strong suit lately so maybe this is just what they need. Wakefield has been more wild this year with his walk rate at 4.4 per 9 innings while his K-rate of 5.4 is right in line with his past 4 seasons. He has already hit 9 batters.

Dontrelle Willis takes the ball for Detroit after a rough start against the Orioles. Dontrelle’s ability to throw strikes against the Red Sox has me concerned. And really, with the 2 starting pitchers combining to walk 8.4 batters per 9 innings, this game could take a while.

Boston vs. Detroit – June 4, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

Thames and Bonderman set to rejoin team

It sounds like the plan is to activate Marcus Thames this weekend. Thames has started to hit well in Toledo, meaning he may be ready to do some big league thumping. The Tigers need some extra thump in the lineup. With Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez combining to provide little power, the Tigers need someone else to turn to for a game changing hit and Thames provides that.

Also, signs are pointing towards Bonderman returning to the rotation. Galarraga will start the day game on Monday against the White Sox. Jim Leyland knows who will start the night game but he isn’t ready to announce it…and Bonderman’s rehab has been declared over. For once I might have been right about something. On a related note Always a Tiger looks at how Bonderman may cope with decreased velocity (I think this will be temporary and that his velocity will come back over time).

Beck’s Blog: Thames likely returning this weekend

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/3/09

Toledo 5 Durham 2
Marcus Thames is wrapping up his rehab assignment in fine fashion with a homer and a single. Brent Clevlen doubled and tripled. Dusty Ryan and Wil Rhymes both homered as well. Ruddy Lugo allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walk with 4 K’s in 6 innings. Clay Rapada got the 3 inning save with only 1 walk allowed to go with 4 K’s. Wilkin Ramirez remains out with a hand injury.

Altoona 10 Erie 8
Brennan Boesch, Jeff Kunkel and Ryan Strieby each homered and singled. Mike Hollimon tripled. Alfredo Figaro had a rough outing allowing 8 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks, and fanning 4 in 5.2 innings.

Lakeland – PPD

Great Lakes 4 West Michigan 6
Gustavo Nunez went 3 for 4 with a triple. Casey Crosby allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk with 4 K’s in 5 innings. Billy Nowlin went on the DL and Keith Hernandez was promoted from EST.

Game 2009.051: Red Sox at Tigers

PREGAME: It just has to be better tonight right? Fewer errors. Fewer baserunning mistakes. More big hits with runners on base. No plunking in a run? Does that sound good to everybody?

Armando Galarraga will try and build on his last start, which was his only quality start in the month of May. He faced Boston once last year and wasn’t good, but he managed a no decision despite allowing 5 runs and not getting out of the 6th inning.

Meanwhile the Tigers will face Josh Beckett. Beckett faced the Tigers once last year and destroyed them with 8 K’s, no walks, and just 1 run in 7 innings. And Beckett is rolling with 5 quality starts in a row and his last 2 starts he has allowed 1 earned run in 15 innings with 13 K’s.  Game on.

Boston vs. Detroit – June 3, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Well, Josh Beckett was really good. The Tigers offense has had their share of struggles lately. But this is one of those tip-your-cap games. Beckett was nasty and worked the edges of a big strike zone masterfully. Tuesday the Tigers let Matsuzaka off the hook. Tonight was a pitcher on his game toying with a struggling offense.

But there is some good to take from the game. Armando Galarraga looks to be regaining his 2008 form with his second consecutive quality start. And the Tigers once again made the 9th inning way more interesting than it should have been with some good at-bats. And Curtis Granderson tripled.

Of course the bullpen proved to be awful with Zach Miner and Nate Robertson turning the game into a laugher. Leyland had no way of knowing that the Red Sox would forget how to field the ball in the 8th and how to throw strikes in the 9th and the Tigers 4 run deficit appeared insurmountable at the time. And conserving some bullpen in a lost cause isn’t a bad tactic. Still, those runs proved to be the difference.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/2/09

Toledo 5 Durham 6 (11 inn)
Marcus Thames singled in 5 at-bats. Mike Hessman doubled and homered. Brent Dlugach singled and homered. Chris Lambert struck out 6, walked none, and allowed just 4 hits in 6 innings. Casey Fien struggled ash he allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks.

Altoona 9 Erie 12
Max Leon went 4 for 5, as did Shawn Roof (2 triples). Alex Avila, Joe Tucker, and Ryan Strieby each had 2 hits. Jon Kibler was rocked for 8 runs and 11 hits in 2.2 innings but his offense clearly picked him up. Jay Sborz allowed 1 runs in 3.1 innings and Josh Rainwater (2 IP) and Cody Satterwhite (1 IP, Save #7) finished things off.

Lakeland 1 Palm Beach 2
Michael Bertram went 2 for 4. Lauren Gagnier struck out 10 in 6 innings of work which helped limited the 10 baserunners he allowed to 2 runs. Brett Jacobson fanned 2 in his 2 scoreless innings.

Great Lakes 8 West Michigan 7
Gustavo Nunez went 4 for 5. Jordan Lennerton singled, homered, and walked. Brandon Hamilton lost the strike zone and walked 4 and allowed a hit and all came around to score with Hamilton only recording one out. Anthony Shawler fanned 5 and allowed 1 run on 6 hit in 4 innings of relief.