Category Archives: Injuries

2009 Season, Awards, Injuries, Pitching

Junk Balling – All Star break edition

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A pile of links on the eve of the All Star break…

If you find yourself a little bored with the Tigers game today, you can always flip over to ESPN and catch Scott Sizemore, the lone Tigers representative in the All Star Future’s game. With Polanco on the last year of his contract and Sizemore hitting a combined 300/392/508 line between Erie and Toledo it’s reasonable that he may be the Tigers second baseman next year. But Keith Law doesn’t seem to be that high or low on him.

With Brandon Inge making the All Star team he will earn a $25,000 bonus. Really. Given Inge’s career can you imagine that as a negotiating point? Granderson will also get $25K. There’s no mention of what happens if Inge wins the home run derby but the consensus seems to be it doesn’t mess up your swing.

Galarraga carries the bag - screen grab from Sports Center

Before Armando Galarraga got knocked around on Saturday night, I was ready to explore a theory about the good luck charm that is the High School Musical backpack. It’s the backpack that the relievers carry out to the bullpen full of treats and snacks and such and it is the responsibility of the least tenured rookie. Well, Fu-Te Ni has had the bag and he’s pitched well, and then in the 16 inning game Armando Galarraga was the only man in the pen and had to carry it back, and followed it up with his best start. But Ni had a run charged to him last night and Galarraga had 4 so there goes that theory.

The interesting thing about Fu-Te Ni is that he seems to move around on the rubber when he faces righties as opposed to lefties. I’ve wondered why more pitchers wouldn’t do this.

Carlos Guillen is set to begin a rehab assignment. He could equate to a mid season trade if he can return and be productive. I’d hope the Tigers aren’t pinning al their hopes on Guillen, but it does make sense to take a look before giving up too much for a bat.

Rick Porcello won’t pitch in the Yankees series after the All Star game. Luke French, Justin Verlander, and Edwin Jackson will start in the Bronx. Porcello’s next start hasn’t been announced. But he is blogging now.

2009 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Ryan Perry rejoining the team?

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UPDATE Again: Now it’s official. Bondo to the DL for continued rehabilitation.

UPDATE: While there still hasn’t been an official announcement from the team, it does appear that Jeremy Bonderman is hitting the DL. I’ll update with more as I know it.

The Free Press is reporting that Ryan Perry is not with Mud Hens and is believed to be on his way to Pittsburgh to rejoin the team. Perry was optioned down to make room for Jeremy Bonderman. Perry has to stay on assignment for 10 days unless he is recalled to take someone’s place due to injury. So if he’s coming back it means someone is going on the DL and it is likely Bonderman.

If Bonderman does hit the DL it will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle his rehab. Once he starts pitching for a minor league club he is limited to 30 days. Will they start him right away hoping he gets the velocity back in a month or do they wait a while?

2009 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Thames to start Sunday

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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.

2009 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Clearing up some roster confusion

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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 →

2009 Season, Injuries

Thames and Bonderman set to rejoin team

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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

2009 Season, Injuries, Minors

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.

2009 Season, Injuries, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 6/1/09

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Charlotte 13 Toledo 3
The Tigers need a 6th starter next Monday. Eddie Bonine may have been a candidate, but he didn’t last through 2 innings before allowing 9 hits and 7 runs. Marcus Thames went 4 for 5 as the DH tonight. Dusty Ryan went 2 for 3 with a walk and a double.

Altoona 5 Erie 4 (10 inn)
Ryan Strieby hit his 13 homer and also singled. Mike Hollimon also homered, singled, and walked. Alex Avila was 2 for 3 with 2 walks. Pat Stanley allowed 3 runs in 6.1 innings on 5 hits, 1 walk and 5 K’s.

Lakeland 4 Palm Beach 1
Santo De Leon went 2 for 4. Charlie Furbush allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. Lester Oliveros fanned 4 in 2 innings of work. Robbie Weinhardt got the save pitching a scoreless 9th.

2009 Season, Injuries, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 5/31/09

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Charlotte 0 Toledo 6
We covered the pitching for this game already. Marcus Thames homered, singled and walked. Mike Hessman homered. Don Kelly walked twice and doubled.

Akron 2 Erie 7
Scott Sizemore and And Dirks each had 3 hits. Ryan Strieby tripled and singled. Luis Marte allowed just 2 hits and 1 run, though he did walk 4 in 7 innings.

Lakeland 6 Palm Beach 5
Justin Henry went 3 for 5. Michael Bertram had 2 hits and 2 walks. Trevor Feeney allowed 1 unearned run in 5 innings with 3 hits, a walk, and 4 K’s.

Wisconsin 8 West Michigan 3
Gustavo Nunez had 4 hits, 2 of which were doubles. Mauricio Robles battled his control and walked 5 on the way to 5 runs allowed in 3 innings. Jered Gayhart fanned 2 with one hit allowed in 2 innings.

2009 Season, Injuries

Is Bonderman ready?

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Jeremy Bonderman has shown some positive signs in his each of his rehab starts, but tonight’s was probably his best effort. He lasted 8 innings and threw 98 pitches, 66 of which were strikes. He didn’t allow a run and scatttered 6 hits and no walks while fanning 5.

I haven’t heard reports on his velocity yet, and that has been an area where we know he hasn’t reached his pre-surgical levels in his other starts.

The Tigers will need a 6th starter a week from Monday in Chicago. It would not surprise me in the least to see Bonderman activated for the evening part of the day-night doubleheader.

Charlotte vs. Toledo – May 31, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

2009 Season, Injuries, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 5/27/09

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Norfolk 6 Toledo 8
Don Kelly and Brent Clevlen each had 3 hits. Marcus Thames went 1 for 5 with 2 K’s. Chris Lambert went 4 innings allowing 2 runs on 7 hits. Clay Rapada struck out 3 in 3 innings with 1 hit allowed. Freddy Dolis gave up 4 runs in 1+ innings. The Toledo pitchers combined to not issue any walks.

Erie 5 Harrisburg 6
Alex Avila, homered, singled and walked. Andy Dirks and Max Leon each had 2 hits. Mike Hollimon returned after not playing for over a month and he homered. Jon Kibler allowed 10 hits and 4 runs in 6 innings.

Jupiter 3 Lakeland 9
Audy Ciriaco hit a grand slam. Chris Carlson homered and singled while Jeramy Laster got the 2 hard parts of the cycle. Jordan Newton added 3 hits. Thad Weber pitched 2 perfect innings to start the game. Lauren Gagnier allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 homer, and 2 k’s in 5 innings. Robbie Weinhardt gave up a homer.

Jupiter 3 Lakeland 0
There were 2 singles for Lakeland so there are no offensive highlights. Charlie Fubrush wen4 innings and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits including 2 homers.

Quad Cities 5 West Michigan 8
Brandon Douglas added 3 more hits. Avasail Garcia went 2 for 4. Brandon Hamilton only made it through 4.2 innings and he gave up 8 hits in 4.2 innings.

2009 Season, Injuries, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 5/26/09

Norfolk 9 Toledo 5
Jeremy Bonderman made another rehab start. He threw 97 pitches, 60 of them for strikes, in 6 innings. He allowed 7 hits, 3 walks, a homer and he fanned 4. Casey Fien struggled recording one out and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits. Wil Rhymes doubled and singled. Marcus Thames struck out 3 times. Brent Dlugach had 2 hits and a walk.

Erie 6 Harrisburg 3 (10 innings)
Andy Dirks needed a homer for the cycle. Alex Avila went 3 for 4. Brennan Boesch and Scott Sizemore each had 2 doubles. Pat Stanley pitched 5 innings of shut out ball allowing 2 hits and 2 walks to go with 4 strikeouts.

Lakeland – suspended in 2nd

Quad Cities 4 West Michigan 8
Brent Wyatt had 4 hits. Ben Guez homered. Brandon Douglas and Gustavo Nunez each had 2 hits. Mauricio Robles pitched into the 8th inning. He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks with 7 K’s.