Category Archives: Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/12/09

Toledo 2 Syracuse 1
Mike Hessman was a triple short of the cycle. Brent Clevlen and Scott Sizemore each had 2 hits. Ruddy Lugo pitched 7 shut out innings and allowed just 5 hits and walks with 2 K’s. Casey Fien allowed a run on 2 hits in 2 innings with 3 K’s.

Erie 1 New Britain 4
Cale Iorg went 2 for 4 with a walk. Ramon Garcia allowed 4 runs, 2 earned, in 6 innings. Robbie Weinhardt pitched 2 scoreless innings with 2 K’s.

Lakeland 7 Clearwater 1
This was the completion of a suspended game from early July. Audy Ciriaco homered and singled. Jeramy Laster tripled and singled. Lauren Gagnier pitched a complte game and the only run was unearned. He notched 8 K’s and allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks.

West Michigan 4 Dayton 5 (12 innings)
Mike Gosse, Avasail Garcia, and Luis Palacios all had 2 hits. Billy Nowlin doubled for the only Caps extra base hit of the night. Adam Wilk has been one of the bright spots from this year’s draft and he threw another 5 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and a walk in 5 innings with 4 K’s. In 10 starts between Oneonta and West Michigan he has a 1.49 ERA and a 51/7 K/BB ratio in 54.1 innings.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Yankees 8 GCL Tigers 2
Gary Perinar walked 6 in 3.1 no hit innings. He allowed 2 runs and fanned 3. Giovany Soto was lit up for 7 hits and 3 walks in 2.2 innings.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/11/09

Toledo 0 Syracuse 5
Scott Sizemore, Dane Sardhina, and Mike Hessman had the only hits. Nate Bump went the distance (6 innings in this case) and allowed all 5 runs on 9 hits with 2 K’s and no walks.

Toledo 3 Syracuse 1
Brent Clevlen homered and singled. Dusty Ryan also homered. Scot Drucker pitched 5 innings allowing just an unearned run on 5 hits, no walks and 3 K’s.

Erie 5 New Britain 3
Casper Wells and Santo De Leon each doubled and singled. Brennan Boesch homered and walked. Deik Scram tripled. Thad Weber went 7.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits, 1 walk, and 2 K’s.

Clearwater 3 Lakeland 9
Audy Ciriaco went 3 for 5 with a double. Devin Thomas also had 3 hits and added a walk. Jeramy Laster homered. Hernan Perez went 2 for 4 and drove in 3. Ryan Ketchner fanned 7 in 6 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned).

West Michigan 8 Dayton 4
Alden Carrithers was a homer short of the cycle. Billy Nowlin and Luis Salas each had 2 hits. Anthony Shawler fanned 6 and walked 2 in 4 innings of shut out ball.

Oneonta 4 State College 9
Rawley Bishop and Wade Gaynor singled and doubled. Jose Diaz allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and no strike outs in 4.1 innings.

GCL Tigers 5 GCL Yankees 6
Elvin Soto went 3 for 4. Zach Samuels fanned 8 and walked none in 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/8/09

Gwinnett 2 Toledo 3
Mike Hessman homered and singled. Jeff Larish walked twice and went 1 for 2. Ruddy Lugo fanned 7 and walked 2 allowing just 1 unearned run on 2 hits in 6 innings. Casey Fien got the save allowing a hit and recroding a strikeout in .2 innings.

Connecticut 6 Erie 4
Max St. Pierre was bumped down to Erie despite being red hot at Toledo lately so Dusty Ryan could get regular at-bats. St. Pierre picked up 2 doubles for the Seawolves. Casper Wells homered and walked. Jon Kibler allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 2 K’s in 7.1 innings.

Tampa 2 Lakeland 1
Justin Henry went 2 for 3. Max Leon tripled. Lauren Gagnier fanned 5 and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 K’s in 7 innings.

West Michigan 0 Great Lakes 3
Avasail Garcia, Gustavo Nunez, Ben Guez, and Angel Flores each had hits. Adam Wilk had 6 K’s in 6 innings and he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk.

Staten Island 12 Oneonta 5
Wade Gaynor went 2 for 4 and Carmelo Jaime tripled, singled, and walked. Cory Hamilton went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits, 3 walks and a strikeout. Wade Kapteyn and Jorge Ortega allowed the other 10 runs.

GCL Tigers 2 GCL Phillies 0
Chao Ting Tang doubled and singled. Rayni Guichardo went 8 innings and allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks with 2 K’s.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/6/09

Gwinnett 3 Toledo 10
Jeff Frazier had 3 doubles. Brent Clevlen singled and homered. Don Kelly and Wilkin Ramirez each had multi-hit games with extra base hits. Nate Bump went 8 innings, fanning 7 and allowing just 4 hits. Jeremy Bonderman allowed 3 runs on 3 hits, including a homer, in his inning of work which included 19 of his 21 pitches going for strikes. According to the game story one of the hits was a chopper and the other two came off the split finger fastball which he is trying to develop.

New Britain 10 Erie 0
Cale Iorg doubled. That was it for Erie highlights. Ramon Garcia didn’t make it out of the 5th innings before allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Jared Gayhart was touched up for 3 runs in 1.2 innings and has a 7.36 ERA at Erie.

Tampa 7 Lakeland 6
Justin Henry needed a homer to hit for the cycle. Audy Ciriaco, Jordan Newton, Devin Thomas, and Joe Tucker all had 2 hit games. Ryan Ketchner allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings on 8 hits and 2 K’s.

South Bend 4 West Michigan 9
Alden Carrithers went 4 for 5 including a triple. Ben Guez went 3 for 5 including a triple. Luis Salas walked twice and doubled. Brandon Hamilton walked 4 leading to 4 runs in 3 innings. Robert Waite picked him up though and threw 5 innings allowing just 1 hit and walking none.

Jamestown 1 Oneonta 6
Rawley Bishop went 2 for 4 with a homer. Keith Hernandez singled and doubled. Carmelo Jaime tripled, singled, and walked. Luis Angel Sanz fanned 8 and walked 1 in 6 innings where he allowed 1 run on 5 hits. Michael Torrealba fanned 5 and walked 1 in 2 innings of no hit work.

GCL Phillies 7 GCL Tigers 3
Edgar Corcino singled and doubled. Pat McKenna and Julio Rodriguez each had 2 hit games. Giovany Soto pitched 5 shut out innings allowing 2 hits and no walks while fanning 6. He now has 23 K’s in 26 innings and a 0.69 ERA…and he turned 18 in May.

Tigers Rehab and Minor League Wrap 8/4/09

Toledo 10 Buffalo 6
Nate Robertson started and went 2.2 innings. He allowed 1 a run on 4 hits, including a homer, with 2 K’s. Jeremy Bonderman went 1 perfect inning throwing 13 pitches. He was in the high 80’s and mostly threw a slider. Max St. Pierre homered again as part of a 4 for 4 day. Jeff Frazier and Mike Hessman each had 3 hits and Scott Sizemore had 2.

New Britain 2 Erie 7
Michael Bertram homered, singled, and walked. Casper Wells had 2 hits and a walk. Cale Iorg homered. Jonah Nickerson went the distance despite not striking out a single batter.

Lakeland 0 Tampa 4
Jordan Newton and Audy Ciriaco doubled. Charlie Furbush fanned 4 and walked 3 in 5 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits.

South Bend 6 West Michigan 0
Brayan Villarreal started and went 4 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 3 K’s.

Jameston 5 Oneonta 3
John Murrian and Alexis Espinoza each had 2 hit games. Jose Siso allowed 5 runs in 5 innings, but only 2 were earned. Kevan Hess pitched 3 shutout innings allowing just a walk and a hit.

GCL Tigers 2 GCL Pirates 3
Julio Rodriguez doubled. Ramon Lebron walked 5 and fanned 5 in 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits.

Avila and Lambert up

It’s almost like the Tigers got a bulk discount on a shuttle between Toledo and Detroit. Wilkin Ramirez’s stay in the Detroit was very brief and expressly for the purpose of facing Brian Matusz. Chris Lambert will replace him on the roster. But that’s not all my friends. We also have a lefty catcher in our midst with Alex Avila replacing Dusty Ryan on the roster. Let’s think this through now because there are some implications worth considering before we debate the merits of the moves.

  • Ramirez will not be bumping Magglio Ordonez from the roster for at least 10 days. Barring a DL stay Ramirez cannot be recalled.
  • Alex Avila will likely not burn an option year this year. If even the Tigers decide to change their minds and send him down, as long as he spends less than 20 days off the big league roster it won’t count as an option. So if he’s up for another 8 days that won’t be an issue with the roster expanding on September 1st. He will accrue service time, but probably not enough to move his free agent clock up a year. It does mean he will need to remain on the 40 man roster in an offseason where he otherwise wouldn’t need to.
  • I have a hard time seeing how Dusty Ryan has a future in the franchise. Laird has been struggling mightily at the plate and Ryan still could supplant him more than once a week. Now he’s being exchanged for a catcher who has one year of professional catching experience.

As for the new guys, Avila is one of the two guys I consider to be nearly untouchable largely due to the fact i envisioned him filling a critical role in the near future. I wasn’t thinking this month though. Avila’s overall numbers are very impressive…for a guy one year removed from the draft playing in AA. But his 262/360/446 line is far from overwhelming and he’s only hitting 191/280/393 in the last 28 days (thank you minorleaguesplits.com.

Lambert has been pitching very well for the Mud Hens as a starter. In his last 10 starts he has a 2.07 ERA with 52 K’s and only 11 walks. He’ll presumably pitch out of the bullpen until the team decides to recall either Casey Fien (at least 10 days from now) or Jeremy Bonderman gets healthy.

The Lambert move is fine by me. He’s earned a spot. The Avila move is a mystery. I understand wanting to get some offense from the catcher spot and with Avila being a lefty it makes for a more natural time split for Laird who is scuffling. But I can’t see how this helps Avila in the long term and it’s not that clear to me how it helps the team in the short term. There is a big enough learning curve for typical players, let alone catchers. This is a rush move and can only be considered a move of desperation. Then again if you feel the need to call up a player from the minors just to face a guy making his big league debut because nobody else on the roster can hit…then maybe you’re past the point of desperation.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/3/09

Buffalo 2 Toledo 3
Max St. Pierre doubled and homered. Scott Sizemore walked 3 times. Eddie Bonine allowed 2 solo homers, but that was it for the scoring as he tossed 7 innings with 5 hits, 2 walks and 4 K’s.

Erie – DNP

Lakeland – DNP

South Bend 0 West Michigan 1
Ben Guez doubled, tripled, and stole a base. Luke Putkonen pitched 8 shut out innings with 6 K’s, 5 hits, and a walk.

Tri-City 4 Oneonta 1
Jamie Johnson went 3 for 4 with a double. Cory Hamilton went the first 3 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits.

Oneonta 10 Tri-City 0
Jamie Johnson doubled and homered. Rawley Bishop doubled and singled. Clemente Mendoza went all 7 innings allowing 2 walks, 6 hits, and fanning 3.

GCL Blue Jays 4 GCL Tigers 3
Jordan Cruz singled, homered, and walked. Luis Castillo doubled twice. Jared Wesson fanned 7 and allowed just a hit and a walk in 3 innings.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/2/09

Buffalo 1 Toledo 6
Don Kelly was a triple short of the cycle. Mike Hessman homered. Scott Sizemore had 2 hits. Chris Lambert was one out short of a complete game with 9 K’s against 1 walk.

Reading 1 Erie 3
Cale Iorg homered and tripled. Michael Bertram also tripled. Pat Stanley allowed 4 walks and 6 hits in 7 innings, but only 1 run crossed the plate.

Lakeland 11 St. Lucie 12
Justin Henry went 5 for 6. Christopher White singled, doubled, and walked twice. Mark Sorensen made his Lakeland debut and was rocked for 10 hits and 6 runs in 3.1 innings.

Cedar Rapids 4 West Michigan 10
Ben Guez went 5 for 5 and needed a triple for the cycle. Adam Wilk made his West Michigan debut and pitched 6 innings of 2 hit, shut out ball with 7 K’s.

Tri-City 7 Oneonta 6
John Murrian, Alexis Espinoza, and Chris Sedon all had 2 hits. Jeff Gerbe fanned 6 in 4 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.

GCL Tigers DNP

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/1/09

Buffalo 10 Toledo 11
Scott Sizemore homered twice and Brent Clevlen, Jeff Larish, and Max St. Pierre all went deep as well. Brooks Brown only lasst 3.1 innigns before being touched up for 5 runs on 6 hits and a walk.

Reading 7 Erie 6
Brennan Boesch homered twice and now has 23 on the year. Casper Wells homered and walked twice. Deik Scram had 2 doubles. Jon Kibler allowed 6 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings with 6 K’s.

Lakeland 1 St. Lucie 5
Adrian Cassanova had 2 of the 4 hits for the Flying Tigers. Lauren Gagnier fanned 4 but allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk in 5 innings.

Cedar Rapids 2 West Michigan 3
Billy Nowlin homered. Gustavo Nunez and Bryan Pounds doubled. Brandon Hamilton allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk with 3 K’s in 5 innings.

Oneonta 5 Tri-City 2
Keith Hernandez doubled and singled. Luis Palacios homered and singled. Luis Angel Sanz allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings.

Oneonta 8 Tri-city 1
Michael Rockett went 4 for 4. Rawley Bishop had 3 hits. Eric Roof homered and singled. Mike LaLuna pitched 5 innings of shutout ball allowing 2 hits and 4 walks with 4 K’s.

GCL Tigers (box not available)

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7/31/09

Toledo 8 Louisville 6
Jeff Frazier homered and doubleed. Wilkin Ramirez doublded wice. Nate Bump went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 K’s.

Reading 6 Erie 4
Cale Iorg doubled and singled. Danny Worth went 2 for 5 with a triple. Ramon Garcia allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk with 2 K’s in 5.1 innings. Robbie Weinhardt allowed 3 hits and a walk, but 4 K’s in 2.1 innings kept anyone from scoring. Brett Jensen took the loss giving up 2 homers and 3 runs in 2.1 innings.

Lakeland 5 St. Lucie 3
Joe Tucker doubled and singled. Devin Thomas homered and walked. Ryan Ketchner went the first 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Matt Hoffman went the next 4 and allowed an unearned run, but only 1 hit. Brett Jacboson got the save with 2 K’s.

Cedar Rapids 5 West Michigan 3
Brent Wyatt, Alden Carrithers, and Avasail Garcia each had 2 hits. Casey Crosby fanned 6 and walked none in 4.1 innings. He was hung with 4 unearned runs.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Tigers 2 GCL Yankees 1
Eddie Rush doubled, singled, and walked. Giovany Soto fanned 3 and walked 2 and allowed just 1 unearned run on 2 hits in 6 innings.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7/29/09

Toledo 3 Louisville 7
Scott Sizemore, Jeff Larish, and Jeff Frazier all had 2 hits. Mike Hessman homered. Eddie Bonine went 6 innings and allowed 5 runs on 8 hits, a walk, and 2 K’s.

Erie 1 Akron 5
Jeff Kunkel had 2 hits. Jonah Nickerson allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 6.2 innings.

Lakeland PPD

Burlington 3 West Michigan 1
Gustavo Nunez went 2 for 4. Bryan Pounds had a hit and 2 walks. Luke Putkonen allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Tigers 12 GCL Braves 10
Elvin Soto was a double short of the cycle and he added a walk. Jordan Cruz homered. Francisco Martinez went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Minors News

The Tigers had 2 players on their VSL team suspended for testing positive for PEDs. Pitchers Carlos Alvarado and Frank Penalver are the guilty parties.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7/28/09

Toledo 5 Louisville 6 (11 innings)
Chris Lambert allowed just 2 runs despite 6 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings. Jeff Frazier went 3 for 5 with a double. Mike Hessman homered. Scott Sizemore went 3 for 6. Wilkin Ramirez donned the golden sombrero.

Erie 4 Akron 7
Casper Wells homered and singled. Alex Avila also homered, his 12th. Pat Stanley allowed 5 hits and 4 walks leading to 4 runs in 6 innings. Robbie Weinhardt allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in 2 innings.

Palm Beach 1 Lakeland 5
Devin Thomas went 2 for 4. Charlie Furbush allowed just 1 hit and he fanned 10 in 6 innings of shut out ball with no walks. Lester Oliveros recorded 5 of his 6 outs via the K, but he did allow a solo homer.

Burlington 2 West Michigan 7
Jordan Lennerton went 3 for 4. Brandon Douglas singled, doubled, and walked. Gustavo Nunez doubled and singled in his return to West Michigan. Mark Sorensen pitched a complete game with 5 K’s, 2 runs, and 7 hits.

Vermont 5 Oneonta 9
John Murrian hit a grand slam. Jamie Johnson, Michael Rockett, Wade Gaynor, and Luis Palacios all had 2 hits. Adam Wilk fanned 6 in 7.1 innings.

GCL Braves 3 GCL Tigers 7
Francisco Martinez homered. Eddie Rush doubled and singled. Jose Diaz allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, a walk, and 5 K’s in 5.2 innings.