Category Archives: Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8-4-08

Toledo 0 Louisville 11
Jeff Larish went 2 for 4 and Kody Kirkland was 2 for 3. Yorman Bazardo was pounded for 10 runs in 3.1 innings with 8 hits and 4 walks. Francisco Cruceta allowed 2 hits in an inning of work but struck out the side. Casey Fien threw another scoreless inning with a K.

Harrisburg 8 Erie 7
Santo De Leon singled and homered. Wil Rhymes and Casper Wells each had 2 hits. Danny Christensen allowed 5 runs on 11 hits in 5 innings with 1 walk and 4 K’s.

Lakeland 5 Tampa 10
Cale Iorg went 3 for 5. Ryan Strieby hit his 27th homer. Alfredo Firgaro was torched for 6 runs on 9 hits in 4.1 innings.

West Michigan – DNP

Oneonta 6 Tri- city 4
Bran Donglas went 3 for 6. Luis Arlet tripled and singled. Darwin De Leon pitched a 3 hitter with 2 runs allowed over 6 innings. Aaron Furhman fanned 7 in 4 scoreless innings.

GCL Tigers 4 GCL Phillies 8
Luis Salas had a hit and a walk.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 8-01-08

Toledo 3 Indianapolis 0
Dusty Ryan went 2 for 4 with a double. Clete Thomas homered. Virgil Vasquez pitched 7 innings or 2 hit ball. Francisco Cruceta and Francis Beltran each pitched scoreless innings.

Reading 6 Erie 10
Luis Marte allowed 5 runs on 5 hits and a walk while fanning 4. But only 2 of the runs were earned and James Skelton had 2 passed balls. Skelton went 0 for 2, but drew 3 walks. Wilkin Ramirez doubled and walked twice. Ryan Roberson and Deik Scram homered.

Lakeland 6 Sarasota 4
Ryan Strieby homered and drove in 2. Rick Porcello allowed 4 runs, but only 1 earned in 4 innings on 6 hits, no walks, and 3 K’s. Zach Simons struck out 5 in 2 innings. Ryan Perry and Jay Sborz pitched scoreless innings.

West Michigan 6 Kane County 7
Kody Kaiser and Jordan Newton both homered. Justin Henry went 2 for 5. Manny Miguelez allowed 5 runs in 5 innings on 6 hits and 3 walks. Scott Green allowed 2 hits and 2 walks and a run in 1 inning.

Oneonta 6 Tri-City 0
Trevor Feeney pitched 8 innings of 1 hit ball, allowing just 1 walk against 9 strikeouts. Bryan Pounds went 2 for 4.

GCL Tigers 1 GCL Indians 2
Londell Taylor homered, his second of the year. Jade Todd pitched 5.2 shutout innings allowing a hit and 2 walks while fanning 9.

GCL Indians 2 GCL Tigers 0
The Tigers only mustered 3 singles and a walk. Brayan Villareal pitched 6 innings of 3 hit ball and fanned 7 with no walks.

The Tigers might have some minor league catchers

Take 75 North runs down all of the catching roster moves that took place in the wake of the Pudge Rodriguez trade. The Tigers organizational catching situation has been described as barren, and that’s not quite fair. There are a couple intriguing prospects who are worth following as they will now be tested at higher levels.

Dane Sardinha was called up to Detroit.
Dusty Ryan went from Erie to Toledo.
James Skelton bumped up from Lakeland to Erie.
Adrian Casanova moved from West Michigan to Lakeland.
Angel Flores will be taking a drive west from Oneonta to West Michigan.
Oneonta doesn’t have to replace Flores because they already have Joe Bowen and Tyler Weber on the team.

The two to keep an eye on are Dusty Ryan and James Skelton. Ryan has burst on to the scene a little bit with his bat this season. Baseball America rated him as the organization’s top defensive catcher. But up until this year the bat hadn’t played with his highest OPS season was the 693 he posted as a 21 year old in West Michigan. However this year he has a 255/345/472 line for AA Erie.

He only has a 15% line drive rate so his .326 BABIP is inflated. But there is something to be said for the 14 homers he has to date. The season hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency. His monthly OPS from April through July have been: 1.022 – .730 – .893 – .675. So his promotion to AAA either coincides well with the up and down nature of his season. Or it coincides horribly with a time where he is either a)regressing to the mean or b)tiring out.

James Skelton has swung a high average, low power bat for the last couple of seasons. That has continued into 2008 where he has a 308/465/409 line. He missed time in June due to injury, but has come back with a little more pop. He picked up 7 of his 12 extra base hits in the month of July. The biggest knock on Skelton is that many feel he’s just too small to be a catcher if he weighs 165 pounds. I have no idea if this is true or not, but the dude is tiny.

Between Ryan, Skelton, and even Alex Avila (290/362/331 at West Michigan) the position isn’t completely empty in the organization. While it does lack top flight prospects, the Tigers aren’t unique in that regard. And with the promotions of Ryan and Skelton the Tigers get another month to evaluate each as they are one step closer to the bigs.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-30-08

Indianapolis 2 Toledo 1
Jeff Larish went 2 for 4. Yorman Bazardo went 8 innings with 4 K’s, no walks, and 8 hits in 8 innnings.

Erie 4 Akron 3 (10 innings)
Dusty Ryan homered. Wil Rhymes, Jeff Frazier, Ryan Roberson, and Santo De Leon each had 2 hits. Danny Christensen struck out 6 and walked none in 6 innings.

Tampa 5 Lakeland 6 (10 innings)
Ryan Strieby went 4 for 5. James Skelton was 1 for 3 with 3 walks. Alfredo Figaro made his Lakeland debut and allowed 5 runs, but only 2 were earned, with 4 K’s, and a walk in 5 innings. Rob Weinhardt pitched 2.1 innings and fanned 2 allowing 2 hits.

West Michigan 7 Quad Cities 2
Christopher White was 3 for 3 with a walk. Ronnie Bourquin, Jordan Newton and Joe Tucker all had 2 hit games. Jon Kibler scattered 10 hits over 6.2 innings so only 2 runs crossed the plate.

West Michigan Quad Cities (in progress)

Oneonta 2 Aberdeen 4
Brandon Douglas went 2 for 4. Billy Nowlin and Angel Flores each homered. Matt Hoffman allowed 3 runs in 5 innings with 3 K’s and a walk. Anthony Shawler surrendered 1 run on 3 hits, 1 walk, and 4 K’s.

GCL Blue Jays 0 GCL Tigers 1 (suspended)

Why look elsewhere for bullpen help?

One area where the Tigers have been rumored to be shoppers is the bullpen. It’s a situation that has been exacerbated by Todd Jones’s failures, Freddy Dolsi’s shoulder fatigue, and Joel Zumaya’s tricep issues and general control problems. But why don’t the Tigers look inside the organization? After all this is a team that used its first 4 picks in the 2008 draft on college relievers. Shouldn’t they be able to take advantage to bolster the pen?

While first round pick Ryan Perry just started pitching in games last week, other members of the 2008 class have been pitching for several weeks with considerable success.

Rob Weinhardt, the 10th round pick, has put up the most sparkling numbers and he’s done it at Lakeland. Going into today he had allowed 2 hits, a walk, while fanning 21 in 15.1 innings. He’s joined in Lakeland by 2nd round pick Cody Satterwhite who has pitched 4 scoreless innings with 6 K’s while allowing 5 baserunners.

Farther down at West Michigan 3rd rounder Scott Green has a 1.00 WHIP in his 9 innings with 7 K’s, 1 walk and 8 hits allowed. Fourth round pick Brett Jacobson sports a 3.07 ERA in 14.2 innings with 13 strike outs against 3 walks.

If you want someone with more experience, Casey Fien caught Leyland’s eye this spring and has a 2.96 ERA in 45.2 innings at Erie (he was just promoted to Toledo) with 42 K’s and 12 walks. His only blemish is that he’s a fly ball pitcher with 5 homers in 45.2 innings.

Or there is Chris Lambert who has been starting with some success for Toledo. He has a 3.42 ERA and a 97:41 K:BB ratio in 118.1 innings. I don’t know if he can start, but the Tigers will likely be adding him to the 40 man roster this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft regardless so why not see if he can help now?

Now the trouble with all the previously mentioned guys is that they are right handed. But Clay Rapada is still toiling in the organization and has a 2.70 ERA for Toledo and has fanned 28 in 20 innings.

I’m sure that Dombrowski and company are aware of what is in the system. But in my mind if you make such a concerted effort to draft college relievers, a big part of the value is that those arms should be close to big league ready and their value is enhanced by being able to contribute quickly. If none can contribute then I question the selections. I don’t question the scouting, because quite frankly I’ve never seen these guys pitch and I’m far from qualified to do the assessment anyways. But it doesn’t mean I can’t question the philosophy. Combine that with a lefty specialist who seems capable of the role and I can’t figure out why the Tigers would give up anything of value for what would likely be a nondescript bullpen arm.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-24-08: Ryan Perry Debut

Toledo 1 Rochester 6
This one only went 5 due to rain. Mike Hollimon homered and Jeff Larish and Timo Perez doubled. Chris Lambert allowed 6 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings despite only 1 walk and 7 K’s

Binghamton 11 Erie 0
Danny Worth and Lou Ott both went 2 for 3. Lauren Gagnier didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning before allowing 9 runs.

Binghamton 0 Erie 1
Casper Wells, Deik Scram, and Santo De Leon had the only hits and Jeff Frazier had the only RBI. Danny Christensen pitched 6.1 innings of 3 hit ball. Casey Fien got the last 2 outs.

Wisconsin 5 West Michigan 8
Chris Carlson and Joe Tucker each had 3 hits. Jordan Newton and Justin Henry each had 2 hits. Kyle Peter singled and walked 3 times. Alfredo Figaro surrendered 4 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings. Scott Green got the save with a scoreless inning including a hit and a strikeout.

Sarasota 17 Lakeland 10
On a night when the Flying Tigers score 10, my first player of note is a guy who didn’t get a hit. Ryan Strieby’s six game homer streak was snapped. Mike Bertram did hit 2 homers and drove in 6 runs. Adam Frost also homered and doubled. Most of the pitching was really bad. Cody Satterwhite struck out the side int he 8th and Brandon Timm pitched a scoreless 9th. That’s noteworthy since he isn’t a pitcher.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Braves 4 GCL Tigers 6
Ryan Perry made his debut and he struck out the side in the 8th inning. Luis Palacios led the attack going 4 for 5 with a double and 3 RBI. Luis Angel Sanz pitched out of the pen, but allowed just 1 hit, and no walks while fanning 5 in 4 shut out innings.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-22-08

Toledo 0 Rochester 13
The Mud Hens faced Francisco Liriano, and it didn’t go well. Erick Almonte doubled. Brent Clevlen walked twice and singled. Virgil Vasquez was hammered for 9 runs (5 earned) in 3.2 innings.

Binghamton 2 Erie 8
Ryan Roberson homered. Deik Scram, Jeff Frazier, and Wil Rhymes all had 2 hits. Joshn Rainwater went 6.1 innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks, and 1 K.

Binghamton 6 Erie 3
(in progress)
Ryan Roberson homered. Juan Cedeno was lit up for 10 hits and 6 runs in 3.2 innings.

Lakeland 6 Vero Beach 4
Ryan Strieby homered AGAIN. Five straight games and 6 of 7 now on his Thames-ian streak. Brandon Timm doubled and homered. Duane Below fanned 10, but walked 6 in 6.1 innings allowing 3 runs. Rob Weinhardt allowed a run in 1.2 innings, but it was unearned. Cody Satterwhite allowed 2 hits but no runs for the save.

West Michigan DNP

Oneonta 6 Batavia 3
Josh Workman doubled twice and his hitting .353. Darwin De Leon allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 K in 5.2 innings. Aaron Fuhrman allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 3.1 innings of relief.

GCL Tigers 5 GCL Phillies 2

Luis Salas doubled and walked. Brandon Harrigan tripled and walked. Brandon Hamilton struck out 2 and allowed 2 hits in 5 innings. Nick Cassavechia pitched an inning for the save and he now has 22 K’s against 2 walks over 16 innings.

Tigers Minor League Wrap: 7-20-08

Toledo 8 Pawtucket 4
Brent Clevlen went 3 for 4 with a homer. Freddy Guzman walked 3 times and singled. Yorman Bazardo allowed 4 runs on 4 hits in 6.2 innings.

Erie 3 Akron 1
Ryan Roberson was 1 for 4 and that hit was a homer. Max De Leon also homered. Lucas French pitched 6 shut out innings. Casey Fien fanned 2 in his 1 inning save.

Lakeland 4 Vero Beach 5
Ryan Strieby homered yet again, his 20th of the season. He also doubled. Guillermo Moscoso fanned 7 and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 innings. Jay Sborz allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and didn’t record an out.

West Michigan 0 Burlington 6
Cory Middleton doubled, and that’s the offensive highlight. Jon Kiblerallowed just 1 run in 6 innings and his ERA is at 1.92. Wilton Garcia and Manny Miguelez combined to allow 5 runs in 2 innings.

Oneonta PPD

GCL Tigers DNP

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-19-08: a no-no for Porcello

Toledo 13 Pawtucket 5
Clete Thomas went 3 for 3 with a walk, a homer and 5 RBI. Erick Almonte doubled and homered. Derek Wathan had 3 hits. Chris Lambert struck out 8 and allowed 4 runs in 6 innings. Clay Rapada allowed a couple hits and a homer in 1 inning.

Erie 2 Akron 7
Erie faced Fautso Carmona and they managed 14 hits but hit into 4 double plays. Wil Rhymes, Deik Scram, Jeff Frazier, Max De Leon, and Jeff Kunkel all had multi-hit games. Danny Christensen was knocked around for 5 runs in 4 innings.

Lakeland 4 St. Lucie 1
No hitter for Porcello, and some. Okay, it was a 7 inning game due to the doubleheader, and it took 3 pitchers to do it. But it’s still a no-no. But the pitchers that joined in with Rick Porcello were 08 draftees Rob Weinhardt and Cody Satterwhite making it pretty impressive. Ryan Strieby tripled, homered, and walked. James Skelton added 2 hits and a walk.

St. Lucie 9 Lakeland 1
Ryan Strieby had the lone hit, a homer. Matt O’Brien allowed 10 hits and 8 runs came across to score. Ramon Garcia pitched 2 shut out innings allowing 2 hits and fanning 2.

West Michigan 10 Burlington 4
Brandon Douglas went 3 for 4 with a walk. Alex Avila and Joe Tucker each had 3 hits as well. Alfredo Figaro struck out 5 and walked none in 5.1 innings allowing 2 runs.

Oneonta ppd

GCL Indians 2 GCL Tigers 3
Alden Carrithers was 1 for 2 with 2 walks. Darlin Duran allowed just 1 run on 2 hits in 5 innings.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-17-08

Toledo 6 Pawtucket 15
Brent Clevlen homered twice and Derek Wathan hit a grand slam. But it was no match for the Big Papi led Pawtucket team. Virgil Vasquez was bludgeoned for 3 homers and 7 runs in 3.1 innings.

Erie 7 Akron 5
Deik Scram homered and added 2 singles. Casper Wells was 4 for 4 with a homer, 3 doubles, and a walk. Dusty Ryan also had 3 hits. Kody Kirkland homered and walked. Josh Rainwater allowed 5 runs on 12 hits in 4.2 innings.

Dontrelle Willis pitches for Lakeland - cr Roger DeWitt
Dontrelle Willis pitches for Lakeland - cr Roger DeWitt

St. Lucie 5 Lakeland 2
Dontrelle Willis started and went 3 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits, 1 K, and NO WALKS. Ryan Strieby homered.

St. Lucie 3 Lakeland 5
Jeramy Laster homered and drove in two runs. Justin Justice tripled and walked. Jonah Nickerson fanned 5 in 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits. Rob Weinhardt got a 1.1 inning save with 2 K’s.

West Michigan 7 Beloit 11

Brandon Douglas is enjoying his time in the Midwest League and he went 4 for 5 with a homer and 2 doubles. Phil Nardozzi allowed 7 runs and didn’t make it out of the 4th inning.

Brooklyn 4 Oneonta 5

Chris White went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. Brian Pounds tripled, singled, and walked. David Stokes allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings.

GCL Blue Jays 2 GCL Tigers 4
Alexis Espinoza hit his first stateside homer and added a single. Alden Carrithers also went deep and walked. Brandon Hamilton fanned 7 and allowed 2 runs in 5.2 innings. Nick Cassavechia pitched 2.1 innings allowing only a walk while striking out 5.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-16-08

PCL 6 INT 2
The Tigers sent a few reps to the AAA All Star game with not so good results. Mike Hessman went 0 for 4. Brent Clevlen managed a single and a stole base. But Blaine Neal allowed all 6 runs in the 9th inning.

South 3 North 5
Ryan Roberson represented with a homered and added a second RBI. Dusty Ryan went 0 for 2 and Danny Christensen allowed a run in 2 innings.

Lakeland- PPD

West Michigan 2 Beloit 5 (in progress)
Brandon Douglas, making his Whitecap debut in place of the injured Audy Ciriaco, picked up 2 hits. Kody Kaiser homered. Thad Weber allowed 5 runs in 3.2 innings.

Brooklyn 1 Oneonta 4
Josh Workman went 2 for 4. Darwin De Leon allowed 1 run on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 K’s in 5 innings. Aaron Fuhrman pitched 3 shut out innings allowing 4 hits and fanning 3.

GCL Yankees 4 GCL Tigers 2
Luis Palacios homered and drove in 2. Jordan Lennerton went 2 for 3. And there was a Luis Marte sighting. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits with no walks and 5 K’s in 5 innings.

GCL Tigers 3 GCL Yankees 1

Adam Frost homered. Chao Ting Tang singled and walked. Jordan Tata went 6 innings and he allowed 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks. That’s some progress.

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-14-08 – UPDATED 7-15

Toledo DNP

Altoona 2 Erie 1
Dusty Ryan and Deik Scran each doubled. Eddie Bonine had an unremarkable start allowing 4 hits and 2 walks in 3.2 innings. I’m not sure why it was such a short outing.

UPDATE 1: Bonine left early after being hit by a line drive. He expects to be fine. He hadn’t allowed any runs prior to taking one on the shin.

Lakeland 0 Palm Beach 1
Justin Justice had the Lakeland hit. Guillermo Moscoso allowed 1 run on 5 hits and 4 walks with 6 K’s in 6 innings. Zach Simons fanned 3 in 2 innings.

Peoria 2 West Michigan 10
Magglio Ordonez made a rehab start and singled in 4 at-bats. Ronnie Bourquin had 3 hits. Cory Middleton was a triple short of the cycle. Jordan Newton doubled and homered. Jon Kibler allowed 1 run in 7 innings and fanned 4. Scott Green allowed a run on 2 hits with 1 K in 2 innings.

UPDATE 2: Video from Maggs rehab assignment from mlive.

Ordonez rehabs with Whitecaps, eyes return to Tigers

Oneonta 3 Williamsport 4
Brandon Douglas had 2 hits and a walk. Wade Lamont doubled and singled. Trevor Feeny allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings. Anthony Shawler pitched 2 scoreless innings.

Oneonta 0 Williamsport 1
(in progess)
Bryan Pounds had a hit. Matt Hoffman has allowed 1 run through 4 innings with 3 K’s.

GCL Tigers 5 GCL Braves 4
Alden Carrithers went 2 for 3 with a walk. Londell Taylor was 0 for 3 but scored 3 times. Jade Todd allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 3.2 innings.