Category Archives: Players

Tigers News and Links

The Tigers are getting popular. Winning will do that.

  • In his blog, Buster Olney excerpted some information from an upcoming ESPN the Magazine article about Joel Zumaya

    That was only the first time. Several talent evaluators who saw Zumaya in spring training believe he has the best fastball anywhere. “In the world,” says a rival executive. “The best pure stuff of any pitcher in pro ball,” says one scout.

  • Everybody has probably seen the Tigers near the tops of the Fox’s, ESPN, etc. power rankings. Sabermetric blog Beyond the Boxscore is also a fan

    Detroit Tigers (+4) – Yep, your Detroit Tigers are this year’s “fluke early emergence” that could parlay itself all the way to a postseason birth. I’m very impressed in the early going, and these guys have pitched really, really well. Their “Base Runs” allowed is at 85 in 28 games. Which essentially means that their opponents are only producing enough offense to score 3 R/G. That won’t last, but remember, you can’t take away the 10 games over .500.

  • John Sickels did a community projection for Justin Verlander. The results are favorable and I’d be very satisfied with a 3.75 ERA and 14 wins.
  • Larry Parrish will manage in the International League All Star game.

Breaking down Bonderman

A Tiger season wouldn’t be a Tiger season without doubt about Jeremy Bonderman. In 2003 when he struggled out of the gate, there was much speculation that he was brought to the majors to quickly (which he may have been). He then shutdown Oakland. In 2004 after a particularly rough spell, there was talk of demoting Bonderman from the rotation or even sending him to Toledo. He then went out and struckout 14 White Sox. In 2005 he faltered down the stretch, was hit by a line drive, and people wondered if he was injured…and he was.

So when Bonderman dropped his second and third games, and struggled in the first inning of his fourth, there was a right to be concerned that the previous year’s injury was still around. Or perhaps we think to highly of Jeremy and he’ll never be the stud we thought he could be. Or he was rushed and never had a chance to develop that third pitch.

Even after bouncing back against the Angels, Bonderman’s ERA stands at 5.04 which is worst among the Tiger starters. But with a closer look at the stats, one could argue that he has pitched the best, or at least question why he hasn’t had better results. Continue reading Breaking down Bonderman

Tiger Link Up

It’s been awhile since I shared some link love…

  • Darren McCarty is still pulling for the Tigers. This is only newsworthy because McCarty has been in Anaheim as well.
  • In Rob Neyer’s most recent chat featured several Tiger questions. He was asked about Chris Shelton and had this to say

    I still think he’s going to finish with 35-40 homers, because he really is a guy with fantastic hitting ability. And he’s strong, so some significant number of those balls he hits will carry the fence.

    But there was also this snippet:

    Matt, Boston: What pitcher do you think has the best pure stuff in the game right now?

    SportsNation Rob Neyer: Hard to say. But Verlander was regularly hitting 97-98 on the gun in Seattle the other day. He’s gotta be on the short list.

  • The new documentary “Stranded at the Corner” about Tiger Stadium’s plight is gaining some momentum in the blogosphere. Greg Eno says it is a must see. On a related note, Ian is wondering why other cities are embracing Tiger Stadium’s special characterisitics (ie the overhang), and yet Detroit didn’t.
  • And Kevin Goldstein chatted with scouts about Lakeland Tiger closer Kevin Whelan who has been tearing up the 9th inning since he was drafted last year.

    One scout was surprised at Whelan’s arsenal when he recently saw him pitch for High-A Lakeland. “I thought he’d throw harder; he’s low 90s, but he’s interesting because he basically does it with three fastballs,” said the scout. “He throws the straight fastball, a splitter with good fade, and a big forkball that just goes straight down and can be unhittable.” However, the scout was concerned with Whelan’s mechanics. “He short-arms everything. He was a catcher, and it looks like it when he pitches. I put him down as a potential closer, but it could depends on if his arm holds up.”

Pudge to play first?

It appears that Pudge has volunteered to play first base, or any other position for that matter. Rodriguez just wants to stay in the Tiger lineup, and if that means playing another position when he isn’t catching, he’s all for it.

“Give me a glove,” Pudge said Thursday morning before a game he was scheduled to catch. “Trust me, I can play anywhere.”

While the thought of Pudge playing first base is intriguing, it only becomes practical if he hits more like the 2004 version than the 2005 version. He’s off to a good start this season, even after the 0-11 the last two days. However, if it is last year’s offensive version of Rodriguez, there really isn’t a reason to try and keep his bat in the lineup.

And while Chris Shelton will probably need a day off before Dmitri Young is able to play the field, I question having a 5′ 8″ first baseman. While he’s very athletic, his stature limits his reach. Then again, the only real alternative right now is Carlos Guillen who’s first base experience includes the WBC and one inning today.

Tiger Link-up – it’s big and red

The only nice thing about the games being on the West coast, is that it gives me time to gather up all the interesting stuff I’ve seen while I wait for the first pitch.

Tigers stumble, but win

Okay, the title is somewhat facetious. I know they didn’t actually stumble. They did find themselves trailing for the first time this season. It was an uncomfortable half inning.

Also, Mike Maroth allowed a walk. The “incident” occured with one out in the 5th inning. It broke a string of 22 1/3 innings by Tigers starters without a free pass.

So the Tigers sit at 4-0 with two games to remain in the series. I think everybody would have been satisfied with a 4-2 roadtrip. The Tigers have at least assured themselves of that record. The next two games will be a test with Justin Verlander going today, and Sunday appears to be veteran rest day with Vance Wilson and Ramon Santiago set to get the starts over Pudge Rodriguez and Placido Polanco. On a side note, we’ve seen Santiago as a defensive replacement several times, and yet no Omar Infante at all.

Chris Shelton continued to do what Chris Shelton Ted Williams did. Maybe Gary Gillette needs to rethink his list of the top 10 young sluggers to make room for Big Red. Shelton’s major league leading 5th home run may just further validate Buc’s Dugouts assumption that the Pirates leaving Shelton unprotected was the worst move of the last 5 years in baseball.
Continue reading Tigers stumble, but win

Tiger Links – and quick

A lot of interesting stuff the last couple days, but I’m short on time so here’s a Joel Zumaya -fastball-esque link round-up:

Tiger Stuff

Other baseball stuff you might care about

  • striketwo.net: Summarizing the latest news and discussions from 678 MLB blogs: This is a newish site that I’ve become a big fan of. It tracks discussions across the blogosphere. You can view the hottest topics, or keep up to date with what others are saying about your favorite players or teams.
  • Ballbug : This is another tool that tracks discussions on the hottest topics in baseball. Ballbug just launched on Monday. If you’re familiar with memeorandum, this is the same thing but for baseball.
  • ATM Reports: Lee Sinins who publishes the very popular Around the Majors newsletter is doing it via a blog now.

detroit tigers, baseball, ballbug, striketwo

A heaping helping of Zumaya

There were several Detroit Tiger mentions over the last two days, and many of them included references to Joel Zumaya.

The Free Press had a piece on Zumaya’s new curveball/slider.

“My curve can be a slider,” he said. “If I throw it from over the top, it’s a curve with a 12-to-6 break. If I lower my arm angle, it has more of a slider movement. You’ll see me do that when the count is 0-2.”

His secondary pitch combined with the fastball has Buster Olney making Zumaya his Rookie of the Year pick. (Insider link)

Joel Zumaya has added a curve to his repertoire. I’m picking him to win AL Rookie of the Year. Based on what scouts are seeing in him, he won’t be in the Tigers’ bullpen for long.

Continue reading A heaping helping of Zumaya

Carlos Pena Released

The Tigers have unconditionally released Carlos Pena, thus ending his career as a Tiger. By releasing him now, the Tigers only have to pay 45 days of Pena’s $2.8 million salary, thus saving $2.1 million.

While the move isn’t surprising, I can’t help but be disappointed. I’m sure every effort was made to trade Pena, but there probably weren’t takers. While Pena has been frustratingly erratic, he still provides a powerful left handed bat, as well as plate discipline. While the Tigers weren’t lacking for first basemen, they are still lacking in those areas. And even despite Pena’s horrible first half, he still managed an 802 OPS in 2005.

This move definitely weakens the Tiger bench. While there isn’t a need for a first baseman/DH right now, one of the players that Detroit it relying on to man those positions is Dmitri Young who’s played one full season in his Tiger career. Omar Infante and Vance Wilson will occupy two of the 4 bench spots. A third spot will go to a backup outfielder who can probably play center – so Nook Logan or Alexis Gomez. That leaves one additional spot.

If the last spot is used to keep Marcus Thames in the organization, it will temper my disappointment somewhat. I don’t want to see the spot go to a light hitting infielder such as Ramon Santiago, or an error prone infielder such as Don Kelly.

Meanwhile, somebody will get a 28 year old power bat for cheap. Maybe Pena will never be an everyday player, and he may not be worth $2.8 million. However, he’d be a heck of a platoon option on the right team.

Off Day Tiger Round Up

The Tigers still have 45 players in camp, so there are a couple of sizable cuts coming.  The next one will probably be before the end of the week.  Until then, here are some items of note:

The rotation is set – sort of

Jim Leyland had already decided that Kenny Rogers would take the first turn, followed by Bonderman.  Now it appears that Nate Robertson will be the number 3, with Mike Maroth being number 4. There’s still no decision on Detroit’s 5th starter of course. While Leyland has said Joel Zumaya still has a shot (and really, he’s pitched good enough to deserve it), he’s slated to come out of the bullpen on Thursday. According to John Lowe, Zumaya could be the one to come in and face left handers, in lieu of another southpaw in the pen.
Continue reading Off Day Tiger Round Up

Tiger Roundup

The Tigers moved to 2-0 during grapefruit league action after outslugging Cincinnati 17-10. Danny Knobler reports that Justin Verlander was shaky at first, but managed to pitch his way out of it. And he did it without a visit from Jim Leyland or pitching coach Chuck Hernandez.

Leyland isn’t against mound visits, but he’s also big on individual responsibility. He wants players to think for themselves, and he wants to see how they react in tough situations.

“Get out of your own jam sometime,” he said this morning, before Verlander even took the mound. “Figure out how to do it.”

Former Tiger pitching coach Bob Cluck has found a job. He’ll be a minior league pitching consultant for the San Diego Padres.
Continue reading Tiger Roundup