Some of my Tiger blogging brethren have clever names for their link round up posts, like Bless You Boys “Like Stripes on the fur coat of a Tiger” or Mack Avenue Tigers “Bunt Singles” or Roar of the Tigers “Pug Marks.” Here’s my foray and we’ll call it Junkballing: Continue reading Junkballing: Baserunning, blocking, projections
Category Archives: Spring Training
Can you teach an old catcher new tricks?
Pudge Rodriguez’s power surge has been a pleasant surprise this spring. With two more homers today, he now has a MLB leading six for the spring. But as Jason Beck notes, Pudge is focusing less on the homers, and more on being patient. This is a guy after all, that is one of only 4 players since 2003 to have more than 500 plate appearances in a season and fewer than 15 walks. And he did it twice!
Still, Pudge sez:
“No, I don’t think I’ve had a Spring Training like that as far as home runs. But I don’t look for that. It’s good, yes. I have six home runs in Spring Training. The main thing about it is I’m just doing what I want to do and just be more selective at the plate, try to hit some strikes and take the balls. I’m just trying to see 4-5 pitches per at-bat. That’s what I’m trying to do. And so far, that’s what I’m doing. I’m feeling pretty good about that.”
Keep in mind here that Pudge’s pitch selection in 2007 wasn’t just poor, it was horrendous. Using pitch f/x data from last year we saw that a typical big leaguer would offer at 29% of pitchers out of the strike zone. Rodriguez was around 50%.
As for the 4-5 pitches per PA, that would be quite a jump. Beck noted that Rodriguez ranked near the bottom in terms of pitchers per PA last year when he averaged 3.51. But that was actually the most pitches he’s seen since becoming a Tigers with rates of 3.44, 3.33, and 3.39. In fact the 3.51 was the 2nd highest mark of his career.
Rodriguez’s ability to carry this over into the regular season would seem to be far fetched. Still, this is a contract year which may provide some extra motivation to be a more complete hitter. Secondly, he’s had some early success this spring which should provide some positive reinforcement that the approach is working. Third, he’ll be in a great lineup. Okay, that last one doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is a popular refrain for why players will do really well for the Tigers this year.
Rick Porcello to Lakeland and other cuts
The Tigers trimmed the first 12 players from big league camp today. As expected Rick Porcello was among those sent out. What wasn’t a given was his destination. But now we know his contract was optioned to Lakeland.
The other players to be set to inor league camp are: Armando Galarraga, Macay McBride, Jeff Gerbe, Joe Bowen, Dusty Ryan, James Skelton,Jeff Larish, Danny Worth, Matt Joyce, Wilkin Ramirez, and Clete Thomas.
Those earning a longer look include infielders Mike Hollimon and Scott Sizemore.
Good news for Tigers pen?
Given the rash of bad news with injuries, shellackings, and visa problems hitting the Tigers bullpen, today was a nice change.
- Denny Bautista continued to pitch well. He went 2 scoreless innings with 4 K’s and is going to be hard to leave behind when the team heads North.
- Jordan Tata, who wasn’t a strong candidate for the pen but would be counted on for depth, received news that he should be able to start throwing again in 3 weeks.
- Yorman Bazardo and Jason Grilli also turned in strong performances today. Granted it was one day, but it’s better than a kick in the teeth.
- Clay Rapada, another long shot arm for the pen but also a depth guy, threw a bullpen session. It was the first time on a mound since the 2nd week of camp.
The less good news had to do with Todd Jones. While no one seems worried, a lack of arm strength is pretty troubling. It sounds like he’s confident he can build up the strength, but what if he can’t?
I’ll leave you with a happy thought though. Rick Porcello looked very good, save for one breaking ball that floated over everyone’s heads. He got into the proverbial kitchen of a few guys in his 2 innings of work and nothing was hit hard against him. It’s the first time I’ve seen him on the mound save for still shots, and he doesn’t look like a guy fresh out of high school.
Let the Todd Jones hand wringing begin
What do you get when you take an unsettled bullpen, a closer who kinda makes people nervous on a good day, and two craptacular spring outings? A recipe for Todd Jones hysteria.
Today Todd Jones turned in his second awful outing of the spring in what turned out to be a 9-7 Tigers win. Jones didn’t make it out of the 9th inning before surrendering 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk. Last week Jones was hammered for 6 runs in an inning of work.
Is there reason to be concerned? It’s hard to say sitting here in Michigan. Jason Beck noted after Jones’s first bad outing that it’s tough to gauge closers in the spring when they are coming into the 4th inning of games. Well today Jones came into the 9th inning of a game. I’m not sure the fact that he was facing minor leaguers makes the situation worse or better. On one hand he should dominate these kids. On the other hand that adrenaline rush that closers supposedly rely on probably wasn’t there either.
Beck blogged that Jones was working on locating his fastball today. He clearly wasn’t doing it well based on the results. But Beck also notes that Jones isn’t injured which is the most important thing. If there were reports coming out that Jones was velocity was down, or that he had no movement on his pitches I would definitely be more concerned. At this point though I’m willing to chalk his struggles up to “working on things.”
Video: Spring Training Granderson Style
ESPN.com followed Curtis Granderson around on the first day of spring training. See Curtis sign autographs, reminisce about being a minor leaguer in camp, and get heckled by his skipper while taking BP.
Brandon Inge might have been misquoted…
Inge connects for RBI Triple. credit TheCouga
Yes. It’s another Brandon Inge story. Inge may yet be the Tigers back-up catcher when the season begins because it became clear today that Vance Wilson won’t be ready. And backpedaling from his Sunday statements that rose the ire of many (including your local blogger), Inge is amenable to catching.
He told Danny Knobler today that he regretted how his comments about catching sounded. He also said he had no problem catching.
Jason Beck follows with a report from a radio appearance by Al Avila. Beck had this quote from Avila:
“Brandon came in actually today and talked to Jim [Leyland]. He felt that he was misquoted in the newspaper, things were taken out of context and he actually came in today and said that he’s willing to catch. From his point of view today, he’s expressing that the way that things that were written weren’t exactly the way he expressed it, he was just frustrated that one game but if he’s going to be with the Tigers he’ll be happy. At this point you can count on Brandon Inge being a Detroit Tiger and he’ll catch when we need him.”
Considering that multiple reporters came with the same quotes makes me think he was accurately quoted. As for the comments being out of context, I don’t really know what the context could have been. However the text may have not captured the sentiment. Without hearing it there’s no way to know either way. But it does seem consistent that he was speaking at the peak of frustration. At least their is recognition on Inge’s part that what he said wasn’t good.
Regardless, the money part of the quote comes at the end when Avila declares we “can count on” Inge as a Tiger. Is the trade pursuit over or is it simply that fans should count on him not to complain?
Wednesday Woundup
A bulleted list of the day that was in Florida:
- Justin Verlander made his second start and allowed just one hit in 3 innings. Denny Bautista continued to impress with 2 innings and a lone walk as the only blemish as the Tigers beat the Phillies
- Oh yeah, and Carlos Guillen went deep
oncetwice and Magglio Ordonez hit his first dinger of the spring. - Wilkin Ramirez continues to impress. From a tools standpoint he’s one of the better prospects in the Tigers system, but injuries have kept him from translating that into performance.
- Speaking of injuries Tigstown started a series providing an in depth explanation for the various injuries plaguing the Tigers. First up is shoulder tendinitis.
- The Tigers were victorious against Pittsburgh as well. Yorman Bazardo made the start and allowed no hits, but 3 walks in his 2 innings.
- Rick Porcello took a turn as well and it wasn’t quite as easy as 6 up 6 down. But he wasn’t exactly rocked either. He allowed 3 hits, but two were infield singles and on the day he only allowed 1 ball out of the infield. He did walk two hitters however.
- And Granderson finally tripled. It’s about time. [sarcasm]
- What’s fun about split squad days is seeing some of the guys from the minor league camp getting a chance to play. Audy Ciriaco, Danny Worth, and Deik Scram were just some of the guys who got a chance to play today.
D-Train rockin’ the D against C.C.
While a game the first week of spring training probably means little, you can’t help but wonder if today’s 3-3 10 inning tie between the Tigers and Indians could be an indicator of how the 2008 season will transpire for these teams.
Of more immediate importance today was the debut of Dontrelle Willis in a Tigers uniform. Dontrelle was admittedly nervous at the start of the game. Willis allowed three hits, including a homer in two innings of work. But the reports were positive with Leyland complimenting Willis’s fastball and Willis tipping his cap to Ben Francisco who’s homer came on a good pitch. No word on whether Willis was using his full repertoire of if he was focusing on fastball-change as the other starters have done in their first appearances.
Other notes:
- Brent Clevlen made a couple of nice plays in center field, at least according to Dan and Jim on the broadcast.
- Speaking of Dan and Jim, they gave listeners a little bit of a scare saying that Miguel Cabrera limped to the bench after a ground out. They later clarified saying that everything was OK, but jeez. Don’t scare us guys.
- I don’t put a lot of stock in spring stats, especially for established players. Like I’m not worried that Carlos Guillen doesn’t have a hit. But it is worth noting that Brandon Inge has only made 2 outs over 4 games. He’s 3 of 5 with 4 walks.
- It was the locks for the roster that gave up the runs today with Willis, Todd Jones, and Tim Byrdak all surrendering a run on multiple hits. But it was a solid outing for Denny Bautista who fanned one and allowed a lone hit in his 2 innings.
Rick Porcello’s Debut
credit Roger DeWitt
The Tigers first round draft pick from a year ago made his debut of sorts today. Rick Porcello pitched 2 perfect innings, the first of which came while the Blue Jays regulars were in the game. Here’s how his day went:
- David Eckstein grounds out, pitcher Rick Porcello to first baseman Jeff Larish.
- Alex Rios grounds out, shortstop Mike Hollimon to first baseman Jeff Larish.
- Vernon Wells pops out to first baseman Jeff Larish
- Frank Thomas strikes out swinging.
- Russ Adams grounds out, second baseman Scott Sizemore to first baseman Jeff Larish.
- Matt Watson grounds out, third baseman Ramon Santiago to first baseman Jeff Larish.
Six batters faced and no balls leaving the infield. Plus getting The Big Hurt swinging and I think the outing can only be viewed as a positive.
Spring Training Game 3: Tigers at Blue Jays
PREGAME: The Tigers make their first road trip today and the destination is Dunedin. Justin Verlander will start and be followed by new papa Nate Robertson. Rick Porcello is also scheduled to pitch today.
Tigers position players making the trip include Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Edgar Renteria, Jacque Jones, Marcus Thames, and Brandon Inge. They’ll have the unenviable task of facing Roy Halladay.
Game Time 1:05 and it will be available through MLB audio.
IN GAME: The Tigers struck first when Jacque Jones singled leading off the second and Ryan Raburn followed with a double. A first pitch ground ball from Inge scored the run. Jeff Larish popped out on a jam shot and Raburn was stranded at third.
Verlander allowed only an infield single to Matt Stairs (chew on that for a moment) in his 2 innings of work.
-Granderson homered on a full count pitch against a southpaw leading off the 3rd inning.
Rick Porcello recorded two 1-2-3 innings, and was facing the starters in his first inning. Nice start for the kid.
Francis Beltran pitches into, and out of trouble in the 7th inning.
The dream continues, and other stuff
The Tigers are undefeated, and here we are all of 2 days into spring training. Detroit beat a back-up Toronto Blue Jays roster by a score of 4-1.
Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez were the offense with Grandy belting a 2 run homer and Ordonez picking up two hits. The pitchers had little trouble with the makeshift lineup with Virgil Vasquez pitching 2 perfect innings and Bobby Seay getting the save by fanning 2 in the ninth.
Vasquez got the start because Nate Robertson was busy birthin’ a baby boy who was born early this morning. That’s the happy news. On a sadder note, Yorman Bazardo is away from the team because his father passed away.
I didn’t do a game post today because a) the game wasn’t being broadcast at all, and 2) yesterday’s didn’t generate many comments. Still, I noticed quite a bit of traffic today during the game, so if you want spring training game posts let me know.
Reliever injuries
Fernando Rodney’s shoulder is easiest the biggest concern of camp at this point. Yes it’s early and there’s still a full month before the season, but this injury crept up in the first week of camp. Rodney had 2 DL stints last year, and the idea of Rodney being a month-on, month-off pitcher won’t do anything to help a bullpen full of question marks.
The good news is that Zumaya has been cleared to throw and is pain free after his first session. Who knows what will happen, but it has to start somewhere.
Other stuff
- SI.com – Writers – John Donovan: Fun-loving pitcher Willis looking to rebound in Detroit
- FOX Sports on MSN – MLB – Tigers lineup could be one for the ages
- The folks at the MVN network have launched a Fantasy Baseball e-zine called RosterMag. There’s a ton of good stuff from some good bloggers. They let me write the Tigers team preview, so check it out.