I’ll be updating this post throughout the day as the Tigers make their picks…

1st Round (10th pick): Cameron Maybin 6-3, 200lbs T C Roberson HS North Carolina

The Tigers selected high school outfielder Cameron Maybin with their first pick in the 2005 draft. Baseball America had him rated the 2nd best high school prospect behind number 1 pick Justin Upton. Maybin is a toolsy player with a high ceiling. Here’s some additional informaion:

Baseball America says:

Still feeling bad about that loss on Sunday? Was it compounded by last night’s loss to the Dodgers. Read this for therapy in a blog. Oh, yeah – it ryhmes. Brilliant!

Once again the Tigers capped off what could have been an impressive homestand with a loss. If it feels like a recurring theme, well it is. The Tigers have had 5 homestands this year, and have lost on get-away day 4 of the 5 times. Mike Maroth picked up the loss yesterday, despite keeping Baltimore off balance. The Orioles used a combination of tweeners, dribblers and defensive miscues to scratch out a 6-2 victory. Most disturbing is that this marked yet another game in which the Tigers defense played poorly.

Throughout the first quarter of the season, the Tigers ranked in the top 3 in the American League in defensive efficiency. They were hovering a little over the .7110 mark against a league average of .6974. However, they have now slipped to 6th in the AL at .7020. This is due to a 12 game stretch, starting with the New York series, where there defensive efficiency has been an abyssmal .6544. While these numbers all seem pretty close, the impacts can be significant. In the case of this 12 game stretch, Tiger pitchers allowed 353 balls in play. If they had been average defensively, that would have been 15 fewer baserunners.

During this time period, the Tigers also have committed 16 errors – and 9 have come in the last 4 games.

What’s causing this defensive collapse? Part of it probably has to do with Carlos Guillen being unable to play shortstop on a regular basis. Tony Giarratano had a couple rough games as Guillen’s replacement, and Ramon Martinez has struggled as well. Even with Guillen playing yesterday, his range and ability to plant and throw is probably being hindered by his knee. I think the Tigers have also already started to experience the downside of life without Carlos Pena at first base. There have been a number of throwing errors that may have been negated by Pena’s foot work around the base. Fortunately, with the exception of a couple of plays, the outfield defense has been quite good.

Another explanation may be that the Tigers defense was playing over their heads for the first quarter of the season. What we may be seeing is a regression back to their true playing level. The Tigers were 3rd worst in defensive efficiency last year, and by and large brought back the same club. While Nook Logan is definitely an upgrade in centerfield, and Brandon Inge has more range than Munson at 3rd, the Tigers have mostly incumbents playing the positions.

In any case the Tigers continued their love-hate relationship with .500. They love getting there, but they hate getting past it.

Dodger Time
Now this is one of the cool things about interleague play. The Tigers head out west to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles. It will be the first time the Tigers have ever played in Dodger Stadium, so naturally the game isn’t televised in Detroit. As Tiger fans, we don’t get alot of exposure to the Dodgers on a regular basis. The first thing I’d recommend you do is listen to this. It is Vin Scully calling the 9th inning of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game. If that gives you chills – as it should – go out and get Jane Leavy’s biography of Sandy Koufax. In the meantime, check out Dodger Thoughts where there is a break down of what the Dodgers have done the first third of the season.

Oh Say Can You Sing
Good Sports Recordings has made a CD featuring 10 current major leaguers and Ozzie Smith performing various songs. Included on the CD is the Tigers’ own Matt Ginter playing banjo on Dooley. Now I’m not an afficionado on banjo music, but it sounded pretty good. Also included on the disk are some decent performances by Jeff Conine (STP – Plush), and Aubrey Huff (John Michael Montgomery – Letters from home). The CD also comes with a behind the scenes DVD, and a portion of the proceeds benefit various charities. If you’re a fan of one of the players on the disc, it could be a cool collectible. For the complete list of who and what are one the CD, or to purchase one, click here.

You had to see this one coming. On a night where the Tigers offense puts up 7 runs in the first 3 innings, and your starting pitcher can’t protect the lead even through the 5th inning…

This isn’t the end of Wil Ledezma as a starter, but the Tigers don’t have the luxury of letting guys develop and figure stuff out at the major league level any more. This team has a chance to be competitive, and Ledezma wasn’t allowing them to do that.

With off days, the Tigers can get through the next week without a 5th starter. Plus, it will give Trammell a little more flexibility as the Tigers head into National League parks.

After the LA-Colorado swing, my guess is that Sean Douglass will be called up to be the 5th starter.

As for who the closer is, your guess is as good as mine. Percival has said he’ll do whatever the team needs him to do. With the way Urbina is pitching, I’d hope that Trammell would stay with the hot hand.

Game Thoughts
I tend to not blast Trammell, but last night wasn’t one of his finer games. In a week in which the Tigers have come from behind numerous times, it appeared that Trammell was willing to concede that 2 runs was too much to come back from. There is no way that Doug Creek should have been left in with the bases loaded.

Also, Tony Giarratano has to be partially responsible for the loss. On three different occasions, runs scored on balls off of his glove. A couple of them were tougher plays, but he’s got to make some of those plays.

Gammons on Inge
Thanks to Jeff who posted this in the comments to the last post, but Gammons has a piece on Brandon Inge that is worth a read.

The Hardball Times updated their Win Shares stats through May 31st, and I’ve updated and enhanced the treemap. Below is the map for the entire AL Central. The lightest color is offensive win shares, the darkest color is fielding win shares, and the in-between color is pitching. To see a larger image just click on the picture. The bigger the box, the more win shares. If you want more explanation for this chart, read this. And if you want to see the inspiration for the chart, click here.

Some things that jump out at me:

• Just how little Kansas City’s pitching has accomplished. Kansas City doesn’t have many wins to begin with, but what they have has been coming from the offense.
• Across the rest of the division pitching and defense appears to dominate with shaded squares out sizing white squares.
• The White Sox offseason acquisitions of Podsednik, Iguchi, and Pierzynski have accumlated a significant portion of the Sox offensive win shares.
• The Tigers and Indians went into the season looking for significant offense from their catchers – it hasn’t happened. Rodriguez has done ok from a win shares perspective, but it’s been mostly defensive. As for Martinez, there’s a reason you can’t find him on the map

As the Tigers battled for their 3rd come from behind victory in the last 4 games, I couldn’t help but think about how much lamenting there was about the Tigers lack of clutch hitting over the last few weeks. Also, as they pulled out another one run win and they moved to 16-15 in games decided by two runs or less, I couldn’t help but think way back to last month when the Tigers couldn’t win close games because Trammell was an idiot. As Ugueth Urbina pitched a scoreless tenth inning to earn the win and extend a stretch in which he’s allowed 2 runs in his last 18 apperances, I had a flashback to the second week of the season when people determined that Urbina: needed to be benched/should have been traded/doesn’t care.

The point is that baseball has a long season where things will go well for a stretch, and things will go bad for a stretch. Now I’m not trying to diminish excitement about the Tiger’s recent stretch where they have won 5 of 6, and they’ve done it in dramatic fashion. Heck, I was walking around with a grin the rest of the day after they came back and won that game and even yet out a yelp in my office as I listened. But while the Tigers are 5-1 in their last 6 games, they are also 5-5 in their last ten.

So enjoy the current performance and get excited about the Tigers because this is the best baseball team to take the field in Detroit in a long time. At the same time remember that just because one night the Tigers don’t mount a comeback it isn’t because they aren’t clutch hitters. And if one night Urbina blows a save it isn’t because he sucks. And, at some point in the near future the Tigers will manage to blow somebody out again.

I know my readers are smarter than the typical fan and I’m not telling you anything new, but after all the sports talk and message board overreacting I’ve heard/read this year, I felt I needed to get that off my chest.

Finally. While Opening Day was a spectacular way to start the season, what with the temperature in the 70’s and the demolition of Kansas City, my luck since then hasn’t been so hot. First there was the game that was snowed out against the Twins. Then a couple of one-run losses to the Red Sox, then a Friday night game against the Angels that was thunderstormed out and featured this ominous warning “All fans located in the upper decks are instructed to seek shelter in the lower deck.” Then last night, it all came together. I had great seats, they were about 25 rows up from the Rangers dugout between home and first, the weather was beautiful, Jeremy Bonderman was on the mound, and a kid from AA was making his major league debut for the Tigers.

As for the game itself, both pitchers started off strong. They were both consistently in the strike zone, and it hardly seemed that either pitcher went to a 3-2 count (the game ended without any walks for either team). After Kevin Mench and Hank Blalock gave Texas a 3-0 lead in the 4th inning, Dmitri Young answered with a shot that can only be described as majestic. It was a 447 foot blast to right center, that for a time looked like it had a chance to actually clear the bleachers and reach the concourse.

The fifth inning starts off with a Richard Hidalgo home run, but that was just to set up an awesome strike out by Michael Young. Well, maybe that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but let me explain. With Michael Young up to bat, he hit a foul pop up. This foul pop up carries well over our heads and hits the facing of the third deck. I tip my head back to take a look and I pick up the ball. I’m watching it and realize that the ball is coming right back. You know how athlete’s talk about being in “the zone” and how when everything is going well things seem to slow down? Well, I think I was in the foul ball “zone.” The crowd seemed to get really quiet, and as the ball slowly dropped towards me, I could even see the backspin on it. After what seemed like a long time – and was actually probably about 2 seconds – I reached up without even leaving my seat and felt the ball cradle into my hands. My first foul ball. I received a nice little localized acknowledgement from the folks sitting around us, and then I think some stuff happenned in the game but I’m not really sure because I was busy holding my new prize.

The Tigers then began a comeback where everybody participated, even “the kids” (Shelton, Giarratano, Nook). They knocked Ryan Drese out of the game and Brandon Inge drove in the go ahead runs against a drawn in infield. Most impressive was the bullpen where Kyle Farnsworth and Ugueth Urbina came in and struckout all 5 batters they faced.

In the end a great night, great seats, a Tiger come from behind win, an impressive debut, and my first foul ball. What more could a guy ask for?

The Tigers have called up Tony Giarratano from AA Erie. Tony G turned heads during spring training by going 14 for 42 in 19 games. He got an extended look due to Carlos Guillen’s light spring work schedule. Giarratano hasn’t really been lighting up the Eastern League hitting 253/330/388 with 9 errors. He has walked 21 times, but also struck out 43 times in 170 at-bats.

John Sickels has Giarratano rated as the 3rd best prospect in the Tigers system and gave him a “B” grade. He also had this to say a couple weeks ago:

Giarratano is a decent prospect who doesn’t appear to be ready. I can’t imagine the Tigers calling him up to be a back-up. First, at this stage in his development he needs regualr at-bats. Second, they are starting his service clock which means he’ll be reaching arbitration eligibility that much sooner. If he’s not going to be a back-up, that means they expect Guillen to not be playing shortstop much in the near term.

Jason Smith will be designated for assignment to make room for Giarratano.

As you’ve probably heard by now, Ivan Rodriguez fractured his hand on a foul tip last night. Last night’s diagnosis probably came from the team internist, and Rodriguez will be following up with an orthopod today. The amount of time he’ll miss, if any remains to be seen. What is clear is that the Tigers offense can’t afford to lose any more bats. With Carlos Guillen’s knee holding him out, and Rondell White still suffering from the ill-effects of his shoulder being introduced to the Camden Yard fence, the Tigers could have a lot of holes in their lineup.

When Magglio Ordonez went down, the Tigers were able to survive it because of depth at the corners, and the solid play of Nook Logan. When Troy Percival went to the disabled list, the Tigers had Ugueth Urbina, newly acquired Kyle Farnsworth, and an emergine Franklyn German to fill the void in the late innings. However the backup options at shortstop, catcher, and to a lesser extent left field aren’t as promising.

If Carlos Guillen is going to miss extended time, the duo of Jason Smith and Ramon Martinez will get his at-bats. So far this season Tiger shortstops not named Carlos are hitting a combined 172/188/219. Jason Smith has struck out 11 times in 48 plate appearances this year. Defensively Smith has been solid, but Martinez has had a number of lapses in concentration leading to 4 errors in limited playing time.

Next there is the catcher position. Vance Wilson is a solid back-up catcher. He is most effectively used as a back-up catcher. If pressed into everyday duty, his offensive numbers would probably pick-up from the 121/237/121 he is currently posting. But it does become another spot in the lineup that isn’t exactly dangerous.

The other concern is Rondell White. While the dropoff in production from White to Thames is probably less than the other positions, it handcuffs some of Trammell’s pinch hitting options as they move into interleague play next week.

The Tigers may be facing a stretch where a third of their offense is out. While the Tigers should gain some production at first base with Chris Shelton over the slumping Carlos Pena, that isn’t enough to offset the bats of Guillen, Pudge, and White. Other ways to help lessen the blow would be if Omar Infante can approach his midseason form of last year, and Craig Monroe can build on what he did in Baltimore.

Other Stuff

• Shelton was solid in his debut last night. He put together three very good at-bats that included a double and a line shot at Kenny Rogers. He looked very comfortable even with two-strikes.
• Brandon Inge continues to drive the ball to right field. His single off the scoreboard in Baltimore would have been a home run in Comerica, and he did the exact same thing last night to start off the game.
• Jeremy Bonderman is pitching tonight and I’ll be in attendance. I’ll be wearing a ringer T with the old “Tiger in the circle” logo. It was a gift from a reader in Chicago and is very cool. I’m not sure where I’ll be sitting (will call tickets) but stop me if you see me.

Team 1270 is reporting that Chris Shelton and Carlos Pena are trading places. Given Pena’s struggles (181/307/287) this season, this move had to be made. Shelton has been tearing up the International League (331/417/569) and the big question remains his glove. However, in the New York series it appeared that Pena’s offensive struggles may have been getting to him in the field as well.

I’m curious to see if the other Carlos’ – Carlos Guillen – injury situation influenced this move. The Tigers want to keep Guillen’s bat in the lineup so they have been DH’ing him. It only makes sense to have Shelton up here if he will get regular at-bats and the Tigers want to keep Dmitri Young in the lineup as well. If Guillen is DH’ing, that means one of the other two guys is playing first base with one guy on the bench. It seems to me that the Tigers don’t forsee Guillen DH’ing much in the near future which means either (a) with the warm weather his knee will be bothering him less, or (b) he’s in a lot of pain and won’t be playing at all for a week or so.

As for Pena, a minor league stint with regular at-bats should be more beneficial to him than getting spot duty on the major league roster. He’s a better hitter than he’s shown this year and at AAA he’ll get a chance to put things together.

Lynn Henning, who normally does a pretty good job covering the Tigers, wrote a piece in this weekend’s paper that requires a response. Basically the gist of the article is that Henning wants to talk to Pudge about his weight loss, and Rodriguez keeps blowing him off. Henning does a good job of never accusing Pudge of using steroids, but he made sure to mention steroids at the end of the aricle in saying

• I had a great time last night hanging out with Brian, Rob, and Brian at Duggan’s last night. We covered a lot of topics including of course the Tigers, other Detroit sports, Detroit sports media, and blogging. It’s something that I’d definitely like to do again later in the season
• Bobby Higginson underwent elbow surgery yesterday and is expected to miss 8-12 weeks. It wouldn’t surprise me if Bobby has played his last game as a Tiger. I could see a situation where in two months the Tigers want to send him on a rehab assignment to Toledo. I can also see Higginson refusing the assignment and end up being cut.
• Tigers Talk has a Q&A with West Michigan Whitecap Brent Dlugach. Dlugach is off to a solid start hitting 280/335/420.
• In other minor league notes, Joel Zumaya pitched 7 2/3 innings of no-hit ball yesterday before being relieved after 123 pitches. He finished with 14 strikeouts, 4 walks, and a hit batsman.
• After a week full of defensive miscues the Tigers have slipped to 5th in the AL in defensive efficiency. The team had been bouncing between 2nd and 3rd for the bulk of the season
• If your a stathead, and if you’re reading this there is a decent chance you might be, Baseball Digest Daily posted an interview with Bill James.
• The Tigers offense got as they were supposed to face Erik Bedard tonight. Bedard has a strained knee and so the Tigers will face Sidney Ponson tonight, and Hayden Penn will make his major league debut on Saturday.
• On a final note, I’d like to wish everybody a safe and happy holiday weekend. I’d also like to salute all those who have died protecting our country and our freedoms.

  Also, a heartfelt thank you to any members of the military that may be reading this. I get some hits from various military domains and from middle-eastern timezones, so I imagine there are a few of you. So Thank You and God Bless.