“They do have some good young arms,” one scout said. “You have to like Bonderman, and they did a good job with their Rule 5 picks. Both (Matt) Roney and (Wilfredo) Ledezma should be in their rotation at some point. But the idea is to try and get your young arms and your young position players to mesh at the same time. And I just don’t see the position players.
Tigers hampered most up the middle
Lynn Henning on the the Tigers
Center field and catcher are problems that might not go away. Torres can’t hit. Neither has Gene Kingsale been an answer. Ditto for Inge and his catching partner, Matt Walbeck.
The Tigers could, conceivably, get away with Torres-Kingsale if the other people begin to click. But fail to field a catcher with some crunch, and big innings are tough to come by, as might have been deduced by watching the Tigers.
Jon Connolly
Prospect Watch-West Michigan
Jon Connolly of the West Michigan Whitecaps improved to 8-0 on the year by pitching 8 2/3 innings of shut-out ball. He walked one and had 5 strikeouts. The effort dropped his ERA to 0.75. On the year he has 29 K’s and 17 BB’s in 59 IP. Connolly was a 28th round draft choice in the 2001 draft. The soft throwing left hander is 19 years old.
Because of injuries to two starters, Jeff Farnsworth and Rob Henkel, the Tigers have promoted right-hander Kenny Baugh from Lakeland to Double-A Erie. Baugh, the Tigers’ first-round draft choice in 2001, missed all of last year because of shoulder surgery, but was 3-0 with a 3.86 earned-run average in four starts this season at Lakeland.
Young challenges future stars to battle through tough times – 5/20/03
“Hopefully, these guys don’t quit on us,” Young said. “It’s 162 games, not 25 or 40 games. This goes on all summer. If they quit, it’s going to be a terrible summer for them. If they keep fighting and fighting, things will turn around. You saw that on this last road trip (4-2 against Baltimore and Tampa Bay).”
Kenny Baugh Update
Baugh’s primary numbers (won-loss record and 3.86 earned-run average) are better, for sure, than his secondary statistics: 21 innings pitched, 21 hits, 11 walks, and 12 strikeouts.
The walks-to-strikeouts ratio is one reason why he’ll be sticking for a spell at the Tigers’ lower levels. It also reveals how a pitcher who was known two years ago for his command can have a bumpy ride regaining some old form.
The walks-to-strikeouts ratio is one reason why he’ll be sticking for a spell at the Tigers’ lower levels. It also reveals how a pitcher who was known two years ago for his command can have a bumpy ride regaining some old form.
When bad teams play each other…
So what happens when the two worst offensive teams in the American League play each other? How about a 10-9 slugfest featuring 24 hits (12 extra-base) and 6 home runs. This is what is great about baseball, that every game gives you something different. Even the two worst teams in the league can combine for a very entertaining baseball game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they came up short despite a 3 dinger, 7 RBI game from Carlos Pena. Jamie “CJ” Walker took the loss as Gary Knotts and the bullpen combined to blow an early 6 run lead. Knotts road woes continue. In Comerica he has a 1.66 ERA with no HR’s, 4 BB’s, and opponents are hitting .213 in 3 starts. On the road however he has this line: 4 GS, 7.41 ERA, 4 HR’s, 11 BB’s, .314 opponent BA. Nice to see Kevin Witt kill the ball in his first start.
Al Avila compares Infante and Santiago to Renteria, Castillo, and Alex Gonzalez
Young hitters will develop, Avila says
So perhaps the Tigers’ Ramon Santiago — who like Castillo is a switch-hitting second baseman — deserves more time to develop. In his first full big league season, he was batting .234 entering Monday, with no homers and four RBIs.
“Santiago has a much better stroke from both sides than Castillo ever had,” Avila said.
40 game analysis
Tim DeWalt at Tigers Central has a pretty fair analysis of the team so far. I particularly agreed with his last paragraph:
Alan Trammell and his staff deserve a lot of credit for not either blowing up at everybody or jumping off a tall building. Trammell appears to be a patient teacher who is insisting that his young players learn to play the game right. He
Another Frustrating Homestand
Just when it looked like the Tigers had started to turn the corner offensively, they manage to post 13 runs during the 6 game homestand. Sunday’s loss was particularly frustrating because it highlighted just how far apart the Mariners and Tigers are. Joel Piniero was very vulnerable at the start of the game yesterday. He had little control, and was routinely leaving the ball up in the first two innings. Andres Torres led off by working a full count, and then forced what should have been a walk, except he was hosed (nothing you can do about that). Ramon Santiago follows up with a walk, and Bobby Higginson hits a two-run homer on the first pitch. And that’s where it ended. Young flew out on a full count pitch and Pena flew out after a 5 pitch at-bat. In the second, Piniero was still having trouble with his command. Craig Monroe grounded to second, but only after fouling off a 2-2 hanging curveball that should have been tagged. Munson followed with a walk and then Piniero shut the door. He retired 11 of the next 12 batters on only 35 pitches, allowing only a two out single to Omar Infante. Meanwhile, Maroth was struggling and the M’s hitters weren’t going to let him off the hook. Three times they deposited his mistakes in the stands (or more precisely between the stands and the fence).
The Tigers truly have only one “crafty” veteran hitter and that is Higginson. While Young is a veteran (and a pretty decent hitter despite his struggles this year), his success is more from the way he handles the bat. In Higginson’s first at-bat, he’d seen that Piniero struggle to throw his breaking balls (or any pitches for strikes). That’s why when Piniero grooved a first pitch fastball down the middle, Higginson was ready and he didn’t miss it. It’s this type of approach that is lacking from the rest of the team, as is to be expected with a team so young. The point being that this series, and in particular Sunday’s game illustrated just how far away this team is from being competitive. It also illustrated why Alan Trammell is the right man for this job (as well as his coaching staff) because so much teaching needs to be done. Camera shots of the dugout repeatedly show the coaches talking with the players, right after a questionable play happens. This staff is the right staff to teach the kids how to play the game.
Stat note of the day:
Dmitri Young’s having a tough time from the right side of the plate this season. As a righty he’s hitting .182/.233/.236 in 55 AB. From the left side he’s .252/.391/.539. Which caused me to wonder, why does he switch hit? Surely he wouldn’t fare worse against left handed hitters hitting left handed. A quick look at his last 3 years reveal he has a marginally higher average batting right handed (.302/.334/.452) albeit with a little less power than left handed (.298/.349/.483).
End of the road for Dean Palmer?
Tigers put Palmer on disabled list His neck problem has resurfaced. I have a feeling that Dean Palmer has played his last professional baseball game. This injury has been lingering for 3 years now, without ever getting completely better. That combined with his struggles at the plate this year (he has more strike outs than total bases) probably means the end. In the meantime Kevin Witt was called up from Toledo (9 Homers). Witt becomes the 29th man to play for the Tig’s this year.
Tigers do “the little things” against A’s
While the Tigers offense has been woeful for the better part of the season, the A’s pitching staff can give any team fits. That’s why, even though it is cliche, it is nice to see the Tigers do “the little things” right. Craig Monroe’s home run came on an awesome 13 pitch at-bat where he fouled off 8 pitches. Then in the ninth, when Monroe led off with a double, it was nice to see the Tigers execute the fundamentals to get him home for the win. A bunt by Munson advanced Monroe to third, and then Brandon Inge stepped up by hitting a fly ball deep enough to left field that Monroe was basically able to trot home with out a throw. The April Tigers would have left Monroe stranded at second after a failed bunt attempt, a pop-out, and a routine ground ball. This time, they made it look easy.
Another strong start from the pitching staff-this time Gary Knotts-kept the Tigers in the game. German battled control problems again in the 9th when he loaded the bases with walks, but it allowed Avery to come in, get a K and the win. Speaking of pitching, is there anyone in uniform for the Tigers that has earned his salary more than Bob Cluck? This starting rotation was supposed to be a laughing stock, and instead they are in the top half of the AL in ERA, and 3rd best in HR’s and BB’s allowed. So far his hiring has to be considered Trammell’s best move as a manager.