As for bringing back Craig Monroe one more time…. Bobby Higginson isn’t hitting lefties this year, although he has in the past. Neither Rob Fick or Randall Simon are hitting lefties either, and neither have given cause
In a sense, how Maroth, Bernero, Greisinger, and Cornejo have done and will do plays a part in whether or not Dave Dombrowski decides to peddle Weaver. It shouldn’t. With or without Weaver, the Tigers are irrelevant now and for the foreseeable future. The question isn’t whether they can replace Weaver right now; it’s whether somebody will put together the kind of package for Weaver that will help change that.
When the Rangers inquired about Jeff Weaver, they were told it would take third baseman Hank Blalock, right-hander Colby Lewis and another top prospect. The Rangers, on the other hand, are talking about moving salary, hence the Rafael Palmeiro rumors in Atlanta, although 1) Palmeiro has a no-trade clause; 2) says he doesn’t want to leave; and 3) the Braves may have trouble taking on salary.
Tiger Notes: -Sparks is headed to the bullpen for one or two trips through the rotation -Danny Patterson is back on the DL, Craig Monroe replaced him on the roster
Greisinger optioned to Toledo for Maroth It seems like the opportunities players are given on this club are getting smaller and smaller. While I agree with most of the moves that have been made, I worry the Tigers are just churning through players too fast now- looking for that silver bullet. And yet, somehow Jose Lima has remained with the club.
Kalita is a classic Grade C pitching prospect, someone with a decent arm and a decent track record, but who doesn’t stand out or get mentioned much on top prospect lists. He’ll get a shot at some point, but unless he pitches well right away, he isn’t likely to be given much slack by major league organizations. If Tim improves his control from “pretty good” to “excellent,” and fights a tendency to nibble too much, he’d have a chance to be a surprise.
The Tigers plan to have a pair of veterans back from the disabled list when they return home this weekend. Right-hander Danny Patterson threw what is expected to be his final rehab inning Wednesday for Triple-A Toledo and, barring any aggravation, will be recalled Friday or Saturday. Damion Easley, 1-for-16 through Monday in his rehab stint, went 0-for-3 but scored four times for the Mud Hens Wednesday. He’ll play two more games for Toledo, giving him around 28-30 at-bats before he rejoins the Tigers Saturday.
Okay, so Patterson and Easley are coming back, but who’s going to Toledo?
How is Jeff Weaver just 4-5 this season? His 2 SHO lead the league, he’s 7th in ERA at 2.92, his K/BB ratio is 2.2 and he has yet to give up a homer in 71 innings, but he plays for Detroit
Look, I appreciate the desire to improve, and I appreciate the desire to switch between one catching prospect and another when you have two of them, and I appreciate the perceived virtue of carrying an old backup catcher to show one of the younger catchers the ropes (theoretically, and assuming he’s a good egg). But Inge has never been much of a hitting prospect, and he’s had more of an opportunity to not be the next Brad Ausmus than Rivera has gotten to show he’s not the next Lance Parrish. Rivera has been dumped after less than 100 plate appearances, and that’s not enough to tell anybody anything.
I generally like Chris Kahrl’s Transaction Analysis columns, and I agree with his point here about 100 ABs not being enough to judge a player. However, Rivera was just atrocious behind the plate, and as a result it seemed like the pitching staff had lost faith in him (notice that Walbeck has caught Weaver’s last 3 starts). Unfortunately this team has way too many DH’s to slip Rivera in the order that way. I totally support this move because it will allow both Inge and Rivera an opportunity to play every day to improve (Inge at the plate, and Rivera behind it).
However, in Dave Dombrowski’s favor, if Nate Cornejo hadn’t pitched his way off of the team, you can argue pretty convincingly that Adam Bernero has pitched his way onto it. In nine starts as a Mudhen, Bernero has pitched 57 IP with a 1.58 ERA, allowing only 46 hits and 13 walks, racking up 49 strikeouts, and giving up only a pair of homeruns. He’s a command-and-control right hander who can throw four pitches for strikes, and it looks like he’s entirely recovered from last year’s setbacks. Now that we have a Tigers rotation that features Jeff Weaver and Steve Sparks doing their usual yeoman service, Mark Redman rounding into form, and Seth Greisinger bouncing back nicely, in a month’s time we might be arguing about whether or not the Tigers have the best rotation in the AL Central. Not that I think that’s enough to elevate them to competitiveness with the Twins and White Sox, but the Indians might need to worry.
The party line is that the offense’s high double-play total is because of a lack of speed, but that’s only one factor. One cause is a lack of plate discipline. Shane Halter, Young, Simon and Craig Paquette — all with a history of low on-base percentages — are among the team leaders in double plays. Sometimes they get pull-happy on outside pitches, resulting in grounders.
True, but at the same time none of those guys have a lot of speed either.
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