It’s a bum deal. You hit your first big league homer and get sent to the minors. Clete Thomas was the outfielder optioned to Toledo to make room for Magglio Ordonez. So Matt Joyce will stick around and try to defend his AL Player of the Week honors.
Tag Archives: clete thomas
Clete for Clevlen
Clete Thomas has been recalled from his rehab assignment. It has come at the expense of Brent Clevlen. Clevlen didn’t get the bat going, but he did play some slick defense in the outfield. Clevlen and Thomas are probably a push defensively, but Thomas carries a left handed stick which is probably the reason for the move. One would hope that this wouldn’t lead to more platooning of Marcus Thames.
Leyland was encouraged by what he saw from Clevlen saying
“I think Clevlen is really, really close to being a Major League player for sure.”
Tigers Minor League Wrap & Rehab Report: 6-16-08
Syracuse 2 Toledo 5
Joel Zumaya pitched 1 inning, allowing 2 hits and an unearned run, but he walked no one and fanned 2. Clete Thomas is playing again and was a triple short of the cycle with 2 stolen bases so the ankle is probably okay. Chris Lambert fanned 6 in 6 innings while only allowing 1 run on 4 hits.
Erie DNP
Lakeland 3 Sarasota 2 (11 innings)
Gary Sheffield hit 3rd and DH’d tonight. He flew out twice and walked before being lifted for a pinch hitter. I’m not sure if he aggravated something or if it was part of the plan. Brennan Boesch had 4 hits and Ryan Strieby had 3. Duane Below allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk in 7 innings while striking out 3. Jay Sborz pitched 3 perfect innings of relief.
Wesst Michigan DNP
Tigers Make Line Change
The Tigers announced a ton of roster moves today:
- Clete Thomas and Ramon Santiago hit the 15 day DL
- Mike Hollimon and Brent Clevlen were brought up to take their places.
- Aquilino Lopez was placed on the bereavement list and Denny Bautista was reinstated from the DL.
Joyce down, Clete up
The Tigers have optioned Matt Joyce back to Toledo and have called up Clete Thomas.
I suppose this is because they have the left handed option with Jeff Larish on the roster now to provide some power. And as Jason Beck noted, they want Joyce to play everyday and with Thames getting left field duties, that opportunity wouldn’t be there. But it makes you wonder why they wouldn’t want Thomas to play everyday?
Joyce’s swing appeared to get a little long the last few games. He fanned 4 times on Tuesday night. He swung through fastballs early in the count and then was finished off with breaking balls on the inner half he couldn’t deal with. So it appears that even if there wasn’t a book on him before this series, there certainly is now.
Still, he provided some nice pop on a team that was popless while playing some solid defense.
Tigers Minor League Wrap 5-27-08
Buffalo 6 Toledo 2
Eddie Bonine took his first loss getting knocked around for 11 hits in just 2 innings. Clete Thomas was 3 for 5. Jeff Larish was 1 for 1 before exiting to get on a plane.
Reading 1 Erie 3
Jeff Frazier went 2 for 4. Andrew Kown allowed just 4 hits, 1 a homer, in 8 innings of 1 run ball. He fanned 5 and walked 1.
Tampa 4 Lakeland 3
Rick Porcello allowed 10 hits and 4 runs in 6 innings. He walked none and fanned 4 and recorded 11 ground ball outs. Scott Sizemore went 2 for 4.
West Michigan – DNP
Tigers Minor League Wrap 5-10-08
Charlotte 3 Toledo 5
Mike Hessman and Clete Thomas homered. Brent Clevlen had 3 hits pushing his line to 313/376/563. Casey Fossum got the win allowing 1 run in 6 innings on 3 hits. Blaine Neal allowed 2 homers in one inning of relief.
Toledo 1 Charlotte 4
Mike Hessman homered and had one of only 3 hits. Virgil Vasquez went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 9 hits with 1 walk and 3 K’s.
Harrisburg 9 Erie 0
Wil Rhymes went 2 for 4. Ben Fritz allowed 8 runs on 9 hits in 6 innings. He walked none and fanned 6.
Vero Beach 2 Lakeland 6
James Skelton went 3 for 4 with his first homer of the year. Scott Sizemore and Ryan Strieby each had 2 hits. Rick Porcello allowed 2 unearned runs in 5 innings on 3 hits. He walked only one, but also struck out only one.
Lansing 2 West Michigan 4
Kyle Peter and Justin Henry each had 2 hits. Manny Miguelez fanned 8 over 7 innings while allowing just 1 run on 4 hits.
Roster Moves
The Tigers made a number of roster moves including Brandon Hamilton joining the Whitecaps from EST. A promotion for a VSL product. And Luis Marte earning his way to Erie. Detroit Tigers Thoughts and Take 75 North break it all down.
Tigers have nocturnal bats
With this afternoon’s loss to the Blue Jays the Tigers record in day games now stands at a remarkable 0-10. A quick check of the splits reveals that the Tigers have been outscored 57 to 18 in day games. Yes, the offense has mustered less than 2 runs a game before the sun sets.
After dusk the Tigers are 6-3 and have scored 59 runs while allowing 60. So the pitching has been pretty inadequate no matter what time it is. The differences in offense however are dramatic to say the least. The following numbers aren’t inclusive of the Sunday tilt:
Continue reading Tigers have nocturnal bats
Tigers set 2008 Opening Day Roster
It’s done. After 6 weeks of simmering, the Tigers now know who will be heading North. Clete Thomas gets the last position player spot. Yorman Bazardo and Aquilino Lopez round out the bullpen. The additions of Thomas and Lopez require both to be added to the 40 man roster which now stands at 37.
It also means that Casey Fien won’t be coming with the team. Going from Low A to the big leagues would be quite the jump, still he caught the skippers eye meaning that he’d be on a short list of potential call-ups.
The organizational tree and roster pages have been updated accordingly.
Continue reading Tigers set 2008 Opening Day Roster
Clete Thomas needs a tailor
One more cut took place today with outfield bench candidate Freddy Guzman being passed through waivers and outrighted to Erie. That leaves two players competing for the last bench spot (assuming that Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago make the team). Will it be back-up catcher Dane Sardinha or will Clete Thomas make the jump from AA Erie?
It definitely sounds like Thomas is the favorite to make the roster. At least if Jim Leyland suggesting that Thomas get a sport coat for traveling on the team plane is any indication.
Tiger Tales and Mack Avenue Tigers have already profiled Thomas.
To call him a long shot to make the team would have been generous at the start of camp. That’s not to say he wasn’t a prospect. Baseball Prospectus thought enough of him to run him through PECOTA which pegged him for a .239/.296/.356 line.
While the projection certainly isn’t overwhelming, I like the move. Thomas isn’t going to be relied upon to be an offensive force. He’s there to pack up centerfield for a couple weeks and perhaps be a pinch runner/defensive replacement. Thomas can handle both those duties because he sports some wheels and a very strong outfield arm. Plus, quite frankly I like the watching prospects make their debuts.
Another wild day in Lakeland
News has been flying out of the Tigers camp fast and furious lately. Today the main topics of discussion are Dontrelle Willis, Clete Thomas, and Tim Byrdak.
Dontrelle Willis
Willis is struggling. He’s having a heck of a time finding the plate. His problem last year was control, and that had to do with missing his spots. But right now he’s missing the strike zone with 4 more walks, a HBP, and a wild pitch in a miserable 3 inning outing.
I don’t put a lot of stock in spring training numbers, but something is wrong here. It’s at the point in the spring where pitchers have moved beyond “working on things” to a large extent. It is time to be concerned because Willis’s last two starts have been bad.
Ian speculated about an injury following Dontrelle’s last start. I sincerely hope he’s not trying to pitch through an injury all of 0 games into a 3 year contract. If it’s not an injury, it’s on Chuck Hernandez to figure out the problem.
Clete Thomas
It sounds as if Thomas may have played himself on to the roster, well the injury to Granderson was the catalyst of course. Jon Paul Morosi reports that Thomas has a shot at coming North. The 24 year old out of Auburn was the Tigers 6th round pick in 2005. Last year he posted a solid 280/359/405 line for Erie.
If he does make the roster it would be over Freddy Guzman which would be surprising. Guzman has had a good spring, is on the 40 man roster, and is out of options (though he’s not really a threat to be plucked off of waivers). Timo Perez who was in the mix was cut, along with Mike Hessman yesterday.
Tim Byrdak aftermath
We’ve already discussed the Byrdak release, but the beats have some more info. Danny Knobler has some quotes from Jim Leyland, including the fact that he’d like it a lot of if there was a second lefty.
My guess is that a trade happens in the next two days. I’m not sure for who, but I think that the Tigers would be parting ways with Ryan Raburn. It’s not a scenario I’m particularly fond of, but that’s my idle speculation.
Also, my initial speculation that something happened behind the scenes was probably too ominous. It could simply be that the Tigers gave him his outright release so that he’d be free to sign with any other team, in essence doing him a favor.