Peoria 8 West Michigan 5 Ramon Lebron pitched the 3 innings of pre-suspended baseball and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings. Jacob Turner pitched the last 6 innings after play was resumed and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Jordan Lennerton went 4 for 5. Avisail Garcia and Hernan Perez each had 2 hits. Ronnie Bourquin (I didn’t even notice he was back) walked twice.
Indianapolis 5 Toledo 6
Alfredo Figaro started and lasted 6 innings despite walking 4. He allowed 5 runs on 6 hits with 4 strikeouts. Robbie Weinhardt allowed 2 hits and a walk in 3 shut out innings and got the win. Ryan Raburn and Jeff Frazier each went 2 for 4 with a double. Incidentally, the Mud Hens faced Wil Ledezma in relief and got to him for 2 runs.
Erie 4 Bowie 0
Justin Henry went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases. Michael Bertram singled, doubled, and walked. Brooks Brown went 5 innings and didn’t allow a hit while walking 2 and fanning 5 and getting 9 ground ball outs. Ramon Garcia pitched the other 4 innings and allowed just 2 hits.
Lakeland 3 Jupiter 0
Kody Kaiser went 3 for 4 and stole a base. Luke Putkonen had another strong start going 7.2 innings with just 4 hits and a walk allowed. Cory Hamilton finished the shut out allowing a single baserunner.
South Bend 6 West Michigan 5
Jacob Turner wasn’t touched for the first 5 innings. He gave up 2 runs in the 6th and his final line was 5.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and 7 K’s. Jamie Johnson, Michael Rockett, Wade Gaynor, Mike Gosse, and Hernan Perez all had 2 hit games.
Toledo 6 Durham 2
Phil Dumatrait fanned 3, walked 1, and allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits in 5.2 innings. robbie Weinhardt, Daniel Schlereth and Jay Sborz took care of the rest. Clete Thomas has seen how much fun Brennan Boesch is having and he ripped his 4th homer in the last 7 days. Of course he only has 2 other hits over that time span so his average is still below .200. Ben Guez went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles.
Akron 1 Erie 4
Wilkin Ramirez doubled and tripled. Audy Ciriaco picked up 2 hits. Jon Kibler went 7.2 innings and allowed a run on 4 hits and 3 walks with 2 K’s.
Charlotte 2 Lakeland 1
Charlie Furbush fanned 13 of the 26 hitters he faced in an incredible 6.1 inning performance. The bats couldn’t get him a win though as they managed just 1 run. Alden Carrithers walked twice, singled, and doubled.
West Michigan 5 Lansing 6
Jacob Turner went again for the Whitecaps and allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings to go along with 3 K’s. Kevin Faulk fanned 4 in 2 innings of relief work. Jamie Johnson tripled, singled, and walked. Wade Gaynor had 2 hits including his second homer. Alexis Espinoza had been hitting well of late, but took and 0’fer and fanned 3 times.
Binghamton 2 Erie 4
Jon Kibler lasted only 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 2 solo homers to go along with 2 walks and 4 K’s. Zach Simons pitched 3 innings allowing just one baserunner with 5 strikeouts. Brendan Wise got the 2 inning save. Michael Bertram doubled and singled. Cesar Nicolas homered. Cale Iorg picked up 2 hits and is hitting 324/395/471 in his last 10 games.
Dayton 4 Lakeland 3
Brent Wyatt had 3 singles. Kody Kaiser tripled. Rawley Bishop hit his 4th home run. Luke Putkonen allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings with 5 K’s.
West Michigan 6 Great Lakes 8
Jacob Turner made his return from the disabled list. He left with 2 outs and 2 on in the 4th inning. Both those runners would score and his final line read 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 K’s, 1 HR, 4 R, 2 ER. He evidently battled command as he became fatigued in the 3rd inning with 31 of his 64 pitches going for strikes. Michael Rockett homered and doubled. Jamie Johnson and Mike Gosse each had 2 hits. Jordan Lennerton drew 3 walks.
Charlotte 3 Toledo 8
Josh Rainwater picked up the suspended game and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 3 innings. Caniel Schlereth continues to rack up the strikeouts (3) and walks (2) in a 2 inning effort. Clete Thomas homered before the rain. Angel Flores, up for the injured Mike Rabelo had 2 hits, as did Jeff Larish. Larish added 2 walks as well.
Charlotte 1 Toledo 3
Phil Dumatrait was 2 outs shy of the 7 inning complete game. He allowed 1 unearned run on 4 hits and a walk. Wil Rhymes doubled and singled. Jeff Frazier singled and homered.
Binghamtom 4 Erie 3
Justin Henry had a triple and a single. Jeff Kunkel homered. Andy Oliver allowed 3 runs on 3 walks, 5 hits, and 4 K’s.
Daytona 3 Lakeland 7
Gustavo Nunez went 3 for 4 with a double. Rawley Bishop doubled and singled. Twenty year old Julio Rodriguez homered and singled in his Lakeland debut. Charlie Furbush fanned 7 and allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings.
West Michigan 5 Great Lakes 4
Mike Gosse had 2 doubles. Wade Gaynor and Alexis Espinoza each had 2 hits. Trevor Feeney had a strong 8 inning start where he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 7 K’s.
Dombrowski Q & A
Dave Dombrowski is in Erie to watch the AA prospects. Nick Underhill caught up with him and they discussed the decision to send Wilkin Ramirez to AA, Cale Iorg, and Cody Satterwhite. And there was good news on the Jacob Turner front and he will make his next start.
A journey through some links that will update us on the Tigers walking wounded, that will put limits on Justin Verlander’s workload, and other odds and ends including bullpen usage and Alex Avila.
Injuries
Word out of Lakeland is that Zach Miner is preparing to enter pseudo game action as part of his rehab assignment. Even with no set backs that would likely but him a couple weeks away from being ready to join the Tigers. And while the bullpen has been overworked and a fresh arm would be helpful, the bullpen has also been pretty effective.
Adam Everett is expected to be back any day now after taking batting practice yesterday. That could prove timely as Jim Leyland is still concerned about Scott Sizemore’s ankle and if he wants to spell him at second, he would have Ramon Santiago as an option with a healthy Everett manning short.
For those that were hoping to get a look at Brent Dlugach, he has cooled off at Toledo as his BABIP hasn’t been able to sustain his strikeout rate (31 K’s in 86 PA’s).
On the minor league injury front the Tigers are hopeful that Jacob Turner’s soreness is an adjustment to a pro pitching schedule and nothing ominous.
Verlander’s workload
With Justin Verlander throwing over 120 pitches in each of his last two starts and not seeing the sixth inning in either, it turned out to be a clubhouse topic yesterday. Leyland says he is going to put a limit on Verlander in his next start regardless of the inning. Verlander acknowledges that he needs to be more efficient but says pitch counts are overrated.
We’ll see what happens with this limit. I’m sure that Leyland doesn’t want Verlander getting hurt on his watch, but he also had him throw over 120 pitches in 6 of his last 8 outings last season. Verlander has always proven up to the task, I just doubt that Leyland is going to reign him in too much.
Toledo 10 Columbus 1
With a roster full of sluggers, the Tigers got some offense from unexpected sources. Mike Rabelo and Danny Worth each doubled, homered, and walked. Clete Thomas drew 2 walks and Jeff Frazier and and Max Leon each had 2 hits. Enrique Gonzalez allowed just the 1 unearned run on 6 hits, no walks and 5 strike outs. Scott Drucker pitched 2 scoreless innings needing only 18 pitches, 15 of which were strikes.
Jacob Turner to the DL
With only 1 game on the docket I was looking for something to add to the wrap. News that Jacob Turner has been put on the disabled list isn’t what I had in mind. The cause is forearm stiffness. The hope is that the Tigers are just being extra cautious and that this doesn’t turn into a case of “forearm stiffness begets tendinitis begets a visit to Dr. James Andrews begets rehab begets no improvement begets Tommy John surgery.”
Cory Hamilton gets called up from EST to fill in on the West Michigan roster.
Toledo 1 Louisville 3
Enrique Gonzalez had a nice start allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits, a walk, and 6 strike outs in 6 innings. Daniel Schlereth allowed 2 hits and 2 walks but fanned 3 and nobody crossed home plate on his watch. Offensively Ben Guez led the way with a double.
Bowie 5 Erie 3
Audy Ciriaco homered. Josh Burrus had 2 hits and a walk. Duane Below gave up 2 homers amongst 6 hits in 3 innings. It was another short outing for Below who is coming off of TJ surgery.
Clearwater 2 Lakeland 6
Brayan Villarreal continues to shine. He surrendered a solo homer, but he also fanned 9 and walked only 1. He has 26 strike outs and 2 walks in 15.1 innings this year. Billy Nowlin doubled and singled. Daniel Fields added 2 hits, a walk, and 2 stolen bases.
West Michigan 2 Dayton 5
Jamie Johnson went 3 for 3 with a walk and his OBP sits at .475. Mike Gosse added 2 hits and Wade Gaynor drove in 2 runs. Giovany Soto allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, no walks, and 3 K’s.
In other Whitecaps news, Jacob Turner’s start last night was pushed back due to forearm stiffness which doesn’t sound serious. Then again the organization has been down playing the Cody Satterwhite situation as well.
Just because the regular minor league seasons are over doesn’t mean there isn’t news coming out about the Tigers prospects. The instructional league is in full swing, the Arizona Fall League is starting, and post season awards are being handed out.
Instructional League
Jacob Turner
The IL games are underway. Mark Anderson of TigsTown is on site and filing daily reports. The first one was free, but the subsequent ones are premium content. Based on the 2 reports so far Audy Ciriaco has been a star.
The IL is also a chance to see many of the Tigers 2009 draftees in Tigers uniform for the first time. Lakeland resident Roger DeWitt has been hanging around the fields and posting his pictures on Flickr. As has been the case the last few years, Roger was the first to get shots of the Tigers first round picks in action and he has Jacob Turner throwing on one of the practice mounds.
Arizona Fall League
The Tigers have had to make some adjustments to their AFL roster due to the arm problems of Cody Satterwhite and the lingering wrist problem of Ryan Strieby. In a surprise move (at least I was surprised), 2nd round pick Andrew Oliver will take Satterwhite’s spot.
What isn’t known is if Oliver is going because he has really impressed so far and the Tigers want to see what he does against advanced competition in preparation for an aggressive assignment next year, or if he is going by default.
Casper Wells will take Strieby’s spot, but that isn’t so much of a surprise.
Player of the Year Honors
Congratulations to Scott Sizemore and Casey Crosby who took home organizational Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors. (As predicted by Take 75 North).
Both had outstanding seasons. Crosby was kept on the 75 pitch limit which did hold down his innings but he still managed 117 strike outs in 104.1 innings. I’d imagine he’d start out in Lakeland next year with an 85-90 pitch limit but he could very well end up at Erie before the year is out.
Sizemore just raked the ball all season. He hit in Erie and continued hitting as he spent the 2nd half of the year in Toledo and he may be pushing Placido Polanco out the door.
UPDATE: Baseball America has the details on Jacob Turner’s deal. It’s a big league deal with a $4.7 million bonus. Total value could hit $7 million depending on when he reaches the big leagues
UPDATE: The Tigers get Daniel Fields per Jason Beck – 7 figure bonus. Big, big get and he’s a top 10 prospect in the system now.
UPDATE: Peter Gammons says that GMs have said the Tigers have inked Turner ($6.7 million) and Oliver ($1 million) but that the league office is holding the announcements.
It is an off day for the current big leaguers, but the Tigers will be spending the day trying to beat the midnight deadline to bring some big league hopefuls into the fold. The Tigers have yet to sign their top 2 picks, Jacob Turner and Andrew Oliver, who are both rep’d by Scott Boras. Also on the radar are 6th round pick Daniel Fields, 8th round pick Craig Fritsch, 12th round pick Matt Thompson, and 15th round pick Mark Appel among others.
I’ll try and keep this updated at various points throughout the day as information comes in. In the meantime here are some links from the local beats:
The Tigers went with high school right hander Jacob Turner. Turner went to Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis and Baseball America has him ranked as the top high school right hander in the draft. He is advised by Scott Boras and is said to be seeking Porcello money and he’s got that commitment to North Carolina in his back pocket as well.
Tyler Matzek was the higher rated prospect on many boards, but Jim Callis reported on MLB’s draft coverage that he was looking for unprecedented money. Even though they didn’t go for Matzek, the Tigers didn’t exactly go with a signability pick.
Keith Law had Turner ranked 7th overall and said he second only to Stephen Strasburg in terms of consistent velocity.
There is a conference call at 8:25 and I’ll add more to this report as I spend some more time googling (notes are below the video now). In the mean time here is a nice profile piece that paints a very favorable picture and some video of Turner at work.
Conference Call Notes
Some notes from the conference call with David Chadd and Jacob Turner:
Chadd: Has been following Turner since last June on the showcase teams as well as the spring. Turner meets the profile for the organization (excellent athlete, lots of power, fastball up to 96, control of all his pitches, strong make-up)
Turner: As a baseball fan he knows about the Tigers but wasn’t worried where he’d be drafted and was focusing on his season.
Chadd: Thinks the delivery is sound with clean arm action and 3 pitch mix. He doesn’t anticipate much tinkering and is real high on his make-up.
Turner: All spring he viewed North Carolina as Plan A. Now he’s viewing the Tigers as another option.
Chadd: The draft was quite unsettled, right up until their pick, but they were excited when Turner was available.
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