All posts by Coleman

2015 Season

Game 2015.13: Yankees at Tigers

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ESPN seems to be quite fascinated by the Amazing Mets of ’15, and not too much interested in the Tigers (although they are on ESPN tonight because: Yankees). The New York Times, however, had a nice piece on the Tigers, and how they’ve managed to have a year-in year-out history of success (four consecutive division titles), with an ever-changing lineup.

By way of illustration, here are the Tigers who played in the 2012 World Series (that’s just a few months over two years ago):

Position players, sorted by number of at bats:

Omar Infante

Jhonny Peralta

Prince Fielder

Delmon Young

Miguel Cabrera

Austin Jackson

Andy Dirks

Quintin Berry

Alex Avila

Gerald Laird

Avisail Garcia

Don Kelly

Ramon Santiago

Danny Worth

Pitchers, sorted by number of innings:

Anibal Sanchez

Max Scherzer

Doug Fister

Justin Verlander

Phil Coke

Al Alburquerque

Joaquin Benoit

Octavio Dotel

Drew Smyly

Rick Porcello

Jose Valverde

That’s five total players from their 40-Man Roster, or 12.5%, in three seasons. So I’ll throw this out there: who can think of another team in any sport with four consecutive division titles with an 87.5% roster turnover?

Today’s Undefeated at Night Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. James McCann, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS
2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.9: Tigers at Pirates

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It certainly didn’t make much of a splash when the Tigers shipped Robbie Ray off to the Diamondbacks, and in return got Shane Greene from the Yankees (who got Didi Gregorius from Arizona). But if his first two starts are any indication, Shane Greene may turn out to be an absolute steal, not to mention the fact that he is not free agent eligible until 2021 and pulling in all of $515,000.

It would be hard to exaggerate how thoroughly Greene dominated the Pirates last night. There were only three base runners in eight innings, all on singles (no walks), and none of them reached 2nd base. Greene breezed through eight with only 81 pitches only 25 of which were balls (that’s 3 balls per inning)–and this after pitching eight his first start with only 85 pitches. If it were not an Interleague game (did I mention…yes, I did), Greene looked all set for a complete game shutout.

Ausmus said that he considered letting Greene bat in the 8th, until Iglesias made it to 2nd with a double, which was more like a single plus inadvertent defensive indifference. Ausmus’ logic was that scoring a 2nd run in that situation increased the probability of winning more than keeping a dominant pitcher in with a one-run lead. What do you think?

At any rate, the extra base taken by Iglesias may turn out to be one of those hidden pivotal plays, since it brought Soria into the game, which he closed like…a closer, which could possibly turn into something good.

Of course Greene didn’t do it all himself: there were a whole lot of good defensive plays: Kinsler robbed a single with a diving stop; Cespedes, Davis, and Martinez all made good running catches in the outfield, and Iglesias was a one game highlight reel–even the play he didn’t make was worth several replays, as he somehow managed to fling a cross-body throw to first while on his back. With an improved Castellanos at 3rd, dare I say the Tigers may actually have a good team defensively now?

Castellanos did provide one of the lowlights of the game, stranding another two on base, as did Alex “Shift Bait” Avila hitting ’em where they are. The real lowlight though had to be the weak pinch-hit at bat by Victor Martinez, who (shhhhh) does not look very good at all so far this season.

In other news, Justin Verlander pitched a simulation game today (I’m pretty sure he’s pitched a bunch of those the last two seasons), although it was cut short at three innings instead of the schedule four.

Today’s Undefeated at Night Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Alfredo Simon, P

Francisco Liriano goes for the guys with the yellow P on their hats, and he has bedeviled both Cespedes (1-for-10) and Kinsler (3-for-17, yikes). The Pirates should be familiar with Simon from his time on the Reds, but none of them have hit him particularly well.

Oh, and everybody is #42 today, to honor Jackie Robinson.

2015 Season

Game 2015.8: Tigers at Pirates

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Well all good streaks must come to an end, although this apparently does not apply to the Kansas City Royals, which means the 6 – 1 Tigers are now in 2nd place.

Last night was a rough one for Mr. Castellanos, which is Spanish for “goat.” Last night there was one of those pivotal game moments that Kevin was talking about this weekend: with bases loaded and nobody out, the Tigers looked poised for not only a big inning but potentially a huge inning. Then, in 2 pitches, it was all over–Castellanos obligingly hit the first double-play ball pitch into a double-play, Avila popped up the next pitch, and in a matter of a couple of minutes it was done with only one run to show. A possibly disappointed Sanchez then gave up a few more, and a JD Martinez-fueled 9th inning rally fell short when Nick Castellanos, again, grounded into a double-play.

After the game Brad Ausmus explained that Castellanos is really quite a horrible hitter, kind of a poor man’s Brandon Inge without the glove, but that the team was stuck with him, so there’s not much he can do.

Well, actually, Brad said

“Nick’s a pretty darn good hitter. He took some good swings today, too. I felt Nick had an opportunity [to get a big hit] as well.”

Ausmus had considered the idea of pinch-hitting Martinez with the bases loaded–as some of you suggested he should have done–but decided to save him for later. As frustrating as yesterday’s game was, do you really, at this point in the season, pull your #7 (well, #6 yesterday) hitter, a guy who is supposed to develop into a real threat with the bat, for a pinch-hitter? What does that say to Castellanos? Does the added pressure and show of no-confidence have a long-term effect on him that goes beyond this game? Will the show of confidence help Castellanos weather the little slump he is in? Was the best move for this game possibly not the best move for this season? Isn’t baseball interesting?

Anyway, be kind to Mr. Ausmus, today is his birthday.

The Tigers will try to end their one-game skid tonight, as Shane Greene tries to repeat his very good first performance. The Tigers have yet to win a night game this season–then again, they have yet to play one.

Tonight’s MLB Network-Televised Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. Alex Avila, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Shane Greene, P

The Tigers have historically had trouble with Pirates starter AJ Burnett. The two with the most history against him have underwhelming numbers: Miguel Cabrera (5-for-25) and Ian Kinsler (5-for-26). Maybe Rajai (4-for-9) will provide a spark–and if he does, it should be noted that Burnett has a reputation for being easy to run on.

2015 Season

Game 2015.7: Tigers at Pirates

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Make that 6 – 0!

Although that is still only good enough for a tie for first, since those pesky Royals won again. (I think the Royals own that in the sports world now, the “pesky” moniker).

The Cleveland sweep, while satisfying, showed that this season will not be the breeze that a 6 – 0 start would suggest, because: pitching. The Lobster spent much of the game in hot water, and Blaine Hardy joined Ian Krol in the Shaky Lefty club.

But oh, that hitting! As good as Miguel Cabrera has been the last couple of seasons, it’s been a while since he has been fully healthy, and a while since he flat out scared anybody. After two long bombs and a double, Terry Francona finally gave in and walked him with a man on first. Expect to see a lot more of that this season, especially if Victor Martinez has a prolonged slow start (this is still his Spring Training after all).

The Tigers will be without Victor in the lineup as they ride their Vespas down I-76 to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in an early season Interlegue game, which almost seems designed to slow down early season momentum. Did I mention I’m not a fan of the way Interleague is done now? At least we won’t have any pennant races decided in an Interleague game, since the Interleague schedule concludes this season with the Astros at the Diamondbacks.

* * * * * * * * * *

It’s too early to get too excited about the hot start (although how would you like to be 0 – 6?), but that didn’t stop Sports Illustrated from jumping all over it. After giving Detroit a rather tepid pre-season prediction (I think we were barely sneaking in with the last wild card spot), we now find that Detroit is already playoff caliber.  And that was only after the Twins sweep. Tap the brakes there, guys.

Today’s Did I Mention I Don’t Like Interleague This Early In The Season Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. Alex Avila, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anibal Sanchez, P
2015 Season

Game 2015.3: Twins at Tigers

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When the Tigers trotted off the chilly Comerica diamond with an easy 11-0 win to warm them, I doubt any of them realized they had done something no Tiger team had ever done, which is begin the season with two consecutive shutouts. In fact, the last time any American League team did the double-shutout start was when the 1977 Angels did so, behind Nolan Ryan and good old Frank Tanana (in the NL, the Nationals pulled it off last year).  The Tigers have the chance to become only the 2nd team ever (1963 Cardinals) to start off the season blankety-blankety-blank.

It would be hard to pick a player of the game for yesterday: Gose came through as predicted (how about that?), with a single, double, and triple, one to each field; Alex Avila reached base every time he was up, and scored 4 runs; Iglesias was 4-for-4, raising his average to .857; and Kinsler brought home the bottom-of-the-order boys with 4 RBI. Oh, and Sanchez with that shutout thing, topped off by an efficient Nesbitt/Krol/Alburquerque/Soria bullpen outing.

Today’s player of the game is likely to be Weather Permitting, who is probably getting plenty of encouragement to be Permitting.

It’s not all good news in Tigerland. No sooner did Justin Verlander join Bruce Rondon in the pitchers’ DL club, than Joe Nathan crashed the club with an “elbow flexor strain,” after pitching to all of one batter in the opener. Hmm. Is that the same as that “dead arm” thing with which he kicked off last season? Soria will work as the closer in the meantime, which may explain the seemingly odd move by Brad Ausmus to bring Soria in for one hitter yesterday with an 11-run lead.

Today’s Undefeated Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Alex Avila, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: Shane Greene vs. Kyle Gibson

Since the Gose as Player of the Game thing worked out yesterday, I’ll go with Shane Greene today, as he leads the Tigers to their 3rd consecutive shutout in his Detroit debut. If not Greene, then Kinsler, who looks to follow up his big game yesterday against a pitcher who he is 6-for-14 against lifetime.

 

 

2015 Season

Game 2015.2: Twins at Tigers

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I should have known when I went with Miguel Cabrera as the “obvious” prediction for the Player of the Game that he’d put up an O-fer, since there is nothing obvious in baseball. It turns out that the Tigers got all the offense they needed from J.D. Martinez, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alex Avila (!), along with a masterful starting performance by David Price, and some sparkling defense to top it all off.

The Tigers continue their quest for the perfect 162-0 season this afternoon, as they hand the ball to Anibal. Sanchez will face Ricky Nolasco, if the chilly rain in the environs permits. Hopefully Sanchez has been briefed on the Tiger Bullpen Improvement Plan, which is to keep the starters on the mound and the relievers in the bullpen where they belong.

Today will also see the Tiger debut of Anthony Gose, who gets the leadoff spot this afternoon.

In other news, Justin Verlander has finally ended up on the DL after all, backdated to March 29. Kyle Lobstein has been called up to take his spot, and he will start Sunday’s game.

Today’s Undefeated Tiger Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Alex Avila, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: Anibal Sanchez vs. Ricky Nolasco

Player of the Game pick: Anthony Gose, who will try to make his mark in his Tiger debut, and show that he’s got some leather in the outfield also.

2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.1: Twins at Tigers

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For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

–Song of Solomon 2:14, preferably read in the voice of Ernie Harwell.

Well, here we are, it’s Monday, and one of the great days in sports, Opening Day in Major League Baseball (we won’t count that thing in Chicago last night), topped off by a nitecap of NCAA basketball finals.

I was actually out walking around a local lake yesterday, and saw hundreds of turtles out sunning. Didn’t hear any singing though; perhaps I didn’t listen closely enough, or perhaps they wait until the first pitch.

The Tigers will look familiar enough; despite a few changes in the starting lineup, they are still a team of strong bats, a strong arm on the mound, not much on the bench, and a prayer for the bullpen.

For the first time in 8 years, that arm on the mound will not be in a jersey with Verlander on the back, although Justin Verlander has not actually been put on the DL as was previously announced. He threw 40 pitches off the mound yesterday; Ausmus said he “felt good” (yay!) until the last couple pitches (ohhh). Stay tuned.

And speaking of familiar faces, that guy with a big grin in the Twins jersey is Mr. Torii Hunter, making his 17th consecutive Opening Day start. He is also batting 4th, which says a thing or two about the Twins lineup.

* * * * * * * * * *

For those interested in Opening Day festivities, the Tigers front office has their own blog which I will be checking regularly this season, because how else to know who is throwing out the ceremonial first pitches?

Today that honor belongs to Oscar Winner and and Tiger fan J.K. Simmons, who will spend the remainder of the game in the bullpen yelling “encouragement” to the relievers. (That last part has yet to be verified).

There are also important notices there about new food at Comerica, such as “bacon on a stick topped with deviled eggs and fried jalapeños.” Oh dear.

OK, I’m back. I just spend an hour trying to get bacon on a stick. I was going to try to put eggs on top too, but I don’t want to miss the game.

The Four Tops will be singing the National Anthem. The Tigers are 0-0 in games opened by the Four Tops.

* * * * * * * * * *

Today’s Opening Day Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. J.D. Martinez, RF
  6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Alex Avila, C
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: David Price vs. Phil Hughes

The only real surprise in the lineup is the right-handed Davis batting against the right-handed Hughes, but Ausmus is playing past history here: Gose is 1-for-11 lifetime against Hughes. Speaking of history, Cabrera is hitting a fat 16-for-34 with 5 HRs off of Hughes, so he is the unsurprising pick for Opening Day Player of the Game.

The key hitter for the season though will be Cespedes. Assuming everyone stays healthy (I’m looking at you, Victor), the Cabrera-Martinez-Martinez triad should be as good as last season. Cespedes keeps knocking on the door of greatness, only to nap on the doorstep when nobody answers. It’s time for him to force his way in.

Game Post

2014 ALDS: Game 3

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The Tiger looks about ready to settle down for a long winter’s nap.

Still, there is a game today, and for the sellout crowd who shelled out for tickets, I hope the Tigers don’t go quietly into that nap. Hey, look, there are fans of 22 teams out there who only wish they could watch their teams play today. And the Tigers are actually in a better position, if you can imagine, than the two teams who most experts picked to meet in the World Series, the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels, who were both swept in two games at home. Only a late-inning Dodger home run has kept the 2014 ALDS round from having the look of a sweepapalooza.

It’s pointless to give a Game 2 re-crap now, since we’ve all been through it too many times–though that hasn’t stopped Captain Obvious and all his lieutenants in the national media from providing expert opinions which could be summarized as: the Tigers have bullpen problems. Who knew? Although to be fair, the numbers for the consecutive 8th-inning blowups are literally amazing.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the game, while it was happening, was listening to the TBS announcers more or less call everything in advance. You’ve got to bring Sanchez back out, you can’t go back to what you did yesterday (here comes Chamberlain). The Orioles have 3 outfielders with strong arms, you have to be careful about trying to run on them (there goes Cabrera). Be careful here, you know Delmon Young is going to be going after the first pitch (here comes hanging slider up over the middle of the plate). The Tigers have a very weak bench (Carrera goes stumbling around center; the Tigers end the game with nobody better to send to the plate than Perez-Romine-Suarez).Perhaps must frustrating of all was the repeated line “the Tigers need to play this like it’s an elimination game.”  Brad Ausmus managed the game like it was a mid-season game against the White Sox, “saving” his pitchers when their pitch counts got high, using his “8th-inning guys” because, well, it was the 8th inning, etc.

I think a lot of us, perhaps unfairly, looked forward to the change to the Ausmus regime, thinking we’d get some different approaches, some creativity, some life outside the standard operating procedures. No such luck. I said “perhaps unfairly” because it’s only his first year on the job, at any level. Also–and I think this point is overlooked–he inherited half the coaching staff from the Leyland regime, pitching coach Jeff Jones and bench coach Gene Lamont. If Ausmus is back next season (I would be surprised if he isn’t), I would feel much better if he said OK this is MY staff now and replaced Lamont and Jones, and figured out what the Brad Ausmus way of managing really is.

I know some of us frustrated fans have said we might as well lose today and get it over with. I get the frustration, and there is nothing more wearying than waiting for the inevitable bullpen collapse: you can’t even enjoy being in the lead by 3 runs. Not me though, I’ll be rooting all the way. I think the best chance we have would be for David “Complete Game” Price to show up. And for the bats to not go into hiding like some overly-shy clan of wooden leprechauns.  But if we do have to lose this afternoon, the rascal in me would prefer it goes down like this: Price takes a lead into the 8th, Ausmus pulls him out,  Chamberlain comes in…. Might as well make some heads explode on our way out.

Today’s Donkey-Time Lineup:

  1. Kinsler, 2B
  2. Hunter, RF
  3. Cabrera, 1B
  4. V Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, LF
  6. Avila, C
  7. Castellanos, 3B
  8. Romine, SS
  9. Kelly, CF

Price, P

Forgotten Man: Holaday

 

Game Post

2014 ALDS: Game 1

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I had been wondering who, or what, to use for the Game Post picture for today, and then Miguel made it easy. Miguel threw down the gauntlet.

In case you haven’t seen the story yet, when Max Scherzer was going around collecting signatures to receive playoff share money on Wednesday, Cabrera wasn’t interested: “I just want the ring.”

And with those 5 words, the tone for Detoit’s 2014 ALDS has been set. No excuses, no distractions (not even money), nothing will do but the ring.

(Does anyone else find it odd that you actually have to sign up for playoff money? One would think they team would distribute it automatically. I suppose it’s one of those quaint remnants, like golfers having to keep their own scores).

I had just read this article about Cabrera as team leader, with a strange disparity between the headline (“Cabrera Speaks Loudly”) and the content (he is a quiet leader), but Cabrera’s response to the playoff share signup was simultaneously quiet and very, very loud (it’s the top trending topic on Facebook).

*****

The Detroit ALDS Roster has finally been released (the team had been waiting as long as possible to gauge Rajai’s ability to play–they submitted the roster 15 minutes before the 10 am deadline):

PITCHERS (11)

RHP Al Alburquerque
RHP Joba Chamberlain
LHP Phil Coke
LHP Kyle Lobstein
RHP Joe Nathan
RHP Rick Porcello
LHP David Price
RHP Anibal Sanchez
RHP Max Scherzer
RHP Joakim Soria
RHP Justin Verlander

CATCHERS (2)
Alex Avila
Bryan Holaday

INFIELDERS (6) 
1B Miguel Cabrera
3B  Nick Castellanos
2B Ian Kinsler
INF Hernan Perez
INF Andrew Romine
INF Eugenio Suarez

OUTFIELDERS (5)
OF Ezequiel Carrera
OF Rajai Davis
OF Torii Hunter
INF/OF Don Kelly
OF J.D. Martinez

DESIGNATED HITTER (1)
Victor Martinez

There aren’t really any surprises, unless you count leaving out Blaine Hardy, who had a good season, until his last two appearances, in which he was awful. Hernan Perez on the roster means that the team doesn’t foresee any issues with Rajai Davis, which would have resulted in an extra outfielder. Speaking of which, I don’t really trust Carrera as a defensive replacement, but there he is. I was holding out a faint hope for Tyler Collins. (Edit: Ausmus said that Hernan was going to be on the roster regardless; if Rajai wasn’t good to go they would have added Collins and gone 1 short in the bullpen).

Today’s Show-Me-The-Ring Lineup:

  1. Kinsler, 2B
  2. Hunter, RF
  3. Cabrera, 1B
  4. V Martinez, DH
  5. JD Martinez, LF
  6. Avila, C
  7. Castellanos, 3B
  8. Romine, SS
  9. Davis, CF

Scherzer, P

Baseball Reference Game Preview. Baltimore’s Chris Tillman has had a pretty good career against current Tiger hitters: .238 BA against, .671 OPS against. One notable exception has been Miguel Cabrera, who has hit Tillman at .385 with an OPS of 1.159.

The good news is that Max’s numbers have been almost exactly the same against the Orioles: .238 BA against, .663 OPS against. But hold your breath when Nelson Cruz comes to the plate: Cruz hits Scherzer for .381 (.952 OPS), and absolutely bombed him in his one postseason game facing him (2 doubles, a HR, 5 RBI).

Season Series: Detroit 5, Baltimore 1, including a 3-game sweep in Baltimore. (Tillman had only Baltimore win).

Game Post

Playoffs?! Playoffs?!

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Yes, playoffs!

I figured I would throw out a new post for pre-ALDS talk. As you may have heard by now, the Tigers have announced their starting rotation for the playoffs, which goes Scherzer/Verlander/Price/Porcello, ending the speculation/hope of some that they would buck tradition and go with a three-man rotation.

Chris Tillman (13-6, 3.34) is going for Baltimore in the opener, but the Orioles have yet to announce their rotation beyond that.

The actual schedule of the first three games of the series is out:

  • Game 1 – Thu Oct 2 – Camden Yards – 5:37 pm if Royals win wild card, 6:07 pm if A’s win wild card
  • Game 2 – Fri Oct 3   – Camden Yards – 12:07 pm if Giants win wild card, 3:07 pm if Pirates win wild card
  • Game 3 – Sun Oct 5 – Comerica Park – 3:45 pm

Those 3:07 (if Pirates win) and 3:45 games would seem to favor the pitchers, with the odd late-afternoon shadow factor. Sunday would also seem to be courting a little panic in Detroit with the Lions’ home game ending shortly after the Tigers begin.

Tonight the Royals and A’s play their game 163 (otherwise known as the Wild Card game). I’d love to see KC win. Besides representing the much-maligned Central, the A’s just plain got buried by the Angels at the end of the season, and it would be nice to see someone take out the Angels and save Detroit from another horrid LA experience. The Royals seem to have a better chance at that than Oakland. Of course, as I am typing this the Royals just ran into an out from 3rd, not a good sign.

In other Tiger news, Victor Martinez was nominated for the Hank Aaron Award, and Miguel Cabrera was named the AL Player of the Month for September.

 

Game Post

Game 2014.158: White Sox at Tigers

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Now that was some Septober baseball.

It didn’t begin that way: for the 2nd consecutive night the Tiger bats were having trouble, and Detroit went into the 5th with 18 consecutive scoreless innings behind them. One single by Rajai Davis changed that. After moving to 2nd on a ground out, he stole third and then scored on the throw, and just like that Rajai had run the Tigers onto the scoreboard, finally. They added two more on a clutch double by Mr. Septober himself, Torii Hunter.

Meanwhile the White Sox could do nothing with David “Dr. Jekyll” Price, who didn’t disappoint in his on-again off-again pitching trend, baffling the Sox with only 3 hits and no walks against 8 strikeouts over 8 innings. He ran out of gas in the 9th, but how many of us were begging Ausmus to bring him back out to finish the game and leave Nathan in the pen? I thought so. He couldn’t close the deal, and in comes Joe to face Gillaspie with the go-ahead run on 3rd. When he began by walking Gillaspie I’m sure there were many “oh no here we go’s” muttered, but it turns out that Nathan pitched around him intentionally, remembering what Gillaspie did to the Royals a week earlier. Nathan got the last out, and set the stage for a playoff-atmosphere, game-winning hit by Miguel Cabrera.

They really needed that one last night: today the Tigers get a day game against a legitimate Cy Young candidate, Chris Sale. The Condor is having his best season of an already impressive career, with a minuscule 2.20 ERA. If there is any room for optimism, it’s that Sale was roughed up a bit in his last start against the Royals, giving up 9 hits and 5 runs in only 5 innings. In addition, Justin Verlander is coming off perhaps his best start of the season. Perhaps Verlander can dig out his old Cy Young cap and we can have on old fashion battle of the Cys out there.

*****

Classy move by the Tiger organization honoring Paul Konerko , who is winding down an 18-year career, before last night’s game. No, Derek Jeter isn’t the only guy ever to retire.

*****

Stats That Make You Go Hmm:

Victor Martinez is the team MVP, right? Not according to these WAR ratings. Here are the most valuable Tigers based on WAR:

5.4  Max Scherzer

5.1  Miguel Cabrera

5.0  Ian Kinsler

4.2  Victor Martinez

3.6  JD Martinez

But wait, unlike say, OPS, WAR is calculated different ways by different people. Those were the Fangraphs numbers. Here are the Baseball Reference WAR ratings:

5.9  Max Scherzer

5.1  Victor Martinez

5.0  Ian Kinsler

4.8  Miguel Cabrera

4.5  Rick Porcello

Hmm, that one fits in more with my impressions as a fan. At any rate it’s worth noting how high Ian Kinsler ranks on both lists, he of the reckless baserunning and ill-timed pop ups.

Today’s Come Sale-Away Lineup:

  1. Kinsler 2B
  2. Hunter RF
  3. Cabrera 1B
  4. V Martinez DH
  5. JD Martinez LF
  6. Castellanos 3B
  7. Holaday C
  8. Romine SS
  9. Davis CF

 

Game Post

Game 2014.157: White Sox at Tigers

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Apologies to Torii Hunter, but last night looked like Septaugust baseball.

Kyle Lobstein continues to be a very promising rookie: he made one mistake, but rebounded with composure and pitched 7 strong innings, after which Joba Chamberlain pitched a good 8th, and Soria came on looking like a closer in the 9th. Unfortunately, rookie Chris “Cy” Bassitt hounded the Tiger bats into submission, and Detroit failed to put up even a single run against him or the 2nd worst bullpen in the league. (The Twin pitching staff and bullpen are even worse, but we saw what Ricky Nolasco was able to do to the Tigers last week).

So far The Lobster has started 5 games, with a 3.38 ERA, and a 1.154 WHIP, which puts him here:

  1. 1.096 Anibal Sanchez
  2. 1.154 Kyle Lobstein
  3. 1.166 Max Scherzer
  4. 1.209 Rick Porcello
  5. 1.216 David Price (as a Tiger)
  6. 1.348 Drew Smyly (as a Tiger)
  7. 1.419 Justin Verlander

Speaking of Price, there is some concern that he will get bombed again tonight. Here is what happened his last 6 starts:

8/21  0 earned runs

8/27  8 earned runs

9/01  1 earned run

9/06  5 earned runs

9/12  1 earned run

9/17  5 earned runs

You see where I’m going with this. It’s Jekyll time, we should have a good start to look forward to.