Kyle Lohse had to wait until almost the end of spring training to get signed by anyone. There weren't any restrictions in place for him, it's just that no one wanted to pay him the "Gil Meche money" he was seeking.
Right now any teams that were courting him probably aren't overly disappointed with their decision. That's not to say that some of them shouldn't be.
In 16 starts (94.1 innings) Lohse is 9-2, with a respectable 3.63 ERA. He's actually been St. Louis' 2nd best starter behind converted reliever Adam Wainright. But when you look just underneath the surface, Lohse isn't exactly a world-beater. His .277 BAbip isn't amazing, but it's still about 30 points lower than his career average (and this is a 29 year old). The strikeout rate has absolutely fallen off the table as he's down to little more than 4 K/9 (career 5.6 K/9). Having said that, he's helping himself out with only 2.3 BB/9 (down from 2.8 for his career). Staying away from the longball has also been quite a help. His HR rate is down from a little over 1 per 9 to a thin .6 HR/9.
Over his last 7 starts, Lohse has been nothing short of phenomenal only allowing 10 earned runs over that span. The more shocking thing is that he's only walked SEVEN in those starts as a whole. The good news for Tigers fans is that there were only 20 Ks in those seven games, so the ball will be around the plate (though that hasn't been good news for the 2008 Tigers for the most part).
With all of that positive must come a negative, right? Yes, it really does. Kyle Lohse has had a horrendous career against the Detroit Tigers. In a little over 100 IP, he sports an OPS against of .849 and an atrocious 5.74 ERA. In those innings he's allowed 17 HR and struggled to a 7-6 record against the boys from Detroit. The decent news for him is that half of his innings against the Tigers have come in Comerica (where the game is played tonight), and his stats are a tad bit more respectable there. The ERA drops a little over a full point, and only 6 of those 17 HRs came in Detroit.
Triumphant or not, Kyle Lohse returns tonight!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The State of the Tigers
The Hitters: May was a down month for the Detroit Offense. Their team OPS dropped by almost .100 points, they hit nine less home runs, and their walks fell off the face of the Earth (122 in April, 67 in May)
Curtis Granderson - After a blazing hot start in his first six games back from the DL, Granderson hit a wall. Everyone knew that he wouldn't keep up a 1.49 OPS, but a .585 OPS was absolutely out of the question. His BAbip was .266, but that's nothing that's absolutely crippling. The crippling thing is that he only had six extra base hits all month, and actually struck out more than he hit (25 to 24).
Placido Polanco - Placido looked much more like himself in May. He doubled his hit total, while only taking four walks in the month. The ten doubles helped get his May slugging to .425 (compared to .342 in April).
Gary Sheffield - A .355 OBP is nothing to scoff at for a major league ballplayer. But if you're a #3 hitter on a ballclub that also sports Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, and Magglio Ordonez, you should probably sport a better slugging pct. than a paltry .354. Age and injuries may have finally broken Sheffield down completely.
Magglio Ordonez - Outside of Detroit (and very possibly even in Detroit), Maggs went completely under the radar in May. He put up an excellent .940 OPS, and even though he took half the walks that he did in April, his .381 BAbip made that a non-issue. He just keeps rollin'.
Carlos Guillen - After carrying the Tigers for most of April, Carlos regressed quite a bit in May. His OPS dropped from .938 in April to a below-league average .721 in May. He's beginning to show that his years of hitting more than 20 HRs in a year may be behind him with only five in the first two months.
Miguel Cabrera - I've spent quite a good portion of this young season defending Miguel, and it's beginning to get harder. You can't knock the guy for being inconsistent as far as his OPS goes, it's just that people would like it to be about .150 points higher. They don't pay the man the way they do for an above average OPS. Ten extra base hits a month just won't do the job.
Edgar Renteria - E6 had a horrible month of May. He had a decent, if only around average, April. But that fell completely off and he couldn't even manage to break a .300 OBP or slugging pct. One bad month doesn't make a player, but with Edgar's best years behind him and average defense at the best, his trade is going to look worse and worse as time passes.
Brandon Inge - Brandon only managed to get around 50 ABs, and he really didn't make them count. He put up an unimaginable .495 OPS and struck out twice as many times as he hit. And after that excellent showing of patience he had in April, he only walked once in May. It's hard to justify playing someone for their glove when they're putting up worse numbers offensively than a slumping Edgar Renteria.
Matt Joyce/Marcus Thames - Joyce looked phenomenal until major league pitchers learned to just give him the Pedro Cerrano treatment and throw him breaking balls. After he was sent down, it seemed as though Marcus Thames would see a big increase in ABs. This wasn't really the case, as he only had four more plate appearances in May than April. He made the most of those plate appearances though, rocking a .911 OPS. Two of his three home runs came in one game, but with a season as bad as this one, you take the good where you can.
The Starters: April was a horrible, horrible time to be a starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. For whatever reason, May wasn't a whole lot better (oh wait, the reason is they suck).
Justin Verlander - While Verlander wasn't amazing in May, he was a hell of a lot better than April. He allowed more hits, but reduced his walks, and halved his runs allowed. The most odd thing about Verlander's May was that his BAbip went up by almost 40 points and yet his opponent's OPS dropped by .100. With his BAbip returning to normal and him getting better luck, this may be the start of something positive.
Jeremy Bonderman - Despite pitching six less innings in May, Bonderman walked 10 less, struck out 3 more, and allowed 3 less hits. Through all that, his ERA actually went up by 1.05. Bad luck was certainly part of it, and that's really nothing new for Jeremy.
Kenny Rogers - Three of Kenny's five starts in May were quality ones, but the other two were nothing to write home about. He didn't let the hits hurt too much, and his walks weren't too much of a problem either. Unless he gets injured, Rogers will continue to be very feast or famine.
Nate Robertson - You can count on two things. The sun will rise, and Nate Robertson will give up four runs in a start. Nine of his eleven starts have resulted in four earned runs or more. The positive for Nate in May was that lowered his ERA from 6.91. A May ERA of 5.15 isn't very pleasant though. He had one more start than in April, and allowed ten more hits and had four less strikeouts. The five home runs were kind of unsettling, and Nate is showing us all that 2006 was a nice fluke.
Dontrelle Willis - The D-Train was on the DL for much of May, and the Tigers didn't miss him at all. Sad but true. The fact that he just threw his first strikeouts of the season only after he'd walked eleven should tell you all you need to know about how his pitching has been.
Armando Galarraga - Galarraga has performed far better than anyone could've hoped, sporting the only ERA+ north of 100 (league average) on the staff. Having said that, his May was more along the lines of what people expected as his ERA shifted to 4.55. Basically multiply all of his April stats by three (other than IP), and you've got his May performance. Expect the regression to continue.
The Relievers: While the beginning of the season made it look like the Detroit bullpen was going to be some unlikely bright spot. Unfortunately regression has set in (shocker there), and they've turned into the house of horrors that everyone suspected they would be.
Casey Fossum - Fossum is absolutely terrible. Don't let anyone try to sway you into thinking any differently. At 29, he's not going to "figure" anything out as far as his terrible stuff. People can gander at the pretty AAA stats all they like, but a look at his career MLB stats will bring tears to your eyes (the despair kind).
Aquilino Lopez - Aside from one season that he pitched 70+ innings with the Blue Jays, he's a 33 year old reliever who hasn't ever really been amazing. He's been one of the better Detroit relievers this season, but will not be a guy who can be counted on to shut down an opposing team in any situation. He'll be a decent bullpen piece if he doesn't regress too hard.
Freddy Dolsi - Don't let the good ERA (1.54) fool you. He's only pitched 11 innings, and in those innings he's walked seven batters and only struck out 6. He gets hit around a good amount, to the tune of a 1.62 WHIP (sample size, I know).
Clay Rapada - A guy who's used as a lefty specialist, but awkwardly enough has a much higher batting average against with lefties (.273 against lefties, .200 against righties). Only 10 innings pitched, but he's been up and down.
Denny Bautista - Bautista is a nice example of people falling in love with a quick fastball. Yes it's fast, and his slider isn't too shabby either. Problem is, he's the same pitcher that he was in KC and Colorado. He doesn't strike out as many as his stuff would indicate, he walks too many batters (13 BB in 13 IP), and for whatever reason he's very hittable (12 H in 13 IP). It's only 13 innings, but a 1.875 WHIP is pretty eye-popping.
Bobby Seay - The great year that Bobby had last year in his age 29 season may have given some people unrealistic expectations. His stuff isn't overpowering, and he's been hit around pretty well so far. He's only walked eight in 17 innings, so I guess that's something.
Zach Miner - Miner has already allowed more earned runs in 31 innings than he had all of last season (53 innings). Mario and Rod will tell you all day that his stuff is excellent, but he hasn't translated that to a whole lot of success so far. He would probably do himself a favor if he had a bigger gap in his walks and strikeouts (18 BBs to 19 Ks).
Todd Jones - Walks have been more of a problem for Todd Jones than in recent years (he's on pace to walk 30% more batters than last year). Add in the fact that he still gets hit around pretty well, and this year has been pretty typical Todd Jones. He's already allowed three home runs, which is as many as he allowed all last season
The return of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya seems like it would be a shot in the arm for this horrible crew. Though Tigers fans would probably do themselves well to temper their excitement until they actually make it up to the bigs again.
Overall, Tigers fans are going to continue to hope for what they have all season. For the team to not only play up to expectations, but anywhere near shouting distance of them.
Curtis Granderson - After a blazing hot start in his first six games back from the DL, Granderson hit a wall. Everyone knew that he wouldn't keep up a 1.49 OPS, but a .585 OPS was absolutely out of the question. His BAbip was .266, but that's nothing that's absolutely crippling. The crippling thing is that he only had six extra base hits all month, and actually struck out more than he hit (25 to 24).
Placido Polanco - Placido looked much more like himself in May. He doubled his hit total, while only taking four walks in the month. The ten doubles helped get his May slugging to .425 (compared to .342 in April).
Gary Sheffield - A .355 OBP is nothing to scoff at for a major league ballplayer. But if you're a #3 hitter on a ballclub that also sports Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, and Magglio Ordonez, you should probably sport a better slugging pct. than a paltry .354. Age and injuries may have finally broken Sheffield down completely.
Magglio Ordonez - Outside of Detroit (and very possibly even in Detroit), Maggs went completely under the radar in May. He put up an excellent .940 OPS, and even though he took half the walks that he did in April, his .381 BAbip made that a non-issue. He just keeps rollin'.
Carlos Guillen - After carrying the Tigers for most of April, Carlos regressed quite a bit in May. His OPS dropped from .938 in April to a below-league average .721 in May. He's beginning to show that his years of hitting more than 20 HRs in a year may be behind him with only five in the first two months.
Miguel Cabrera - I've spent quite a good portion of this young season defending Miguel, and it's beginning to get harder. You can't knock the guy for being inconsistent as far as his OPS goes, it's just that people would like it to be about .150 points higher. They don't pay the man the way they do for an above average OPS. Ten extra base hits a month just won't do the job.
Edgar Renteria - E6 had a horrible month of May. He had a decent, if only around average, April. But that fell completely off and he couldn't even manage to break a .300 OBP or slugging pct. One bad month doesn't make a player, but with Edgar's best years behind him and average defense at the best, his trade is going to look worse and worse as time passes.
Brandon Inge - Brandon only managed to get around 50 ABs, and he really didn't make them count. He put up an unimaginable .495 OPS and struck out twice as many times as he hit. And after that excellent showing of patience he had in April, he only walked once in May. It's hard to justify playing someone for their glove when they're putting up worse numbers offensively than a slumping Edgar Renteria.
Matt Joyce/Marcus Thames - Joyce looked phenomenal until major league pitchers learned to just give him the Pedro Cerrano treatment and throw him breaking balls. After he was sent down, it seemed as though Marcus Thames would see a big increase in ABs. This wasn't really the case, as he only had four more plate appearances in May than April. He made the most of those plate appearances though, rocking a .911 OPS. Two of his three home runs came in one game, but with a season as bad as this one, you take the good where you can.
The Starters: April was a horrible, horrible time to be a starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. For whatever reason, May wasn't a whole lot better (oh wait, the reason is they suck).
Justin Verlander - While Verlander wasn't amazing in May, he was a hell of a lot better than April. He allowed more hits, but reduced his walks, and halved his runs allowed. The most odd thing about Verlander's May was that his BAbip went up by almost 40 points and yet his opponent's OPS dropped by .100. With his BAbip returning to normal and him getting better luck, this may be the start of something positive.
Jeremy Bonderman - Despite pitching six less innings in May, Bonderman walked 10 less, struck out 3 more, and allowed 3 less hits. Through all that, his ERA actually went up by 1.05. Bad luck was certainly part of it, and that's really nothing new for Jeremy.
Kenny Rogers - Three of Kenny's five starts in May were quality ones, but the other two were nothing to write home about. He didn't let the hits hurt too much, and his walks weren't too much of a problem either. Unless he gets injured, Rogers will continue to be very feast or famine.
Nate Robertson - You can count on two things. The sun will rise, and Nate Robertson will give up four runs in a start. Nine of his eleven starts have resulted in four earned runs or more. The positive for Nate in May was that lowered his ERA from 6.91. A May ERA of 5.15 isn't very pleasant though. He had one more start than in April, and allowed ten more hits and had four less strikeouts. The five home runs were kind of unsettling, and Nate is showing us all that 2006 was a nice fluke.
Dontrelle Willis - The D-Train was on the DL for much of May, and the Tigers didn't miss him at all. Sad but true. The fact that he just threw his first strikeouts of the season only after he'd walked eleven should tell you all you need to know about how his pitching has been.
Armando Galarraga - Galarraga has performed far better than anyone could've hoped, sporting the only ERA+ north of 100 (league average) on the staff. Having said that, his May was more along the lines of what people expected as his ERA shifted to 4.55. Basically multiply all of his April stats by three (other than IP), and you've got his May performance. Expect the regression to continue.
The Relievers: While the beginning of the season made it look like the Detroit bullpen was going to be some unlikely bright spot. Unfortunately regression has set in (shocker there), and they've turned into the house of horrors that everyone suspected they would be.
Casey Fossum - Fossum is absolutely terrible. Don't let anyone try to sway you into thinking any differently. At 29, he's not going to "figure" anything out as far as his terrible stuff. People can gander at the pretty AAA stats all they like, but a look at his career MLB stats will bring tears to your eyes (the despair kind).
Aquilino Lopez - Aside from one season that he pitched 70+ innings with the Blue Jays, he's a 33 year old reliever who hasn't ever really been amazing. He's been one of the better Detroit relievers this season, but will not be a guy who can be counted on to shut down an opposing team in any situation. He'll be a decent bullpen piece if he doesn't regress too hard.
Freddy Dolsi - Don't let the good ERA (1.54) fool you. He's only pitched 11 innings, and in those innings he's walked seven batters and only struck out 6. He gets hit around a good amount, to the tune of a 1.62 WHIP (sample size, I know).
Clay Rapada - A guy who's used as a lefty specialist, but awkwardly enough has a much higher batting average against with lefties (.273 against lefties, .200 against righties). Only 10 innings pitched, but he's been up and down.
Denny Bautista - Bautista is a nice example of people falling in love with a quick fastball. Yes it's fast, and his slider isn't too shabby either. Problem is, he's the same pitcher that he was in KC and Colorado. He doesn't strike out as many as his stuff would indicate, he walks too many batters (13 BB in 13 IP), and for whatever reason he's very hittable (12 H in 13 IP). It's only 13 innings, but a 1.875 WHIP is pretty eye-popping.
Bobby Seay - The great year that Bobby had last year in his age 29 season may have given some people unrealistic expectations. His stuff isn't overpowering, and he's been hit around pretty well so far. He's only walked eight in 17 innings, so I guess that's something.
Zach Miner - Miner has already allowed more earned runs in 31 innings than he had all of last season (53 innings). Mario and Rod will tell you all day that his stuff is excellent, but he hasn't translated that to a whole lot of success so far. He would probably do himself a favor if he had a bigger gap in his walks and strikeouts (18 BBs to 19 Ks).
Todd Jones - Walks have been more of a problem for Todd Jones than in recent years (he's on pace to walk 30% more batters than last year). Add in the fact that he still gets hit around pretty well, and this year has been pretty typical Todd Jones. He's already allowed three home runs, which is as many as he allowed all last season
The return of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya seems like it would be a shot in the arm for this horrible crew. Though Tigers fans would probably do themselves well to temper their excitement until they actually make it up to the bigs again.
Overall, Tigers fans are going to continue to hope for what they have all season. For the team to not only play up to expectations, but anywhere near shouting distance of them.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Laying Eggs
A series that had so much promise for 6 innings on Friday night ended with a thud in the afternoon on Sunday.
The Tigers were shut out for the seventh time only a month and a half into the season by father time himself, Randy Johnson. The Big Unit was far from dominant, allowing seven baserunners in seven innings. He did strike out five, but the Tigers helped him along by stranding runner after runner (including a no out double by Miguel in the 4th).
Nate Robertson was hit around pretty well, giving up seven base hits and four walks in just 5.2 innings. He was having decent luck until he gave up a two-run double to Chris Young in the 5th. In the 6th Robertson loaded the bases full, with one of those being a walk to Randy Johnson after intentionally walking Miguel Montero. Freddy Dolsi came in to relieve him, and immediately walked Chris Young to bring in a run. The D-Backs tacked on another run off the Tigers bullpen before Zach Miner shut them down for the remainder.
In addition to the offensive ineptitude, Jim Leyland provided a nice head scratcher as well. He batted Pudge Rodriguez leadoff again because of the lefty on the mound (which he's done before, so it wasn't so surprising). But the problem was in the three-hole. Rather than just moving Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera up in the order, he hit Edgar Renteria third. Edgar has been good this season against lefties in a pretty small sample size at only 20 ABs. Over his career he slugs around .450 against southpaws, but with Cabrera and Ordonez around he shouldn't be hitting any higher than 5th.
Next on the agenda? A series with that other disappointing AL team, the Seattle Mariners.
The Tigers were shut out for the seventh time only a month and a half into the season by father time himself, Randy Johnson. The Big Unit was far from dominant, allowing seven baserunners in seven innings. He did strike out five, but the Tigers helped him along by stranding runner after runner (including a no out double by Miguel in the 4th).
Nate Robertson was hit around pretty well, giving up seven base hits and four walks in just 5.2 innings. He was having decent luck until he gave up a two-run double to Chris Young in the 5th. In the 6th Robertson loaded the bases full, with one of those being a walk to Randy Johnson after intentionally walking Miguel Montero. Freddy Dolsi came in to relieve him, and immediately walked Chris Young to bring in a run. The D-Backs tacked on another run off the Tigers bullpen before Zach Miner shut them down for the remainder.
In addition to the offensive ineptitude, Jim Leyland provided a nice head scratcher as well. He batted Pudge Rodriguez leadoff again because of the lefty on the mound (which he's done before, so it wasn't so surprising). But the problem was in the three-hole. Rather than just moving Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera up in the order, he hit Edgar Renteria third. Edgar has been good this season against lefties in a pretty small sample size at only 20 ABs. Over his career he slugs around .450 against southpaws, but with Cabrera and Ordonez around he shouldn't be hitting any higher than 5th.
Next on the agenda? A series with that other disappointing AL team, the Seattle Mariners.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Brooms Ahoy
Confidence isn't a word I would really use too often when talking about the 2008 Detroit Tigers. But going into Thursday's finale in KC, it was pretty safe to assume that the Tigers were probably pretty confident in their chances. They wouldn't be swept by the lowly Kansas City Royals. Kenny Rogers was taking the hill, on a roll with three consecutive quality starts. And they were facing a starter that they victimized in the season opener.
All that came to a screeching halt as the Gambler fell victim to a three run first inning, and a two run second shortly thereafter. By the time he'd exited after the fourth inning, KC had a seven-spot on the board, and fourteen men had reached base.
Gil Meche gave one back in the second inning, but looked nothing like the man Detroit had seen the first go round. It was just another day at the office for a Kansas City pitcher, going seven strong and keeping the foot on the Tigers' throat all day.
You know there is something seriously wrong when Matt Joyce (not really trying to slight the man too hard here) is seemingly the entire offense. Another home run was crushed to the right field grass, and he also added a sac fly.
The AL Central is still a jumbled mess, with first place and fourth place only 2.5 games apart. But the Tigers aren't even in that discussion because they're sitting in dead last, 3.5 games away from the nearest team (the Royals). The Indians have claimed first place, already have a six game cushion to work with, and all of their pitchers throwing zeros.
If Detroit doesn't make some sort of adjustment soon (cough, Gary Sheffield DL, cough), they could be in severe trouble. A visit to arguably the best team in the NL (the Snakes) is not going to help matters at all, and interleague play as a whole is not going to be a laugher for the AL this season.
All that came to a screeching halt as the Gambler fell victim to a three run first inning, and a two run second shortly thereafter. By the time he'd exited after the fourth inning, KC had a seven-spot on the board, and fourteen men had reached base.
Gil Meche gave one back in the second inning, but looked nothing like the man Detroit had seen the first go round. It was just another day at the office for a Kansas City pitcher, going seven strong and keeping the foot on the Tigers' throat all day.
You know there is something seriously wrong when Matt Joyce (not really trying to slight the man too hard here) is seemingly the entire offense. Another home run was crushed to the right field grass, and he also added a sac fly.
The AL Central is still a jumbled mess, with first place and fourth place only 2.5 games apart. But the Tigers aren't even in that discussion because they're sitting in dead last, 3.5 games away from the nearest team (the Royals). The Indians have claimed first place, already have a six game cushion to work with, and all of their pitchers throwing zeros.
If Detroit doesn't make some sort of adjustment soon (cough, Gary Sheffield DL, cough), they could be in severe trouble. A visit to arguably the best team in the NL (the Snakes) is not going to help matters at all, and interleague play as a whole is not going to be a laugher for the AL this season.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Falling Down
After a heartbreaking loss on Tuesday, the Tigers absolutely needed a good start from Justin Verlander. Only one of his starts has been quality, and the rest (seven of them) have been at least four earned runs or more. He was not the problem today.
The offense, on the other hand, was.
Kansas City rookie pitcher Luke Hochevar pitched six very strong innings of shutout ball. He threw less strikes than Verlander on a comparable amount of pitches, but was bailed out routinely by the Tigers thin bats. He walked three batters, but only allowed four base hits (none for extra bases), and struck out five. Detroit's bats looked, for the lack of a better word (by my choice), pathetic. In the season series so far against the Royals, the Tigers are 3-36 with runners in scoring position.
The Tigers young ace looked good, but not quite as good as his counterpart. The only real mistake came on a two RBI single by Joey Gathright in the second inning. It wasn't really a mistake as much as it was a decent piece of hitting on a very low breaking ball by the KC speedster. After that blip, he didn't allow another run to score in his 6+ innings of work. It really was just what the Tigers needed from him. It would be nice to see him throw more first pitch strikes, and not get behind on hitters that he should be challenging, but this start was very encouraging nevertheless.
Down 2-0 in the top of the 8th inning, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen both got on with singles. On the first pitch of the next at bat, Magglio Ordonez grounded into a double play. A Miguel Cabrera ground out later, and the mild crisis was averted. After that poor showing by the heart of the order, it was left up to six, seven, and eight hitters in the 9th to salvage something. That was put to rest before anyone could blink. Joakim Soria struck out the first two batters he faced, and got a groundout to record his 10th save of the season.
That, my friends, is how you completely waste two quality starts from a couple of struggling starting pitchers.
The offense, on the other hand, was.
Kansas City rookie pitcher Luke Hochevar pitched six very strong innings of shutout ball. He threw less strikes than Verlander on a comparable amount of pitches, but was bailed out routinely by the Tigers thin bats. He walked three batters, but only allowed four base hits (none for extra bases), and struck out five. Detroit's bats looked, for the lack of a better word (by my choice), pathetic. In the season series so far against the Royals, the Tigers are 3-36 with runners in scoring position.
The Tigers young ace looked good, but not quite as good as his counterpart. The only real mistake came on a two RBI single by Joey Gathright in the second inning. It wasn't really a mistake as much as it was a decent piece of hitting on a very low breaking ball by the KC speedster. After that blip, he didn't allow another run to score in his 6+ innings of work. It really was just what the Tigers needed from him. It would be nice to see him throw more first pitch strikes, and not get behind on hitters that he should be challenging, but this start was very encouraging nevertheless.
Down 2-0 in the top of the 8th inning, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen both got on with singles. On the first pitch of the next at bat, Magglio Ordonez grounded into a double play. A Miguel Cabrera ground out later, and the mild crisis was averted. After that poor showing by the heart of the order, it was left up to six, seven, and eight hitters in the 9th to salvage something. That was put to rest before anyone could blink. Joakim Soria struck out the first two batters he faced, and got a groundout to record his 10th save of the season.
That, my friends, is how you completely waste two quality starts from a couple of struggling starting pitchers.
Friday, May 9, 2008
May 9th-11th Pitching Matchups
Finshing up the season series with the Boston Red Sox was an exercise in futility, as the Tigers only managed to win two out of six overall. Detroit will have the opportunity to play the aggressor this weekend as they close out their season series with the other AL East power, the New York Yankees.
The bombers come in just as hobbled as they were before, and maybe even more so. Alex Rodriguez is still out, as is Jorge Posada. The pitching staff has become even more thin, with Phil Hughes making a trip to the disabled list, and Ian Kennedy being sent down.
Friday: Kenny Rogers vs. Kei Igawa
Kenny had one of his better starts this season in his first encounter with the Yankees, allowing only two earned runs in six innings of work. That was Rogers' second quality start of the season, and he followed it up with his third in the very next start (against the free swinging Twins). Eating innings and giving a quality start here and there is all the Tigers have asked of Rogers, and he hasn't been worse than most of the other Detroit starters.
Kei Igawa's rookie season didn't go the way anyone in New York would've liked it to. He had pretty good strikeout numbers with 54 punchouts in 67.2 innings, but was very prone to the longball and the walk. He walked almost five batters per nine innings, and the 15 home runs allowed in that sample size is astounding. This season for Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Yankees AAA affiliate) Igawa hasn't been very dominant. In almost 40 innings he's sporting a 3.86 ERA, and walking three batters per nine innings. It's not all dreary though. He's only allowed 3 home runs in those innings, and has struck out a batter per inning. This is probably going to be a high scoring affair.
Saturday: Jeremy Bonderman vs. Darrell Rasner
I'm not quite sure what to think of Rasner's only start of the season for the Yanks. It was indeed a quality start, but it was against the vaunted Seattle Mariners juggernaut. His groundballs and flyballs were almost half and half, and he did allow a home run. At the same time he managed to strike out four batters, walk no one, and only gave up five hits. The fact that he's been in the Yankees system for 3 years now and has only had 20 innings of work at a time leads me to believe that his ceiling is a league average starter. If that is indeed the case, this may be the only favorable pitching matchup of the series.
The more I look at his stats, the more I wonder if Nate is just the victim of a high BAbip. He's on pace to strike out more batters than any point in his career, and he's keeping his walks at about the same rate as he ever has (maybe even less, surprisingly enough). Even the 6 home runs he's given up aren't really out of the ordinary for him. Nate Robertson: Enigma
Pettitte had arguably his worst start of the season in his last tango with the Tigers, getting touched up for 5 runs in 6 innings of work. Other than that game, and an earlier encounter with the Cleveland Indians, he's been excellent. His last start against the aforementioned Indians was a 6.1 inning affair in which he struck out a season high 6 batters. As always, he can almost certainly be counted on for a quality start.
It may be a blessing in disguise that the Tigers are getting the Yankees season series out of the way in these first two months, because they won't be struggling this much for the rest of the season. If Detroit doesn't manage at least two, I will be a very shocked young man. But these are the Tigers, and they care not about your foolish predictions and expectations.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Wild Night
If Kevin Youkilis would've had a day off, Armando Galarraga's start probably would've looked a whole lot better.
As it stands though, the young righty was touched up for 5 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk in 5.1 innings. The aforementioned "Youk" smacked a pair of home runs totaling three RBIs. While Armando was touched up a little bit in the hit column, he only walked one batter, and brought his strikeout total back up to six. The bullpen provided him no relief as far as a decision is concerned, giving up a grand total of four runs in only 3.2 innings. Zach Miner gave up two runs in only an inning of work, and Francisco Cruceta proved that he can be shaky as well. Cruceta walked two (and struck out two), and gave up a 3-run home run to Mike Lowell (one of the baserunners belonging to Miner). Todd Jones had his normal scary ninth, but didn't allow any runs to cross the plate, and kept Detroit within one run.
Young ace Clay Buccholz showed why his off-speed stuff has earned him the Red Sox minor league pitcher of the year for two consecutive seasons. The fact that he couldn't locate his fastball took away from the effectiveness of his excellent breaking stuff, and allowed the Tigers to pick him apart. Ten hits, one walk, and five runs chased Buccholz from the game.
The Tigers offense exploding in a game where their pitcher wasn't dominating was a welcome respite. Placido Polanco and Gary Sheffield were the unlikely heroes of the day, going 5-6 and 3-4 (with a walk) respectively. Polanco's final hit being the game winning bloop over the head of Julio Lugo, to cap the victory and Jonathon Papelbon's first blown save of the season. That hit moved the Tigers to five games under .500, and Josh Beckett is tabbed for tomorrow.
As it stands though, the young righty was touched up for 5 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk in 5.1 innings. The aforementioned "Youk" smacked a pair of home runs totaling three RBIs. While Armando was touched up a little bit in the hit column, he only walked one batter, and brought his strikeout total back up to six. The bullpen provided him no relief as far as a decision is concerned, giving up a grand total of four runs in only 3.2 innings. Zach Miner gave up two runs in only an inning of work, and Francisco Cruceta proved that he can be shaky as well. Cruceta walked two (and struck out two), and gave up a 3-run home run to Mike Lowell (one of the baserunners belonging to Miner). Todd Jones had his normal scary ninth, but didn't allow any runs to cross the plate, and kept Detroit within one run.
Young ace Clay Buccholz showed why his off-speed stuff has earned him the Red Sox minor league pitcher of the year for two consecutive seasons. The fact that he couldn't locate his fastball took away from the effectiveness of his excellent breaking stuff, and allowed the Tigers to pick him apart. Ten hits, one walk, and five runs chased Buccholz from the game.
The Tigers offense exploding in a game where their pitcher wasn't dominating was a welcome respite. Placido Polanco and Gary Sheffield were the unlikely heroes of the day, going 5-6 and 3-4 (with a walk) respectively. Polanco's final hit being the game winning bloop over the head of Julio Lugo, to cap the victory and Jonathon Papelbon's first blown save of the season. That hit moved the Tigers to five games under .500, and Josh Beckett is tabbed for tomorrow.
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