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Brandon Inge Drives in Five Runs in Win Over Phillies

The Tigers continued to roll as they outhit the Phillies today.  Brandon Inge had a big game.  he doubled, tripled and drove in five runs.  Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson and Timo Perez all homered in the 12-9 win.

Mike Maroth threw five innings and in four of those he was pretty solid.  He did give up three runs in third though.  All of the damage came on a three run shot by Shane Victorino.  Jose Mesa was bombed for three runs in the sixth inning (no surprise) while Edward Campusano showed he’s mortal when he gave up three runs in the ninth.  Campusano did strike out two in just the one inning though.

The Tigers are now 11-6 this spring and the Yankees are the only American League team with a better record.  Next up in the road show is the Blue Jays in a day game.  Jeremy Bonderman gets the start.



Detroit Tigers Hope and Faith

Nate Silver is the latest baseball writer to preview the Tigers with a nicely penned article over at Baseball Prospectus.  He talks about Gary Sheffield’s impact with his bat and a slew of other things that the Tigers could potentially do to make it back to the playoffs.  He’s pretty cautious in his prediction but he does leave some room for a repeat performance in 2007.  Nice read.



Another Shutout and Season Lookbacks

The Tigers dealt another shutout yesterday, this time of the one hit variety.  Justin Verlander looked sharp from the boxscore although I didn’t get a chance to listen in.  Four no hit innings is definitely something I can live with.  For a nice recap, be sure to stop by Bless You Boys where Mark wrote it up.

I’m going to try to restart my season lookback project this weekend.  It’s been a while since I’ve done one, but in case you missed them, it’s basically a snapshot summary of an old Tiger season.  I had started with the Tigers inaugural season in 1901 and had worked my way up to 1903 until I quit.  And in checking the dates, it’s been over a year so I’ll try to get to 1904 this weekend.  To check out what I’m talking about, here are the older seasons.

1901 Tigers
1902 Tigers
1903 Tigers

I’m also hoping to get up another 1967 retro over at the 1967 AL Pennant Race site.  If you have a nomination, let me know.



Why Nate Robertson Might Be Better Then We Think

Nate Robertson had a solid season last year, but his record didn’t neccesarily reflect it.  He finished the season at a dead even 13-13 and while he posted a rock solid 3.84 ERA and a 137/67 strikeout to walk ratio in a career high 208 2/3 innings he may have been even better then what those numbers indicate.

Baseball Prospectus tracks a statistic call pen support which tracks the number of runs that the bullpen gave up that ended up getting tacked on to the starter as runs.  Nate Robertson finished with a fourth worst 4.336 pen support in all of baseball.  And while Robertson does share some of the blame because those runners reached base because of him, you also have to ding the pen for letting them score.  Regardless, if you take those four runs off of his earned run total, you’re talking about an ERA of closer to 3.66, which would have put him right behind Justin Verlander (3.63) in the top ten in the American League.

For comparison sake, Verlander was second worst on the team with a 2.598 pen support.  The pen actually helped out Jeremy Bonderman with almost one run saved while Mike Maroth was the biggest beneficiary of the Tigers solid bullpen with a -1.581.  For Zach Miner and Kenny Rogers, the effect was pretty much neutral.



Tigers Preview Podcast

I was recently part of a Tigers preview podcast with the guys from the Big League Baseball Report.  We touched on everything from whether 2006 was a fluke to some of the moves the Tigers made in the offseason to get better.  It was a lot of fun and hopefully you’ll check it out.  I’ve been told it’s also on iTunes.



Gary Sheffield on Leave

It looks like Gary Sheffield is going to miss some time in camp for undisclosed reasons.  Thankfully it has nothing to do with the health of either Sheffield or a part of his family and Jim Leyland expects him to be back tomorrow in the Tigers’ spring game against the Phillies. 



Omar Infante Profile

I’ve always been a big fan of Omar Infante’s.  In fact I was such a fan that I thought the Urbina/Polanco trade that shelved Infante was a bad one (wrong yet again).  Now Infante is a player without a position.  He’s still only 25, and he can play just about anywhere but the problem is, the Tigers already have a bunch of outfielders and they also have a utility infielder in Ramon Santiago.  So finding a spot for Infante is kind of tough.

Lynn Henning recently profiled Omar Infante and it’s a great read.  If he gets discouraged though, all he has to do is look at Brandon Inge, who was a in a similar situation heading into 2004.  Things worked out all right there and hopefully they will for Infante too.



Ivan Rodriguez Showing Some Pop This Spring

While it’s probably not Ivan Rodriguez’s last hurrah, he is near the end of the line.  Based on some of the things he’s said, I think he’s looking to play two more years but you wonder, at his advanced age, how productive those last couple of years are going to be.

So far this spring though, he’s not showing his age and he’s hitting the snot out of the ball.  He leads the team with three homeruns, seven runs and thirteen hits and he’s hitting at a pretty solid .419/.441/.742 clip.  Yes, it’s a small sample size and yes it’s early in the spring but it’s a lot better then seeing him struggle.  And when you throw in what Pudge brings behind the plate, you wonder if he thinks this might be one of his last chances to help lead a team to a World Series championship.



Kenny Rogers, Bullpen Shuts Out Mets

Kenny Rogers threw a very solid game against a very good hitting team today in the Tigers 2-0 win over the Mets.  He threw five innings of three hit shutout ball before yielding to the pen. From then on, it almost looked like a real game with the exception of Wil Ledezma throwing the eighth.  Joel Zumaya came in and gave up nothing in the sixth and then Fernando Rodney, Ledezma and Todd Jones all threw shutout frames to finish the game up.

Curtis Granderson led things off for the Tigers with a solo shot and that was basically all the Tigers would need.  Marcus Thames added an insurance run in the eighth with his second homerun of the spring and he finished with two hits while Granderson was a perfect four for four.

The Tigers play their first night game tomorrow.  Justin Verlander will get the start tomorrow against the Nationals.  Game time is 7:05 and while it’s not on WXYT, the Nationals radio network has the game on so you can check it out there.  There’s actually quite a few night games tomorrow around the league including a Giants/Mariners game at ten.



Two More Edward Campusano Sightings

Alright, I think with all the hype surrounding him, Campusano is going to make the team.  I’ve talked about him enough the past couple of weeks but now he’s got some big names in his corner.  Peter Gammons mentioned him on his blog and then Pat Caputo had some nice things to say about him when I asked him about Campusano on his blog, Open Book (it’s in the comments of the Wed. entry).



What’s up Ramon?

I’ve never been a huge Ramon Santiago fan.  Not to say I don’t like him, I just always thought there was someone a bit better then he was and while I know he’s a solid defensive player, he wasn’t much on offense.  The question is, has Ramon found his stroke.  I heard on the radio that he trained with David Ortiz in the offseason and he’s to spring and he’s hit the ball pretty well when he’s in the lineup.  He’s five for 17 and he’s second on the team with two homeruns heading into today’s game, which gives him a .647 slugging percentage.   And while he hasn’t drawn a walk yet, he’s only struck out once.  He’s zero for two today with a strikeout, but that was against a very effective John Maine.

So say Ramon Santiago has found a touch of a stroke.  While I’d never expect him to hit 20 homeruns or hit .300, if he could hit .260 (his career batting average is .227) with a little more power then he’s shown in the past, he’d give Jim Leyland a ton of flexibility because both Santiago and Omar Infante (who’s a solid hitter in his own right) can play anywhere in the infield.  Santiago’s also a switch hitter which makes him even more interesting and with his glove, he’s always good as a late inning defensive replacement.



Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual

I know this isn’t about the Tigers but it’s great to see bloggers doing this kind of stuff.  One of my favorite Padres blogger, Geoff Young at Ducksnorts, recently published the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual.  I bought the download and there’s a ton of stuff in here.  You get both a look back at the 2006 season and a ton of historical information.  These things are hard enough to do when it’s a collaborative effort and it’s doubly impressive that Geoff was able to pull this off by himself.  There’s also a foreward by Padres CEO Sandy Alderson.  Great job, Geoff.



More Edward Campusano

Yes, we all know by now that I really like the idea of having Edward Campusano stick and be a part of the Tigers bullpen.  Now I’m not the only one because he was recently highlighted in this nice column by Jason Beck.  Not only is he throwing well, but he’s putting up good numbers while working on a third pitch (changeup).  Like Fernando Rodney, hopefully he doesn’t lean on it too much but he does have a nice slider to go with it.



Tigers Offense Muted in Loss to Dodgers

A walk off homerun by Dodgers infield prospect Tony Abreu cost the Tigers another spring win today.  Nate Robertson was off his game and he walked three and gave up a run in only 2 2/3 innings.  Edward Campusano gave up his first run of the spring but he struck out three in two innings and the only Tiger pitcher to go unscathed was Jose Mesa (sigh).

Cameron Maybin singled and drove in a run while two of the Tigers three runs scored on an error by third baseman Adam LaRoche.  Vance Wilson scored twice and the Tigers managed only five hits the entire game in the 4-3 loss.

More importantly, Magglio Ordonez came back after getting hit in the head and he went one for two.  It was good to see Mags in the lineup.



Comerica Park Mezzanine Makes the Cut

In a story about the best spots to watch a game, Comerica Park’s mezzanine made the cut and came in at sixth place.  First place was of course the Wrigley Field bleachers rounding out the top ten was the Green Monster seats at Fenway.  I also keep hearing things about PNC Park in Pittsburgh and I’d like to make a trip out there to catch a game.  We almost went to see the Tigers play there but we added our annual baseball trip onto a trip to Disney World and went to see the Devil Rays instead.



John Smoltz – The One That Got Away

While the Tigers have made a lot of big trades in their day (Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn probably being the biggest), probably the one that rankles the fur of Tiger fans the most in the last 20 years is the deal that sent John Smoltz to the Braves for Doyle Alexander.  I still contend the Tigers made the right move at the time, but when it comes to the long term implications of the trade, there’s little to haggle about.

In an interesting prospect retro, John Sickels takes a look at John Smoltz’ minor league career (mostly with the Tigers) in a prospect retro.  Nice write up and a nice blast from the past.



New Sheriff in Town

Ian Cassleberry, who you all know from the Detroit Sports blog Sweaty Man Endeavors, recently took over the reins over at Bless You Boys.  Be sure to stop by and say hello and if you haven’t made the site a regular stop, now’s the time.



Jeremy Bonderman Pitches Four Strong as Tigers Edge Devil Rays

Jeremy Bonderman threw four shutout frames today as the Tigers beat the Devil Rays 3-2.  Todd Jones also got some work and he threw a perfect frame while Yorman Bazardo was touched up for the two runs that the Devil Rays scored.  With three weeks left to go, the spring games will starting taking on more and more of the air of a real game and while starters will usually be limited to around five innings, you won’t see any many throwers in a given game. 

Ivan Rodriguez hit his third homerun of the spring and with a lefty on the mound, he once again hit leadoff.  Marcus Thames doubled home a run and Omar Infante had an RBI with a sac. fly to account for the other two Tiger runs.

The Tigers also made some cuts but there were no major surprises.  You can check it all out at Tiger Minors.

Nate Robertson gets the start tomorrow on the road against the Dodgers.  It’s a 1:05 start time and the Dodgers affiliate will have the game on the radio.



Jeremy Bonderman – Cy Young Sleeper?

If everyone is expecting Jeremy Bonderman to contend for a Cy Young this year, is he really a sleeper any more?  Now you can add Beyond the Boxscore to the list of people/sites expecting big things from Jeremy Bonderman before.  There’s not a whole lot of new information here then what i’ve talked about before here on the site but it’s nice seeing some validation.  And if I’m wrong about Bonderman, a lot of people are going to be wrong.  I also like the Javier Vazquez pick.  I’ve always been a big fan of his (although now we see him more times then I’d like) and he usually ends up on my fantasy team.  It will be cool though to see these two guys go head to head if the rotations lineup correctly this season.



Mike Maroth Hit Hard Early in Spring Loss to Mets

The Mets tagged Mike Maroth for four runs in the first inning but then he went on to throw three scoreless frames to at least go his alotted four innings.  Joel Zumaya had another mixed outing.  He walked one and gave up a hit but he struck out two and got out of it to keep his ERA at a nice, cool 0.00.  Fernando Rodney pitched a perfect ninth to close things out.

Timo Perez of all people accounted for most of the Tigers offense in the 4-2 loss.  He hit his first homerun of the spring and he scored both Tiger runs. 

In the “B” game, the Tigers beat the Phillies 5-3.  Chad Durbin pitched three innings and the only hit he gave up was a solo homerun.  Marcus Thames hit his first homerun of the spring and Brent Dlugach had a big day.  He went three for four with a homerun and three RBIs.

It looks like some good news on Magglio Ordonez.  He should be back by Tuesday, which is definitely good news.  Jeremy Bonderman gets the start tomorrow against the Devil Rays.  1:05 start time.



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