Archive for the '2007 Tigers' Category

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.

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 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.

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).

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.

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.

My annual Five Questions piece is up on the Tigers today at the Hardball Times.  I’ll be doing a prediction piece here prior to the end of the season where I get a little more specific (and end up making a fool of myself).

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.

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.

Jason Beck at MLB.com wrote up another mailbag column.  He touches on everything from all of the Tigers that have been hit this spring to whether the Tigers can bring in three million fans this year (which would set a franchise record).  Another good read from the Tiger’s beat writer.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Justin Verlander was bounced after only two innings of work in which he gave up six runs on five hits and three walks (wonder where the walks came from, that’s unlike him).  Most of the damage came on Eric Hinske’s grand slam homerun.  Edward Campusano picked him up with two innings of no hit ball (I’m liking this guy more and more) and the rest of the pen pen pitched pretty well outside of Jose Mesa, who gave up a run on four hits in an 1 2/3.

Verlander wasn’t the only guy who was hit hard.  Magglio Ordenez was hit hard, in the head.  He was taken to a hospital and hopefully everything there will be okay.  Before having to leave, he singled and drove in two runs as did Carlos Guillen.  Ivan Rodriguez hit his second homerun of the spring and Placido Polanco scored twice in the 7-6 loss.

The Tigers have two games today as they split up the squads.  Three weeks until real baseball starts though.

I missed this from earlier in the week, but this MLB.com story lists the Tigers as having the best starting rotation in baseball.  No major surprise based on how they did last year.  Ironically, the Tigers division rivals, the White Sox and Indians, also had a good showing.  The Tigers also showed up as the fourth best bullpen.

The

Mike Hessman had quite the day for the Tigers today in their 9-5 win over the Mets.  He homered, doubled and drove in four runs and he split time between third base and first base.  Ramon Santiago hit his second homerun of the spring and Kody Kirkland doubled and drove in three runs.  Cameron Maybin continued an impressive spring with a single, a walk and two runs.

Kenny Rogers gave up two runs on five hits with four strikeouts in four innings.  Kyle Sleeth threw another scoreless inning while Preston Larrison was knocked around for two runs in a single frame.  Justin Verlander will get his third start of the spring tomorrow in a day game against the Red Sox and Josh Beckett.

I recently took part in a four person roundtable discussion at Baseball Analysts on the American League Central.  You get everyone’s impressions of each team as well as an overall look at the division.  I’ll probably take some heat because I have the Tigers finishing second (and I was the only one to have the White Sox even in the top two, much less the division winner) but it is what it is.  I’m also tempering my expectations for the team.  We can’t have a division winner every year :-).

The Tigers are up 4-1 against the undefeated (for now) Reds in the fifth inning.  Oops, Ordonez just drove home Curtis Granderson so it’s now 5-1.  Nate Robertson was particularly sharp.  He struck out five Reds in 2 2/3 innings.  He gave up a single hit and he walked two.  A solid start for the team’s fourth starter.  Fernando Rodney gave up a solo shot to Adam Dunn.  Blade should be proud.  Regardless, unless the Reds can score a bunch of runs, they’re going to take their first loss.  Placido Polanco and Chris Shelton have both hit their first homeruns of the spring.

***UPDATE***

The Tigers held on to win today.  They jumped out to a 9-4 lead then Zach Miner gave up three runs in the ninth to make things interesting.  Wil Ledezma also got roughed up for three runs in one inning.  Vance Wilson went yard and Ryan Rayburn was a perfect two for two with a with two RBIs.

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