Overshadowed

Short post today (again). There are minor league experts out there who could probably tell you what Andy Oliver eats for breakfast any given morning. I’m not one of them, but I thought he did a decent job last night. He definitely could use a bit more polishing, and I didn’t “sense something” like I did with Jair Jurrjens and Armando Galarraga (and only those two), but he looked good. He’ll be in the rotation for at least one more start (that being against the Twins, which’ll be a real test for him), so we should get a good picture of him then. At least it’ll be nice to have a lefty in the rotation for a little while. Speaking of pitching, congratulations to former Tiger Edwin Jackson for throwing a no-hitter (and in the process throwing 149 pitches, walking eight, and ending his former teammate’s fifteen minutes of fame). Meanwhile, the Rays are regarded as one of the best (if not THE best) team in baseball, but now they’ve been no-hit three times in the past calendar year. How weird is that?

This series continues with Max Scherzer going for the Tigers. He was very good in his last start, even considering a rough beginning where he threw a lot of pitches and gave up a run. He did get rewarded for his efforts because the Tigers rallied late. He has faced the Braves before. Yunel Escobar is 5-11 with 3 doubles and Chipper Jones is 4-8 with a home run. Those look to be his two trouble spots. Meanwhile, the Tigers will get their first look at Kenshin Kawakami, who will probably lose his rotation spot once Jair Jurrjens comes back because he’s 0-9. Those guys always scare you a little, especially since Kawakami’s not THAT bad. Johnny Damon’s the only Tiger hitter who has seen him, and he is 0-1 (Max Scherzer is 0-2, but who cares?). And I’d like to complain that this should be a 7:00 game because I would be able to watch that, but instead it starts at 4:00, so I’ll miss it. Boo.

Pain, Pondering, and Promise

Before I begin this somber task, I must apologize once again for my tardiness. Someone like Curtis Granderson deserves a lot more promptness. Unfortunately, the Winter Meetings happened smack dab in a two-week period where I am swamped by exams, assignments, etc. as the semester winds down, not to mention work. I deeply regret this. This year’s Winter Meetings will be remembered as a dark time in the Motor City, when Tigers fans were forced to bid farewell to one of our most popular players (and hey, I think most of us were fond of Edwin Jackson as well). I was understandably a lot more upset when Pudge got traded, but Curtis Granderson was in my top 5 (#4, to be precise) and was one of the classiest and smartest human beings, let alone baseball players (and if I was deeply saddened by it, I can’t imagine what it’s like for someone who considered Curtis to be “their Tiger,” to quote an old promotional campaign). And he’ll always be remembered for the numerous sensational catches throughout his tenure. I have longed to be able to watch a great player destined to be a lifelong Tiger. Having been born in 1983, Al Kaline is ancient history to me and I have no memory of Alan Trammel. I badly want a Kaline/Trammel for my generation, and I had high hopes that Granderson would be it. So to have him be gone, just like that, well…it hurts. It hurts a lot. And it will hurt for a long time. I will miss him terribly.

My objective assessment of this trade has taken a day or so to formulate because I have had to gather information from other sources on the background of the acquisitions (though I have watched a surprising number of Diamondbacks games). I wasn’t too sure what to make of Max Scherzer because my perception of him was that he has good stuff but has trouble pitching deep into games. However, I had a tendency to watch games in which the D’Backs lost, particularly if they lost spectacularly (reason being is that Darron Sutton and Mark Grace are downright hilarious when the Diamondbacks lose, but unbearably smug when the Diamondbacks win). Therefore, I probably didn’t have the best sampling, and I admit this. Likewise, I did not know the background on Daniel Schlereth, other than the fact that he was left-handed and his father played in the NFL. All I knew was that the Diamondbacks’ bullpen was so bad that they kept calling up anybody and everybody they could get out of necessity. However, both Scherzer and Schlereth are very highly thought of, as it turns out. In that case, the return on Edwin Jackson looks to be a pretty good one (as an aside, one annoying aspect of this trade is there are too many players with either similar-sounding or downright identical last names). However, I feel like we could have and should have gotten more for Granderson. The word on Austin Jackson from Tiger fans isn’t particularly favorable (though most of their arguments delve a bit too much into the slippery slope of sabremetrics for my taste). They seem to think he’s overhyped. Of the four players we got, Phil Coke has probably been talked about the least. I may have seen him back in July when the Tigers were at Yankee Stadium, but I’m not sure. I did see him in the postseason, but maybe that’s not a good representation of him. In any case, he seems to be serviceable enough, but Grandy was worth more (And as a side note, what is it about Tigers I like constantly getting traded to the Yankees? Cecil…Pudge…now Grandy. Perhaps the reason I don’t hate the Yankees is a simple act of mental self-defense).

Several bloggers more knowledgeable and established than I have come out with numerous posts wherein they basically shed tears and scratch their heads. They absolutely cannot make sense of this trade. On the surface, I agree with them. However, the Tigers have to have some line of thinking to have made this move. It may be flawed (or not), but there has to have been one. This leads me to ponder Dave Dombrowski’s possible motive, and from here on out I will speak almost exclusively on Granderson since I have already reached the conclusion that Edwin Jackson got a good return (Whether you put any faith in the rumor that the Diamondbacks offered Max Scherzer for Edwin Jackson straight up depends on whether you’re more inclined to believe Josh Byrnes or Joel Sherman, so this is the only time I will mention it and it will not figure into my deductions). Dombrowski can be a hard man to figure out at times because his sound bites are so annoyingly cryptic. I’ve become more and more skeptical about the national media’s standard line of saving payroll due to the Michigan economy. For one thing, it’s too simple an explanation, and things are never THAT simple. For another thing, I have read a couple of very well-written articles from TigsTown and The Detroit Tigers Weblog that attempt to determine where the money comes from and both articles make the assessment that the Tigers’ financial situation is not as critical as one would be led to believe. These articles are very well-researched and their arguments are extremely well-constructed and well-thought out, much moreso than anything the traditional media has come up with. In addition, it would be very uncharacteristic of Mike Illitch to order a huge payroll slash. It’s well-noted how he desperately wants to win a World Series, but the man’s eighty years old. He probably doesn’t have time for another 5-10 year rebuild, and I would guess he knows that. Also, Granderson’s contract for next year was a mere $5.15 million, and everyone knows about how much payroll gets freed up for 2011 anyways, making his contract even more affordable in the long run. So unless I get concrete evidence to the contrary, for now I am ruling out payroll as the (primary) motivation. That leaves “baseball reasons” as the likely explanation. And to that end, I have three theories (and bear in mind that I am merely attempting to gauge Dave Dombrowski’s line of thinking; if they are true, I do not necessarily agree with the logic). The first is that Dombrowski felt that Granderson had peaked and was trying to “sell high” on him. He has done this before (and here I am venturing into unfamiliar territory and am forced to rely on the assessment of others). I do not remember Jeff Weaver as a Tiger, but I do know he did his best pitching in the Olde English D. Since he was traded away, he hasn’t pitched as well (though he did have a decent year for the Dodgers out of their ‘pen in 2009). And I’ve talked to Tigers fans who strongly objected to the Weaver trade at the time it happened (We did get Carlos Peña and Jeremy Bonderman out of the deal). And there was evidence to suggest that Granderson was headed in that same direction (although at this point I believe it was merely a down year). The second theory is that Dombrowski or someone in the front office thinks incredibly highly of Austin Jackson. Jackson was always thought of as the centerpiece of any potential deal for Granderson. Perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence to support this theory is that once the three-way trade talks were believed to be dead, the Tigers suddenly re-opened them and by doing so, they lowered their asking price for Granderson. This would suggest that they believe (erroneously or not) that Austin Jackson will eventually be better than Granderson, and likely within the next two years or so. The third theory is a combination of the first two theories, and of the three, this is most likely candidate. Again, I’m not saying that I agree with any of these. I’m just trying to take a stab at what the Tigers think. Now, it could be that my train of logic is totally off and this was purely a cost-cutting move. It could be that I’m right and Dave Dombrowski’s line of thinking is completely wrong and this’ll blow up in his face. Or it could be that I am right and so is Dombrowski. For all our sakes, I hope this is the case.

The last few days have seen Tigerland rather melancholy, morose, and depressed, and this is understandable. I feel those same things myself. HOWEVER, there is reason for hope. The sun will rise again, and it may rise as soon as next April as far as we know. My best guess is that the Tigers are trying to position themselves for a big run in 2011 (provided they don’t trade away Verlander or Cabrera), but that doesn’t mean that 2010 has to be a wash. The loss of Granderson will cripple the Tigers…if they let it. But what if they could be motivated by it instead? Motivated to not let it happen again, motivated to inspire Austin Jackson and Phil Coke (Grandy’s “final contributions,” as it were) to reach their full potential, motivated to win in Granderson’s honor, or whatever. Now, making some sort of “win-now” move this offseason would not be prudent (with the exception of maybe signing a closer, provided you can get one for one year and less than $5 million). But the team we have right now is certainly capable of providing plenty of wins, especially when you consider the weak division we play in. There’s an awful lot of talent in the front end of the rotation with Verlander, Scherzer, and Porcello, and it’ll be even better if Bonderman/Robertson/Galarraga can shake off their injury woes and pitch like they’re capable of doing. Of the gaggle of relief prospects in the minors, most won’t be ready until at least 2011, but some may make their presence felt in 2010 and one would hope guys like Ryan Perry continue to improve. The offense may be down two men but most of the remaining guys are still capable of putting up better numbers than they did in 2009. A few things that went wrong in 2009 would have to go right in 2010, of course, and some things that went right in 2009 would have to keep going right. But I have a good feeling about 2010, even though I can’t explain why. As a matter of fact, I’d had a feeling of some dread ever since the season ended, perhaps before. Starting about 36 hours after the Granderson trade, that feeling went away. I have absolutely no logical explanation for it, and so you may discard it and that is your right. But I have a fairly good track record as far as the team’s fortune is concerned. After the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera, Tigers fans everywhere were ordering their champagne in January, and yet I had misgivings (nothing to do with Cabrera, of course). Last year, I was one of only a handful of Tiger writers and bloggers who still believed in the team. Now I feel as though SOMETHING good will happen to the Tigers in 2010 (Bear in mind that it may be something like a division title but it could also merely be some sort of individual achievement; I do NOT believe it would be something so indirect as the Tigers finishing with so bad a record they get the #1 pick in the 2011 draft). If I have to be the sole beacon of hope in Tigerland, so be it. And if there was any way at all that I myself could do to personally ensure victory, I would do everything within my power. Admittedly, I have nothing to back this up, and it is contingent of the Tigers not trading away any more franchise players (a loss of Verlander and/or Cabrera WOULD cripple the team in most circumstances I can think of). But as it stands right now, it goes right back to the two things that I preach are essential for success: Ability and execution. The Tigers still most certainly have the ability. Now they must execute.

Quick Bits

I wish I had more for you the other day, but I couldn’t think of anything and I felt the need to post something. Today’s post isn’t going to be organized very well, as real life activities have kept me occupied, but here’s a random collection of my thoughts on this Wednesday morning:

--My take on the whole trade situations: I fervently don’t want to trade any of the names mentioned, though you can’t be totally against trading a player ever. The only scenario in which a trade would be acceptable to me would be if the Tigers managed to pull off a big steal (and by that, I mean it would include someone who would make a major positive impact NOW, not five years down the road). The payroll argument is not a particularly strong one at this point because of all the money that’s coming off the books at the end of next season, so salary relief really won’t be needed. Now, it’s possible to pull off a steal by trading away Edwin Jackson (and if the reports that Dave Dombrowski was asking for Brandon Morrow and Shawn Kelley from the Mariners are true, it looks like that’s exactly what they are trying to do, at least right now). It’s still possible with Granderson, but less likely because Granderson isn’t that expensive and he’s a vital part of the team. With Miguel Cabrera, it would be nearly impossible to recoup his value. It’s unlikely that any prospect would measure up, and any money saved by trading away his contract would eventually go towards signing a player like him.

--The arbitration decisions panned out pretty much the way everyone expected them to. Even Dave Dombrowski has publicly stated that he expects both Rodney and Lyon to decline. I, like most I’ve talked to, would like to see them re-sign Lyon, but I wouldn’t go more than two years. Also, if Jason Beck is correct and the Tigers would have to move payroll, I might be a little more hesitant (see above bullet point).

--Over the weekend, MLB Network was running a marathon of old All-Star Games. I happened to watch the end of the ’97 ASG, the entire ’94 ASG, and the beginning of the ’95 ASG (back when the National League won on occasion). It was…amusing, for lack of a better term. I don’t remember if I actually watched either game back in ‘94/’95/’97 (I would’ve been in middle school at the time). With several players, I definitely knew who they were regardless of whether I remembered them playing or not (like Cal Ripken Jr. and Mark McGwire). There were others with names I recognized but didn’t know much more about them beyond that (Chuck Knoblauch, Matt Williams, etc), and this included guys who I know better as broadcasters (such as Mark Grace). Then there were a few to whom I thought, “Who the hell are you?” It certainly shocked me to see how young Mariano Rivera looked in 1997. Along that same line, it was funny to hear the broadcasters refer to certain players as “kids” when I view them as hardened veterans.

--Fun fact: Off all the players who participated in the 1994 All-Star Game, three are still active: Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, and Pudge Rodriguez (though there’s a strong possibility that the Big Unit will retire now that he’s got his 300th win). Pudge in particular was of interest to me (not surprisingly). It was funny hearing Bob Costas refer to him as the “young, 22-year-old catcher from the Texas Rangers” because I’ll never see him as a 22-year-old. And apparently his nickname wasn’t widely known at the time because the broadcasters never used it (though it did say “Pudge” on his wristbands). It must’ve become more prominent by 1995 because those broadcasters DID call him Pudge. Three random things that I observed were that he looked shorter in those days, his pants were too tight, and he had pretty much the same amount of plate discipline that he does now (which is, to say, not much). Also, Joe Morgan and Tim McCarver were slightly less annoying in the mid-90s.

--This has almost nothing to do with baseball, but I tried playing a Madden game for the first time last night. Now, I suck at video games, so I played it on that super-simplified “Family Play” setting that they put in there for, like, 8-year-olds. Well, I ended up winning the game 73-0 (That included a touchdown on the kickoff return, sacking the quarterback in the first two defensive plays, at least three interceptions that were returned for TDs, and one player who scored five touchdowns). I get the feeling that “Family Play” is a little too easy even for me, but then I look at the instruction manual and see the 3000 different commands that you have to know on normal play and it’s a bit much. I’m the same way when it comes to MLB The Show. I always play in manager mode on that game, and on the easiest setting. Plus, I know it’s just a game, but I’m not real thrilled at the prospect of commentators talking about how bad I am.

--I am currently working on a light-hearted feature regarding the MLB.com Holiday Catalog. Provided tragedy (i.e. a bad trade) does not strike before I get it finished, I will have it up as soon as I’m done (It might not be until next week, though. Exams and work are taking up a lot of time).

Someone Else's Opinion

I don’t know about you, but I am not looking forward to the Winter Meetings next week. I know I haven’t said much about all the trade speculation that’s floated around, but other bloggers (whose pages you probably already read before reading this) have pretty much said what I would say, and as something new seems to pop up every day, anything I write would rapidly go out of date. It’s also exceptionally complicated for three big reasons. The first is that it’s rather difficult to separate confirmed fact from speculation (And quotes from “anonymous executives” don’t help matters, because if you’re not giving your name, what’s to stop you from just making stuff up?). The second is that my gut instinct is to inherently not trust people, even if they haven’t given me reason not to trust them (this statement goes for both the writers and the Tigers brass). The third is that the national media, for some reason, seems to hold the Tigers in low regard. I don’t know why that is, but it’s getting annoying. Still, I will try to come up with something more substantial later in the week. In the meantime, I spoke with Chuck, my baseball guru, last week, and as per usual, he had some things to say about the goings on in the baseball world. So consider this a “guest blog” of sorts (Some of you may wonder why he doesn’t have a blog of his own. I’m sure he’d enjoy it, but he’s in his sixties and is completely computer illiterate). Here’s his insight (and remember, he’s a Yankees fan):

--He loves Granderson. I think he’d be willing to give up the entire Yankees’ farm system to get Granderson. However, he doesn’t see how trading him would make sense for the Tigers from a tactical standpoint.

--We didn’t talk much about Edwin Jackson, but he seems to think the only reason to trade him would be if Dave Dombrowski managed to absolutely fleece the hell out of the other team.

--This was before Lynn Henning decided to ramp up Cabrera trade talks (Seriously, has there been a completely separate confirmation from anyone else?) but after Ken Rosenthal’s moronic proposal about trading Cabrera to the Red Sox for Mike Lowell and Jonathan Papelbon. Not surprisingly, my baseball guru didn’t think that was a fair return, given his opinion that Miguel Cabrera is a “franchise player” and Lowell and Papelbon are not (plus I’m guessing there’s also the fact that Miggy would be more of a thorn in the Yankees’ side than either of those two).

--Basically, once I gave him the info on the Tigers’ payroll situation for the next few years, he agreed with me on what would probably be the best move for the Tigers: Try to tread water and ride out 2010 and then really go for it in 2011 once all that salary gets freed up (That would mean retaining players who can help you in 2011).

--He wasn’t happy with the Cy Young selections because “the win totals weren’t high enough.” He followed that up anecdotally by saying that Denny McClain had the same number of wins (31) in 1968 as Tim Lincecum (15) and Zack Greinke (16) combined. He proceeded to partially retract his criticism of Lincecum, saying that he wasn’t as familiar with the National League and that his guess was that Lincecum won because the two Cardinals pitchers split the vote. He had more ammunition against Greinke. His biggest arguments were that he didn’t win enough games and that most of the teams he beat were under .500. I have largely abstained from giving opinions in these sorts of matters, but I did tell him the popular reasons: Greinke’s ERA and the fact that the Royals’ offense is not very good. Chuck retaliated by saying that Nolan Ryan (His all-time favorite pitcher, from what I can tell) once led the league in ERA and strikeouts but went 8-16 because he didn’t get any run support (I did look this up and he was right. It was 1987 and he finished with an ERA of 2.76, which is actually very good, and he did finish 5th in the NL Cy Young voting that year. One thing that surprised me is he only led the league in ERA one other time, and he finished 4th in the Cy Young voting despite a ridiculous 1.69 ERA in 1981. On the other hand, he only pitched 149 innings that year, which leads me to believe he was injured at some point). Now, he was NOT arguing for CC Sabathia, although he did say he would rank Sabathia ahead of Greinke (in saying that he would’ve placed Greinke fourth). He seemed to be angling for Verlander (“because he’s a horse”) and Hernandez (based on the fact that King Felix had comparable ERA and strikeouts to Greinke but more wins even though Seattle’s offense was almost as bad as Kansas City’s) in some order (I got the feeling he’d place Verlander ahead of Hernandez, though). And please, if you’re gonna criticize, don’t direct it at me. I have no opinion on the matter (if you want to criticize me for having no opinion, fine, although I think that’s kind of pointless).

--This conversation occurred before the MVP voting results came out, but I’m guessing he has no problems with them, given the fact that he told me he wouldn’t be upset if Miguel Cabrera won. Now, I probably would not have voted for Cabrera, but I don’t understand why everyone’s mad that Mauer’s selection wasn’t unanimous. What difference does it make? If Mauer is destined for the Hall of Fame, it’s not going to make or break his selection. And according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, it doesn’t cheat him monetarily. He gets an extra $100,000 for being named MVP, plain and simple. Trust me, if one of our guys is voted Cy Young or MVP someday, I won’t complain if it’s not unanimous. That said, it would be interesting to hear Keizo Konishi’s take on the matter.

Just Gettin' a Bit Closer to that Cliff

This is gonna be a short post today, as I have absolutely no insight on last night’s game whatsoever. It was already the ninth inning when I got home, and I only got to see the bottom half. Suffice it to say, it was not a good game for Edwin Jackson (who really isn’t doing much to dispel the rumors that he’s hit a wall) or for the Tigers offense. But let’s face it: We knew this game would probably be the hardest one to win. It just looks bad to have the score be 8-0. What this does is back us up against the wall, though.

Well, thanks to that damn rainout on Monday, we have Alfredo Figaro starting instead of Rick Porcello. Figaro really isn’t stretched out, so they’ll probably be lucky to get four innings out of him, but there wasn’t any other choice. Jeremy Bonderman is not stretched out at all, and Armando Galarraga still isn’t healthy enough to start. Figaro did pitched 2.2 solid innings in relief of Nate Robertson against the White Sox last week, but Zach Miner will be on high alert at the first sign of any trouble. They’ll be up against Freddy Garcia, whom they beat last Saturday, but still, the dude’s 15-6 against the Tigers. At least I don’t work this weekend.

And So It All Comes Down to This

As I didn’t see any of yesterday’s game, I’ll be brief about the game recap. While I listened to the game during my lunch break, the White Sox tied the game 1-1. When I checked in later, the score was 4-2. So those other runs came in a hurry. I have no assessment of Edwin Jackson, other than to pass along the message that Jim Price thought his stuff was better than it had been in Cleveland, despite the final line. Meanwhile, I told you Daniel Hudson was pretty good against the Twins, did I not? He even duplicated the one inning where he lost sight of the strike zone, as well as the results (giving up only one run). And so we’re done with that series, at least until this weekend.

And now we have come to THE series. This one is pretty much for all the marbles, so to speak. The last time there was a series this critical for the Tigers in the regular season was 1987 against the Blue Jays. I was four years old then, and so I have no memory of that. They’re celebrating the ’84 World Series team tonight (I don’t remember that, either). But onto the game. A lot of people think the Tigers have collapsed or are in the process of collapsing because of losing the big lead in the division, but as Kurt points out, they’ve actually done about the same as they’ve done all year (albeit they’ve been a bit more streaky about it), and we were given assurances by all the columnists, pundits, stat heads, and sabremetricians that all Detroit had to do was hold their own. They’ve done that, but the Twins have just flown in the face of every math calculation and simulation that you can throw at them. And the mind-boggling thing is that ever since Morneau was lost for the season, they’ve played better than any point in the season that they had him. That makes no sense. We keep getting told that the Twins aren’t good on the road, and yet they had won every game on their current road trip until finally getting slowed down by Zack Greinke yesterday (and yet, even against the combination of Greinke and Soria, the Twins STILL banged out eleven hits). You’ve heard all the scenarios of what happens if each team wins a certain number of games in this series (though I find it a bit worrisome that the media and bloggers are acting as though the Twins taking three of four is the worst case scenario; We don’t want to fathom what the REAL worst-case scenario is, do we?). And so, there are two things that have been true most of the season that must hold true for the Tigers to win out: The Tigers play very well at home (only the Yankees and Red Sox are better), and their pitching is better than Twins pitching (though this good pitching oftentimes does not show up AGAINST the Twins). And it goes without saying that, due to the pitching matchups, the first two games are huge. Rick Porcello was pretty good in his last start, though he had to dodge a lot of traffic on the basepaths early in that game against the Indians. The last time he saw the Twins, he gave up three runs and lost. His lone shutout appearance came against the Twins back in May at Comerica Park (And it would behoove him to get that sinker working tonight because it is REALLY windy). Nick Blackburn typically does not pitch well at Comerica Park. However, after going through an awful second half, he has been really good in his last three starts, including his last one, where he threw seven shutout innings against the White Sox, and is a big reason why the Twins are as hot as they are now. And I’ll admit it: I am absolutely terrified right now. My gut feelings and intuition have taken the Tigers almost into the range that I thought they were capable of (Remember, I said they had the ability to win 85-90 games and contend. I promised nothing beyond that). Beyond this point, I have no idea what will happen.

Be It Luck or Progress, It's Still a Win

Photo: AP

I’ll admit I didn’t see a lot of this game (just the ninth inning, though I was able to listen to the eighth inning on the radio). The assessment of Edwin Jackson’s performance seems to be different with every source I check. I’ve heard or read everything from “he threw a gem” to “he was damn lucky.” He did have huge problems throwing first-pitch strikes and he fell behind a lot of hitters, but he still pitched seven shutout innings, so I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean. And, from what I’ve heard, his defenders helped him out greatly. Things got a little ugly in the eighth, when Bobby Seay gave up two hits and Brandon Lyon gave up two walks (one of which forced in a run). And it’s not like Brandon Lyon to walk people, let alone two in a row. However, there were complaints all evening that the strikezone was very erratic for both teams (If you trust Gameday, check out Lyon’s pitches to Jamey Carroll and you’ll see what I mean), and that might have been part of Jackson’s problem as well. So you could imagine that everyone was a bit nervous to have Fernando Rodney on the mound with this wacky strikezone, but he actually did a very good job. And by the way, if the name Paul Schrieber sounds familiar, he’s the umpire that was involved in that whole business with “nudging” Magglio Ordoñez toward the dugout a few months ago. Meanwhile, the offense wasn’t exactly tremendous against Aaron Laffey (though by the sounds of things, there were some balls hit hard right at people; same for the Indians against the Tigers), but they scored just enough to get by. The two insurance runs came against an abnormally wild Chris Perez. By the way, I chose today’s photo on the sole basis that Miguel Cabrera looks like he’s dancing and that’s funny.

Tonight, the Tigers send Rick Porcello to the mound. He’s coming off a loss in his last start in which he pitched reasonably well but took the loss against Minnesota. They brought a somewhat stunning fact during that game: Rick has not had a road win since June 24th. I did not realize that. He’s been good against the Indians this year, and the last time he faced them in Cleveland he pitched eight superb innings. He’ll be opposed by Justin Masterson, one of the big pieces in the Victor Martinez trade. The Red Sox had Masterson working out of their bullpen, but the Indians have converted him back into a starter. He’s pitched reasonably well for them up until his last start where he gave up five earned runs against Oakland, but has been plagued by poor run support. However, there is a reason why he is highly regarded, and you’d have to think that’ll show up sooner or later (Hopefully, “later.” Much later). Then there’s this: He has pitched 3 1/3 innings against the Tigers this year, all in relief. In that span, he has given up only two hits and one walk, and he has struck out six (though three of those strikeouts belong to Adam Everett). And, oh, by the way, last night at work we were out of Z-Packs, Cipro, and Vicodin, so you can imagine things’ll be rather busy tonight.

Who DIDN'T See That Coming?

This game smelled like trouble before it even started. I can’t give a tremendous amount of insight, as I was only able to listen to the first hour on the radio (I had to go to lab right after the Miguel Olivo 3-run homer), part of the postgame show on the radio, and later I saw bits of the sixth inning when FSN re-aired the game. Edwin Jackson’s had trouble with the home-run ball recently (although walks are not the problem they were last year and in his career in general). If you have to take something positive away from it, it’s that it looked like he dispatched the Royals fairly efficiently after that. Unfortunately, the part of the sixth inning that I saw was the Josh Anderson 3-run homer (Really? You’d expect Porcello to be the one to give up home runs to HIM) and the walk that followed. I really wish that didn’t happen. Armando Galarraga said afterwards that his elbow felt fine. I hope he was lying, cuz I saw those bad different-looking pitches again. The offense didn’t do anything against Greinke, but you pretty much knew that would be the case.

I know you’re probably not in the mood for it, but on a lighter note, since the Tigers left Detroit for Minneapolis immediately after the game yesterday to begin the final road trip, that meant that it was time for the annual rookie hazing ritual of making them wear dumb outfits (mostly women’s Halloween costumes). I’ve only read one mention of it so far. Apparently, this year’s batch of costumes included two Teletubbies outfits, a Scooby Doo costume, and a bunch of dresses. The only player I’ve gotten the details on is Rick Porcello, who ended up having to wear a purple flapper costume (This sounds wrong, but something tells me he’d look good in it). And this is pure speculation, but my gut’s telling me that Alex Avila ended up with the Scooby Doo costume. I could be wrong, though. The other thing that was significant about this game is that Carlos Guillen batted right-handed for the first time since coming off the DL. And something about looking at him batting right-handed and wearing the high socks just made me laugh. I don’t know why. It was just highly amusing. Now, I took a look at him batting left-handed earlier in the game, and I had no reaction to it, so it’s only when he’s batting right-handed. But the logos have gotta go. Logos are bad.

Oh, by the way, Detroit still has SEVEN games left with Minnesota. And three of them begin tonight at that hellhole known as the Metrodome. The Tigers have only won one game there this year (and that one took 16 innings). However, even if they get swept, they will escape Minneapolis in first place, albeit by just one game. But one thing that’s discouraging is how bad the pitching was on the homestand, and that’s discouraging because the pitching has not been good at all against Minnesota at any point this year (Seay, Galarraga, and Miner in particular have had a tough time of it), and the defense has been pretty bad as well (although overall the defense has been good in recent games). Rick Porcello has been one of the more reliable pitchers of late, with the exception of a start against Kansas City. He’s faced Minnesota twice this year. He shut them out at Comerica Park, but struggled at the Metrodome. He’ll be opposed by lefty Brian Duensing, who has done a tremendous job for the Twins since joining their rotation. He’s handcuffed better offenses than the Tigers, I’ll tell you that. The Twins will be without Justin Morneau, who is out for the rest of the year with a stress fracture in his back. However, since making that announcement, the Twins are riding a four-game winning streak (Michael Cuddyer has picked up the slack). Your Mood Music for tonight: Alas, I will never get that Metrodome slide show done in time, so you’ll have to settle for the music I would have used for it.

This is Officially a Problem

I suppose I should have specified that I wanted Edwin Jackson to pitch deep into the game in an effective manner. He went seven innings, but he couldn’t keep the Blue Jays in the ballpark. Then again, neither could anyone else, except Brandon Lyon and he had his own issues (though I’m fairly certain that Laird would have been able to block that ball). And Brandon Lyon is officially the last of the pitching staff to fall. I did not see Jackson at all, so I can’t really elaborate. Meanwhile, Rodney in a non-save situation is just asking for trouble. You weren’t really expecting him to get out of it two nights in a row, were you? There’s been kind of a big deal made about the fact that once Cabrera hit the three-run homer, the Tigers didn’t do anything until getting two hits in the ninth. Now, if they had scored all six runs in the first and then didn’t do anything except let the Blue Jays chip away, I could see their point a bit better. But Cabrera’s home run came in the fifth. That’s not exactly early. It’s not late, either, but when you score six runs, you should win.

Now today there’s gonna be an awful lot of pressure on Rick Porcello to straighten out the pitching staff, but he’s technically the one who started all the problems in the first place. He had problems holding down the Royals and gave up four runs in five innings, which marked the beginning of everyone’s downward spiral. He faced the Blue Jays in his Major League debut, also giving up four runs in five innings. His opponent that day was the same guy who will oppose him today: lefty Ricky Romero. Both were making strong cases for Rookie of the Year, and both are in search of their 13th win. Romero has struggled recently as well. Jim Leyland will once again try the same lineup that he used on Friday.

Grand Slam Sweep

Photo: AP

It took until September, but the Tigers are finally looking good against the AL East (of course, all that remains of the East on the schedule is a four game set against the Blue Jays on the next homestand). They’ve had some help in this series, for sure. I think you can give a lot of credit to Joe Maddon over-managing his bullpen. That certainly came into play in the final two games of the series. Edwin Jackson pitched very well outside of the three runs, but I’m fairly convinced that the Tigers would not have come back had Maddon just let Lance Cormier pitch the ninth inning. He had developed a good rhythm and the Tigers were not getting good swings off him. On the other hand, the Tigers sure do love them some Grant Balfour. In just about every comeback the Tigers had against the Rays, Balfour issued a key walk or hit. This time, it was a walk to Cabrera. J.P. Howell came in and walked Marcus Thames, and then Russ Springer gave up a base hit to Magglio, which loaded the bases for Brandon Inge. Inge had struck out three times, and I’m sure there were a lot of Tiger fans who were fully expecting him to strike out again. But Brandon would have none of that, and proceeded to remind us what else he’s capable of. By the way, I think I saw more pitching changes over the weekend than I have in my entire life. And here’s your broom:

After having Labor Day off, the Tigers are set to start a series in Kansas City tonight. And it’s looking increasingly likely that they will NOT see Zack Greinke in this series, which’ll be a huge break, especially since Greinke’s gone back to being dominant. At any rate, the matchup tonight will be Rick Porcello against Bruce Chen. Porcello is coming off a really good start against the Indians. The Tigers have beaten Chen already this year, but he made an effective long relief appearance a few days ago after Brian Bannister got chased from a start. I’m hoping for a Tigers win tonight, because coming off a holiday weekend, work is bound to be brutal tonight.

Saved By the Bullpen

Photo: AP

I probably have a totally different perception of this game than anyone else does. By the time I got off work (bottom of the sixth, approximately), all the scoring was over and done with, so I felt like I was watching a low-scoring pitching duel. Well, more “listening to” than “watching,” as I ended up with the radio on for the most part (shower radio, if you must know; by the way, Dan and Jim seemed more interested in discussing the 1967 pennant race than the game in front of them). Anyways, I can’t give a whole lot of personal insight into the beginning of the game. I know that Edwin Jackson only lasted five innings and gave up four runs (and a ton of doubles). I don’t know if the same thing that happened to Verlander in Anaheim happened to Jackson last night. That’s certainly a possibility, although from what I hear, he didn’t exactly have an easy time of it in the innings leading up to the fifth. I also missed Zach Miner’s inning. However, Seay, Lyon, and Rodney were terrific (this is why it felt like a low-scoring pitching duel to me). It's worth mentioning that Rodney now has 30 saves this year. Who would've thought that in Spring Training? On the offensive end, Guillen remains hot, and it was nice to see contributions from Laird, Inge, and Huff (superstition and all, but luckily for Huff, judging by the two seconds worth of highlights that I saw, he can get away with the look; that is, however, only a preliminary assessment). And that is all I can give you for now.

The series continues tonight, when Rick Porcello takes on Aaron Laffey. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Porcello (He was out of the game by the time I got home in his last start). He was pretty good against the Rays, although he had a little bit of traffic on the bases. The last time he saw the Indians, he was absolutely stellar, going eight innings. Unfortunately, Rodney suffered his only blown save in that game (the funny thing is, Rodney didn’t pitch that badly either). The Tigers went on to win the game in extra innings. Meanwhile, the last time the Tigers saw Aaron Laffey, it was back in May and they beat him up pretty good (Adam Everett hit a grand slam off him). However, he’s done a good job for the Indians since rejoining their rotation. I’m at work again tonight.

It Was a Long, Strange Trip...But You Gotta Be Happy With It

Be honest. Coming into this series, how many of you were of the mindset that it would take a miracle for the Tigers to win one game? Considering that, a sweep was probably near-impossible to start with. Edwin Jackson did not have good control and he couldn’t keep the Angels anchored at whichever base they started out at (And I think Gerald Laird just flat-out got frustrated and that affected his throwing, because while the first two steals were really close, the third and the fifth were bad throws. The fourth steal came on a pitch in the dirt. However, Laird made a nice heads-up play to pick off Torii Hunter at third to close out an inning). The funny thing is none of the steals really led to a run. The game also featured a strong bounce-back outing from Ryan Perry (sans hair), although he needs to not just assume time has been called (Brandon Inge bailed him out big time). Meanwhile, the offense never really got much going against Saunders outside of the Everett home run and the inning where the first two reached, only to run themselves into a double play with Miguel Cabrera striking out on what was probably ball four. Brian Fuentes made things interesting in the ninth by hitting two (nearly three) batters (hope Laird’s knee/shin is okay) and throwing a fastball right down the middle to Adam Everett (according to Gameday, Everett, and Leyland), but do you really think Everett would hit two home runs in one game? Even the west coast isn’t THAT strange. But hey, after the way this team has been playing on the road, a .500 trip is certainly acceptable (It is what you shoot for, after all). It just happened the opposite way of what you would think it would.

And so, we say goodbye and good riddance to the west coast for the rest of the season (and maybe make a sadder goodbye to the AL West; the Tigers did good against them this year). Enjoy the off-day today, and tomorrow, it’s time for another homestand (I originally typed “homerstand,” which may or may not come true). The Tigers get to see the Tampa Bay Rays for the first time this year (Really? The last weekend of August?). As good as the Tigers have played against the AL West, they’ve been just the opposite against the East. And the Rays are a good team and have been hot recently. They’re on the fringes of the Wild Card race, and yet they have a better record than the Tigers. Their pitching has been much better than it was earlier this year, and while their offense is not as hot as it was at the beginning of the season, it’s still producing with regularity (Carlos Peña in particular has been on a home run tear). And by the way, they run just as much as the Angels, if not more. Yesterday notwithstanding, I’d like to see Gerald Laird behind the plate for most of this series (He’ll definitely get the call Saturday with the Rays starting a lefty, and on Sunday, when Verlander pitches). With Armando Galarraga having been sent to Toledo with elbow inflammation (This revelation does not surprise me, and I wonder if it’s not the first time he’s dealt with it this season), they’re gonna take advantage of the off-day and send out Rick Porcello on regular rest. He didn’t do so well against the A’s, falling behind hitters regularly and paying the price by giving up a couple of long balls to Jack Cust. He’ll be opposed by hard-thrower (and reigning ALCS MVP) Matt Garza, who has pitched well of late. He has never beaten the Tigers (and actually credits Rick Knapp for the success he had last year). I work tomorrow night, so it’ll be the late innings for me.

Always Nice To Do That

Photo: AP

I’m sure you’re just as exhausted as me. Jackson pitched well, and it was definitely a nice win, although it was not without its west coast strangeness. Raburn had a couple of miscues in the outfield (He made up for them with the home runs, though). There was Jackson’s errant pickoff throw, plus a couple of wild pitches (one of which looked like Laird would’ve had a chance to throw out Ryan Sweeney, but it appeared as if he slipped on the grass or tripped over his shin guards). Cliff Pennington, not known as a particularly good defender, made a couple of dazzling plays. And Polanco made a sparkling play of his own to save Rodney from blown save. Not to mention the play at the plate.

Tonight’s game has a slightly more manageable start time of 9:05. Armando Galarraga was very impressive last Sunday against Kansas City, especially when you consider that he’d been sick the previous week and was clearly running on fumes. His pitches looked really, really good for the most part. He beat the A’s last time he faced them and only gave up one run, but he walked six in that game. He’ll be up against Trevor Cahill, whom he faced in his other start against the A’s (that was at Comerica Park, and neither starting pitcher fared very well). Cahill was handed a 5-0 lead in that game before he even took the mound, and could not hold it. I’m just hoping for good things from Galarraga. Lots of good things.

My Night at the Ballpark

Photos: ME!

Last night was a blast. When I went to my one game last year, the Tigers scored 10 runs and hit four homers. This year, the Tigers scored 10 runs and hit 4 homers. What a coincidence. However, I always seem to attend on a night where the starting pitcher has to battle. And I’ve yet to see a Tigers’ starting pitcher NOT give up a home run. Andrew Miller gave up a solo home run to Josh Fields and a grand slam to Juan Uribe. Justin Verlander gave up a two-run homer to BJ Upton. Armando Galarraga gave up a solo home run to Frank Thomas. Now, I have Edwin Jackson (who, if you will recall, I have seen in person before, albeit as a member of the Rays) giving up a two-run homer to Billy Butler and a solo shot to Brayan Peña. Suffice it to say, Jackson did not have the best command and he was hit pretty hard, but he made the pitch when he needed to. And now, our four home run hitters:

Never in my life did I think I would see Ramon Santiago hit a home run, although now that he has seven, you have to think about when you’re gonna stop saying that. For what it’s worth, I HAVE seen Sean Casey hit a home run before. By the way, this photo IS from the at-bat where he homered. Also, he’s got the best batting music of anyone in the lineup.

In the two games I went to in ’07, Guillen hit a triple in each one. I did not see him last year because that was around the time he developed back problems. This time, he homered. By the way, for someone who isn’t used to hitting left-handed against left-handed pitching, Guillen’s not been doing bad. This is NOT the at-bat in which he homered. He did get an RBI single in this at-bat, though.

I was a little bit surprised to see Alex Avila in the lineup, but considering that they made public that he was catching Edwin Jackson in side sessions, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Also, when did the pronunciation of his last name change? I noticed that when I watched part of the FSD replay after I got home last night. Also, the public address announcer at the ballpark says his name in a really annoying fashion (“Alex A-VEEEEEEEEEEE-la”). By the way, my Personal Baseball Guru is on my side when it comes to taking a wait-and-see approach with Avila. It’s too soon to know whether or not he is truly a “catcher” and not merely just a “hitter.” For what it’s worth, though, one of the things I was worried about was his ability to hit left-handed pitching. It’s a small sample size (and Ron Mahay doesn’t exactly shut down lefties), but so far, so good. Like Guillen, this is NOT the at-bat in which he homered.

For some reason, I ended up with more pictures of Cabrera than anyone else. I assure you, I did not plan that (Trust me, if Verlander had been pitching, I would’ve had, like, a hundred pictures of Justin). Miggy had himself quite a night, with four hits and three RBIs. This is probably the best photo I got of anyone all night (I’m not that great a sports photographer). It is of his first at-bat. I do have a picture of him right before he homered, but that shot came out kinda blurry (Ironically, right before he hit the home run, I was thinking to myself “If he homers here, I want to get a picture of him right before he does it”).

For more pictures, go to the album I set up on Flickr.

Today, the Tigers can go for the sweep. From what I hear, Armando Galarraga still isn’t back to full strength, but whatever illness he had seems to have passed, and he’s hoping for six good innings. He hasn’t done so well in August, but he’s put up two good starts against Kansas City this year. Still, given the fact that he was sick and didn’t eat for three days, I don’t think it would be fair to make any sort of conclusions should he stumble in this start. He’ll be opposed by Kyle Davies, whom the Tigers have scored lots of runs against this year. Leyland has loaded his lineup with righties, as Davies is actually more effective against lefties despite the fact that he’s a right-handed pitcher. Meanwhile, Galarraga’s not exactly going to have the best defensive alignment behind him. You’ve got Thames and Maggs in the outfield (not the best range for either of them), Raburn at third (Inge rests, although don’t be surprised if he makes an appearance should the Tigers have the lead late), and Guillen at first (with Cabrera DHing).

Not Quite Enough

This was kind of a peculiar game in that it lent totally different perspectives regarding media vs. bloggers. If you listen to the bloggers, this is one of the toughest losses of the season. If you listen to the radio, it’s a loss that may be the start of something good. At any rate, Edwin Jackson did not have a lot of command, something that you can’t get away with against the Red Sox. Fu Te Ni was probably the most effective pitcher the Tigers used. He did give up a home run to Jason Bay, but it was one of the worst-hit home runs you’ll ever see (I seriously thought it was a popup to shallow left when it came off his bat). The offense DID show more life than it normally does on the road. Polanco in particular seems to have heated up, and Magglio had a really good night at the plate. The fact that Adam Everett was not pinch-hit for in the eighth inning has caused a lot of debate online. I agree that you’d probably want someone better at driving in runs in that situation, but it’s not like the alternatives were that attractive. Raburn and Santiago are far more likely to strike out than Everett (plus, Leyland probably wanted to save Raburn in case he needed to pinch-hit for Guillen later), and Leyland has explicitly said that Avila is off-limits as a pinch-hitter.

Tonight, Rick Porcello tries to maintain the momentum he’s built from his last couple starts, which have been good. He did not fare so well against the Red Sox back in June. This’ll be even harder than that. This was supposed to be John Smoltz’s spot in the rotation, and the “win at all costs” side of me really wishes that it still was. In his career, Smoltz has a 10.32 ERA against the Tigers, and that was BEFORE his struggles this year. Alas, it’s not to be. Instead, the Tigers will face Junichi Tazawa, whom they themselves were interested in during the offseason. Tazawa took the loss in relief during that extra inning game at Yankee Stadium, but he’s put up some real good numbers at Double A. I’m at work tonight, but considering how long Red Sox games tend to be, it may only be the fourth or fifth inning by the time I get home.

How Jackson Got His Groove Back

Photo: AP

This heavy work schedule is cutting into my blogging ability (though I suppose in the end, work is more profitable). When I got home, it was the bottom of the eighth inning and the Tigers had just finished scoring three runs that turned out to be huge. As a result, all I saw of Jackson was the hit batter and Adam Jones home run in the ninth, which I’m guessing is not reflective of how he pitched for the rest of the game. Apparently he found his offspeed pitches again and was able to outsmart the Orioles hitters by not letting them sit on the fastball like they did with Verlander. Another good sign is that Magglio got two hits again, including a home run, and both were on fastballs.

Today is the day-game wrap-up of this four-game series (How many hyphens can I put in one sentence?). Rick Porcello had the best start of his career against Cleveland last time out, going eight innings and only throwing 91 pitches. Hopefully he can keep up that mojo against the Orioles, a team that hasn’t seen him yet. He’ll be opposed by David Hernandez, who beat the Tigers in his major league debut back in May. There was a lot of grumbling about that at the time, but from an earned run average standpoint, he’s done a good job since then. Today is also the Major League debut of Alex Avila. According to Dan Dickerson on the radio last night, the plan is to have Avila catch all of Porcello and Galarraga’s starts, although I’m sure performance and opposing pitching matchups will have a say in that as well.

Long and Anticlimactic

For such a long game, I don’t have much to say (although, truth be told, I really CAN’T have much to say because I have to get ready for work soon). Edwin Jackson was gone before I even got home from work, which isn’t a good thing. As a result, I can’t give a first-hand assessment of his pitching, but from what I’ve heard, apparently when Victor Martinez was traded to Boston, the Indians got three pitchers and the Red Sox’s ability to foul off pitches in return. The big problem was that the game went for another 9 innings after that. For some reason, both lefties out of the ‘pen struggled and gave up runs. That turned out to be huge as well. After the first inning, the Tigers weren’t able to get anything else off of Carmona, but they got his pitch count up and drew a lot of walks. That’s probably the first time they’ve been able to follow through on being patient against Carmona. Carlos Guillen came up clutch in the ninth inning and tied the game, but that was all they could manage. There were a couple instances where they had runners on base and whoever was at the plate hit the ball hard, but it was always right at somebody. Still, when the offense scores five runs on a night when Edwin Jackson is pitching, that should be enough to win the game. They shouldn’t HAVE to score a sixth run.

The big problem with going 13 innings and using everyone in your bullpen is that Rick Porcello starts tonight, and he’s been having trouble getting through five innings recently. Up until his last start, his M.O. had been to cruise through the first few innings before struggling in the fourth and fifth. His last start was just the opposite. He had serious issues in the first inning and gradually settled down. He’ll need to be on his game tonight, because the Indians’ offense is red hot right now, Victor Martinez or no Victor Martinez. They scored a ton of runs on their recent road trip. The Tigers will face Jeremy Sowers, whom they’ve had success against in the past. However, Sowers won his last start (and pitched well in the process). He also beat the Tigers the last time he faced them, although it was last September. The Indians have also called up Jensen Lewis and Justin Masterson should arrive in time for the game, so in principle, the Tribe’s bullpen will be less of a sieve, which might pose a problem. By the way, according to the Indians’ website, tonight is THEIR Negro Leagues game, so presumably it’ll be the Stars and Buckeyes, Round 2.

Take That, Big Fox!

Photo: AP

Well, Fox was all ready to wrap things up there in the ninth inning. They had given out their “Clutch Performer of the Game” award, and they were busy rattling off the names of all their producers. But Curtis Granderson had something to say about that, and that something was a game-tying, RBI double. But let’s rewind just a bit, shall we? Edwin Jackson sure had to battle his way through seven innings. He was not fooling a lot of guys, evidenced by the fact that he walked four, routinely fell behind hitters, and gave up a lot of hard-hit outs. And yet, somehow he managed to go seven innings and only give up three runs. That’s impressive, although I’d really like for him to regain his strike-throwing, dominant form for his next start against the Indians (who, all of a sudden, have gotten a lot of offense and good pitching this weekend, which is kinda scary). Meanwhile, the Tigers couldn’t do much against Gavin Floyd, as per usual (though Chris Rose’s mancrush on Floyd was getting really irritating by the seventh inning). There has been mention that this was only Bobby Jenks’s third blown save against the Tigers, but bear in mind that two of them have happened this year, and both times, Granderson was the one who dealt the game-tying blow. That’s kind of incredible when you realize that just a couple years ago, Granderson was, like, 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts against Jenks. Luck played its part, too. Guillen didn’t hit his game-winning single particularly well, but it found a hole. Hell, the only reason Guillen had the opportunity to deliver that single was because the White Sox only have one lefty in their bullpen right now, and Thornton had already been used, otherwise it would’ve been Magglio in that situation. At any rate, even though Guillen’s never been my favorite player, the guy can put together a long at-bat and can foul off some tough pitches.

By the way, that photo makes me giggle.

Yesterday’s win was big, in that it guarantees a few very important things. First, no matter what happens tonight, the Tigers will get on the plane to Arlington as a first-place team. Second, it guarantees that the Tigers will have won this series. Three out of four this weekend is an absolute dream come true, but why stop there? The Tigers might as well go for the sweep. And it looks as though ESPN has finally taken notice of the Tigers and given them a Sunday night game. I’m not sure how to feel about that, to tell you the truth. National recognition is nice, but the Tigers tend to not play very well on national television. Rick Porcello looked good for the first few innings of his last start before giving up a couple bombs to a couple of Seattle Mariners with really low batting averages. I guess we’ll find out whether that was due to rust or not. This’ll be the first time he’s ever faced the White Sox, and they’ve got a lot of guys who can hit bombs. Jon Danks was supposed to start tonight for the White Sox, but he’s been pushed to tomorrow with a blister problem, so they’re sending out lefty Clayton Richard instead. He has been struggling recently, and he’d be a lot easier to get to than Danks, but nothing’s ever truly easy on ESPN.

Weekend Mojo? Not So Much

I’m not sure whether to be more frustrated by the fact that the last three games were all winnable, or comforted by it. While Justin Verlander arguably pitched better than both Sabathia and his own line on Saturday (given the fact that, from what I’ve been told, none of the hits he gave up in the seventh inning were hit particularly well, including the home run; I don’t know how hard the Tigers hit Sabathia), I’d say Edwin Jackson probably deserved his final line (in terms of numbers, that is; the decision itself is open for debate). In fact, if you raw numbers of hits, walks, and strikeouts, Chamberlain was actually a bit better, although Jackson was more efficient with his pitches (a bit strange, since he walked five in the game). In the end it boiled down to which pitcher was able to keep the ball in the ballpark on a more consistent basis. Unlike the wall-scraper that Verlander gave up on Saturday, the two home runs that Jackson gave up would’ve probably been out anywhere. And again, Saturday’s loss was unusual because Verlander typically gets plenty of run support. Jackson normally does not, so this was more par for the course. However, the offense has to get better for every pitcher. Odd note, though: The Yankees won against Baltimore by a score of 2-1 (that’s three straight 2-1 victories for them), and again all the scoring in THAT game was on solo home runs. Maybe their pitching is just that hot.

On Saturday, I had a chat with my Personal Baseball Guru (remember, he’s actually a friend of my dad’s who is a Yankees fan, but he is a former player in college/independent leagues and is a total expert, albeit very old school). I wanted to ask him about the issue with RISP, and all he could come up with was “with a pitcher of Sabathia’s caliber, you’d hope he’d be able to get himself out of those situations.” Mostly he wanted to talk about Verlander and marvel about how “dominant” he was (again, this is hearsay, as all I saw of Verlander was the seventh inning and I have no way of verifying his previous work). His description of Verlander was that “he’s a horse who should not be on a pitch count.” He said this like someone came in from the bullpen and gave up a bunch of runs, which didn’t happen. He also is really fond of Curtis Granderson and desperately wants the Yankees to find some way of acquiring him. On Saturday, he had lots of positive words for Brandon Inge. He said he was a “throwback” and that he reminded him of the guys he used to root for growing up. When I told him that Brandon was probably the most popular Tiger amongst the fans, his reply was “Well, that tells me that Detroit fans are really smart.” Finally, we discussed the situation with Magglio a bit more. He still maintains that Maggs is simply in a slump, but he wonders if maybe he should get his eyes checked or something (seriously…they tried that with David Ortiz). His justification in saying this is that with a good a hitter as Magglio was, the numbers should gradually decline as he gets older. There should not be such a sharp dropoff. However, the subject of Mickey Mantle came up later in the conversation, and looking over his career numbers, we discovered that he DID have kind of a sharp dropoff in production (from .303 and 35 HR in 1964 to .255 and 19 home runs in 1965, and although he did get back up to .288 in 1966, his averages over his final two years were .247 and .233). However, injuries had kind of taken their toll on Mantle during the final years of his playing days, so make of that what you will. He also had some thoughts on Joel Zumaya. He believes that (assuming the shoulder injury is not serious or career-threatening) Zumaya will be a dominant setup man and/or closer once he learns how to pitch and not try to continuously throw fastballs by people. One last thing from my Personal Baseball Guru: He believes that Mauer will cool off and Ichiro will win the batting title.

Tonight marks the beginning of a six-day, seven-game homestand. The good news is that the Tigers’ offense generally perks up at home. The bad news is that the Seattle Mariners have the best pitching in the league, and the Tigers will be seeing two big reasons for that later on in the series. Therefore, it would probably be a good idea to win this game. They will be seeing the Mariners’ #4 starter, lefty Garrett Olson, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles. His ERA is respectable for a #4 starter (4.53), but it is a bit higher than most of their other pitchers, and he lost his last start against the Indians (by the way, Seattle is starting two lefties in this series, so expect to see Magglio a lot). Meanwhile, Rick Porcello starts for the first time in what seems like a year and a half. He hasn’t been so hot recently. Is it the innings piling up, is he just in a slump, or have teams started to make an adjustment as the scouting reports get more detailed?

All-Star Wrapup and Midseason Review

Photo: AP

That game certainly moved along once they got the damn thing underway (which took, like, an hour). We got the result we wanted (apparently my gut feeling back in March did not take Carl Crawford into account), and I think the Tigers represented their team nicely. And it was especially exciting that a Tiger made a marked impact on the All-Star Game, which doesn’t seem to happen very often. Curtis Granderson tripled off of Heath Bell with one out in the eighth inning and scored what turned out to be the winning run on a sac fly by Adam Jones. Now, there was some dismay among Tiger fans when Carl Crawford was awarded MVP. Was Granderson more deserving? Maybe, but I’d certainly settle for Curtis hitting many more of those triples in the second half. Edwin Jackson looked good in his inning of work, even though he only threw four pitches (by the way, apparently Tim McCarver is from some strange alternate universe in which the Tampa Bay Rays play in the National League). Brandon Inge did not hit a big home run or make an incredible play, but he DID make it into the game, which is the important part (though with the way the game went, had Evan Longoria been able to start, I don’t think Brandon would’ve gotten in). Justin Verlander did not pitch in the game. I think we all knew that would be the case, and he knew it as well (barring extra innings), but it’s all good. If he keeps doing what he’s been doing since late April, one day he will start the All-Star Game. For now, he seemed to have a good time guarding the Gatorade coolers. By the way, I’d like to apologize for the specific video (not the song) that I used for Mood Music last night. I really didn’t like that the video had Andy Gibb and someone else (can’t remember the name) talking through the bridge, but YouTube didn’t give me much choice. The only other options I had were the TV intro (not the whole song) or a clip that had the whole song but was followed by a really stupid bit from a Seinfeld episode. I know a lot of you will disagree, but I’ll take Andy Gibb over Seinfeld any day of the week.

And now, let us assess the Tigers’ first half and what needs to happen on the other side of the All-Star Break. Back in April, I wrote in my 2009 season preview about the concept of ability, and that just about everyone on the team had either had success before or had the talent to succeed, and it was all a matter of tapping into that ability (If you haven’t done so, I recommend you read my season preview as well as my Spring Training preview just to get an idea where I’m coming from). I’d say that a lot of them have done quite a good deal of tapping. Justin Verlander has evolved back into the dominant pitcher I knew he could be. Edwin Jackson has seemingly realized his potential. Gerald Laird, while being kind of up-and-down at the plate, leads the league in caught stealing percentage. Brandon Inge has become one of the biggest comeback stories in baseball (and with Adrian Beltre having to miss time because of surgery, maybe, just maybe, Inge’ll get the Gold Glove he deserves). You do have some people on the opposite end of the scale, which is kind of the oddity of this season, because several of them are guys you really had no reason to worry about going into the season. Placido Polanco continues to play solid defense, but his average is about 30 or 40 points below his norm (though this really doesn’t get talked about as much as you think it would; perhaps Magglio’s struggles are causing it to be overshadowed). And with the exception of Miguel Cabrera, the Venezuelan contingent hasn’t really been able to tap into their abilities. Magglio’s struggles are well-documented and not very fun to watch (For what it’s worth, my Personal Baseball Guru maintains that it is merely a slump. A very lengthy slump, but a slump just the same. He firmly believes that we haven’t seen the end of Magglio Ordoñez, and I hope he’s right). Carlos Guillen has been hurt most of the year, but wasn’t performing very well before he hit the DL. It seems I keep rehashing my thoughts on Armando Galarraga every time he pitches, so no need to repeat it here other than to say that I still don’t think last year was a fluke. Curtis Granderson is somewhere in between. His home run and stolen base numbers are sensational, but his batting average has taken a dip and with it so have the doubles and triples.

So what do the Tigers need to do? The most important thing is to somehow, someway avoid the dreaded second half slide that seems to haunt this team year after year. I talked about this back in April. I don’t know why, but for some reason, the Tigers usually suck in the second half. Something always seems to go wrong. Either the pitching hits the skids or the offense goes cold or someone gets injured and the team can’t recover (or all of the above). This was going on long before Jim Leyland or Dave Dombrowski arrived on the scene, so they’re not to blame. I don’t know how they’re gonna do it, but they need to not do that this year. They need to have a winning second half, and by a good margin. One thing they have going in their favor this year as opposed to previous years is that so far, they are playing extremely well at home. This is important because the majority of their games in the second half (41 to be exact) will take place in the friendly confines of Comerica Park. They have more home games left than do either the Twins or the White Sox (plus, they only have to go to the Metrodome and U.S. Cellular Field one more time, whereas both of those teams have two series remaining at Comerica Park). Now, they WILL still have to play better on the road (where they currently sit at five games below .500), and that won’t be easy. They’re still yet to see Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Tropicana Field (and the Rays have been playing a lot better lately, plus their home record is stellar), and they still have one more visit to Angel Stadium (where the Angels have been playing better of late). However, they only have to go to the west coast one more time and no road trip will last longer than six games (barring any rainouts that would lead to makeup games). Meanwhile, the Twins are done with the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox and are playing a lot of series against sub-.500 teams in the second half, but they also have two ten-game road trips (including one right out of the chute starting tomorrow that starts in Arlington before beginning a west coast swing), as well as two seven-game road trips (and at 17-24, Minnesota’s actually been worse on the road than the Tigers). The White Sox have already been to Tropicana Field, but they aren’t done with the Rays (though they will be by this time next week). They have not seen the Yankees OR Red Sox at all yet (and they have two series left against the Angels), so already their schedule is not as easy as Minnesota’s. They HAVE been a decent road team with a 23-22 record away from the Cell (though they will start the second half at home). However, late August/early September is going to suck for them (something the Tigers desperately need to take advantage of). They have an off-day on August 20th. They will not have another off-day until September 10th. That is a stretch of twenty straight games without a break, beginning with a three-game home series against the Orioles. It gets even better. Included in that stretch is an eleven-game road trip that begins with a four-game series at Fenway Park, IMMEDIATELY followed by a three-game series at Yankee Stadium (that’s a road trip from Hell in and of itself). That’s followed by a trip to the Metrodome and an Interleague makeup game at Wrigley Field. Then they come home to another four-game series against the Red Sox before wrapping up their marathon with a two-game set against the A’s. And what will they be doing on their off-day? Flying out to the west coast. So when you look at the sheer number of road games left for the Twins and the unbelievably grueling schedule for the White Sox, you can see that there are a couple of opportunities the Tigers need to capitalize on.

Other things:

Pitching: Obviously, they’ll need Verlander and Jackson to continue pitching like they have been (or even better, pitch like they did in May). In the past, Verlander’s tendency has been to have a rough late July/early August, pull it together and have a couple of good starts in late August/early September, falter again through September, and then win his final start. He probably won’t be able to afford to have lengthy struggles this time around. Jackson’s a bit of an unknown commodity, as he’s having the best year of his life, so any numbers he’s put up in the second half before are almost meaningless (If you’re still interested, according to baseball-reference.com, in the past two years he has generally pitched well in August but not September). They will also need either Armando Galarraga or Rick Porcello to step it up and win the majority of their games (if I could only choose one of the two to have a successful second half, I’d take Galarraga because he can give you more innings than Porcello), as well as consistent (i.e. around .500) starts from their four and five starters. As far as the bullpen goes, Rodney, Seay, and Lyon need to keep up the good work. Zumaya needs to pitch like he did when he first came off the DL. That means quit walking people and make better pitch selections. The pitching staff as a whole needs to throw more strikes. They started off the season real good in that regard, but starting in June the walks started piling up. That needs to stop.

Offense: Need some. While re-reading my season preview, I came across this statement that has turned out to be rather prescient:

“…I wanted to say that the offense, outside of a couple games, never really
wowed me during the spring, and maybe that’s a little bit cause for
concern…”

At the bare minimum, the Tigers are probably going to need strong second halves from Cabrera, Inge, and Granderson, and they’ll need at least one, if not two, other guys to step up. Polanco probably needs to be one of them, and I’m really, really hoping that Maggs can break out of it. And I don’t think relying on Carlos Guillen to be your “Trade Deadline pickup” is such a wise move. If he comes back and hits the crap out of the ball, great. But he was only hitting, like, .200 with no home runs before he went on the DL. Now, that may have been due to the injury, but we don’t know. Not to mention the fact that he has not been able to stay healthy in three years. The Tigers will be monitoring the trade market for a bat, but it’s a crappy year for buyers because so many teams are still in contention. There’s been talk of the Tigers perhaps trying to acquire Aubrey Huff. I keep wondering what the price would be to get Luke Scott (he may be somewhat of a defensive liability, but he’s a left-handed power hitter who is hitting around .300 right now), but the folks over at MLB Trade Rumors don’t seem real high on him, so maybe I’m missing something.

Defense: The position players just need to keep up the good work. The pitchers could field their position better, though.

Overall: I’ll repeat what I said back in April. The Tigers CAN do it. They have proven themselves capable of making the postseason thus far. WILL they? That’s up to them. It won’t be easy, but it’s far from impossible.