In terms of expectations, losing the first game may have been the best thing Detroit could have done. They aren’t going to go 35-5 to start the season anyway. But what did we see today?
Danny Bautista looks solid. Would have been nice NOT to take the loss, but as a setup man he appears to be effective. If we can get Zumaya and Rodney healthy and back to form, Bautista might make the bullpen formidable.
Jason Grilli comes in and can’t get outs. Not his fault (see below), but its a problem not having more strike-out pitchers in the ‘pen.
Clete Thomas wasn’t fazed in his first action. Tied game, bottom of the 11th… rips a double. I’ll also drop a line to Bill Simmons to nominate Clete for the Reggie Cleveland All-Star team.
Miguel Cabrera has an error and a home run. I imagine this won’t be the last time.
Gary Sheffield knows the strike zone. However, in a close game, at some point (possibly) the best hitter in the lineup needs to swing at some pitches (that said, i didn’t watch the game so i have no idea how close the pitches were).
Carlos Guillen is going to have a monster year. I think the move to first has already proven helpful to his knees.
Brandon Inge had some nice defensive plays in center, and a solid sac bunt. A good sign.
Heart of the lineup, at home, going up against Brett Tomko? They should have murdered him… and they didn’t.
Thoughts:
Detroit is a better team with Inge on the roster, assuming he is willing to be the backup catcher. He’ll get 300+ at bats and gives the team more flexibility then having to carry a true second catcher. If he could play first (too short??) it might make Thames expendable. I’m still not a fan and i’d sit outside the dexter video store to kick him in the nuts if i had some free time.
Leyland screwed up by letting Verlander go out in the seventh. I rarely watch games (most start while I’m at work) so i do a lot of watching of espn’s gamecast, and just reading box scores and game situations. Here’s what I know: Pitchers tire as they near 100 pitches. Thats the magical number. Its 89 pitches in the first game of the year, Verlander just gave up two runs in the top of the sixth… its time to pull him. I can’t see how you expect Verlander to have a 1 - 2 - 3 inning, which then puts him over the pitch count. Its not fair to your average (non-strikeout) bullpen to spot a few runners in a close game and expect them to hold everyone. In that situation, you start the 7th with your bullpen. Justin Verlander might be a stud, but he’s not YET a Clemens, Schilling, or even a Jack Morris. I’m not a fan of letting a pitcher start an inning you don’t feel he can finish, unless you’re playing the match-up game.
Boy I would have gone to Zach Minor instead of Grilli at that point. Gut feeling that has no scientific fact behind it.
MLB.com’s new gameday simulation / update software is slick. I don’t feel like paying to listen to the audio.
Everyone’s done a preview, I’ll save you the trouble:The tigers will hit very well. Pitching and injuries will decide the season.Isn’t that the story with every team in every year? Here’s what we think we know about the tigers in 2008:
Their defense should be improved overall.
Their bullpen may/will struggle until they either trade for help or Zumaya returns to form
Miguel Cabrera will sell a lot of jerseys this year.
Jimmy Leyland will smoke 42,872 packs of cigarettes.
Here’s what we don’t know:
Starting pitching. Will they help protect the bullpen? Consider every starter besides Verlander (Bonderman, Rogers, Robertson, Willis): If, in October, you were told that one of the pitchers had the best OR worst year of their career, would you be surprised?
Depth in AAA: Do we have the talent to either plug any injuries (Zumaya, Granderson) or to offer in a trade down the stretch run?
Last thought going into the season: Why are they playing in Detroit in March? Are you kidding? Hey, sounds like a great idea, take the day off, head to downtown detroit and sit in the rain. Sounds awesome. And people wonder why I moved to California.
I’m inclined to wait on thinking about the 2008 preview until all of the 25 spots are taken. Bullpen seems to be unsettled, position players are unsettled, and even the lineup might change for a few weeks.
Interesting how Clete Thomas seems to have come out of nowhere to take a shot at the last roster spot, with Granderson injured. Could keep Hessman, who is out of options, and had Inge as an outfielder. Wonder what Brent Clevlen is thinking right now. Of course, they could keep another catcher (Sardinha) as well. Or maybe there are a few moves to be made before opening day. I think Granderson’s injury, and how detroit prepares for it, could help determine the tight central division race. Will they protect themselves from a slow recovery with a true outfield prospect? Will they use this time to showcase Inge for a trade? Maybe they tell Inge he’s the backup catcher for the year and see how that works out?
Bay area fans will love the fact that they have two teams to watch this year… a AAAA team in Oakland and a low A ball team in SF. The giants lost to their farm team last night, with their$127 million pitcher taking the loss.
I’m hoping Canseco’s new book doesn’t affect the Tigers this year. Magglio reportedly gets called out in Jose’s new book; sounds like Mags will let this one slide off. I’d be concerned if I were a former Texas teammate as well.
My biggest issue with Jose? So far he’s been right. To paraphrase Ralph Barbieri (KNBR radio host in SF), the biggest joke about baseball is that Jose Canseco is the only person that has proved credible in the whole steroid scandal.
Spent an afternoon with my father Don and brother in law Casey at Joker Marchant last Friday. Pictures can be found here. Thoughts on the game:
Toronto’s fringe pitcher Jesse Litsch ate us up. Random Toronto fan in front of us said he was their fifth starter.
Miguel Cabrera is HUGE. He was running wind sprints with Magglio and towered over him. His size really stood out in the infield, where he was playing with Inge and Raburn
Raburn is a little guy. Not Kevin Hooper little, but it felt like Cabrera dwarfed him.
Pitching:
Maybe we were a little to quick on the draw for Dontrelle’s contract extension. He couldn’t throw a strike. Worse, the Jays ran all over him. His elongated delivery worries me against teams who like to steal bases. His inability to throw a strike worries me against teams that have decent players. Toronto only brought one star (Alex Rios) and Willis really had some problems.
Zach Miner looked solid in 2 2/3 innings. Nothing spectacular, but he was in control.
Lopez / Seay / Beltran didn’t have too many issues
Hitting:
Gary Sheffield is a machine. Got a nice shot of his home run swing on camera.
Cabrera had a rough day but seemed to get the most out of his at-bats
Team looked lost at the plate vs an average pitcher
Fielding
They put Inge at short, Raburn at 2nd, Cabrera at third. Cabrera seemed to have a rough day in the field, and you wonder what goes through Inge’s head as he’s standing 30 feet away. Maybe we I’m being too judgmental about defense.
Raburn seems like he can play anywhere and looks comfortable. He had a nice play on a pick-off by Willis.
Willis has some nice pick-off moves. It helped with the number of base runners he allowed.
Pudge still has a great arm.
Raburn got a couple of innings behind the plate. I don’t remember any previous years where ‘emergency’ catchers got so much live work.
Random
Toronto fan turns and asks us, “where are you planning on putting Inge this year?” Dad’s response: “On a greyhound”. The fan replied “seems a waste to not use him.. I had thought we should try to get him”. Made me wonder.. are there actually other fans in other cities who think Inge is a good player? Have we been blessed with such a good team in recent years that we forget that other cities would love to cheer for an average yet overplayed player?
I remember this from last year, but both Mike Hessman and Cody Kirkland are gigantic. For some reason i get a thrill out of watching them warm up. They’re both 6′ 4″ or taller, but on the diamond they look more like 6′ 8″.
After a few weeks of the tigers repeating “spring training doesn’t always reflect the regular season”, Tim Byrdak was released today. Yesterday Leyland stated that he was still on the team; all spring this spot was locked up. Today, however, they have decided to go in a different direction.Byrdak looked absolutely awful on Sunday against Cleveland, and apparently was equally as bad yesteday. Its one of those things.. you watch someone in person and say “that guy’s shitty”, yet the team tells you that it isn’t ‘important’, so you second guess yourself. Apparently the tigers had a change of heart and wanted to offer the spot to someone else. Who?? My guess is both Aquilino Lopez and Yorman Bazardo get the nod, barring another transaction. Lopez has looked solid and Bazardo through three no-hit innings against the starting Cleveland lineup on Sunday. Bazardo actually looked great sunday, esp compared to watching Willis and Rogers struggle the previous days.
Have to catch up from my spring training trip. Lots of fun, severe lack of free wi-fi.
Today’s notes: Jack Hannahan starts strong for the A’s in Tokyo while Chavez gets shelved for a while… Kevin Frandsen is most likely out for the year.
Frandsen isn’t very good, but maybe this pushes the Giant’s to make a move? Maybe not, since the Giants picked up Jose Castillo off of the waiver wire. Even with Granderson’s injury, I would move Inge now.
I’m off to tampa / lakeland, or as scott says, “the hooters and strip club recruitment center of america”. Should have some more pictures assuming my hosting provider doesn’t continue to take a dump every few hours. Friday, Saturday, Sunday games on the schedule, with an open date Monday (for now).