i’ll try to get more specific this time:
Pitching:
The strikeout rate is very disappointing so far, considering how many power pitchers we have (Robertson, Verlander, Bonderman). Pitching seems to be trending up as a whole. Right now we do not have the pitching to win a playoff series. If Dontrelle Willis is as bad as he looks, he’s our version of Barry Zito. Not sure where we can stash him. Overall, this is a huge concern.
Relief Pitching:
The trade of Jason Grilli, the emergence of Denny Bautista (though slightly wild), and the unexpected contributions from Clay Rapida has stabilized the bullpen. And this is before Cruceta, Rodney, or even Zumaya return. I don’t think we can expect Rodney to be fully available for the rest of the year… maybe more of a “month on, month off” type thing. Todd Jones has been excellent. Zach Miner _hopefully_ is over his bout of shitty-ness that Grilli rubbed off on him. Bobby Seay is solid once again.
Pitching overall:
Hard to really quantify, since they looked really bad against the AL Central and pretty solid against bad teams. Amazing what Toronto and Texas will do for you.
Fielding:
Cabrera seems to have settled in at first; maybe he has realized that as a first baseman, he can eat as much as he wants to. Not sure yet what to expect with Guillen at third — the media is all over about how bad he might be; yet this is a guy who was our starting short stop last year. Make up your minds. Renteria seems solid; Polanco had some early trouble. In the outfield, the Jacque Jones defensive pulls scare me — I thought this guy was supposed to be good in left field. I can’t see this just as a way to get more innings for Ryan Raburn. Ordonez and Thames are unspectacular; Inge seems decent in center, and Granderson hasn’t been tested since his return. Pudge seems solid yet again.
Fielding overall:
Bonderman has definitely been victimized by a bad defense, but those days are hopefully over. I think the corner switch was a good one. Pudge seems to be playing too much, and it makes evaluating Inge behind the plate difficult.
Hitting:
Renteria has been a bright light; he has no history of success in the american league, but is currently hitting over .300 from the 8th hole. Ordonez continues to impress, but Cabrera nullifies a lot of it with double plays. Cabrera has been solid but unspectacular in his “super-star hitting” role. He should warm up. Guillen is knocking the piss out of the ball, so much that he almost pulls a hamstring every time rounding first. Granderson missed most of the month but looks strong. Pudge is equally as likely to go 4-5 one game and then 0-5 the next two. Polanco and Sheffield are having sub-par seasons but have missed time due to injury. Overall lack of power from this group is surprising. Jacque Jones started off slow last year as well, but not sure if Detroit is willing to let him take four months to get it together.
Bench:
Thames has a low average but continues to show power in a limited role. His playing days at first are probably over at this point. Inge started hot but is slowly moving down to his career numbers. Raburn is having a similar year as last year with limited at bats; again his defensive innings are surprising. The biggest surprise here is Ramon Santiago — hitting well enough to get some more spot starts as Leyland rests the players. Clete Thomas showed some promise while filling in for Granderson — not sure if we’ll see him again this year or not. The group has done a great job overall — solid defensive replacements who can hit for power.
Coaching / Front Office:
Early on I thought it was clearly evident that Leyland didn’t trust his bullpen. His moves seem much more logical at this point. He seems to be playing his players at the proper time and resting them (sans Pudge) correctly. I think Dombrowski made a killing getting someone (ANYONE) for Jason Grilli. As a whole, someone made the right call bringing up Galarraga — what a surprise, even if it doesn’t last. They needed him to get over the hump that was an 0-7 start. They may have made a mistake in Willis and Robertson’s extensions, and will have to make a decision on Jacque Jones soon. Probably a mistake was made by not assigning Sheffield to a rehab assignment in Toledo — though he may not have accepted it. As indicated last year, the team seems to struggle with Sheffield. Leave Granderson out for most of the month, maybe they needed some other hitters to help out for a week or two.
Overall thoughts:
It was the tale of two half-months. Shitty and Solid. You can’t ignore the first half, but you knew the team would start to hit. Now, the team is starting to excite. They are two games out of the division lead, but so is Cleveland, who has not played well either. The starting pitching is a concern, as is the overall team speed. The big hitters are very stationary, and we probably have too many DH type hitters (all right handed at that). Jacque Jones has been an utter disappointment while Edgar Renteria has been a surprise. We’ll have to re-evaluate after May 31, with some really tough games against good teams coming up. To truly contend, a move to get another starting pitcher might have to be made. If Willis can’t find the strike zone, they will have to either eat his contract or find a trade partner (and still eat his contract) to run out enough quality starts to get into the post season. I imagine the hitting and slugging will improve with the weather; there is a concern over how right-handed this team is. Jones wouldn’t be on the team if he wasn’t left handed, and i’m not sure Clete Thomas is the answer either. One more game tonight against the Yankees would lead to a series sweep… another step in the right directly.