Tiger Geist

Hell of a week. Today’s game was very important, with some very timely hitting, decent relief pitching, and overcoming some rust in the bullpen.

Thoughts on the west coast road trip:

• Eddie Bonine was solid, and gives the team more time to consider what to do with the fifth spot in the rotation.  No one knows how he’ll do, but I bet it’ll pretty much be what we’ve seen:  Some games he’ll pitch alright but get shelled (vs LA Dodgers), some games he’ll pitch pretty well and keep the team in the game (vs SD Padres).  As long as you can keep it between there, you have your #5 pitcher.  It would be a boost to the team if he can get them to the trade deadline to either develop someone from the minors or make a trade.
• Miguel Cabrera is inching his batting average up, slowly but surely.  He was noticeably favoring his leg in Monday night’s game;  i wonder if that is still affecting his play.
• The catching platoon has shown promise;  when Brandon Inge got hurt, Pudge seemed to drop off a little bit.  After another day of rest, he was 2-2 with two walks today.
• Zach Miner is unspectacular, but had two holds this week.  If they’re able to get Zumaya and Rodney going again, he’ll have to help out.  
• I’m not too concerned about Fernando Rodney.  Historically, when he’s been healthy, he’s been very good.  He struggles when he’s hurt and doesn’t tell anyone.
• Joel Zumaya had an average series, but I think it points to much greater things.  His fastball has had some life on it (hitting triple digits today);  hopefully his off-speed pitches are nearing their old form.
• Looking forward to the schedule, they’re in great shape to stay around .500 at the all-star break.  They also have some big games against Minnesota coming up, another team on a hot streak.  
• Marcus Thames could be a very good player if he could hit .275.  A couple more two hit games could help him out.