Tiger Geist

A series win is always nice;  a sweep over a very good National League team is even better.  After a 5-6 road trip, it was exactly what Detroit needed, and gave them a 4 game lead in the AL Central.

I thought I was going to be able to watch the majority of the series, but Fox F’d me by blacking out MLB.tv for Saturday’s game.  I was excited to watch the rookie Alfredo Figaro, but I listened to the entire game instead.  He ‘sounded’ like he had a solid game, with decent location.  The rain shortened Friday night game started a much needed power injection into the team;  I’m probably in the minority but I thought Armando Galarraga wasn’t too bad.  Brandon Inge normally turns a double play on the grounder in the first inning, which may have weakend the Prince Fielder shot.  That said, Galarraga wasn’t great by any stretch, but once he settled down he had a lot of movement on his pitches.  He was inconsistent, but I think he can straighten it out down the stretch (I have hope).

The big story of the weekend was the full arrival of Marcus Thames;  he batted cleanup all weekend and he’s starting on another power run, similar to last June.  Don Kelly is also hot;  most likely he won’t hit .400 all year.  But he’s intriguing because he’s in that ’28 year old career minor leaguer’ stage that many players finally figure it out.  In essence, his swing seems to be similar to what they’d like Clete Thomas to be like, though I feel Thomas is the better defender (and a better arm).

Thoughts on the series (and the team):

• Still think its embarrassing to have Magglio sunglass give-away day today.
• For a bullpen that walks WAY to many batters, that was a nice show-down between Bobby Seay and Prince Fielder today.  Three pitches, strikeout.
• Ryan Perry was demoted after the game;  A good move.  I think Joel Zumaya could use some work, but he won’t see any time in Toledo unless he has a complete melt down.
• I don’t know what Detroit would have to give up to get a corner outfielder, but I’m not comfortable with grabbing an NL player.  If Miguel Cabrera, one of the best hitters in the game, took half of last year figuring out the AL pitching staffs, what would make us think an expendable outfielder from an NL team would pick it up in time for a playoff run?
• The way the team has been playing, it was unthinkable that Detroit could win four straight games without Edwin Jackson pitching in one of them.
• Dusty Ryan is a big dude.  If he can hit, you could see him getting some work at first base at some point in his career.  He’s kind of a bizarre squatter behind the plate.
• I’m a huge Gerald Laird fan.  I’m hoping that he sees some push/competition from Ryan and kicks off some hitting.  In reality, Laird has another year before free agency and still hasn’t seen his big pay-day yet.  I’m hoping he gets that payday (though it probably won’t be with Detroit).
• I was concerned that even if Detroit could make the playoffs, they’d be over-matched by every other team.  Now i’m not so sure that they can’t compete.  I’m not entirely sold quite yet.
• I realized Detroit makes two trips to Oakland this year; for some reason I thought the Oakland / detroit series in August was at CoPa.  This excites me — NO ONE is going to games in Oakland right now.
• I’m decidedly not excited about Verlander or Jackson being on the all-star team.  Its a nice honor, but I’d rather they get some extra rest for a stretch run.  Plus, in recent years the managers seem to abuse the pitchers.
• Speaking of all-stars, there is a good chance Cabrera won’t make the team due to a crowded first base field.  If Detroit makes a serious playoff run, he would be in MVP contention.  Does that make any sense?  Not good enough to be voted in the top three at your position, but good enough to be voted the most valuable player in the league?  Yes, its called ‘most valuable player’ and not ‘best player’, but it still seems quite odd.