Opening Day in Six Days.. Four will be cut

And then there was one...

Duane Below had a rough outing walking four and only striking out one during his outing Friday the 30th.  In the process he gave up three hits and three runs in three innings.  So we can expect either Drew Smyly to get his first start in the Major Leagues, or the Tigers will make a late move to pick up a fifth starter.  It is looking more and more like Smyly has won the job.

Luis Marte

The Tigers are down to 29 players in camp with only 25 spots on the Roster.  There are 6 starting and 8 relief pitchers in camp. Last year they came north with 5 starters of course, and 7 relief pitchers. Look for Below to be sent to Toledo, finalizing the starting rotation.  Expect Smyly to get his first taste of the Major Leagues from the bullpen since a 5th starter will not be needed until 2 weeks into the season.  The bullpen is short of left-handed long relief, and so far Phil Coke has had a dismal Spring.  Smyly may play a role in long relief from the left side until his rotation spot comes up.  The Tigers may find it rough going against the Red Socks to start the season without good lefties in relief.  Can the only other left-handed reliever, Daniel Schlereth, keep up the good numbers he has posted this Spring?  If not, it will be a rocky start to the Season.  Expect the one cut in the bullpen to be Brayan Villarreal.  After a hot start the first 2weeks this Spring, he has suffered against the better hitters in the last week or so, while Luis Marte is getting stronger, and mowing down opposing batters striking out 16 batters in only 13 innings of relief this Spring.  The only pitchers with more strikeouts in camp are Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.  He has clearly earned the last spot open in the bullpen (see Spring Training numbers below).

Clete Thomas

Projecting only only 2 pitchers to be cut, that leaves 2 interesting moves to be made with the remaining position players.  Last Spring the Tigers went north with 13 position players.  There are still 15 in camp.  In the outfield Andy Dirks has clearly out-hit Clete Thomas.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Clete, since Dirks earned his stripes last year, but Clete out-performed Dirks defensively this Spring.  The Tigers can't send Clete to Toledo, but they could trade him if they bring Dirks north.  Dirks has earned the spot. On the infield, utility player Danny Worth has out-hit Brandon Inge, who now has groin trouble.  Worth may make the team if Brandon goes on the disabled list.  If not, the Tigers will start the season with Brandon and send Worth down.  Brandon out performs both Worth and Raburn at 2nd base, but his hitting has been anemic.  Something will happen with Inge.  You can bet on it.
Tigers SpringTraining(2012)See: "About ADJ OBA and ADJ AVG"

Concerns?  Hitting..  Raburn has been in a tail-spin after starting the Spring strong (see hitter trends graph).  Will it continue into the season?  Avila has had trouble hitting this Spring as well.  Prince Fielder doesn't hit nearly as well when Cabrerra is out of the lineup.. will Fielder hit as advertised?

Pitching concerns are the bullpen.. and Max Scherzer.  Max has had trouble this Spring when runners are on base.. keep an eye on Scherzer when the season starts.  The bullpen is an unknown.  There are no really good options should a starter falter and long relief is needed.  Will the back end of the bullpen perform the way it did last year?  The Spring Training numbers are better this year than last year so let's hope so.

Is it Porcello time?

Good signs?  Brennan Boesch is trending up (see hitter trends graph).. Cabrerra as well.. and lets hope it continues right into the start of the season next week.  Watch Rick Porcello this year.  He has quietly put together his best Spring Training in a Tigers uniform.   Watch him this year.  

GO TIGERS!   ---Rob





Photo Credits:
Luis Marte and Clete Thomas by Robin Buckson - Detroit News 
Rick Porcello by John T Greilick - Detroit News

Spring Training Special Edition

Welcome Tiger Fans!   This weekend we will have our reporter on the spot in Lakeland, and should have a report direct from Florida next week.

This week's news:
Roster moves, (and predicted moves) hitting, pitching, and more... oh my!

Quintin Berry

Roster moves this week are picking up as the team gets guys NOT coming north sent down to the Minor League camps.  Hitters/Fielders cut from the Major League team this week are Catcher Bryan Holaday,  Second Baseman Eric Patterson, and Outfielders Matt Young and Jerad Head.  All of them non-roster invitees so there are no surprises there, and all of them heading to Minor League camp.  Expect the next round of hitter/fielder cuts to include Ryan Strieby (1B), Argenis Diaz (SS), and eventually Omir Santos (C).  All of them also non-roster invitees.  Surprisingly there are two non-roster invitees that should be sticking around for a while.  Audy Ciriaco (SS/3B) is having a decent spring hitting .267 (see below) and may be needed to cover third base for Miguel Cabrerra while he is out with his injured eye.  Also Outfield speedster Quintin Berry has been opening some eyes with his hitting (see below), hitting .333 he will probably be around until the final round of cuts, and it looks like the Tigers have a solid backup to Austin Jackson at Center Field, should they ever need him. (Incidentally he looks a lot like the Yankees "A-Rod".)

Pitchers cut this week include Relievers right-hander Jose Ortega and lefty Matthew Hoffman.  Both had decent enough spring training outings. The Tigers have the luxury of two right-handers dominating in the pen this spring (Villarreal, and Marte) and with only one spot open for a right-hander, Ortega drew the short straw.  With two lefties still in the hunt for the starting position (Oliver and Smyly), and two others unlikely to make the starting rotation cut (Wilk and Below), it is probable that should the Tigers need a third left-hander in the bullpen it will come from one of these four which leaves Hoffman out in the cold.

Speaking of starting pitching, Verlander is having even a better spring than he had last year, and surprisingly Rick Porcello has really come to play this spring (see below).  Watch Scherzer this year.. his inconsistencies continue this spring.  The fifth rotation spot is almost down to a two-man race.  Stay tuned to see how Smyly and Oliver react against the better hitters left in Spring Training over the next week or so.  One of them will likely be eliminated from consideration after facing more Major League hitters.  Expect cuts at the starting pitching level to include either Below or Wilk this week, depending on what happens with Oliver and Smyly.  Turner is running out of time to get back in the rotation, so we may hear that he has been moved to AAA camp as well.  All three (Wilk, Below, Turner) have posted sub-par numbers so far this spring.

Tigers SpringTraining(2012)

Brayan Villarreal

There is some serious competition shaping up for what looks to be ONE right-handed reliever spot in the bullpen.  The top contender at the moment is Brayan Villarreal, with Luis Marte posting good numbers as well.  Collin Balester whom the Tigers picked up from the Nationals in the trade for Ryan Perry last December is making a good showing and can't be counted out.  Balester doesn't have any options left on his contract, so he has a very good chance to go north with the team if he maintains the decent Spring Training he's had so far.  Villarreal is lighting it up and has posted the best numbers (see above) of any pitcher this spring with 2 hits, no walks and has held batters to a paltry .111 on-base average through 5 and 2/3 innings so far.  Balester and Villarreal will be the two pitchers to watch for that last right-handed bullpen spot.

That's it for now.  Only 2 weeks left before Opening Day!


GO TIGERS!!   ---Rob




Photo Credits: 
Brayan Villarreal and Quintin Berry by Robin Buckson - Detroit News

Opening Day in 3 weeks!

Yes.. over a third of the Spring Training games are complete and there is less than three weeks before opening day!  For the first third of Spring Training there have been some interesting developments (see numbers listed below for some insight).  Ryan Raburn is absolutely SMOKING the ball at the plate so far, giving Brandon Inge competition behind the plate, while Inge dominates in the field at 2nd base.  Inge's batting average in Spring is still mediocre, so it will be interesting to see how Jim Leyland decides to field these two guys.  Raburn is out-hitting ALL Tigers in Spring Camp.

On the other side of the ball the 6-way race for the #5 pitching rotation spot is starting to clear up.  Tiger prospect Jacob Turner is out with tendonitis in his shoulder, and Casey Crosby has been sent to Toledo leaving Andy Oliver, Adam Wilk, Drew Smyly, and Duane Below in the hunt for the final spot.  Of those, Oliver has shown the most in camp so far, and Below the least (see numbers below).  Watch to see how Wilk and Smyly do this weekend, and by the next report we should know who the front-runner is.

There are still some hot prospects in camp, and two guys to watch are  non-roster invitees Eric Patterson, and Quintin Berry.  Berry is ON FIRE and hitting .412 in camp so far.. he has speed as well, and should anything happen to Austin Jackson we have a center fielder ready to go it appears.  Expect Quintin to stick around in camp for a while yet.  Speaking of leaving camp, the next round of cuts SHOULD see pitching prospects Darin Downs and perhaps Tyler Stohr leaving camp.  Downs is a non-roster invitee, and Stohr will most likely go to a minor league camp.  Outfielders Matt Young, and Jerad Head may also be likely candidates for the next round of roster trimming, as will Catcher Bryan Holaday and Shortstop Agenis Diaz.  Next week's Spring Roster will be much slimmer than it is this week as the Tigers start preparing to get down to reading the team coming north for opening day.
 Tigers SpringTraining(2012)



GO TIGERS!  ---Rob

Spring has sprung.. the grass is 'ris.. wonder where the Baseball is? Lakeland!

Yes Sports Fans.. it is time for the annual rite of Spring... Spring Training!

Some old and some new Tigers are in Lakeland Florida once again for Spring Training and the team is expected to compete for the American League title again this year.  Let's hope the expectations are not over-stated, but a close look at the details this Spring should shed some light on whether or not the team can both HIT and PITCH and "FIELD".  Speaking of "fielders"..with the acquisition of Prince Fielder this year hitting is expected to be a strong point, but games are not won on hitting alone.

Games have started and lets look at the Roster in camp.  Below is a list of all the players in camp this year. They are sorted by "ADJ OBA" for Pitchers and "ADJ AVG" for hitters. (see "About ADJ OBA and ADJ AVG" for an explanation)  Numbers listed are career numbers.. either Minor League (italicized players) or Major League (non-italicized players).  "Non-Roster" Invitees are shaded.
  Tigers SpringTrainingRoster(2012)


There are six Minor League pitchers who realistically have a shot at the #5 starting pitching rotation: Wilk, Turner, Below, Oliver, Smyly, and possibly Villarreal.  All of them have over 200 innings pitched at the Minor League level as a starter.  Favorites have to be Turner and Below.. Turner since he is the Tigers hot prospect and started 3 Major League games last year.  Below because he has the most Minor League experience and also put in good innings in the Majors last year.  Wilk has an outside chance since he was very effective in the Tigers bullpen during the several outings he had at the Major league level last year, and his Minor League numbers are absolutely off the charts with 257 strikeouts to only 45 walks!  Oliver is the other lefty prospect the Tigers have been developing, but he doesn't have the luxury of having had any Major League experience in 2011, and might be a long-shot for the last rotation spot.  Villarreal has had some very interesting outings in relief in the Majors for the Tigers, and some were very bad.. so he is probably not ready for the Majors yet either, but should show some promise in camp.  It will be an interesting show to watch between these guys.

Drew Smyly

A dark horse pitcher in camp to watch for is Drew Smyly.  This 22 year old lefty was a starter for the Tigers AA Erie Seawolves, and also for the A+ Lakeland-based Flying Tigers last year and is striking guys out in the minors at a blistering pace..53 Strikeouts in 43 and 2/3 innings for Erie.. and 130 total in only 126 innings of Minor League ball.  With only 36 walks given up in those same 126 innings, it's obvious he's got an arm and the control of his pitches to go with it.  He may be a non-Roster invitee, but expect the Tigers to take a good long look at this young man.

Octavio Dotel

The Bullpen was once again a low-spot for the Tigers last year, particularly in the playoffs.  Valverde has the closer spot locked up solid, but a series of injuries made it hard for anyone except Benoit to show any consistent success in innings 6, 7 or 8.  Probably the best off-season acquisition the Tigers made to address this issue was picking up Octavio Dotel from the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  Dotel is a veteran and much like Benoit, he should be able to lock down some of the middle-late innings quite well for the Tigers.  The rest of the bullpen has yet to prove itself, and the career numbers for these guys (see above) do not look all that heartening.

Hitting and fielding should be VERY interesting this year.  The Tigers have lost 3 veteran hitters.. Magglio Ordonez to the Oakland A's (rumored), Carlos Guillen to the Seattle Mariners, and Victor Martinez to injury.  These three hitters have a combined 39 years of Major League hitting experience.  That is not something easily replaced, but the Tigers took a BIG step signing Prince Fielder, so it should be interesting to see if the young guys (Boesch, Cabrerra, and Fielder) hitting 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, can step into their own this year as mature hitters.

Inge at 2nd Base

As far as fielding goes there will be an experiment there as well since the infield this year is totally different than last year.  Cabrerra moves to 3rd base where he hasn't played in 4 or 5 years and it will be interesting to see how he handles the "hot" corner which tends to devastate player fielding percentage numbers.  Brandon Inge moves to 2nd and Prince Fielder takes Cabrerra's spot at 1st.  It will be interesting to see if the big guys on the corners have the dexterity to get to the ground balls before they become singles.  If not, it will be a LONG season.  Watching Inge at 2nd should be entertaining since his fielding has never been an issue.. but can he hit?  So far in camp Ryan Raburn seems to want to prove he's not just a summer-time hitter (although the temperature in Florida is what?) and is giving Inge a run for the money for the 2nd base job.  Brandon is in the last year of his contract.. the big question on everyone's mind is still this.. as much of a clutch hitter as he is.. can he hit when his contract is on the line?

That's it for now.. check in next time to see some numbers on these guys.. and we'll see how Spring is wrapping up before the first round of Spring Training cuts.

GO TIGERS!






Photo Credits:
Drew Smyly by Mark Anderson - TigsTown.com
Octavio Dotel and Brandon Inge by Robin Buckson - Detroit News

Spring is here! Final 2011 Post Season Report

Let's start this season with a wrap-up of last season's October numbers. Who were the surprises??  Take a look below..
Tigers PostSeason(2011) Final


The biggest surprise was the let-down in the bullpen.. only Joaquin Benoit and the now-departed Ryan Perry had any kind of success.  Even "Papa Grande" struggled.

Brandon Inge HR - ALCS, Gm#4

On the hitting side.. unsung heroes rose to the occasion. Most surprising of all was BRANDON INGE hitting .318 in the post season!  Ryan Raburn, Delmon Young, and even Don Kelly stepped up behind Miguel Cabrerra leaving the Tigers only two victories short of the World Series.

Rick Porcello, Doug Fister, and Justin Verlander held the opposing hitters down (with little help from the bullpen) and the "unsung" Tigers ALMOST took the team to the World Series.

So how about 2012?  Stay tuned.. a preview of the Tigers in Spring Training is coming right up.

GO TIGERS!



Photo Credit: John T Greilick - Detroit News