Final Week of the Season! BIG Cats? Kittens?

Who are the BIG Cats?

Yes.. the final week of the Regular Season is upon us!  So.. who on the Tigers are the BIG Cats?  Who are the Kittens?  How was July, August, and now September?  Have they been BIG Cats the entire second half?  Who has been.. and when?  Are they peaking now? (too soon? too late?)..or are some BIG Cats showing up just in time for the Post-Season?  Are some of the Tigers turning into Kittens.. exactly at the WRONG time?  or are they turning from Kittens into BIG Cats just in time?  Who were the Kittens of July and August?  Are they still?  We will answer these questions and MORE in the final Regular Season posting of..  "The Rob Hall Report"..  Enjoy!

Who are the kittens?

  
So who was a BIG Cat in July? Who wasn't? Coming off a record 5 players going to the All-Star game the Tigers had a few Big Cats acting like kittens.  Miguel Cabrerra only hit .250 for July after a great June.  Alex Avila definitely wasn't feeling like an All-Star either.. since he hit a major slump and could not even hit .200 for July, registering a record low for him hitting only .197 for the month.  Brandon Inge continued his terrible slide only managing 0.059 in July precipitating what would happen next.

As hard as it may seem to believe there WERE some Big Cats stepping up for the Tigers in July.  Starting Pitcher Rick Porcello for instance was 5-0 with a 3.06 ERA.  Right-fielder Magglio Ordonez looked to be totally over his injury as well, hitting .294 for the month, and journeyman infielder Ramon Santiago hit .346 in games he played.

Weaver complains.

Perhaps the Biggest Cat of all in July though was Justin Verlander.  "JV" went head to head with the next best pitcher in all of baseball at the time Jered Weaver for the Angels on July 31st.  Verlander won that game almost throwing a no-hitter (the Angels got one hit), with help from veterans Magglio Ordonez (2-run home run) and Carlos Guillen (solo home run) and a notable stare-down from Guillen to Weaver who complained about Ordonez watching his home run earlier in the game. (Ordonez was looking to see if it stayed fair and went out.)
That game was a turning point for the Tigers season.  They beat the one of the best pitchers in baseball with a better pitcher.. Verlander.. and from then on there was no turning back, and no 2nd half slump as in previous years.

Big changes were coming for the Tigers.. starting with the July moves that set up August and September. The first of which was to send down to AAA the pitcher they got from Oakland in the Scott Sizemore trade. David Purcey had a horrendous July with the Tigers giving up a 15.00 ERA and getting hit at a .360 rate by opposing batters resulting in 6 loses in the 8 games he pitched in relief, and the Tigers couldn't get him off the team fast enough.  Purcey was the first to go, but other changes would have even more impact.  Quality starting pitcher Doug Fister pitching at a 3.33 ERA clip for Seattle was picked up with fellow Mariner right-handed reliever David Pauley in a trade that sent lefty starter Charlie Furbush to the Mariners with outfielder Casper Wells.  Brandon Inge was mercifully given the option to clear waivers or go to AAA Toledo.  He chose to go to Toledo to work on his hitting.  Switch-hitting third basemen Wilson Betemit was obtained from Kansas City to replace Inge at 3rd.   July also saw the debut of rookie phenom Jacob Turner who pitched 5 quality innings in his MLB debut.

August came in with a bang, and the new look Tigers took off.  Some very Big Cats came to play, and play they did.  Led by Alex Avila who threw off his July slump like he was tossing off an ill-fitting coat.  Avila hit .360 for the month of August while catching every game after Victor Martinez sprained his knee.  Miguel Cabrerra came to play as well, hitting even better for a .390 average in August!  Even Ryan Raburn found his 2nd half stride hitting .323, and newcomer Wilson Betemit hit .310 over the same time span.  Reliever Phil Coke finally settled into his relief role with a passion posting a 0.00 ERA in August while the Tigers went 11-2 for games in which he appeared.  Setup man Joaquin Benoit followed suit holding opposing hitters to a .125 average against him while the Tigers went 12-2 in his games.

Who were the kittens in August? How about the same two hitters that helped Justin Verlander beat Jered Weaver at the end of July?  Carlos Guillen hit only .094 in August while dealing with an injured wrist, and Magglio Ordonez could only manage .213 prompting another move by the Tigers.  Starting Pitcher Rick Porcello had his worst month yet posting a 6.82 ERA for the month and allowing a .353 average to opposing batters, only winning one decision in the 6 games in which he started.

Delmon Young

The biggest change for the Tigers in August was the acquisition of Left-fielder Delmon Young who arrived in town with the Minnesota Twins for a game against the Tigers, only to appear in the Tiger clubhouse in a last-minute trade that found him in the opposing clubhouse and Tiger reliever Lester Oliveros being sent to Minnesota.  Magglio Ordonez was suddenly looking at minimal playing time, until lefty slugger Brennan Boesch develped an issue with a ligament in his thumb needing surgery sending him to the DL.  August also saw the return of Brandon Inge to the lineup after hitting over .400 while in AAA Toledo.  Now suddenly the Tigers had left or right handed hitting at 3rd base, and with the addition of Delmon Young hitting permanently in the 3rd spot of the lineup the Tigers were set for September.

September has found the Tigers hitting on all cyclinders.  Big Cats this month are almost too numerous to list.  Miguel Cabrerra is chasing a hitting title and has hit .405 in September.  Magglio Ordonez is making the most of his time in the field as well, hitting .405 too!  Carlos Guillen may have gotten over his wrist issue, hitting .385 before being sidelined with a calf issue.  Ryan Raburn continues his 2nd half spectacular hitting .378 for the month.  Brandon Inge has shown he CAN hit, hitting .355 part time while getting more time with Wilson Betemit (hitting only .233 for the month) out with a tweaked knee.

Fister 0.69 ERA in Sept.

Doug Fister has shown why he is the #2 guy in the Tigers rotation since being picked up from Seattle in July.  So far in September, Fister has posted a 0.69 ERA going 4-0 with opposing batters only hitting .132 against him.  Those are Verlander numbers!  Jose Valverde appears ready for the post-season posting a 0.90 ERA for the month while the Tigers are 10-0 in games he closed, and opposing hitters only managed .118 against him.  Al Alburquerque is back in the bullpen after recovering from an elbow issue briefly in July and being hit in the head with a ball in August, and looking just as good with an 0.00 ERA and .200 average against in the 5 games he appeared in during the month.

Concerns?  Who's turning into a kitten at the wrong time?  Starter Brad Penny posted a 5.83 ERA in August and made an even worse showing with a 7.20 ERA in September to finish out the season (probably his career) as a Tiger.  Lefty reliever Duane Below pitched in 3 games and posted a horrendous 12.00 ERA (4 runs in 3 innings) in September.  Let's hope he has it out of his system, the Tigers will need lefty relief in the playoffs.  Right handed reliever Ryan Perry took a nose-dive as well giving up 4 runs, 4 walks and 8 hits in 7 innings of relief in September.  There may be a concern about hitting too.  A KEY player is bordering on changing from a Big Cat into a kitten in September.  Jhonny Peralta has gone from hitting .316 at the end of July to .270 by the end of September.. a 46 point drop!  He could become the weak link in the post-season lineup if he doesn't turn it around.

September changes show the Tigers bringing up catching relief in Omir Santos (.306 for Sept), and infield relief in Danny Worth (.143) and Will Rhymes (.273).  Jacob Turner joined the club again as well and posted two starts, not faring as well this time out, 11 runs on 14 hits and a walk over 7 and a third innings for a 12.27 ERA in September.  Rhymes and Santos may have a chance to make the post-season roster because of needs at 2nd base and catcher.

Predictions for players on the post-season roster?  Jacob Turner won't be on the roster, and Danny Worth won't be either.  After that it's a toss up.  Ryan Perry still is not consistent enough in relief, and Duane Below had a terrible couple of outings.  The lefty Below is needed.. with Alburquerque back, the right-handed Perry is not.  Omir Santos as mentioned above might make the roster as injury insurance for Avila.  Will Rhymes won't make it either if Guillen is healthy.  If not, then another 2nd basemen hitting left handed allows Leyland to take Raburn out of the lineup when facing a good right-handed pitcher.


That's it for now.  I'll try an post final numbers for the season before starting something for the post-season.  Enjoy!  and....

GO TIGERS!   ---Rob

Mo-town and Chi-town Showdown in the Motor City!

Welcome Back Sports Fans!  Yes, the Rob Hall Report has been on a unplanned Hiatus since just after the All-Star Break this year..SO there's some catching up to do!   Posted this past month were the numbers and trends for the Tiger Players for the Month of July.  I'll start this article with a "story so far" description of what happened in July, followed by August and bring you up to the Playoff run here in September.  Which started with a BIG weekend SWEEP of Chicago in Comerica Park...the Tigers won BIG outscoring the White Sox 35-11 in the three game series.  GO TIGERS!