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redsox; crossposted to my journal.)
As a dual Tigers/Red Sox fan, I thought you guys might appreciate an inside look at the Tigers, so I wrote up a little preview. I go based off what I see rather than numbers, so statheads won't find much to work with here, but observation can tell you things that numbers don't quite cover. So here you go, a look at the current holder of first place in the Major Leagues: The Detroit Tigers!
The Tigers are a very, very different team this year than they have been for the past decade and a half. They currently own the best record in baseball, they have a tremendous pitching rotation (though Mike Maroth, who was having an amazing start to the season, will be out for a while - more on that in a bit), their offense can generally get the job done, and let us not underestimate the effects of their new manager, Jim Leyland. I never thought I'd fangirl a manager, but the difference Leyland has made is tremendous and gives me geeky joy. They just had a pretty rough series against the Yankees - and a pretty rough week in general - but they concluded it with a great comeback win yesterday, overcoming a 5-0 deficit to win 7-6. That's the kind of thing this team has been doing all year.
Pitching
Friday: Curt Schilling (8-2, ERA 3.93) vs. Kenny Rogers (7-3, ERA 3.76)
On paper, they look pretty even. Kenny Rogers has really been an asset for the Tigers this year, in everything from his own starts to providing veteran knowledge to the young Tigers pitching staff. However, his last couple of starts have been pretty rough - on May 23, he gave up four homeruns to the Royals and was saved from getting the loss only by the fact that, well, they're the Royals, and he did get the loss to Cleveland on Sunday in a 9-0 game. He tends to let guys on base and rely on the defense to help him get three outs, and that generally works well for him. This could combine with the Red Sox tendency to leave men on base to help him bounce back.
On the other hand, Schilling. 'Nuff said, yes?
Saturday: Tim Wakefield (4-6, ERA 4.07) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (5-4, ERA 4.61)
We all know the story with Wake: the knuckler's on or it's not, and he apparently dumped turpentine in the offense's rose gardens and can no longer get any run support whatsoever. Bonderman was the closest thing the Tigers had to an ace last year, and had an All-Star caliber first half, but ended up shelved with a nagging elbow problem that he admitted this year had been bothering him all season. He claims he's better now, but I'll tell you what: he has had such an odd season to date that he has become consistent in his inconsistency. He'll be lights out one day and get shelled five days later. Lights out, shelled, lights out, shelled. And he took a loss against the Yankees Wednesday.
Matt Clement (4-4, ERA 6.91) vs Zach Miner (In AAA: 6-0, ERA 2.82)
Matty C: Heeaaaaadcaaaaaase. And the above numbers encapsulate everything I know about Zach Miner, whom we got from the Braves last year along with Roman Colon for Kyle Farnsworth. Colon was originally slated to start - this spot belongs to Mike Maroth, but as mentioned above, he underwent surgery today to remove bone chips from his left elbow. Colon took over during Maroth's last start, in which he faced seven Royals and gave up six runs before stepping off the mound right onto the DL, and threw a fine five and a third innings to keep the Tigers in it, but it is Miner stepping in on Sunday to make his Major League debut.
Tigers Bullpen
They kind of blur together, to be honest. The starters had until recently been going so long that the bullpen wasn't seeing much work, so right now I don't know Jamie Walker from Chris Spurling from a hole in the ground in terms of what they're doing this year. What I can tell you: Todd Jones is right up behind Papelbon for most saves (sixteen in seventeen opportunities). He's only blown two this year. However. Detroit fans call him Rollercoaster Jones for a reason. He'll get you the save, but he'll leak out a hit or two in the process. The back-up closer type, Fernando Rodney, is six for seven opportunities and less prone to giving everyone watching a heart attack.
And we have a big exciting rookie in the pen, too: Joel Zumaya. Zumaya has a killer fastball, and I don't think the kid knows how to throw below 90MPH. He, along with starter Justin Verlander (also a fireballer, with great accuracy and a quick worker to boot - in other words, the opposite of everything you may have seen yesterday on ESPN, so ignore it and be glad that Red Sox are missing him this time around), is one of our biggest new players and who knows? with Maroth out for at least a couple months, Zumaya may get to try his hand at starting if we can't find a satisfying alternative.
(Random aside: if somehow there could be a game with Verlander starting, Zumaya working relief, and Papelbon closing it out, I would die of sheer baseball geekgasmic glee.)
This bullpen, frankly, beats the crap out of the Red Sox pen, but you knew that already.
Tigers Offense
Boy, have they had a crappy week. The pitching has been showing up this week per usual, but the offense just couldn't quite get there until yesterday.
Hitters to watch for: Magglio Ordonez is leading the team in RBI, HR, and BA and plated four of last night's seven runs (one on a bases-loaded walk). Curtis Granderson, who bats lead-off and has great speed, has a team-high .380 OBP and walked twice last night, ending up on base four out of five times at bat. Vance Wilson, who I understand will be catching in place of Ivan Rodriguez today and tomorrow, has had a good year thus far and tends to hit more when he gets a little consistent playing time (he also got a game-winning homer in a tight duel between Verlander and Johan Santana a couple weeks ago).
Hitters whose AB's are a good time to grab another beer: Craig Monroe can't quit swinging that bat; he has ten HR and also 50 K. Brandon Inge is going through one of his cold streaks, though he'll at least walk now and then. I don't even know what Ramon Santiago does.
Tigers Defense
Why we keep Brandon Inge in the line-up. He is lightning fast, has a cannon for an arm, and makes plays that most third baseman can only dream of. He'll also bobble the occasional routine grounder, just to keep things interesting. Also, Granderson's speed in centerfield is crucial in ginormous Comerica Park, and he's saved a lot of hits.
Conclusion
If the reawakening of the Tigers' bats last night holds (and maybe spreads out a little; it was the top half of the line-up that did all the work, really), we will have ourselves a series. I do not make predictions, because when I do the opposite always happens, but I can say that much. These aren't last year's Tigers (and hell, last year's Tigers grabbed themselves a couple surprise wins). This is a solid team with strengths and weaknesses to balance and contrast with the Red Sox. I am really going to enjoy baseball this weekend.
redsox; crossposted to my journal.)As a dual Tigers/Red Sox fan, I thought you guys might appreciate an inside look at the Tigers, so I wrote up a little preview. I go based off what I see rather than numbers, so statheads won't find much to work with here, but observation can tell you things that numbers don't quite cover. So here you go, a look at the current holder of first place in the Major Leagues: The Detroit Tigers!
The Tigers are a very, very different team this year than they have been for the past decade and a half. They currently own the best record in baseball, they have a tremendous pitching rotation (though Mike Maroth, who was having an amazing start to the season, will be out for a while - more on that in a bit), their offense can generally get the job done, and let us not underestimate the effects of their new manager, Jim Leyland. I never thought I'd fangirl a manager, but the difference Leyland has made is tremendous and gives me geeky joy. They just had a pretty rough series against the Yankees - and a pretty rough week in general - but they concluded it with a great comeback win yesterday, overcoming a 5-0 deficit to win 7-6. That's the kind of thing this team has been doing all year.
Pitching
Friday: Curt Schilling (8-2, ERA 3.93) vs. Kenny Rogers (7-3, ERA 3.76)
On paper, they look pretty even. Kenny Rogers has really been an asset for the Tigers this year, in everything from his own starts to providing veteran knowledge to the young Tigers pitching staff. However, his last couple of starts have been pretty rough - on May 23, he gave up four homeruns to the Royals and was saved from getting the loss only by the fact that, well, they're the Royals, and he did get the loss to Cleveland on Sunday in a 9-0 game. He tends to let guys on base and rely on the defense to help him get three outs, and that generally works well for him. This could combine with the Red Sox tendency to leave men on base to help him bounce back.
On the other hand, Schilling. 'Nuff said, yes?
Saturday: Tim Wakefield (4-6, ERA 4.07) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (5-4, ERA 4.61)
We all know the story with Wake: the knuckler's on or it's not, and he apparently dumped turpentine in the offense's rose gardens and can no longer get any run support whatsoever. Bonderman was the closest thing the Tigers had to an ace last year, and had an All-Star caliber first half, but ended up shelved with a nagging elbow problem that he admitted this year had been bothering him all season. He claims he's better now, but I'll tell you what: he has had such an odd season to date that he has become consistent in his inconsistency. He'll be lights out one day and get shelled five days later. Lights out, shelled, lights out, shelled. And he took a loss against the Yankees Wednesday.
Matt Clement (4-4, ERA 6.91) vs Zach Miner (In AAA: 6-0, ERA 2.82)
Matty C: Heeaaaaadcaaaaaase. And the above numbers encapsulate everything I know about Zach Miner, whom we got from the Braves last year along with Roman Colon for Kyle Farnsworth. Colon was originally slated to start - this spot belongs to Mike Maroth, but as mentioned above, he underwent surgery today to remove bone chips from his left elbow. Colon took over during Maroth's last start, in which he faced seven Royals and gave up six runs before stepping off the mound right onto the DL, and threw a fine five and a third innings to keep the Tigers in it, but it is Miner stepping in on Sunday to make his Major League debut.
Tigers Bullpen
They kind of blur together, to be honest. The starters had until recently been going so long that the bullpen wasn't seeing much work, so right now I don't know Jamie Walker from Chris Spurling from a hole in the ground in terms of what they're doing this year. What I can tell you: Todd Jones is right up behind Papelbon for most saves (sixteen in seventeen opportunities). He's only blown two this year. However. Detroit fans call him Rollercoaster Jones for a reason. He'll get you the save, but he'll leak out a hit or two in the process. The back-up closer type, Fernando Rodney, is six for seven opportunities and less prone to giving everyone watching a heart attack.
And we have a big exciting rookie in the pen, too: Joel Zumaya. Zumaya has a killer fastball, and I don't think the kid knows how to throw below 90MPH. He, along with starter Justin Verlander (also a fireballer, with great accuracy and a quick worker to boot - in other words, the opposite of everything you may have seen yesterday on ESPN, so ignore it and be glad that Red Sox are missing him this time around), is one of our biggest new players and who knows? with Maroth out for at least a couple months, Zumaya may get to try his hand at starting if we can't find a satisfying alternative.
(Random aside: if somehow there could be a game with Verlander starting, Zumaya working relief, and Papelbon closing it out, I would die of sheer baseball geekgasmic glee.)
This bullpen, frankly, beats the crap out of the Red Sox pen, but you knew that already.
Tigers Offense
Boy, have they had a crappy week. The pitching has been showing up this week per usual, but the offense just couldn't quite get there until yesterday.
Hitters to watch for: Magglio Ordonez is leading the team in RBI, HR, and BA and plated four of last night's seven runs (one on a bases-loaded walk). Curtis Granderson, who bats lead-off and has great speed, has a team-high .380 OBP and walked twice last night, ending up on base four out of five times at bat. Vance Wilson, who I understand will be catching in place of Ivan Rodriguez today and tomorrow, has had a good year thus far and tends to hit more when he gets a little consistent playing time (he also got a game-winning homer in a tight duel between Verlander and Johan Santana a couple weeks ago).
Hitters whose AB's are a good time to grab another beer: Craig Monroe can't quit swinging that bat; he has ten HR and also 50 K. Brandon Inge is going through one of his cold streaks, though he'll at least walk now and then. I don't even know what Ramon Santiago does.
Tigers Defense
Why we keep Brandon Inge in the line-up. He is lightning fast, has a cannon for an arm, and makes plays that most third baseman can only dream of. He'll also bobble the occasional routine grounder, just to keep things interesting. Also, Granderson's speed in centerfield is crucial in ginormous Comerica Park, and he's saved a lot of hits.
Conclusion
If the reawakening of the Tigers' bats last night holds (and maybe spreads out a little; it was the top half of the line-up that did all the work, really), we will have ourselves a series. I do not make predictions, because when I do the opposite always happens, but I can say that much. These aren't last year's Tigers (and hell, last year's Tigers grabbed themselves a couple surprise wins). This is a solid team with strengths and weaknesses to balance and contrast with the Red Sox. I am really going to enjoy baseball this weekend.
