Just-INCREDIBLE!
Justin Verlander becomes the first starting pitcher since Roger Clemens in 1986 to win the MVP award. He edged out Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox and Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays in the voting Monday afternoon, doing something that many predicted would never happen again.
Hats off to one of the finest seasons any pitcher has had in the last 25 years. Congratulations!
The Tigers haven’t made a ton of news this off-season, with the exception of Tuesday’s announcement of Justin Verlander winning the AL CY Young award in a unanimous vote, but today reports came out that the team was bringing back Gerald Laird to back up starter Alex Avila.
I like this move as it brings in a proven defensive plug. It is hard to expect a backup catcher to produce significantly at the plate, and a catcher’s first concern really should be his defensive play. He may be frustrating to watch at the plate, but he played exceptional defense during his stay in Detroit.
In other news, Lynn Henning of the Detroit News posted an interesting article on the rumor that Detroit is looking to get Atlanta Braves 2B Martin Prado in a deal for Delmon Young. While I think Young is a solid bat in the lineup and had a fantastic ALDS, his defense is weak and the Tigers are loaded with young outfield talent, and an outfield position is much easier to fill through trade or free agency than 2B. Adding a 2B this offseason has to be one of the biggest conerns for GM Dave Dombrowski. The platoon that the Tigers used last year is not ideal and adding Prado, a career .293 hitter, would immediately be an upgrade, both offensively and defensively, over any option that the Tigers currently have (17 errors in nearly 200 games in his career at 2B).
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I didn’t think weather would be as much of a factor in the ALCS with Texas as it was with New York in the ALDS.
Well, I was wrong.
Two rain delays extended game 1 and the Rangers held on for a 3-2 win, doing some damage to Justin Verlander before he exited after the 2nd rain delay in the 5th.
There is also a threat for more rain in game 2 tonight, when Max Scherzer takes the hill. This is an important game for Detroit as, if necessary, games 6 and 7 will be played back in Texas. Detroit left the bases loaded twice last night and could do nothing against the Rangers bullpen, getting only 1 hit on Ramon Santiago’s bunt single to lead off the ninth.
I thought it was a curious decision to bring in Wilson Betemit in the 9th, who was 0-6 with 3 strikeout’s in his career against Feliz. He walked back to the bench increasing that number to 4 strikeouts. The Tigers outfielders also have to really clamp down on their defense. Magglio just doesn’t have it anymore and Jackson cannot afford mistakes like he made early in the game that extended Verlander’s pitch count. Had the rain not forced him out of the game, Verlander would not have been in the game much longer anyway, having already thrown over 80 pitches through 4 innings.
Look for the Tigers to come out swinging tonight. They cannot afford to not attack tonight and let the Rangers’ dangerous lineup run away with the game. It’s a toss up, but I like the Tigers to take game 2.
EDIT: Game 2 has been postponed until Monday afternoon due to rain in the forecast. Does this benefit either team or hurt one more than the other?
The American League Championship series opens tonight versus the defending AL Champion Texas Rangers. Justin Verlander will be on the mound for Detroit after manager Jim Leyland opted not to pitch him in the decisive game 5 against the New York Yankees.
In a major blow to the offense, the team announced that OF Delmon Young, who set a club record for most homeruns hit in an ALDS with 3, will not play in the series against Texas. Leyland must now find a viable bat to fill that 3 spot in the order ahead of slugger Miguel Cabrera. One option would be to move Jhonny Peralta, but my instinct says that Magglio Ordonez will be inserted into that spot. We will have to wait and see.
My prediction for the series: Detroit takes it in 6. I think that Detroit’s pitching is too strong and their bats will be alive. Weather should not be as much of a factor as it was in the New York series, and even without Young’s bat in the lineup, I think Detroit poses a major threat to take back the pennant from the Rangers this year.
It’s been awhile since I was last able to sit down and post my thoughts. I don’t have a whole lot of time on my hands being a senior in college and holding a full-time live-in professional job, but I do still follow the Tigers avidly. Most of my writing time, however, comes in the form of assignments instead of on a blog!
But I wanted to post a few of my thoughts before I call it a night:
1) Justin Verlander is the MVP of the American League.
This is going to be tough because there are several deserving candidates for the AL MVP award. However, if you compare Verlander’s stats to those of Roger Clemens when he was named the MVP (the last pitcher to do so), they are better in every category. And taking into consideration Verlander’s growth from being a guy with a very powerful arm into a pitcher who flat out dominates every time he goes out on the mound, it is easy to see why Detroit fans and some national writers say the award should be his. Of course, it is difficult to justify someone being named the most valuable player of the entire league when he only plays once every 5 days, but in this case, Verlander is an exception. He means more to the Tigers than any other candidate means for their ball club.
2) Doug Fister is the Tiger’s #2 pitcher.
When the team traded away Casper Wells and Charlie Furbush, along with Martinez and Ruffin, I was not disappointed to see those players go in exchange for Fister. Fister was in an unfortunate situation in Seattle where he had zero offense behind him. Having been a pitcher in high school, I understand how frustrating and difficult it is to maintain consistency and composure when your team is doing nothing for you. It was a brilliant move by Dombrowski to bring him to Detroit and the fans are now seeing his worth to the ballclub.
3) After Verlander and Fister….
….yeah I still don’t know. Scherzer has his days and I thought that Porcello was breaking through after the all-star break, but neither has provided consistent numbers. Brad Penny will most likely not be used in the playoffs (assuming we don’t have another catastrophic collapse and actually win the division) but he has provided some veteran stability in a young rotation. I am hoping that either Scherzer or Porcello steps it up in these last few weeks and gives the Tigers coaching staff a better idea of who they can rely on in October.
4) The Tigers’ bats can keep up with any team, but….
…can their rotation and bullpen keep them alive come October? It will be the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs. The Tigers are not going to surprise anybody by coming in and driving in runs. But what will surprise people is if Tigers pitching (minus Verlander) can keep opponents from crossing the plate. It’s the biggest knock on the team right now and it’s my biggest concern heading to October.
Just a few thoughts for the night/early morning. I’ll try to get more in once I figure out how to get in a groove with my work load. Comments are appreciated!
While there were only slightly over 11,000 fans at Tropicana Field on Tuesday evening, the game itself had a playoff vibe to it.
Brad Penny was effective and the Tigers lineup was able to chip away just enough on the Rays All-Star David Price to walk away with a 2-1 victory, pushing their lead in the AL Central to 6 games over the Cleveland Indians.
These are the types of games that Detroit has to win to avoid another September collapse that Tigers fans seem to assume will happen every year. In three of their five games during the five game winning stretch, Detroit has held opponents to one run. With the offense that Detroit possesses, holding teams to 1 run will undoubtedly increase their chance of winning on that day exponentially. In the past week, the Tigers are batting .317 as a team, while their pitchers are holding opponents to a .244 average and have a 3.00 ERA.
The past week has been an exciting peek at what Tigers fans can only hope is the start of a drive toward an AL Central title and their first playoff birth since 2006. Playing as well as they have will make it hard for either the White Sox or the Indians to catch this team moving forward.
It has been awhile, but I have been incredibly busy training for my upcoming year and it leaves me little time to sit down during the day. Tonight, the Tigers look to win their 5th straight contest with Brad Penny trying to follow up another gem tossed by Justin Verlander in last night’s affair.
1. Austin Jackson (CF)
2. Magglio Ordonez (RF)
3. Delmon Young (LF)
4. Miguel Cabrera (1B)
5. Victor Martinez (DH)
6. Alex Avila (C)
7. Jhonny Peralta (SS)
8. Ryan Raburn (2B)
9. Brandon Inge (3B)
Penny is on the mound.
I have a difficult time justifying Ordonez in the 2 spot (1-4 in his career against Ray’s starter David Price). I would actually love to see Leyland try out Peralta in the 2 spot and move Boesch down behind Martinez and Avila. I think it would benefit both parties, but I am not the manager. Delmon Young has been a fine addition to the team and if the Tigers win the AL Central, that move could prove to be a pivotal one, one in which Detroit gave up very little in order to get a player than can produce now.
The Tigers announced today that the fragile Carlos Guillen would be placed on the 15-day DL with a sore wrist. Will Rhymes has been recalled to take his place on the roster. I LOVE this move. Carlos Guillen, when completely healthy, has a nice bat in the lineup, but he hasn’t hit anything since he showed up Weaver several weeks ago. Will Rhymes has done nothing but hit since he’s been down in Toledo and the guy deserves a shot at playing everyday.
Here is today’s lineup:
1) Jackson (CF)
2) Dirks (LF)
3) Ordonez (RF)
4) Cabrera (1B)
5) Martinez (DH)
6) Peralta (SS)
7) Raburn (3B)
8) Avila (C)
9) Santiago (2B)
Fister is on the mound for Detroit this afternoon. Game time is 1:35 PM ET.
Sounds like a win. Let’s finish off the road trip with twice as many wins as losses (6-3) and head back home. Last night’s game showed the life of a team that is playoff caliber. They fell down early and fought back to take the lead, Scherzer was Verlander-esque nasty in his last inning (he was hitting 98 on the gun), and the bullpen closed the door late. It’s what this team needs to do to waltz into October. They will really be counting on solid, consistent starts from their rotation and be looking at their bullpen to keep runs off the board late in games. We all know their offense is there. The question is whether their pitching can be consistent enough to stave off the charging Indians and White Sox.
Preview
The Tigers bats did not show up for the series in Cleveland, where they dropped 2 of 3 to the Indians. 2 of those games were winnable (Porcello didn’t give a good outing on Wednesday) and the bullpen was fantastic for the series. The Tigers come to town to take on the last-place Baltimore Orioles, who took 2 of 3 from the Tigers in the second series of the year. 
The pitching matchups-
Friday: Penny (7-9, 4.92 ERA) vs. Simon (3-5 4.08 ERA)
Saturday: Scherzer (15-5, 4.33 ERA) vs. Guthrie (5-15, 4.38 ERA)
Sunday: Fister (4-12, 3.37 ERA) vs. Reyes (5-9, 5.49 ERA)
Game times: Friday and Saturday are 7:05 ET starts, Sunday is 1:35 ET.
Analysis
Baltimore ranks dead last in nearly every important pitching category. Detroit has an offense that ranks in the top 10 in many offensive categories. This spells, on paper, a good series for Detroit. We need the bats to wake up, having posted no more than 4 runs in 6 straight games now. Maybe Baltimore can be that catalyst we need. I am not going to do statistical analysis much for this series. The Tigers should beat this team.
Prediction: Being optimistic, I’m going with a sweep. But realistically, I like Detroit to take 2 of 3 here. Watch out for Guthrie in game 2 and hope that Penny can give a solid outing in game 1. Then we can head back home!
When the Tigers need a win, they can normally rely on Justin Verlander to deliver that need.
And tonight he did.
Verlander pitched 8 innings while striking out 10 and the Tigers held on to win 4-3 to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians and break a 13 game losing skid in Cleveland. They hold a 3 game lead over the Tribe and head to Baltimore for a 3 game stand before heading home for the weekend.
Something that makes me shake my head is trying to figure out how Wilson Betemit spends so much time on the bench. Nearly every game he is in the lineup, he produces in some way or another. Tonight he was 2-for-4 with an RBI and has 2 game winning RBI in his name since coming over from Kansas City before the trade deadline. Yes, he is going to strike out. A lot. But if he gets on base and drives in the big boys ahead of him in the order, give him a chance to play!
I also think it’s time to look at shifting Magglio Ordonez down in the order. He just doesn’t have the power or the bat this year to fit a 3-spot hitter. As crazy as this might sound, I like Peralta in that spot. He has been solid with his bat all year long. Putting him in front of Cabrera and Martinez (and behind Boesch when he is healthy) makes for a much more powerful punch than sticking Ordonez there in the order. Magg’s has been a great asset to this team for several years now, and it is sad for me to say this, but I think his time is nearly up in Detroit.
Just as a side note, I know that this blog is just starting and I don’t have many people who come and check it out regularly, but the past few days have been beyond hectic for me and I haven’t even had an opportunity to sit down and write previews and recaps. I am a college student that is working a full time, live-in job and that job can get in the way of my time to express myself here. Just so you know.
The Optimist Tiger 