Detroit Tigers 2013 Season

[RandyTiger]

Rangers 10, Tigers 4. [Boxscore]

Summary: Tigers routed as pitching duel fails to materialize.

Pitching: Verlander tossed one of the worse games of his career, going just 2.2 innings, yielding 8 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. I don't think I've ever seen him throw so poorly in a game. :\

The bullpen did better, but it still wasn't pretty. Darrin Downs went 2.1, giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk.

Rookie Evan Reed, in his first MLB appearance, had very similar stats. I'm sure he didn't want his debut to be remembered as giving up a homer, tho'.

Offense: The Rangers pitching staff limited them to just 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. No-one got more than one hit, but 2 players had jacks:

The donkelly (1), 392-foot solo shot to right in the 3rd; Peralta a 417-foot homer to center in the 4th.

Miggy, in his only hit of the game, had a double. (11)

Next game: Tigers (22-17, 9-10 away) @ Rangers (27-14, 12-4 home), 8:05 Eastern. TV: FS-D, MLBN. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Porcello (1-2, 6.68) vs Tepesch (3-3, 4.03).

[RandyTiger]

Tigers 2, Rangers 1. [Boxscore]

Summary: Tigers edge the Texas boys in a day-late pitching duel.

Pitching: Baseball sure is a funny game. Yesterday's match-up of Verlander versus Darvish was supposed to be a duel, and it turned out to be something quite different. Now two lower-tier pitchers provide the entertainment. Crazy game.

Porcello pitched an absolute gem of a game [video], tossing 5.2 innings and just surrendering a solo-shot homer. He balanced his stats out nicely, giving up 5 hits and a walk against 6 punchouts. Well done, Rick! His record improves to 2-2, 5.92.

He's shown signs of steady improvement over the past four games, going 2-0, 3.24, 0.96 WHIP. In 25 innings, 24K's and 5 BB. Guess it was just a bad start to the season for him.

The bullpen nailed the coffin shut, allowing just 3 hits over 3.1 innings and getting 2 K's. In order: Ortega (H, 2); Smyly (H, 5); Benoit (H, 6); and Valverde, (S, 4).

Terrific effort from everyone!

Offense: The Big Boy, once again, was Miggy, as he went 3-4 with his 12th double in the 4th [video] and an RBI, scoring Dirks. Avila had a SF two batters later, scoring Miggy, and that's they managed off the Rangers.

Dirks went 2-5, boosting his average up to .261. He's performed admirably in the lead-off spot since Jackson went on the DL.

I have to admit, I got really nervous when I saw Valverde start the 9th, and I was thinking, "He better be on form or the Rangers are gonna savage him...".

When he issued that walk, I thought... it's over. The Rangers will score to tie the game up or win.

He stopped them. Somehow. This guy is almost as bad as Todd Jones was!

Next game: Tigers (23-17, 10-10 away) @ Rangers (27-15, 12-5 home), 8:05 Eastern. TV: FS-D, MLBN. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Sanchez (4-3, 2.05) vs Grimm (2-3, 4.28).

[CONN CHRIS]

Wonderfull to see them beat a top tier team! While it's fun to beat on the Astros, I am getting a little concerned when looking at their performance against the Nationals, Rangers and even the Indians - this was good!

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

I have to admit, I got really nervous when I saw Valverde start the 9th, and I was thinking, "He better be on form or the Rangers are gonna savage him...".

I have no doubt at all that he will be a disaster. Maybe it won't happen until July or Seprtember when they have to lean on him or even in the playoffs but it'll happen. Not just a bad outing, an historic meltdown followed by an inability to throw bp strikes. Detroit is playing with fire and better find the answer soon because he aint it.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Wonderfull to see them beat a top tier team! While it's fun to beat on the Astros, I am getting a little concerned when looking at their performance against the Nationals, Rangers and even the Indians - this was good!

It certainly was - don't forget they did really well against Atlanta, who is in first in the NL East. They're capable of dominating, but this team definitely has some holes.

Between the 4th and 9th spots (Fielder to Infante), with the exception of Peralta, they've got some issues: notably, Martinez and Avila, with Martinez being the more critical. Either they move Peralta up to 5th or Martinez catches fire, because right now, it's not working out very well in that spot, and it's cost the Tigers a lot of runs.

You've got to have a proven RBI guy in that spot (which Martinez is), but it looks like he's lost quite a bit because of the long injury. Maybe when AJ comes back they can slot Dirks in there.

I agree, the back-end of the bullpen needs reinforcement. Valverde is going to implode as the season goes on.

[RandyTiger]

Edit: decided to go back and see how Martinez performed in 2011 and career-wise compared with this season.

Sources: http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?p...=1&season=2013 and http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...artivi01.shtml.

2011: 61-155, .394 AVG, .442 OBP, .548 SLG, .990 OPS.
2012: Did not play.
2013: 12-48, .250 AVG, .316 OBP, .375 SLG, .691 OPS.
Career: 388-1228, .316 AVG, .403 OBP, .463 SLG, .866 OPS.

As you can see, he's not doing very well whatsoever this season. Yes, the season's young (about 1/4 of the way through), and he still has time to "heat up", it'll take some significant hitting streaks to improve to anywhere near to what his normal career average is. Hopefully, he'll began producing soon, because where he is right now, he's more of a liability than help as a DH.

[DamPenguin]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Wonderfull to see them beat a top tier team! While it's fun to beat on the Astros, I am getting a little concerned when looking at their performance against the Nationals, Rangers and even the Indians - this was good!

I was thinking the same thing a little while back. It sure is nice to see us beat the teams we are "supposed" to beat and we are competing with the good teams. So far I think our issues comes down to "good baseball". Can we get a productive out with runners on base (instead of a K or a DP)? And yes there's no doubt that when the game is close that feeling of... (Valverde, Coke, Villareal) is going to blow it, creeps up every time one of them take the mound.

We have a good enough team to take it this year but we're not so good that we can do it without "good" or "clutch" baseball. Sure is nice having our Tigers as one of the powerhouses in baseball again!!

[RandyTiger]

Uh, one minor correction, Penguin. Villarreal isn't with the team, hasn't been for weeks, just so you know.

Agreed that it's nice having the Tigers be powerhouses instead of the doormats from the '90's. Ugh, that was an ugly time. it's all cyclical, so we'll be back there eventually.

[DamPenguin]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Uh, one minor correction, Penguin. Villarreal isn't with the team, hasn't been for weeks, just so you know.

Agreed that it's nice having the Tigers be powerhouses instead of the doormats from the '90's. Ugh, that was an ugly time. it's all cyclical, so we'll be back there eventually.

Yeah I know Villareal isn't there, I was talking in general for the first two months this season, lol. I guess what my point is... is we have to play better than this if we want to win the title this year. I think we can we just haven't showed it yet.
Randy I love your recaps, keep'm coming!!!!

[RandyTiger]

Rangers 7, Tigers 2. [Boxscore]

Summary: Rangers pound Tigers... again.

Pitching: Sanchez, like so many Tiger pitchers lately, had an off-night. He lasted just 2.2 innings, giving up 9 hits, 2 BB, and a HR, resulting in a hefty 6 runs surrendered. He took the loss (of course!), and falls to 4-4, 2.77.

The bullpen did their job and held the line to some degree. Unfortunately, it didn't help much.

Smyly went 3.1 innings (Any doubts about him being in the 'pen anymore? These early meltdowns have proven his value.), giving up 1 run on 2 hits and a walk, notching 2 punchouts on his glove. Solid performance!

Coke threw the final 2 frames, giving up the same thing as Smyly - only no runs. Attaboy, Cokie!

Offense: They did... squat, relatively speaking, just 7 hits and a walk (subpar for them). RISP, the big bugaboo: 1-5.

Hunter was the best of the lot, going 2-4 with a double (12), and Martinez added his 8th double. Other than that, just singles.

I've been really disappointed with the team's lack of starting pitching and production for the last week. Sure, it's the Rangers, but they ain't supermen, and their lower-tier starters shouldn't be able to contain the Tigers bats. Did someone in Arlington place a hex on the team?

Eish. Hopefully, they won't embarrass themselves on the national broadcast tonight.

Next game: Tigers ((23-18, 10-11 away) @ Rangers (28-15, 13-5 home), 8:05 Eastern. TV: ESPN. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Fister (5-1, 3.06) vs southpaw Holland (3-2, 2.93).

[DamPenguin]

Excited about tonight! Preview of the ALCS???? I think we'll win tonight (being my favorite team I wouldn't put money on it, lol). I'm pretty excited about the prospects of this team but I really think we'll have to make a big move to get that shutdown closer... ala Smoltz for Alexander in '84, yikes! Maybe we'll have to give up Castellanos and Porcello to get him but if it brings us the elusive ring I'm all for it! Especially since we have some one like Avisail Garcia waiting in the wings. Taking Smyly out of the pen to replace Porcello will leave a ? at the long reliever role though. If our big 4 stay healthy and consistent I think we can win it all this year!

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by DamPenguin

Excited about tonight! Preview of the ALCS???? I think we'll win tonight (being my favorite team I wouldn't put money on it, lol). I'm pretty excited about the prospects of this team but I really think we'll have to make a big move to get that shutdown closer... ala Smoltz for Alexander in '84, yikes! Maybe we'll have to give up Castellanos and Porcello to get him but if it brings us the elusive ring I'm all for it! Especially since we have some one like Avisail Garcia waiting in the wings. Taking Smyly out of the pen to replace Porcello will leave a ? at the long reliever role though. If our big 4 stay healthy and consistent I think we can win it all this year!

Be careful what you ask for.....Look to Houston my friend. They were always just 1 more player from winning it all. No rings later they are a total mess and had to trade everything of value in an attempt to restock the depleted farm system.

[RandyTiger]

Castellanos is not available at any price, that's been confirmed in the past. Garcia and he are their star stud prospects, and there's no way Dombrowski can be induced to part with them. He would be foolish to do so, as David's excellent example of Houston shows.

If you'll remember, Dombrowski tried to trade Porcello during ST, but his asking price was too high for the other teams, and it turns out Dombrowski was right in assessing Rick's value. Apart from one bad outing against the Angels, Rick's turned out some real nice performances. Just look at his starts this year:

Rick Porcello Stats, Video Highlights, Photos, Bio | tigers.com: Team

Make sure you expand April to get a comprehensive look.

Those are damn good numbers, especially for May. That horrid start against the Angels have screwed up his numbers, but apart from that... he's been golden.

Proof: totals, without the Angels start:

IP - 37.1
H - 33
ER - 16
BB - 7

Assuming my math is right, I get the following:

ERA: 3.86 (Current: 5.92)
WHIP: 1.07 (Current: 1.32)

I'd say those numbers are what you would expect for the ace of a 2nd-tier team or even a championship-caliber one, yes? Having that in the 5th starter slot... gold, just pure gold.

The Tigers are gonna hang on to him unless they can get something really good in exchange.

Yes, they need a closer better than Valverde, but face it, it's not gonna happen until near the trading deadline. If Valverde implodes before then, then they'll just have to muddle through the best they can until they can acquire a top-notch closer or Rondon is ready (might take another year, he can't be rushed any more than a young colt can).

Them's the facts, folks.

[RandyTiger]

With 41 games played, 25 percent of the season, I decided to do a little stats analysis of the team so we can see what's going on. Rankings are AL, unless otherwise noted.

Summary: Inability to hit in close games, lack of speed, and bullpen control/stealing issues are primary concerns.

Team Record: 23-18, 2nd place in division, 1 GB Cleveland.
Home: 13-7.
Road: 10-11.
RS-RA differential: +50, 2nd behind Texas (+51).
1-run games: 4-6.
Extra innings: 2-4.

Offense: [source]

Average: .278, 1st.
OBP: .346, 1st.
SLG: .425, 6th
OPS: .771, 4th.

Runs: 214, 1st.
Hits: 414, 1st.
Doubles: 73, T-8th.
Triples: 8, T-5th.
Homers: 43, 11th.

Strikeouts: 275, 12th. (4th fewest, in other words)
Walks: 149, 3rd.
SB: 16, T-13th. (Only 2 CS, least in AL).

AB/HR ratio: 34.6, 5th.
XBH: 124, 10th.

RISP AVG: .291, 4th.
RISP OPS: .835, 2nd.

Analysis: They're getting on base and scoring, but they appear to have a slight issue with the lack of extra-base hits - in other words, more of a singles hitting team than anything else, especially outside of Miggy and Prince.

The extreme lack of speed is a major concern, but not a surprise given this team. They're built for power, not speed. That will bite them (already has with their issues with 1-run and extra-inning games).

RISP is better than I expected, given what I've seen in the game logs.

Pitching: [source]

ERA: 3.65, 5th.
BAA (BatAvgAgainst): .239, 4th lowest.
OPS: .658, LEADS MLB.
K's: 409, LEADS MLB.
BB: 123, 6th least.

Analysis: Top-tier pitching, despite recent issues. Let's look at starter/bullpen splits:

Starters:
W-L: 20-11, T-1st with Texas (20-14).
ERA: 3.68, 4th.
WHIP: 1.21, T-3rd lowest.
BAA: .252, 6th lowest.
OPS: .672, 2nd lowest.
K's: 263, T-1st, Boston in MLB.
BB: 62, 3rd lowest.
HR allowed: 16, Fewest in AL (MLB: 2nd).
SB allowed: 13, 8th lowest.

Analysis: Well, we already know (despite the Texas fiasco) that their pitching is top-tier.

Bullpen:
W-L: 3-7, tied for fewest wins in the AL with... get this: Houston.
ERA: 3.59, 8th.
WHIP: 1.24, 7th lowest.
BAA: .212, LOWEST IN MLB.
OPS: .630, LOWEST IN MLB.
K's: 146, Most in AL (MLB: 2nd)
BB: 61, 3rd highest.
HR allowed: 7, 2nd fewest.
SB allowed: 14, 4th most.

Analysis: Well, two things stand out in that: They have control issues, and they allow too many stolen bases. They've got to do better in both categories if the Cats are gonna be able to nail games down. Of course, we already knew they need an upgrade, but I suspect they'd be okay if the offense would produce a little bit better in close games.

Oh, the number of Blown saves? 5, tied for 6th fewest with 3 other teams. (Boston, Toronto, Cleveland).

Fielding: [source]

FPercentage: .990, 3rd in AL.
Errors: 16, 3rd in AL.

Analysis: Their supposed biggest weakness is actually looking good. Of course, all of that doesn't include all the funky sabermetric stats that I'm not familiar with.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

If you'll remember, Dombrowski tried to trade Porcello during ST, but his asking price was too high for the other teams, and it turns out Dombrowski was right in assessing Rick's value. Apart from one bad outing against the Angels, Rick's turned out some real nice performances. Just look at his starts this year:

Rick Porcello Stats, Video Highlights, Photos, Bio | tigers.com: Team

Make sure you expand April to get a comprehensive look.

Those are damn good numbers, especially for May. That horrid start against the Angels have screwed up his numbers, but apart from that... he's been golden.

Proof: totals, without the Angels start:

IP - 37.1
H - 33
ER - 16
BB - 7

Assuming my math is right, I get the following:

ERA: 3.86 (Current: 5.92)
WHIP: 1.07 (Current: 1.32)

I still don't think that he was even pitching bad at all in that bizzare start against the Angels. I have never seen anything like it before. His control was just fine and he was fooling people. They were getting on with one fluke hit after another (unintended Baltimore chops, dying quails, slow rollers in the grass - all on pitches that fooled or got the better of the batter). By the time he gave up the HR that got him yanked he must have been thinking he was in the twilight zone and mentally checked out. It wasn't so much a bad outing as an epic fluke and then some.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by DamPenguin

Excited about tonight! Preview of the ALCS???? I think we'll win tonight (being my favorite team I wouldn't put money on it, lol). I'm pretty excited about the prospects of this team but I really think we'll have to make a big move to get that shutdown closer... ala Smoltz for Alexander in '84, yikes! Maybe we'll have to give up Castellanos and Porcello to get him but if it brings us the elusive ring I'm all for it! Especially since we have some one like Avisail Garcia waiting in the wings. Taking Smyly out of the pen to replace Porcello will leave a ? at the long reliever role though. If our big 4 stay healthy and consistent I think we can win it all this year!

That was '87 and I hope they never make a move like that again!

[RandyTiger]

Just for kicks, some tidbits:

Average:
Cabrera .373 (leads MLB)
Peralta .317
Hunter .313
Infante .309
Fielder .272

OPS:
Cabera 1.040 (2nd in AL)
Fielder .911
Peralta .836
Infante .781
Hunter .770

WAR:
Cabrera 2.5 (Tied 5th in AL)
Peralta 1.3
Fielder 1.2
Jackson 0.9
Infante 0.7

(and to make a point about Martinez from before: -1.0 WAR, lowest on team.)

Runs:
Jackson 33 (Leads AL; 3rd in MLB)
Cabrera 30
Hunter 24
Infante 22
Fielder, Peralta 21

Doubles:
Cabrera/Hunter 12 (T-9th in AL)
Fielder 9
Martinez/Peralta 8

Triples:
Infante 2 (T-6th in AL)
6 tied with 1

HR:
Fielder 9 (T-13th in AL)
Cabrera 8
Peralta/Dirks/Avila 4

RBI:
Cabrera 42 (Leads MLB)
Fielder 34
Hunter 21
Martinez 19
Peralta 18

Strikeouts:
Avila 36 (T-26th in AL)
Fielder 35
Jackson, Peralta 33
Hunter 26

Walks:
Fielder 29 (Leads AL; T-3rd in MLB)
Cabrera 20
Peralta 16
Martinez, Jackson 14

SB:
Jackson 5 (T-17th in AL)
Dirks, Peralta, Infante 2
3 tied with 1

[CONN CHRIS]

Randy:

I just noticed your signature (how observant of me!).

Are you deaf? I played with a deaf second baseman my last summer in American Legion. It was a very interesting experience for me (in a good way) - I'll have to talk with you about it sometime (heading out now).

[RandyTiger]

Again, just for some more kicks:

Wins:
Scherzer, Fister 5 (T-7th in AL)
Sanchez, Verlander 4
Porcello, Smyly 2

Losses:
Sanchez, Verlander 4 (Tied for 7th in the AL)
Coke 3
Porcello, Villarreal 2

ERA: (Min. 10 IP)
Benoit 1.42
Smyly 1.93
Downs 2.66
Sanchez 2.77 (Due to qualifying number of innings, Sanchez is the first Tiger on the list; t-10th in AL.)
Fister 3.06

WHIP: (Min. 10 IP)
Smyly .96
Downs .98
Scherzer .99 (As above with Sanchez. 7th in AL)
Benoit 1.00
Fister 1.18

WAR: (Min. 10 IP)
Sanchez 1.5 (T-10th in AL)
Verlander 1.4
Smyly 1.1
Benoit .9
Scherzer, Fister .8

Saves:
Valverde 4 (T-15th in AL)
Benoit 2
Smyly, Coke 1

Holds:
Benoit 6
Smyly 5
Alburquerque 4
Downs 3
Ortega 2

Punchouts:
Sanchez, Scherzer 68 (T-3rd in AL)
Verlander 60
Fister 40
Smyly 29

Walks:
Verlander 20 (T-10th in AL)
Sanchez 14
Alburquerque 13
Scherzer 12
4 players with 8

HR Allowed:
6 Porcello
5 Scherzer
4 with 2

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Randy:

I just noticed your signature (how observant of me!).

Are you deaf? I played with a deaf second baseman my last summer in American Legion. It was a very interesting experience for me (in a good way) - I'll have to talk with you about it sometime (heading out now).

Yes, I am.