Detroit Tigers 2014 Season Thread

[RandyTiger]

Minor roster note:

Wil Ledezma, who signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers in March, has been released by the organization.

He came to Detroit's farm system from the Red Sox in the 2002 rule 5 draft, and the Cats had high hopes for him. Unfortunately, his promise didn't materialize, and he was traded in 2007 to Atlanta for Macay McBride.

The Braves traded him to the Padres a month later, and from that point, his career is a litany of signing as a free agent or picked up off waivers by the Nationals, Blue Jays, Pirates, and the Dodgers.

Over 9 ML seasons, he was 15-25 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and accumulated 283/196 K/BB in 396.1 IP.

[cephasjames]

I'd say "I'm glad to see him go" or "I'll miss him" but I didn't even realize he was still in the organization.

[RandyTiger]

Neither did I - either didn't see it on the transaction list, or I missed it with all the stuff that was going on at the time. Detroit's transaction page is slow to update.

Wonder who he will catch on with next. He's young (30-31), and there's always a place for a lefty (even a bad one; witness Coke). Could be that a stint in Japan or Korea might do something for his career. Dunno.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Could be that a stint in Japan or Korea might do something for his career. Dunno.

I am just waiting for the day that Coke turns up on the Brother Elephants roster. I am sure that they need a lefty.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

I am just waiting for the day that Coke turns up on the Brother Elephants roster. I am sure that they need a lefty.

So do the GCL Tigers.

[RandyTiger]

Here's the raw numbers, career-wise of the four starters involved in the next two games:

Tuesday, Scherzer vs. Haren:

- Career-wise against the Dodgers, Max is 1-3, with a 4.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 26/7 K/BB in 34.2 IP.

- Career-wise against the Tigers, Haren is 5-4, with a 3.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 54/7 K/BB in 75.1 IP.

Wednesday: Sanchez vs. Beckett:

- Career-wise against the Dodgers, Sanchez is 0-1, with a 3.52 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 17/6 K/BB in 23 IP.

- Career-wise against the Tigers, Beckett is 3-4, with a 3.83 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 43/18 K/BB in 54 IP.

It should be noted that this will be Beckett's first start this season; he's coming off a right-thumb injury sustained in Spring Training.

Both games look to be tight match-ups, but one thing does favor the Cats: the Dodgers have some significant injuries to their pitching staff (Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, and Brian Wilson amonst them), and RF Yasiel Puig is day-to-day with a left-thumb injury. MLB's injury list has him resuming play on Tuesday.

[RandyTiger]

Looks like ESPN pulled another fast one here. Hyun-Jin Ryu was originally listed as the starter for the Wednesday Tigers-Dodgers game, and then yesterday, they put down Beckett.

Now it's back to Ryu.

So toss out what I said about Beckett. Sorry about that, guys. :\

This is Ryu's first time facing the Tigers.

[RandyTiger]

Results of yesterday's games:

- Toledo: Postponed due to inclement weather, rescheduled to 4/8.

- Erie: Postponed due to inclement weather, rescheduled to 6/14.

- Lakeland and WMI were off.

Today's games:

- Toledo: Indianapolis (Pit) (4-0) @ Toledo (1-2), doubleheader:
(Game 1): 5:30 Eastern.
(Game 2): Following game 1, make-up of 4/7 rain-out.

- Erie: Erie (2-1) @ Binghamton (NYM) (2-2), 6:35 Eastern.

- Lakeland: Brevard County (Mil) (3-1) @ Lakeland (3-1), 6:30 Eastern.

- Western Michigan: Wisconsin (Mil) (2-2) @ WMI (2-2), 6:35 Eastern.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Results of yesterday's games:

- Toledo: Postponed due to inclement weather, rescheduled to 4/8.

- Erie: Postponed due to inclement weather, rescheduled to 6/14.

- Lakeland and WMI were off.

Today's games:

- Toledo: Indianapolis (Pit) (4-0) @ Toledo (1-2), doubleheader:
(Game 1): 5:30 Eastern.
(Game 2): Following game 1, make-up of 4/7 rain-out.

- Erie: Erie (2-1) @ Binghamton (NYM) (2-2), 6:35 Eastern.

- Lakeland: Brevard County (Mil) (3-1) @ Lakeland (3-1), 6:30 Eastern.

- Western Michigan: Wisconsin (Mil) (2-2) @ WMI (2-2), 6:35 Eastern.

Hey, Randy, if it's not too much work, could you actually start a new thread for each of the Tigers' affiliates. Posts like these are cluttering up the Tigers thread. I'm sure you have plenty of time to do that.

[cephasjames]

Thanks for all you do! It is very much appreciated!

[RandyTiger]

Jason Beck has put out a blog post that gives some insight as to why the Tigers are so hesitant about signing SS Stephen Drew - signing cap money.

While they have the 23rd pick in this year's draft, they also only have $4.9 Million to distribute amongst their top-10 picks, the 6th lowest total in MLB. If they were to forfeit that first-round pick, they would only have about $3 Million available.

The explanation makes a lot more sense than just saying "Well, they'll have to give up their first-round pick" and nothing more beyond that. I like to see the whole picture, and Beck provides that. It's definitely worth a look-see if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Nice to see the Tigers are not so immersed in the "win-now" thing that they're ignoring their farm system. Churning out solid prospects is the only way this club will have long-term success unless they want to go the Yankee Route, which isn't sustainable for them considering their market size.

[RandyTiger]

Dodgers 3, Tigers 2 (10), final.

Coke blows it, with a little help from Davis. Summary to follow in a bit.

[RandyTiger]

Dodgers 3, Tigers 2. (10) [Boxscore]

Summary: Tigers lose a tough one in extras.

Pitching: This was a pitcher's contest, no two ways about it - and the Cats performed extremely well for the most part. Here's the run-down:

Scherzer tossed 106 pitches (73 strikes) over 7 innings, yielding 2 runs on 8 hits (3 doubles and a HR) while whiffing 8.

Season line: 0-0, 1.20 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, with 15/2 K/BB in 15.0 IP.

Krol took over for the 8th inning, giving up a double and nothing else in a solid performance.

Season line: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, with 1/0 K/BB in 2.0 IP.

Chamberlain was next, and he surprised by whiffing the side in the 9th - and then walked the lead-off batter (Figgins) in the 10th before being pulled. He took the loss, as the runner he put on scored to end the game.

Season line: 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, with 4/1 K/BB in 2.0 IP.

Coke... well, he tried his best to hold the line, but after getting one out, a pop-out to 1B, he surrendered a double to LF to Crawford, allowing Figgins to score the winning run.

(Whether Crawford would have scored is a little debatable, given Davis misplayed the ball and slipped. Doesn't matter, Crawford is plenty fast enough to score in that situation. See the video for yourself and judge.) [Video of play]

Season line: 0-0, 40.50 ERA, 6.00 WHIP, with 0/1 K/BB in 0.2 IP.

Offense: Dan Haren and the Dodger bullpen are clearly a tough nut to crack. Easy to see why they're considered favorites to go to the W.S.

The Cats tied the game in the top of the 9th on Martinez's single, but in an ill-considered delayed steal move, Martinez was thrown out at 2B. I'm sure there will be plenty of second-guessers on that one.

All together, the Cats snagged 5 hits and 2 walks off the Dodgers, stranding 3 on 1-7 hitting with RISP. The list:

Davis: 1-4 (.308), SB (2), GIDP (1).
- Infield single and SB in the 1st; GIDP in the 8th.

Kinsler: 1-4 (.296), 2B (1), RS (4).
- Double and RS in the 9th.

Martinez: 1-4 (.240), CS (1), RBI (2).
- RBI single and CS in the 9th.

Jackson: 1-4 (.333), HR (1), RS (4), RBI (1).
- Solo HR (379-feet) to LF in the 2nd. [Video of HR]

Avila: 1-4 (.125), 3 K's.
- Single in the 2nd.

(The single was unusual for him - he swung at the first pitch he saw and got a hit. It's been a pattern for him to be laid back and wait deep in the count until trying to hit. That leads to an awful lot of K's and/or walks, which explains his Inge-like batting stats. He needs to be a little more aggressive instead of passive. He now has 9 K's/4 BB in 16 AB's.)

Romine: 0-2 (.111), 2 BB (2).
- Walk in the 5th; Walk in the 8th.

Scherzer: 0-1 (.000), Sacrifice.
- Sacrifice bunt in the 5th. (Perfectly executed, too!)

Defense: Errors, 1: Jackson (1), throw in the 7th.

Double plays, 2: 2, 2-4 (Avila, Kinsler), 1st inning (strikeout, attempted SB thrown out); 6, 6-3 (Romine-Martinez), 3rd inning.

SB allowed: 1-2 (Scherzer-Avila on both): Runner thrown out in the 1st; SB allowed in the 6th. Avila is now 1-6 (Out/Attempted).

Next game: Wednesday, April 9th,: Detroit (4-2, 0-1 Away) @ L.A. Dodgers (6-3, 2-2 Home), 10:10 Eastern.

Starting pitchers: Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs.UNDETERMINED. (See note.)

(Note: Starting pitcher for LA will be either Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-1, 3.86 ERA) or Josh Beckett. From some comments I've seen, Manager Don Mattingly is leaning towards Beckett, but others say Ryu will start. Beckett has not been activated off the DL at the time of this posting.)

- Detroit TV: FS-D. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.
- L.A. TV: SportsNet LA, SNLA Spanish. Radio: 570 Fox Sports L.A., KTNQ 1020 (Sp.).

Injury note: In the 2nd inning, Hunter was attempting to nab a foul ball in deep right field foul territory, and slid into contact with the wall. He grabbed his left knee for a bit, but stayed in the game until the 5th inning, when he was replaced by The donkelly. Initial diagnosis is left knee contusion, day-to-day status. I'd be surprised if he's able to play tomorrow. [Video of injury]

[CONN CHRIS]

Pssst. Never mind the lefty-righty matchups, when the lefty in that equation can't get anyone out, your better off with anyone else.

[CONN CHRIS]

40.50 ERA

What can said at this point. I know it's early but come on man, we've seen this show before and it always ends the same. Coke must go.

[RandyTiger]

Don't tell us - tell Dombrowski!

Seriously, give it a month or two, and the Cats will have no choice but to replace him with one of the lefties they've been stockpiling at Toledo.

[RandyTiger]

Joe Nathan says he has a case of "dead arm" (mostly shoulder or arm fatigue, but can be caused by a torn labrum), but can pitch and insists it is not that big of an issue.

O...kay.

*starts looking over the Toledo roster*

[CONN CHRIS]

oh boy.

[RandyTiger]

Well, it could be worse, I guess. About the only thing that's effected so far is his velocity, which is bad enough, but if it turns out to be worse than that... well, you can fill in the blanks.

Throw in this Evan Reed alleged sexual assault drama and Coke's issues, well, it's going to be interesting the next few weeks.

Hunter, as expected, will not be in the lineup. He's available to pinch-hit, but Ausmus says he would like to keep him off his feet until Friday. That's good news, since it means its only a minor bang-up and nothing more serious.

[CONN CHRIS]

One inning down and I can see it will all be on display tonight:

Bad play at short

Disaster from the bullpen