What's On Second?

Jim Leyland explains infield
changes to 1st baseman
Miguel Cabrera

Okay, I know. The old Abbot and Costello bit right?

Well given the fact I have worked with guys named Hu and Watt – that bit has made for hours of stupid rehashed jokes when figuring project work assignments.

But now I’m serious.

Who’s on first? Why Miguel Cabrera – no issue there – hitting nicely over .300 and playing a solid one bag. No problems.

But what’s on second? That’s the question.

This season started with Will Rhymes, who could barely hit the ball past the grass line of the infield – despite some really nice defensive plays.

But the Tigers need offense.

So Scott Sizemore – hitting .400 or so in Toledo comes back up and Will goes back down. Sizemore starts hot but fizzles to the two hundred range. A month later and Sizemore is traded to Oakland for a nice reliever. Oakland sent Sizemore back down to Triple A.

And we all miss Placido Polanco. He’s on second.

In Philadelphia.

So what’s on second?

Well, Jim Leyland came out and told us it was going to be Ryan Raburn. Raburn is to be our everyday second baseman.

Raburn? Left fielder 4A player Ryan Raburn? The star of many outfield highlight reel bloopers like the fly ball that bounces off him and over the fence for a home run Ryan Raburn?

What?

Okay, so What’s on second. But not all the time – because also playing second is Ramon “I’ve been trying to be an everyday player with this team for five years now” Santiago. And that just ain’t happening because Santiago apparently isn’t good enough to play every day.

I never really understood the concept of a Major League ball player who can field and hit being considered not to be good enough to play every day? Did he sleep with the wrong guy’s wife?

Well, if he plays everyday his numbers go down.

Okay – play him every other day. Then Raburn won’t be your everyday second baseman. Right?

Well, there’s also Danny Worth – who’s also listed on the official roster as an infielder like Santiago. Play him too? Raburn is after all listed on that same roster as an outfielder.

Maybe he plays a deep second base. Chatting with Boesch and Jackson in right and center between pitches?

I dunno.

Third base.

Well that’s Brandon Inge, has been for a decade now – great defense – no bat. He’s floating around the .200 mark right now.

What? Inge has mononucleosis? Really? He must have caught it when diving into the stands for a foul ball.

Well then who play’s third?

I don’t know.

No questions about the Tigers’ shortstop though – Jhonny Peralta is hitting great – although some may critique his range. I love the guy myself.

Our starting pitching is pretty solid right now. Sure the fourth and fifth spot guys might show up and might not – but so far pretty good. And we finally seem to have our bull pen tightened up, And Alex Avila has proved me so wrong about being our everyday catcher I feel I need to send him flowers for what I wrote here about him at the start of the season. Now he’s on the All Star ballot – and he deserves to be there.

And I really like that Andy Dirks kid – I think he is going to grow into our everyday left fielder – every day with Casper Wells and Don Kelly – oh yeah – and Ryan Raburn.

No Raburn’s on second.

Right.

No that’s Brennan Boesch.

Okay, okay I get it.

There has to be a deal brewing. There has to be something happening out in the trade waters that GM Dave Dombrowski is scheming up – perhaps building a deal to acquire Jose Reyes from the Mets?

Wouldn’t that be sweet? The Mets are struggling to keep the team afloat and Reyes is hitting .285 ish. And he plays a great second base.

Could be?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that until all this nonsense get’s straightened out – the Tigers will likely be no better than a .500 team. And that Cinderella mistake by the lake Cleveland no longer looks like a fluke – this first half of the season looks like the Tigers in 2006 and 2009 – blowing the AL Central away before the All Star break – a month away now.

Can Cleveland keep this pace up?

Are the dastardly bastardly Chicago White Sox starting to put it together to make a run after the Tigers? Will the Tigers – currently in second – four and a half behind the Indians and three games up on Chicago as June starts – will they even be in the race come mid July?

What a strange season.

It’s like a bad Vaudeville skit, for sure.

At the 40 Game Mark

Sparky Anderson passed away in November of last year. The boys of the Old English D are sporting crests on their sleeves to commemorate his passing.

One of the Sparky traditions that continues on is his concept that after 40 games you should have a good idea of what type of team you have.

Now’s a great time to do so – if you’re the Director of Marketing for the Tigers.

The boys are hot. The hottest team in baseball – enjoying a 7 game winning streak. They have won 10 of their last 11.

Justin Verlander pitched a no hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays – then followed it up by pitching his next game against the Kansas City Royals with no hits into the sixth inning.

The whole starting rotation has actually been great through all forty games to date - Max Scherzer leading the way with only having no losses to his credit. And now Phil Coke is also starting to get into the rythm of the new role of starting pitcher.
Victor Martinez is hot – and taking advantage of opposing pitchers fear to pitch to Miguel Cabrera.

Austin Jackson has rebounded and is backing his strong defense up with great hitting in these last 15 games.

Alex Avilla – a player I berated heartlessly at the beginning of this season as one of the worst decisions made to allow him catch every day despite poor hitting in the preseason and opening games of 2011 has proven me to be … well … dead smack wrong and clueless.

I say that proudly by the way.

But the first 25 games of this season – save one series with Chicago – stunk.

There was the kerfuffle deciding who would play second base – Tiger veteran Carlos Guillen injured (and still recovering) and Scott Sizmore not yet ready to come back up – second base was plattooned by Will Rhymes and Ramone Santiago.

Not a long term solution.

I remember when Will Rhymes was sent back down to Toledo to bring Scott Sizemore up. Pat Caputo – Sports writer and columnist for the Detroit area’s Oakland Press, and host of the blog Open Book, wrote a post titled “Change at second base could just be the start for slumping Tigers”.

The Book on Sports was right – that was indeed the when the turning of the tide began. After that the Tigers took on and won series against the Yankees, Twins, Blue Jays, and AL Central second place Royals.

But we still have 122 games left to play – almost two thirds of the season.

And we do have to expect this hot streak will slow after a bit – although I hope it’s not too soon.

But at this point of the season, with the bats hitting and the pitching strong, I think indeed the Tigers are the best team in the Central division.

I think Cleveland has already started to slow – and perhaps as early as next weekend our beloved Detroit baseballers will indeed be in first place.

And will remain there until the All Star break.

Sound familiar? We’ve danced to this song several times before in recent seasons.

It’s not the first 80 games you have to worry about. It’s the second eighty.

And if Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski want to keep their jobs – there can be no second half rapid decline of lethargic play and continual losing streaks busted up by the odd win here and there.

So I can’t tell you with any confidence today just what this means to the Tigers final standings in the opening days of October.

We all have our hopes and we all have our opinions.

What do you think?

Will the Tigers lead the pack until the All Star Break – then sputter in the second half?

Will there be a trade of significance? Will we get a left or right fielder? Will Brandon Inge be replaced – his average is below his career level – which is not a lofty bar to shoot for.

What do you think?

Leave a comment below and let’s talk this season out.

The Tigers Threaten But Don't Score

I am so sick of hearing Dan Dickerson say “and the Tiger’s threaten, but don’t score”.

Yesterday I threw a beer bottle at the radio.

Sorry Dan, I wasn’t aiming at you.

Luckily tonight I was out of beer.

This is the theme of the 2011 Detroit Tigers – who after 29 games now sit with 12 wins and 17 losses. 8 games back of Cleveland.

Yeah, Cleveland. What the hell’s going on in Cleveland?

And Kansas City? They sit 4½ games up on the Detroit baseballers.

The Tigers can get men on base. But at the end of most innings, those same base runners trot into the dugout from the base they were standing on to get their gloves.

As a fan, this is maddening.

But even more maddening are the errors that are plaguing this defensive squad.

Short hop grounders through Inge’s legs, and bad throws to first. Pitchers tossing the ball into the outfield or foul territory trying to pick off runners. Balls that bounce off the outfielders or over their heads – one bouncing off Ryan into the stands for a dinger. Passed pitches on Avila – pitches he should be catching – bouncing back to the wall as opposing base runners trot home from third.

On the topic of Avila, his bat has been incredibly hot hitting in the .340s. But I do not see the same quality defense that the announcers and sports talk radio seem to say. He looks to me to be hard to pitch to.

Our starting rotation, for the most part, has had quality starts, but the bullpen – supposedly hoped to be the strength of this club in the spring, has seen both Benoit and Valverde fail in Grande style.

This line up has some power – sporadic and dispersed throughout – with not enough hitters batting over .240 to string together a big inning.

You can count the number of big inning this season on one hand. And you can’t use your thumb.

In fact, the way this squad plays defense, you wonder if these boys have thumbs to put in these gloves.

But this news just in. Will Rhymes, the Cinderella second baseman who hasn’t hit over .200 has just been sent down to Toledo, and Scott Sizemore is coming back up to challenge once again for the two-bagger spot.

Will that help? I don’t really consider Scott Sizemore to be a sparkplug.

But Miguel Cabrera plays on. Solid defense and powerful consistent offense.

Cabrera has picked this team up and is carrying them all on his shoulders. But for the most part, the rest of this squad is just dead weight. Aside from Peralta and Avila, and Ramón Santiago (when they let him play) – this squad is just dragging every positive thing done by the starting rotation and Miggy down like an anchor in deep still seas.

So close. So far away.

These current wearers of the old English D aren’t bums. But it’s hard to defend the brand of baseball that they have played in these first 29 games.

But some - if not more than some – of this blame lies on the shoulders of Manager Jim Leyland – who insists all his ball players are professionals. Perhaps. But professionals earn their pay checks. This squad – save a few – are really just enjoying playing in the big league parks with big buildings in the back drop.

Some of Leyland’s decisions are hard to defend – leaving struggling pitchers in – pulling strong releiver’s too early – sending runners at the wrong times – and trying to play small ball to move runners into scoring position with the players not executing.

Good grief.

I love my Tigers. And I haven’t missed following a game somehow yet this season. And this is just frustrating. Exhausting. Humbling. And humiliating.

Because night after night it’s just the same old story.

The Tiger’s just threaten, but they just don’t score.

We’ll Get ‘Em Next Year – But This Year’s Still Fun

Brenan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera celebrate

Here we sit on September 7, and the Tigers are 13 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the lead of the AL Central.

9.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for second place in the division.

10.5 games ahead of Kansas City and 11 games ahead of Cleveland.

There are 24 games left to play in the 2010 regular season.

The season is pretty much done for the Detroiters of 2010. But all the games still have to be played.

This is not the position I predicted the Tigers to be in at this point of time.

They were supposed to be in contention. That was my 2010 prediction. And if a couple of things would have happened differently – they could have been.

I did predict Verlander and Cabrera would have great seasons. They have.

And I did predict a great year by Austin Jackson – but cautioned against hoping for Rookie of the year acclaims – but he seems to be on pace to achieve the award.

And once Max Scherzer returned from the Triple A Mudhens after getting some pitching instruction – returned as a starting pitcher that has almost rivaled Verlander for the treasured title of Ace.

I didn't predict Scherzer's turnaround.

In fact, I predicted Guillen and Laird would be gone – traded away to acquire some strengths. But they weren't. Guillen was on the DL more often than not – and aside from a great arm to throw out stealers at second – Laird has done little to increase his perceived value to other teams.

And rookie second baseman Scott Sizemore was just not up to the task of playing in the bigs with his busted ankle still healing. He headed back down to the minors in June but will be called back up for September play.

Guillen stepped up to play a pretty darn good second base … until he was injured and on the DL a month later … again. He will be out the remainder of 2010 – and unlikely to return in 2011.

Losing Maglio Ordonez for the season – and most likely the end of his career as a Detroiter – was indeed a difficult pill to swallow as Maglio was playing up to his potential in the early days of 2010.

Inge has held his third bag defensively well – recuperating knees and a newly healing injured wrist that left sidelined for several weeks.

And I had no idea Brenan Boesch existed – let alone explode onto the scene as he did in the first half of the season with no signs of being found out by the opposition. But the return to play after the All Star break saw Boesch's streak end with a screeching halt of a NASCAR driver slamming into a wall.

And the Tigers hit that wall with him – losing first to the Indians in Cleveland – 4 in a row.

And the slide continued for three series until 10 days later the Tigers were 8 games back.

And where I thought Mr. Illitch's patience would be exhausted by another weak second half performance – the Tigers stayed put with Jim Leyland – and Dave Dombrowski. In a public statement made in the opening days of August – it was announced that Mr. Illitch was committed to Leyland and Dombrowski through 2011.

So I blew that call too.

There are some nice things to say about the Tiger Rookies this year. You know about Jackson. But rookie Will Rhymes has stepped up to play a pretty decent second. Seemingly a guy who makes things happen – much like a Roberto Alomar … but not quite the skill or instinct of the great second baseman now sadly only renowned for spitting in an umpire's face.

At this point Rhymes is rivaling Inge for fan favorite … and sports talk radio hosts most least favorite player to talk about.

I like Rhymes a lot. He is fun to watch – and comes through for you more often than not.

The Tigers have lost more than their share of one run games. 23 to be exact so far. They have won 15.

The question is "why did the Tigers of 2010 drop after the All Star Break?"

They are losing the close games - usually with men on base. 12^th worst in the American League. Worst in the Central Division.

This has been the main point of failure for the Tigers. The inability to win those close games.

Closer Jose (Papa Grande) Valverde was outstanding in the first half, blowing only one save opportunity before the All Star break. But after the All Star break – Valverde faltered and Coke, Perry, Schlereth, and Weinhardt all took turns blowing a total of 12 save situations.

They just couldn't finish.

The inability to close out save situations accounts for a good majority of games lost by one or more runs.

And in those closing at bats in those 1 run losses – more often than not a runner was left on base.

But that being said – these tigers have come back to win in 33 games, with their largest comeback made up a deficit of 6 runs.

But when behind in the ninth inning have only came back 5 times to win.

Those are the numbers. The fact is that this year, more than recent memory, fan confidence in the Tiger's pulling out a victory is higher than before. Even higher than in 2006.

Rhymes, Raburn, and Jackson

And the Tigers are still fun to watch – exciting – with faces like Jackson, Boesch and Rhymes stepping up from the minors – and Austin Jackson chasing down everything in center field.

The Tigers are fun again.

That's the bottom line. Fans are in love with this new young face of Jackson, Boesch, Casper Wells, Will Rhymes. They are hoping these are the faces of the future. But the pundits will tell you that it is unlikely fans will ever see any of these faces – except Austin Jackson. It's agreed now that he is an upgrade from Curtis Granderson.

Who would have thunk it?

So now – as we watch the remaining 23 games of the season (our boys of the old English D are beating the White Sox 6 – 1 as I write this … wait … Inge just hit a three run dinger to make it 9 -1 in the bottom of the eighth) – we can at least enjoy this new found fun baseball to watch.

Even if it doesn't really mean anything to this post season.

We'll get 'em next year.

At The Forty Game Mark

Sizemore and Ordonez

The first quarter of the season – thereabouts – has been played.

A good time to take stock of this 2010 Tigers team.

Not bad timing, as Detroit just swept a two game series at Oakland. And they knocked Dallas Braden – perfect game pitcher just ten games earlier – out in the fifth.

After forty one games played – the Tigers sit pretty with a 24 – 17 record. And as I write this they sit tied for first place in the American League Central with those rotten Minnesota Twins – after the Twins have just now lost to Boston .

So how are the Tigers doing?

So far, so good.

Not bad.

Better than expected.

This team has been exciting to watch. They have come back from five or more run deficits to win five times so far.

The rookies have really contributed so far.

Austin Jackson has all but made Tiger fans forget about losing Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. Batting .331 and showing speed and agility in center field – with a strong gun that has cut down several runners at the plate.

Equally impressive, in only half the time, has been Toledo call up Brennan Boesch. Called up at the end of April to fill the vacancy left behind by Carlos Guillen's appointment to the designated hitters list. Boesch entered The Show and announced his presence with a streak of home runs, triples and doubles, hit hard and placed in the gaps. He currently sits with an average of .372 after 21 games.

As well, Miguel Cabrera has been stellar so far. Miggy is the leader on this edition of the Tigers. And it couldn't have happened to a guy who needed to redeem himself more.

As the pundits frequently remind us – water always finds its level,

But it sure has been fun to watch so far.

Here is your Tigers roster at this snapshot of time:

As of May 20, 2010

Pos		Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA
C	Gerald Laird	30	28	101	89	6	14	1	5	10	21	0.157
1B	Miguel Cabrera	27	40	176	152	27	51	8	36	23	23	0.336
2B	Scott Sizemore	25	30	115	97	12	20	1	8	13	26	0.206
SS	Adam Everett	33	24	69	64	4	12	0	2	2	13	0.188
3B	Brandon Inge	33	39	160	143	8	32	4	21	13	34	0.224
LF	Johnny Damon*	36	40	169	141	29	40	3	17	26	26	0.284
CF	Austin Jackson	23	39	180	166	29	55	1	11	14	47	0.331
RF	Magglio Ordonez	36	38	169	145	27	45	5	24	23	17	0.31
DH	Carlos Guillen#	34	16	69	61	8	19	1	8	8	8	0.311
	Boys in The Dugout
Pos		Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA
SS	Ramon Santiago#	30	30	95	80	12	20	1	6	13	13	0.25
UT	Brennan Boesch*	25	21	81	78	8	29	3	19	2	12	0.372
C	Alex Avila*	23	21	66	57	5	8	2	2	8	18	0.14
UT	Ryan Raburn	29	17	54	47	4	10	0	5	4	18	0.213
UT	Don Kelly*	30	30	40	38	4	9	1	3	1	8	0.237
OF	Casper Wells	25	3	9	9	0	2	0	2	0	2	0.222
2B	Danny Worth	24	2	7	6	0	4	0	2	0	0	0.667
	Team Totals	29.8	40	1560	1373	183	370	31	171	160	286	0.269
	Rank in 14 AL teams				8	7	5	11		4	6	5

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

As you look at these numbers, you have to ask yourself the question – how does a team do so well, when only half their offense is hitting respectably?

Good question.

I would like to tell you that it's because our starting pitching has been stellar. But that has not exactly been the case. Justin Verlander is the only starting pitcher with a winning average at 5-2.

The rest of the rotation has not been winning. There have been good outings by Porcello, Bonderman, and Willis – but the offense could not recover from early inning lapses.

Scherzer was sent to Toledo to figure out what's wrong. Let's hope he finds the answer and returns shortly.

Jeremy Bonderman has been a welcome surprise with his results. Although his record is 1 – 2, the fact is he has exceeded my expectations. He is a quality starter again. He just hasn't been able to get the wins.

Dontrelle Willis was replaced for two consecutive starts by Minor and Bonine from the bullpen to start. Both resulting in wins. He was doing pretty well too. I expect Willis to be moved somewhere shortly.

It has been the Tigers bullpen that has made the difference so far. Minor, Bonine, Zumaya, Perry, and Ni. And Valverdi dancing on the pitcher's mound when his efforts result in a save.

Most noticeably, Joel Zumaya has been a real stopper. New pitches to augment his 100 mph plus fastball have allowed Joel to rise again to a national recognition level.

Defensively, the Tigers have been over achieving and underachieving at the same time. Catchers Laird and Avilla have been horrible at the plate, and only mediocre behind the plate. They are not holding runners as effectively as in the past.

The Tigers lead the American League in errors with 34, resulting in Ryan Raburn returning to Toledo. As well, second baseman Scott Sizemore – the reason why Placido Polanco was traded to Philadelphia – was sent back down to Toledo as well.

Sizemore was just not ready yet for the major leagues. Ankle Injury limiting his range and effectiveness at second, and poor offensive results, the outlook is not to expect Sizemore back any time soon.

This leaves the Tigers in an odd spot.

Brennan Boesch has been so significant in his debut, the Tigers will not easily be moved to return Guillen to left field to replace Boesch. So the plan at this point in time is to put Carlos at second base when he returns from the DL.

But in the meantime the spot had to be filled. Casper Wells was called up from Toledo in the mean time to fill the gap. And has also been … impressive.

Great problems to have, but a problem none the less. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

So to recap, the rookies Jackson and Boesch, as well as future hall of famer Miguel Cabrera have been boosting this teams otherwise struggling offense with big numbers. The starting pitchers have been struggling – but when the bullpen comes into the game, they shut the opposition down.

That is the Tigers of 2010.

So what happens next?

Guillen comes back to play second. And I bet he does a pretty solid job – because he is an infielder who wants to play infield again. And his bat will help buoy the Tigers to stay in the race – if not hold the lead – for first.

And a trade will be made. Maybe two. A pitcher. And an infielder or a catcher. The key will be if the trade is a good one, or a bad one.

But as for getting the Tigers into a tie for first place after forty one played … credit Jim Leyland. He has danced his lineup around – as well as masterfully managing his bullpen to yank wins out of losses. Some moves didn't work, but most did.

So after forty games, how are the Tigers doing?

So far so good.

And so far, it is very exciting to be a Tigers fan in 2010.