If you told me in April that I’d be blogging about how much of a disappointment the Tigers have been, I would have called you crazy, but what a huge disappointment they have been this year.  They went from preseason World Series favorite to the AL Central cellar (well, not quite).  This is a team that added Edgar Renteria, Dontrelle Willis, AND Miguel Cabrera in the offseason.  It’s mind-boggling.  The amount that Justin Verlander has regressed is even moreso.  Kenny Rogers has shown signs of being washed up, the bullpen has been either injured or inconsistent, and Willis has barely pitched.  The staff was clearly the downfall of this team.  The only two positives you could take out of it are the performances of Armando Galarraga and Zach Miner, who both provided big time performances in the abscence of other starters.  This year is a definite failure, but if the rotation can get their act together, I can see them making a run in 2009.

…the Tigers seem to be recovering from that horrible start.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they’ve been much improved ever since Curtis Granderson returned from injury.  In his first 12 games, he’s hit .311 with 5 home runs, 9 RBI, and 10 walks.  He gives them not only a great hitter, but an excellent base stealer and more importantly, a better defensive outfielder.  He’s the catalyst to that team, and now it’s even more obvious.

The offense is starting to hit, as expected.  The only real disappointment so far is Sheffield, but everyone else has been doing fine.  Miggy Cabrera’s average is a tad low, but the power and RBI’s are still there.  Renteria is having a fine year, his first as a Tiger.  Maggs is being Maggs of course, and Carlos Guillen continues to rake.  Pudge’s OBP and average are a bit low, but he more than makes up for that with his defense and game calling.

The pitching, on the other hand, is God awful, and I mean that.  Their rotation was supposed to be their strong point, but it’s been  TERRIBLE.  Verlander is horrible, Robertson is horrible, and Rogers is horrible.  Willis has only pitched in two games, and he was below average in those.  The only two decent starters have been Bonderman and rookie Armando Galarraga.

Aside from Zach Miner, the bullpen has been pretty damn good, even without Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya.  I don’t understand them trading Grilli to Colorado, but they’re still solid and will be even better once those two return.  I really, really hope that Zumaya comes back and is his old self.  I would love to see him throwing 102 again, not being limited to 93 or 94.  He’s one of my favorite non-Orioles in the game, so I wish him the best.

They’re still in last place in the Central, but they’re only 3.5 out, so not all hope is lost.

It has been quite an eventful day for everyone involved with the Detroit Tigers, enough to make your head spin.

OF Jacque Jones DFA

Acquired in the off-season for infielder Omar Infante, Jacque Jones has been designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers.  Jones has been having a less-than-stellar year at the plate, hitting an abysmal .165 at the dish, with only one home run and 5 RBI.  His on-base percentage has been putrid sitting at .244, and has K’d 18 times in the year.

When asked by reporters how he felt, Tigers manager Jim Leyland has this to say,

“I want to make one thing clear: Jacque Jones is not the reason we’re four games under .500,” Said the manager.  “In no way is anyone pointing fingers at Jacque Jones.  Jacque Jones is kind of paying the price for our club not performing. He was one of the guys not hitting. He wasn’t the only guy. That’s what I feel worst about.” 

Tigers Purchase Contract of OF Matt Joyce 

Taking Jones’s spot on the roster will be OF Matt Joyce who has been purchased from the Toledo Mud Hens, and will start in LF for the Tigers tonight against the Red Sox.  Joyce has hit .299 so far this year for the Mud Hens, with 5 homers, 11 walks, and a .536 OBP in 97 at bats.
The Lineup Carousel

According to Detroit radio station WDFN, it has been reported that Detroit Tigers DH Gary Sheffield will be moved to play left field as well as bat 6th in the batting order.

Other moves made for tonights game will be,

• Magglio to DH
• Joyce to RF
• Guillen Batting 3rd
• Pudge batting 9th

 To Put it Simply, WTF?

These moves make me really scratch my head.  Why in the world is Magglio DHing?  Why isn’t Carlos “I can’t field” Guillen DHing while you move Inge to third and keep Miggy at 1st?  Joyce hasn’t been tearing it up in the minors, what makes him the savior to this lineup that you move Magglio who hasn’t made an error all season to DH?

Game Preview: Detroit VS Boston 

The Tigers have a challenge for them tonight on the hill for the Red Sox.  The undefeated Daisuke Matsuzaka will be facing off against Jeremy Bonderman tonight at 7:05 PM.  Matsuzaka is unbeaten this year posted a 2.52 ERA along with 32 K’s in 35 innings.  Dice-K has looked amazing so far this year, and he will be a tough matchup for the Tigers.

Bonderman has been pretty decent so far this year with an ERA just below 3.90 with 18 K’s to boot.  The thing that has killed him so far this season is his control.  He has 5 more walks than he does strikeouts this year, and a 1.60 WHIP is definitely nothing to write home about.  He needs to straighten that out in order to give the Tigers a better chance to take this game and possibly the series from the Boston Red Sox.

Gary Sheffield and Jair Jurrjens were both placed on the 15 day DL today. Jurrjens left yesterday’s game with a sore shoulder in the second inning. Sheffield hurt his shoulder on a collision with Placido Polanco on July 21st. Since then, the Tigers are 13-22. To replace Sheffield, the Tigers called up Timo Perez, and to replace Jurrjens, Zach Miner was called up. Chad Durbin will most likely be the fifth starter in his Jair’s place.

Kenny Rogers threw a bullpen session yesterday, is scheduled to pitch another session Tuesday or Wednesday. His control is still off, he says.

These injuries are a big blow, and replacing them will be very tough. We can still acquire someone via waivers, such as a Mike Piazza or someone. We are still trying to get Jack Wilson. A team has claimed him, but it is yet to be seen what team.

-Stonesalltheway

Carlos Guillen’s three-run homer off Sean Penn in the bottom of the eleventh inning gave the Tigers a win in a game that seemed it would never end. The game was scheduled to start at 7:05, but a four hour rain delay held up the first pitch until 11:06. Guillen’s blast came at 3:30 AM, 8 hours and 25 minutes after the scheduled start, in a game that Joel Zumaya said was “the longest game I’ve been to in my life.”

Andrew Miller started his first game after coming off the DL, and pitched pretty poorly. He only pitched 4 and 1/3 innings, and gave up 6 runs. He has only pitched more than 6 innings once this year, and hasn’t pitched more than 5 since July 6^th. Roger Clemens, the starter for New York didn’t fare much better. In only 5 innings, he gave up 6 runs. Both bullpens did an excellent job, and the only runs either bullpen allowed was the three run shot by Guillen.

Both teams had chances to win the game in the ninth and tenth innings. In the top of the tenth with the Yankees facing Fernando Rodney, got the leadoff runner on with a Melky Cabrera single. On a 3-2 count, Cabrera took off for second, and Rodney threw a changeup that froze Jeter, striking him out, but Cabrera was able to steal second. Rodney then got Alex Rodriguez, who homered earlier in the game off Miller, to strike out. Then, with a 1-1 count of Posada, Rodney threw a curveball for a called strike. Posada didn’t like the call, and argued until he had to be restrained by first base coach Tony Pena. The next pitch, Posada struck out looking, again a curveball, and said something to the home plate umpire and was ejected. The home plate umpire was inconsistent the whole game for both teams. Even Maggs, who hardly every complains, had something to say to the ump a few times.

In the Tigers’ half of the ninth, facing Luis Vizcaino after back-to-back strikeouts by Cameron Maybin, and Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson singled and stole second, and Polanco walked, but Sean Casey popped out to end the inning.

In the top of the tenth, Hideki Matsui drew a leadoff walk, but Robinson Cano hit into a double play, and Any Phillips grounded out to end the inning. In the bottom of the tenth, with Mariano Rivera pitching, it looked as if the Tigers would surely win it. The red-hot Magglio Ordonez got a leadoff double and Carlos Guillen grounded out, advancing Maggs to third. Then Rivera issued back-to-back intentional walks to Pudge Rodriguez, and Ryan Raburn to get to Brandon Inge. Inge got into a 1-2 hole, but was able to line the ball the other way in what looked to be the game winning hit, but Andy Phillips reacted quickly, and was able to make the catch. The game was left to the rookie Cameron Maybin, but Rivera blew one by him to end the inning. After Chad Durbin got the Yankees 1-2-3 in the 11^th, Sean Henn came in to pitch the 11^th for the Yankees. He got Granderson to strike out, but walked Polanco. Then, either Polanco or Casey missed a sign as Polanco took off on a delayed steal, but stopped midway and was thrown out running back to first. Casey singled, and Maggs, with a 2-2 count, hit a check-swing gloop single over Cano at second base, and Casey went to third. Finally, with a 1-2 count, on a pitch low and inside, Guillen ends the game with a home run over the left field wall.

Notes:
-Polanco made a throwing error in the first inning. That ended his record setting 147 games without an error.

-Granderson and Maggs both had great games. Grandy was 4-6 with 2 triples(numbers 20 and 21 on the season), a double and 3 RBI’s. Maggs went 4-6 with a home run and 2 RBI’s.

-The bullpen was very impressive. Even Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless inning, and it was against the heart of the Yankees lineup.

-Granderson becomes the first Tiger since Ty Cobb to hit 20 or more triples in a season. He is on pace to get 26, which would tie the American League record.

-Stonesalltheway

Nate Robertson’s longest scoreless outing of his career was not enough as the Tigers lost to the Indians 3-1 Thursday night. Robertson pitched 8 and 2/3 innings, giving up no runs and only allowing 4 hits. He did this very efficiently, in 91 pitches. Detroit is now 2 and 1/2 games out of first in the division and 5 back in the Wild Card. This wasn’t the first time a solid start by Robertson was wasted. Since last season, the Tigers have lost 15 times when Robertson makes a quality start.

Joel Zumaya, who returned from finger surgery on Tuesday when he got the only batter he faced to ground out, got the loss as he gave up 3 runs in the tenth after neither team had a run through nine innings. He didn’t look to good out on the mound, only throwing 94-96 MPH, and not having good control. After getting Casey Blake to ground out to end the ninth, Zumaya loaded the bases with one out. He got Franklin Gutierrez to strike out to make it two outs. Kenny Lofton broke the game open with an infield single. Ramon Santiago made a diving stop, but was unable to fire to second base in time. Many questioned Jim Leyland’s decision to keep Zumaya in with the bases loaded in such a crucial game, especially since he had just returned from the aforementioned finger surgery. After giving up the hit to Lofton, surely he would be taken out, right? Wrong. Leyland left him in, and former Tiger Chris Gomez delivered a two-run single to make the lead 3-0. Bobby Seay then relieved Zumaya, striking out Grady Sizemore.

The Tigers had many chances to score before the game went into extra innings. The Tigers left 12 men stranded on base, many of them in scoring position. In the eighth inning, the Tigers had Granderson on second with one out. Sean Casey grounded out, and left in up to Magglio Ordonez. But Ordonez, a righty, against the righty Westbrook, was intentionally walked to get to the switch hitting Carlos Guillen. That shows how much respect opposing pitchers have for Maggs, who is hitting .383 with 8 homers and 25 RBI’s in August. The Indains’ strategy worked as Guillen grounded out.

In the ninth, the Tigers had many chances to come away with a walk-off win. On the first pitch of the ninth, Marcus Thames ripped a Rafael Betancourt pitch that looked like it would be a walk-off homer. But the ball curved foul, and Thames eventually flied out. After Rabelo singled, and Brandon Inge walked, Ramon Santiago flied out, and Curtis Granderson struck out. The only pitches Granderson saw were curveballs cutting away from him and into the dirt. Until he shows he can hit this pitch, pitchers will do that a lot more often.

In the bottom of the tenth, the Tigers tried to make a two out rally as Ordonez doubled, Guillen bunted for a single, and Marcus Thames doubled. The score was 3-1 with runners on second and third, and Pudge Rodriguez at the plate with a chance to tie it. But he flied out to right to end the game.

Weekend Series Preview:

The Tigers face the Yankees in a four-game series this weekend. The Tigers hope to gain revenge after losing 3 of 4 to the Yanks last week. Andrew Miller, who is coming off the DL, will face Roger Clemens tonight. Miller made his MLB debut against the Yankees last year, and pitched a scoreless inning. The other probable pitching match-ups are Wang-Bonderman, Hughes-Jurrjens, and Mussina-Verlander.

-Stonesalltheway

A couple days after designating Craig Monroe for assignment, the Detroit Tigers have traded the outfielder and cash considerations to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later. The Tigers will receive this player by October 15th.

After having a career year last year in left field and having many clutch moments, Monroe has been very disappointing this year. With a dismal .222 batting average, only 11 homeruns, and 94 strikeouts in 343 at-bats, Monroe wasn’t able to get back into his old form as the season rolled on. He was being out performed by other Tigers Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn who are both capable of playing Left Field which ultimately sealed Monroe’s fate with the Tigers.

Monroe will join the Cubs by the weekend when the Cubs meet the Diamondbacks for a three game series in Arizona.

I know I speak for all Tigers fans when I say that it is sad to see Craig struggle so badly and have to leave. However, baseball is business, and Monroe just wasn’t performing up to par. I wish Craig good luck in Chicago, and I hope he succeeds and keeps his MLB career moving along.

So long C-Mo.

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