Recently, I published an article on positive things in Detroit sports. On that very list, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was highlighted, oh, I don't know, about six times in a 17-item list.
Couldn't help it.
The way the season has gone so far, it's hard not to love Verlander. For one thing, the Tigers ace has always been a fan favorite. From the moment he made his debut in 2006 and hurled a 100 mph (102 at its best) fastball, Verlander was the symbol of awe for this team.
Now, from a statistical and psychological standpoint, the franchise player for the Tigers at the time was probably either Pudge Rodriguez or Magglio Ordonez. Now one can make the case that it is Miguel Cabrera. After all, he's the slugger, the top bat, the guy who gets it done. And it is certainly fair to argue that Cabrera is Detroit's most valuable player right now.
But Verlander is the exclamation point.
Verlander is capable of creating more hype than Cabrera. I think it would also be correct to say that Cabrera has, at this point, lost some approval. Granted, fans are starting to grow accustomed to player misbehavior. Getting pulled over while sipping whiskey, after already being drunk before and beating one's wife isn't something everyone just magically forgets. Respect was certainly lost.
How's that for a stat?
Ah, the quality start. In an age of statistical jargon (what's OPS again?), this stat sounds surprisingly, well, simple.
A quality start entails that a starter pitch for six innings or more and allow three runs or less. Pretty good, right? Well, if you are Verlander, that's your everyday stuff this year.
I'm not kidding. And neither is the stat. In Verlander's 9 starts this year, he has 9 quality starts. That was not a typo. 9 for 9. Perfect.
And it doesn't stop there. Verlander's also averaging less than 4 1/2 hits per game. In fact, one's odds of striking out against Verlander are much better than getting a hit. In only two games did he surrender more hits than strikeouts, and he's averaging nearly a strikeout an inning (62 in 65).
Really, it's the quality starts that get you. Consistency in baseball isn't very common. And consistency for pitchers in baseball is even less common. But for Verlander, it's no problem. Really, he set the tone on Opening Day. On a cold day, facing a tough Yankee lineup, and, as he admitted later, being fairly unprepared, disaster struck and Verlander allowed a unthinkable THREE RUNS. As columnist Michael Rosenberg would reason, if that's as bad as it gets for Verlander this year, the rest of the American League is in serious trouble.
Now his theory is starting to appear correct.
Oh, that too
And, oh yeah, Justin also threw the second no-hitter of his career this year.
The no-no just goes to show that, as I said earlier, Verlander is this team's exclamation point. Home runs are nice. Big home runs are nicer. But even big home runs are rarely remembered as long as a no-hitter. That may seem unfair to the hitters, but since when is being a pitcher easy? Hit a walk-off and the crowd loves you for maybe the rest of the week. Throw a no-hitter and the crowd is with you the whole game, goes berserk when you finish, and keeps talking about it long after it happens.
With Cabrera, good hitting is a nice thing. But overall, it's hard to get behind the guy. Too many harsh thoughts. Fans support him, but most support him while feeling somewhat reluctant to do so. Cabrera gave us something to worry about, but Verlander gave us something to get behind, something to feel good about. He gave us a good conflict; he gave us good things to wonder about.
Like, how many more no-nos does this kid have in him?
Silly me, though, I almost forgot the disclaimer. It is after all, still early in the season, so things are unclear a lot can change, blah, blah, blah.
Glad that's out of the way.
Now I can get back to enjoying the season that #35 is having.
Showing posts with label Detroit Tigers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit Tigers. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Martinez acquisition smart, if a little confusing
It's great to have Victor Martinez aboard.
But where do we put the guy?
Martinez is known for two things: 1. being a big hitter and 2. being a lousy catcher. The Tigers' biggest problem offensively is at catcher where their choice was bad (Alex Avila, at .228) or worse (Gerald Laird, at .207). Martinez could fill that hole and give the Tigers a formidable lineup. But it would cause problems in the field, where Martinez's lousy defense would lead to a lot of stolen bases for the other teams.
The Tigers could DH Martinez, but that would take the spot from Carlos Guillen, forcing him to split time with Will Rhymes at 2nd base. And, though he played lousy in the second half, I'm sure the Tigers would like to find at least a shared spot for Brennan Boesch, which would be very hard to do should they DH Martinez.
In the end it comes down what the Tigers value more: offense or defense.
But I think a compromise is most likely here. A rested catcher is like a pitcher who hits 100 mph: every MLB team wants one. The Tigers will play a variety of lineups. When Martinez is catching, they can rotate Guillen and Boesch in the DH slot, maybe sometimes play both and sit Rhymes. When Martinez (and the Tigers' pitchers) takes a breather playing DH, Boesch will sit and Guillen and Rhymes will rotate. And when Martinez sits, well, I'd imagine it would be pretty similar to when he plays catcher as far as Guillen, Rhymes, and Boesch are concerned.
A likely scenario could be 70 to 90 games at catcher and about 40 to 50 in the DH slot. No matter what they do, the Tigers will likely have a lot of rotating going on.
But isn't that the definition of the Jim Leyland era?
But where do we put the guy?
Martinez is known for two things: 1. being a big hitter and 2. being a lousy catcher. The Tigers' biggest problem offensively is at catcher where their choice was bad (Alex Avila, at .228) or worse (Gerald Laird, at .207). Martinez could fill that hole and give the Tigers a formidable lineup. But it would cause problems in the field, where Martinez's lousy defense would lead to a lot of stolen bases for the other teams.
The Tigers could DH Martinez, but that would take the spot from Carlos Guillen, forcing him to split time with Will Rhymes at 2nd base. And, though he played lousy in the second half, I'm sure the Tigers would like to find at least a shared spot for Brennan Boesch, which would be very hard to do should they DH Martinez.
In the end it comes down what the Tigers value more: offense or defense.
But I think a compromise is most likely here. A rested catcher is like a pitcher who hits 100 mph: every MLB team wants one. The Tigers will play a variety of lineups. When Martinez is catching, they can rotate Guillen and Boesch in the DH slot, maybe sometimes play both and sit Rhymes. When Martinez (and the Tigers' pitchers) takes a breather playing DH, Boesch will sit and Guillen and Rhymes will rotate. And when Martinez sits, well, I'd imagine it would be pretty similar to when he plays catcher as far as Guillen, Rhymes, and Boesch are concerned.
A likely scenario could be 70 to 90 games at catcher and about 40 to 50 in the DH slot. No matter what they do, the Tigers will likely have a lot of rotating going on.
But isn't that the definition of the Jim Leyland era?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Trade acquisition a must for the Tigers
As of right now, we can safely say that the Detroit Tigers are doing good.
Not great, but good.
6 games above .500 is good. 6 games above .500 means that your team is having an above-average year. 6 games above .500 is a record that many teams would like to have. But 6 games above .500 does not get you into the postseason.
Yes, I'm aware that the Tigers are neck-and-neck with the Minnesota Twins in a race to take the A.L. Central, but the Tigers have been behind in that race for almost the entire season, and don't think we can expect a total role-reversal from last year. The Tigers are playing very well, but they're not cutting it. Even if their current squad ends up being enough to get them into the playoffs, it's doubtful that it's enough to make it past the first round, let alone the World Series.
The Tigers have many of the crucial pieces. They have the hitting. They certainly have the bullpen. The defense could be better, but it's good enough. The only area that they are weak in is the most important area of all: the starting rotation.
Justin Verlander has been mostly phenomenal. But his supporting cast has been far too inconsistent. It has not been terrible, but it could use some work.
Which brings us to trading.
Aces Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee are among those believed to be available via trade. If the Tigers were to pair one of them with Verlander, they would in the process become not only the favorites to win the A.L. Central, but, in my opinion, favorites to win the A.L. (New York who?).
Either pitcher would be a fine addition. Oswalt's numbers look better this year, while Lee has proven to be dominant in the postseason. Personally, I would take Lee, seeing as he should be good enough to provide the little push the Tigers need to make the playoffs, and would probably help them more once they get there.
That decision, however, is for the Tigers to make. But whatever they do, they better do something.
Not great, but good.
6 games above .500 is good. 6 games above .500 means that your team is having an above-average year. 6 games above .500 is a record that many teams would like to have. But 6 games above .500 does not get you into the postseason.
Yes, I'm aware that the Tigers are neck-and-neck with the Minnesota Twins in a race to take the A.L. Central, but the Tigers have been behind in that race for almost the entire season, and don't think we can expect a total role-reversal from last year. The Tigers are playing very well, but they're not cutting it. Even if their current squad ends up being enough to get them into the playoffs, it's doubtful that it's enough to make it past the first round, let alone the World Series.
The Tigers have many of the crucial pieces. They have the hitting. They certainly have the bullpen. The defense could be better, but it's good enough. The only area that they are weak in is the most important area of all: the starting rotation.
Justin Verlander has been mostly phenomenal. But his supporting cast has been far too inconsistent. It has not been terrible, but it could use some work.
Which brings us to trading.
Aces Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee are among those believed to be available via trade. If the Tigers were to pair one of them with Verlander, they would in the process become not only the favorites to win the A.L. Central, but, in my opinion, favorites to win the A.L. (New York who?).
Either pitcher would be a fine addition. Oswalt's numbers look better this year, while Lee has proven to be dominant in the postseason. Personally, I would take Lee, seeing as he should be good enough to provide the little push the Tigers need to make the playoffs, and would probably help them more once they get there.
That decision, however, is for the Tigers to make. But whatever they do, they better do something.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Grand Shame
If only the Detroit Tigers had won that one-game playoff last year. If only they hadn't wasted so much money on Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman. If only, if only, if only.
But neither of those things happened, and now Curtis Granderson is gone. Gone, gone, gone. And what a shame.
Granderson seemed to be among the few players in sports who had a good grasp on life. When the Tigers first offered him a contract, he turned them down because he wanted to go to college and get an education. How many athletes do that today?
But that didn't matter to Mr. Illitch or Mr. Dombrowski. They went ahead and dealt him away to the New York Yankees to add pitching and build for the future. Whether it works remains to be seen.
But even if it does, it's a crying shame that this day came.
With the possible exception of Brandon Inge, Granderson was our most beloved Tiger. He sparked the team and fired up the fans. His power, speed, fielding, and smile made him an instant favorite. Not to mention all the charity work he did.
Wednesday, December 9, ought to go down as a sad, sad day in Tigers history. It will go down as the day that we lost a kind, humble man whose attitude is difficult to replace.
Alas, perhaps the greatest role model in recent sports history is gone.
But neither of those things happened, and now Curtis Granderson is gone. Gone, gone, gone. And what a shame.
Granderson seemed to be among the few players in sports who had a good grasp on life. When the Tigers first offered him a contract, he turned them down because he wanted to go to college and get an education. How many athletes do that today?
But that didn't matter to Mr. Illitch or Mr. Dombrowski. They went ahead and dealt him away to the New York Yankees to add pitching and build for the future. Whether it works remains to be seen.
But even if it does, it's a crying shame that this day came.
With the possible exception of Brandon Inge, Granderson was our most beloved Tiger. He sparked the team and fired up the fans. His power, speed, fielding, and smile made him an instant favorite. Not to mention all the charity work he did.
Wednesday, December 9, ought to go down as a sad, sad day in Tigers history. It will go down as the day that we lost a kind, humble man whose attitude is difficult to replace.
Alas, perhaps the greatest role model in recent sports history is gone.
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