Here's your pre-game coverage.
Let us take a moment to reflect upon the moundsmanship (a word I seem to have made up, just now) Justin Verlander's thrown in our direction of late. Here's JV's line--that's what they call him, you know, JV--starting with his May 7 no-hitter in Toronto and running through his win over the Rockies yesterday:
Not bad, eh? The number I like best there is 59 strikeouts and 9 walks. Or, actually, maybe the number I like best is 7-0.
In hockey you often hear the phrase "men v. boys" to describe a mismatch and it so happens that that is the best way to describe Verlander's pitching for the past month and a half. But no matter what you choose to call it, I can tell you that I cannot recall watching a Detroit pitcher since the Denny McClain of 1968 and 1969 or the Mark Fydrich of 1976 who overwhelmed the opponent the way Verlander has of late. I perk up every time his turn in the rotation comes around because I know I am going to see something memorable.
Here's the funny thing. I don't know if you remember this, I didn't until I looked it up, but through May 2, Verlander was 2-3 and the Tigers were 2-5 in games he'd started. And on May 2, the Detroit Tigers were 8 games out of first place. Here's another phrase you often hear in hockey is applicable to the current discussion: You figure it out.
All right, then. I've been thinking about what Jim Leyland was talking about late last week in a couple of those press gaggles he conducts in his office three and a half hours before game time. When he talks at these things, it's sort of like trying to decipher what the head of the Federal Reserve really means when he speaks publicly. Leyland was saying things like, "I am not one of those managers who thinks that you automatically get your job back when you get back from being hurt." And, "I'm not talking about [Brandon] Inge." And, "You guys are going to have a field day pretty soon. We've got some tough decisions to make when Inge comes back. You guys will have plenty to write about."
So, who's gonna go to make room for Inge? Will it be Andy Dirks or Ryan Raburn or Danny Worth or Don Kelly or Casper Wells? Or will it be Inge himself? Or somebody else?
All of us in the press box love Dirks' glove, and Leyland might too, but he's not wild about his bat: (.263 BA/3HR/10RBI).
Nobody is wild about Raburn's bat, .207/6/25, but Leyland stands up for him with comments like, "Look at what he was hitting in early June last year." So I did look. Raburn was .188/1/13 at this time a year ago in about half the at bats he's had this season. My thought is that when Leyland says to look at where Raburn was a year ago, what he's really saying is to look at the fact that he hit .315 after the break last year with 13 HR and 46 RBI. I'm thinking Leyland's thinking the same thing could happen this year, and if it does, it would do the Tigers no good if Raburn were doing it in Toledo.
Worth would seem to make sense. He's only played 23 games. But he is hitting over .400. Kelly has played a lot of third since Inge has been out. He's versatile. Wells is an extra outfielder, a guy you can bring in late to upgrade the defense when you've got the lead.
What about Inge himself? He's hitting .211 with but a single homer and only 11 RBI, but he is far and away the best glove the Tigers have in the infield.
But, remember what Leyland said about now getting your job back just because you are back from an injury? He said he wasn't talking about Inge. Besides, Leyland likes defense.
What about Magglio Ordonez? He was hitting .172 when he went on the DL. He's hitting .215 since returning on 3x14--all singles. Leyland complained about how the Tigers blew the game Friday in part because they got only one run out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first. Ordonez was up with everybody on and one out and he failed to hit it out of the infield. (And then some reporter asked Leyland after the game if he thought Ordonez was coming around because he got a couple of singles later in the game. I'll bet you whatever you want to bet that Leyland didn't give a hoot about those hits. He wanted a hit when a hit would have meant something. That's why he brought up Detroit's first-inning failure in the first place.) And you saw that pinch-hit at-bat Ordonez had Saturday night with the tying run on second in the sixth. It was sad. That's the only way to describe it. I don't think Mags came within a foot and a half of hitting the ball. Leyland was steaming, I'm sure of it. He didn't play Ordonez yesterday. Now, Ordonez is back in the Detroit line-up tonight, but I'm pretty sure that he'd better start hitting and he'd better start hitting soon because I think he is running out of time. Inge is slated to re-join the Tigers when they come home from the road trip. That means Friday. That means somebody who is a Tiger today won't be by weeks end. Somebody has to go. I think Leyland was trying to tell us something last week. I think he was trying to tell us that the somebody is going to be a big name guy. Somebody like Magglio Ordonez.
Tonight's game notes:
Detroit Tigers Game Information.
Los Angeles Dodgers Notes.
10:10 (Eastern) for first pitch. We'll be back with you then.
| GS | W | L | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BA |
| 9 | 7 | 0 | 72.2 | 39 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 59 | 5 | 1.73 | .157 |
Not bad, eh? The number I like best there is 59 strikeouts and 9 walks. Or, actually, maybe the number I like best is 7-0.
In hockey you often hear the phrase "men v. boys" to describe a mismatch and it so happens that that is the best way to describe Verlander's pitching for the past month and a half. But no matter what you choose to call it, I can tell you that I cannot recall watching a Detroit pitcher since the Denny McClain of 1968 and 1969 or the Mark Fydrich of 1976 who overwhelmed the opponent the way Verlander has of late. I perk up every time his turn in the rotation comes around because I know I am going to see something memorable.
Here's the funny thing. I don't know if you remember this, I didn't until I looked it up, but through May 2, Verlander was 2-3 and the Tigers were 2-5 in games he'd started. And on May 2, the Detroit Tigers were 8 games out of first place. Here's another phrase you often hear in hockey is applicable to the current discussion: You figure it out.
All right, then. I've been thinking about what Jim Leyland was talking about late last week in a couple of those press gaggles he conducts in his office three and a half hours before game time. When he talks at these things, it's sort of like trying to decipher what the head of the Federal Reserve really means when he speaks publicly. Leyland was saying things like, "I am not one of those managers who thinks that you automatically get your job back when you get back from being hurt." And, "I'm not talking about [Brandon] Inge." And, "You guys are going to have a field day pretty soon. We've got some tough decisions to make when Inge comes back. You guys will have plenty to write about."
So, who's gonna go to make room for Inge? Will it be Andy Dirks or Ryan Raburn or Danny Worth or Don Kelly or Casper Wells? Or will it be Inge himself? Or somebody else?
All of us in the press box love Dirks' glove, and Leyland might too, but he's not wild about his bat: (.263 BA/3HR/10RBI).
Nobody is wild about Raburn's bat, .207/6/25, but Leyland stands up for him with comments like, "Look at what he was hitting in early June last year." So I did look. Raburn was .188/1/13 at this time a year ago in about half the at bats he's had this season. My thought is that when Leyland says to look at where Raburn was a year ago, what he's really saying is to look at the fact that he hit .315 after the break last year with 13 HR and 46 RBI. I'm thinking Leyland's thinking the same thing could happen this year, and if it does, it would do the Tigers no good if Raburn were doing it in Toledo.
Worth would seem to make sense. He's only played 23 games. But he is hitting over .400. Kelly has played a lot of third since Inge has been out. He's versatile. Wells is an extra outfielder, a guy you can bring in late to upgrade the defense when you've got the lead.
What about Inge himself? He's hitting .211 with but a single homer and only 11 RBI, but he is far and away the best glove the Tigers have in the infield.
But, remember what Leyland said about now getting your job back just because you are back from an injury? He said he wasn't talking about Inge. Besides, Leyland likes defense.
What about Magglio Ordonez? He was hitting .172 when he went on the DL. He's hitting .215 since returning on 3x14--all singles. Leyland complained about how the Tigers blew the game Friday in part because they got only one run out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first. Ordonez was up with everybody on and one out and he failed to hit it out of the infield. (And then some reporter asked Leyland after the game if he thought Ordonez was coming around because he got a couple of singles later in the game. I'll bet you whatever you want to bet that Leyland didn't give a hoot about those hits. He wanted a hit when a hit would have meant something. That's why he brought up Detroit's first-inning failure in the first place.) And you saw that pinch-hit at-bat Ordonez had Saturday night with the tying run on second in the sixth. It was sad. That's the only way to describe it. I don't think Mags came within a foot and a half of hitting the ball. Leyland was steaming, I'm sure of it. He didn't play Ordonez yesterday. Now, Ordonez is back in the Detroit line-up tonight, but I'm pretty sure that he'd better start hitting and he'd better start hitting soon because I think he is running out of time. Inge is slated to re-join the Tigers when they come home from the road trip. That means Friday. That means somebody who is a Tiger today won't be by weeks end. Somebody has to go. I think Leyland was trying to tell us something last week. I think he was trying to tell us that the somebody is going to be a big name guy. Somebody like Magglio Ordonez.
Tonight's game notes:
Detroit Tigers Game Information.
Los Angeles Dodgers Notes.
10:10 (Eastern) for first pitch. We'll be back with you then.
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment