13th
April
2007
Bunt Singles: April 13 edition
posted in 2007 season, bunt singles |Tigers news and views:
- Detroit has won five of its last six.
- The Tigers have committed the fewest errors in the American League (3). Seattle is tied but played quite a bit less. Detroit also has a .991 fielding percentage.
- Florida has fewer errors (2) this season and a higher fielding percentage (.994).
- Those are the fielding numbers you hear about most often from the media. Anyone who has followed this blog knows I prefer a different metric, however, defensive efficiency. That finds how often a ball put in play is converted into an out. A typical team allows .300, for a .700 defensive efficiency. A good defensive efficiency is above this, a bad one below it, more or less.
- I like that because it takes the whole effect of the team into consideration, how well the team covers the field and keep runners off the bases, not how often individual players are cited for making mistakes. Last year, the Tigers were near the top of this, and you could see that by watching them on the field making plays other teams may not have.
- I go to Baseball Prospectus for defensive efficiency. It’s a bit early, so the numbers haven’t settled in and you see some really efficient teams like the Mets (.783) and infficient teams such as Tampa (.665), KC (.674) and Philly (.677).
- Detroit sits right in the middle at .708. I expect this to improve a wee bit, but some other teams to come down as things start to compact. Obviously having Magglio in right field hurts the number a bit, but overall this Tigers team plays good defense even with a few bobbles here and there.
- If you have ESPN Insider, Curtis Granderson answered questions today.
- He also has five strikeouts in his last two games. Not that the two are related, but it’s a stat worth mentioning as he has 12 already this season.
- Craig Monroe and Brandon Inge each have 11.
- It doesn’t get any easier tonight against “Doc” Halladay.
- Bilfer has a different look at Joel Zumaya’s pitching performance last night.
- Hardball Times looked at American League pitchers who may be Hall of Fame bound. They don’t know if Bonderman is or isn’t going to be good enough yet, but note he has 45 wins and 600+ strikeouts by the age of 24, so with continued improvement, he might start to enter the conversation.
- Placido Polanco nearly homered last night. It was a double for his first extra-base hit this season.
- Others around the blogosphere have noted this, so I’ll add on: Cameron Maybin is 6-for-10 with 3 homers and a double in his last 3 games in advanced-A Lakeland after a poor start.
- Detroit is 15th at Baseball Prospectus’ hit list. That is actually calculated, not pulled out of some writer’s butt. But I always say the most interesting thing about power ranking is the words (hopefully). So go check them out.
- Third at ESPN.com. Again, some interesting words.
- Beat writer time: Jason Beck has his thoughts on Mike Rabelo.
- And Danny Knobler has his and Leyland’s views on Jose Mesa.
Around the majors:
- Remember Jaret Wright leaving the game against Detroit with an injury? Uh oh. DL. (Oriole Magic)
- Cleveland locked up Jake Westbrook through 2010 for $33M over three years. (Let’s Go Tribe)
- The Twins have some distractions right now. On ESPNews, CF Torii Hunter said he thinks there’s little chance he’ll be with the team next year and show him the money. Johan Santana is also denying rumors he’d ended contract talks.
- There’s no way they can afford both, I’m pretty sure, so I’m guessing Hunter is right but they’ll somehow find the money for Santana.
- David Pinto is fascinated by the A.L. Central standings. (Baseball Musings)
- The Cubs have bad luck with injuries. Their expensive third baseman, Aramis Ramirez, has a wrist problem. Alfonso Soriano should run. Fast.
- The Blue Jays are in first place in the A.L. East.
