15th
April
2007
Bunt Singles: April 15 edition
posted in 2007 season, bunt singles |Tigers thoughts and news:
- After Friday’s loss following two bunt singles, this name still stings a bit.
- Right now, the big topic du jour is what will become of Chad Durbin? On one hand. Jim Leyland cut the question short Saturday when he stated Durbin would take his turn in the rotation Friday against the White Sox.
- Leyland wanted to give his other starters a day off. The turn in the rotation would not be filled by lefty Wil Ledezma or someone else. No. It’s Durbin’s. That’s The Jim Leyland Way. Throw water on an issue before it becomes too hot. Of course, the media and bloggers won’t listen. But at least he won’t have to hear it from the beat reporters.
- Some bloggers have already taken it up, such as Scott Warheit, who offers up the names Andrew Miller, Zach Miner, Jair Jurrjens and Wil Ledezma. My hope — maybe Scott’s! — is it’s Jurrjens so we can type his name often enough to spell it right. But I have a feeling it’s none of these guys.
- I don’t think it’s Miller yet, because it’s too early. He struggled his last time out, too. I don’t think it’s Miner because he struggled with his location both times out. I’m not sure it’s 21-year-old Jurrjens. He’s a young prospect in Erie but a little extra seasoning might be a good idea. Plus he’s still stretching out — he threw four scoreless innings in his only start so far for Erie. I do give some likelihood to Ledezma moving into the rotation, but I don’t think Detroit will try to hide Durbin in the bullpen for long if management believes he doesn’t have the stuff to pitch in the majors. So I am going to assume some point soon, unless Durbin turns it around, there will be a new pitcher.
- Jordan Tata is the DL, if you’re curious as to why he’s missing from the conversation.
- I’ll say I expect to see Miller sooner than later, but not until he can pitch at the start of a game. They’re not going to make him a reliever again. He and Jurrgens are both great prospects and the Tigers have shown they’ll look at prospects. I just think it’s a bit too early.
- So my guess is Virgil Vasquez, who is known for his control and starred in the Arizona Fall League. The 24-year-old righty’s stats in Toledo don’t look real pretty at the moment: 4BB, 16H, 9K, 8ER in 9-2/3 innings. Eight of those Ks came in a 3-2/3 inning start, so he’s got the stuff to induce a lot of strikeouts. But his numbers don’t really look any worse than any of the other guys, either. It’s sorta ugly down there at the moment and in equally crappy conditions.
- I think Vasquez can benefit from playing in spacious Comerica Park with one of the league’s best defenses behind him.
- In other news: Toronto Sun breaks down the reasons why the Tigers were going to come back to win Saturday.
- Thames may have drivn in the winning run Saturday, but apparently he also drove his bat into Magglio’s ankle when it splintered, Beck reports.
- Bilfer looks at the Halladay-Bonderman duel Friday.
- Hardball Times took a quick look at it too.
Postgame additions:
- The Tigers are 7-1 when they score three runs or more.
- They’re 0-4 when scoring either one or two runs.
- When scoring exactly three runs, they’re 2-1.
- Generally speaking, you’ll win more than your fair share of games over the course of a season if that holds up. Obviously it won’t hold up at quite that high a ratio, but it’s a decent start. Three runs isn’t that difficult a threshold to surpass. That’s a testament to good pitching.
- The Tigers are 4-2 in one-run games, tying Oakland for the most in the majors with six of the narrowest margin. Detroit is 1-2 in extra innings.
- Actually, the Tigers have played the most extra innings games in the majors, too. I think both of those figures are signs of good pitchers too. They give their batters a lot of chances to pull out one of those magical victories.
- Let’s hope the batters start taking advantage soon… .
Yes, anything which will help people like me learn how to spell “Jurrjens” would be a help. As I said before, I hadn’t misspelled a name that badly since I was talking about a young kid in the minor leagues named Joel “Zuyama”. I wonder whatever happened to him.
Vasquez isn’t a bad solution if Jurrjens isn’t ready and we really want to keep Miller in the minors a bit longer. I still say though that because Miller would only be here for a few months, even if it is early, calling him up would give him a lot of experience which he could use to improve himself when he goes back to the minors in July, so even if he struggles, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
-Scott
Apparently I can’t spell Vasquez with 100% accuracy either.
[...] 0, Toledo 6 Kurt has been stumping for Virgil Vasquez to take over the last spot in the rotation if Chad Durbin falters. Vasquez [...]
[...] I predicted/hoped Virgil Vasquez would be a call-up if Chad Durbin stumbled. Here’s a look at him so far in Toledo. I’d much rather take a look at Vasquez in the majors than go out and sign Lawrence. [...]