Tigers 5, Braves 0

It’s kind of hard to wrap your mind around: Detroit allowed 1 run to Atlanta in a 3-game series. Dang. That’s pretty dominant. Andrew Miller and Chad Durbin teamed up for today’s shutout. I get the feeling from watching the games that the Braves’ offensive struggles contributed to that, but I give the Tigers credit for not opening the door to let the Braves out of their slump.

ESPN always gets a bit too excited over everything. Well, Joe Morgan. And today’s excitement from Joe Morgan was Andrew Miller relying on the fast ball. Morgan liked the fastball, but he pointed out repeatedly, Miller didn’t really want to try out any other pitch with it working so well. Fortunately that didn’t bite young Andrew. I do kind of wonder where that great slider disappeared to. But he was locating a fastball with movement quite well. He put a few batters on base with stumbles in location, but mostly, when the bat hit the ball, the Braves didn’t get much out of it.

Chad Durbin, for his part, showed exactly why he’s an asset in the bullpen. Hopefully no one takes it as a demotion or insult. With the bullpen’s struggles as they were the first two and a half months of the season, Durbin needed to provide some stability. Tonight, he did that. It’s just the continued progress of the pitching staff. That, and Durbin got an RBI with a sac fly.

The offense struggled a bit after all the ESPN hype, but eventually settled in and scored four runs in the sixth inning of Braves starter Chuck James. Pretty much routine. The Tigers batters just kept taking what was given to them and turning it into hits. Enough of those and you score some runs.

In all, a pretty routine game…circa 2006. Will there be more of those in the Tigers’ future? We can only hope.

The Tigers ended interleague play with a 14-4 record, tied for best in baseball with the Angels. They went 8-for-9 on the road trip and have won seven straight. I’m going to miss playing in the NL parks. But Texas brings its awful pitching to town for a four-game series starting Monday night.

By the way, did you notice all the “Let’s go Ti-gers” chants? Man. There were a lot. I’d love to hear from someone who was there, but on TV, it seemed like the cheers were as loud when the Tigers did something good as when the Braves did. And those chants came through quite well. Considering I had to put up with the annoying Tomahawk Chop and accompanying, er, chant, it was nice to hear Tigers fans showing them up.

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Mets 3, Tigers 0

Well, it had to happen some time. The Tigers were shut out. And I think you have to give full credit to the Mets defense for doing that, because there’s no way the Tigers should have been shut out.

21-year-old Carlos Gomez looked even younger than his age, but he robbed a pair of triples with fine plays. One, he went on a full sprint and lept in the air to snare a Curtis Granderson hit. That would likely have been a triple, but at least a double.  In the fourth, I believe, with a runner on first, Gomez made the risky decision to dive on a hit curving away from him. He made the catch. Had he missed, it was a sure run and possibly three bases. But he didn’t miss. Good job, kid.

I think Chad Durbin did a fine job. He shouldered the loss, but he allowed just three runs and pitched into the ninth inning while doing so. Had the Tigers scored some runs for him, he’d probably have gone eight innings and allowed just two, so I’d say it was pretty successful start. Either way, it helped the bullpen catch its breath after a Mike Maroth start. I’m really becoming fond of Durbin. Never expected that.

The Tigers and Mets continue the possible World Series preview on national tv (for 70% of the nation’s viewing regions) at about 4 p.m. (Check to see if you get the game)

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Tigers 13, Kansas City 4

Sometimes you look at a score that’s close and you say, “but it really wasn’t that close.” Or you look at a lopsided victory and say “but it was a lot closer than that.”  This is a case where the difference was nine runs, but it may as well have been 20. Chad Durbin pitched seven shutout innings and stumbled a bit in the eighth, then Aqualino bailed him out but stubbed his toe in the ninth. Tigers win 13-4, but it may as well have been 20-0.

Detroit went up 6-0 in the second inning alone based on three home runs off KC starter Zach Greinke. Craig Monroe, Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield each put up two-run shots. Granderson finished the game a double away from the cycle; Monroe a triple.

We’ll fast forward a bit to the most amazing happening of the day: Neifi Perez hit a 3-run home run. Lemme repeat. Neifi. Perez. Homered. It happened in the seventh inning. It sounds like it was hardly a homer, but it goes in the stats books under the HR column. Good for Neifi. He takes a lot of crap (and he’s in way over his head), but it’s nice for him to have some success. Believe it or not, he actually had nine home runs in 2005.

This gives Detroit a seven-game winning streak heading into an off day before hosting the Mariners.

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Around the Central:

Cleveland 9, Baltimore 6 –  The Indians kept pace with the Tigers — or vice versa — with a victory over the Orioles. Trot Nixon went 5-for-5 with four RBIs for the Indians.

Boston 4, Minnesota 3 –  Twins lost but Torii Hunter extended his hitting streak to 21 games

Chicago vs. Angels – 3-3 tie in the ninth

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The Tigers continued dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s before Spring Training opens by signing Curtis Granderson and several others to one-year deals Monday.

Granderson, who is still ineligible for arbitration, was the only major leaguer. Joining him were pitchers new tradee Yorman Bazardo, former prospect Kyle Sleeth and 2006 Tiger Roman Colon. Infield prospect Kody Kirkland also signed.

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I’m a bit behind on my updates this weekend, but I really liked seeing the Tigers outfield rank so strongly both now and in the future.

Baseball Prospectus’ Nate Silver looked at what teams outfields could look like in a few years as their prospects develop and found the Tigers combination of Granderson, Cameron Maybin and Gorkys Hernandez (hey, I’ve typed it so much lately I can spell it without looking it up!) to stack up as a top five in the future. Actually, third. As Silver pointed out, Hernandez is an uknown name to most people, but DTown did some research and gave a nice primer for those who are unfamiliar with one of the Gulf Coast League’s top batters. Long story short, he’s no Maybin, but he’s as young and seen as a very promising prospect among most experts.

But that’s in 2009 or more likely 10 we’ll see those three standing in the grass. What about this year? Chicago Tribune baseball writer/ESPN columnist Phil Rogers looked at today’s top outfields. He really liked the (…Anaheim) Angels. Can’t disagree. But his runner-up was Detroit’s outfield of Granderson, Craig Monroe and Magglio Ordonez. (With Marcus Thames as a backup).

The linking factor between the two is Curtis Granderson, today’s center fielder and likely tomorrow’s left fielder. As I noticed and showed last year, a lot of the Tigers success depended on how the young lead-off batter fared. A good game by him tended to turn out a W. And he is a very capable fielder. (A high compliment to both Maybin and Detroit’s future that Granderson will end up trading away that center field position when Maybin arrives, possibly as soon as next year).

Rogers writes:

1. Detroit: Already strong enough to reach the World Series, the Tigers added a highly intriguing X-factor in Sheffield, who became expendable for the Yankees after their trade for Bobby Abreu. Sheffield will probably work as a primary designated hitter as there’s little reason to make changes.
…
Granderson, a hardworking center fielder with as much range as anyone, batted leadoff last year but could be dropped in the order after striking out 174 times. He’s a strong-minded kid who could take another step forward this season.

(And some wonder if Bernie Williams could be a Tiger, but I’m apt to agree with MLB.com Tigers beat writer Jason Beck that he won’t. Then again, who knows with the silent way Dave Dombrowski operates).

A nice outfield today and tomorrow. A nice rotation and pitching staff in general today and tomorrow. And a decent third baseman for the next few years. If Chris Shelton develops and Placido Polanco can stay healthy until help arrives in the form of Scott Sizemore in a few years, all Detroit will really need to worry about is finding a replacement for Carlos Guillen at short (I’m not sold on his being capable of playing SS too far into the future, even if Detroit can afford him) and a desperate need to find a catcher for the post-Pudge years. While not a gimme, filling those needs when they arise does not sound too tall a task. Not a bad future at all.

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The Tigers sent one of their extra outfield prospects to the Seattle Mariners for a right-handed minor league relief pitcher. The Tigers prospect you ought to have heard of: Jeff Frazier. He played in Lakeland in high-A and had some upside but was seen as expendable because Detroit is actually pretty deep at the OF position. The Mariners prospect — Yorman Bazardo — I hadn’t, but John Sickels at Minor League Ball ranked him ninth in the Seattle organization.

MLB.com Tigers beat writer Jason Beck gets the hat-tip for this blog post at Baseball America about Bazardo.

Yorman Bazardo–who has been outstanding since the Mariners designated him for assignment after signing Jeff Weaver–and Francisco Butto were two of the main reasons Venezuela was able to put away Puerto Rico on Tuesday and hand the Caribbean Series title to the Dominican Republic.

Bazardo (and we’ll have a scout’s view on him coming soon), was impressive, flashing a low 90s four-seamer and a hard curveball with good late life, looks like he’s approaching this Series as a showcase since being removed from the Mariners’ 40-man roster.

My first impression is this is a pretty nice trade here. He looks like an interesting pitcher, not a starter, but someone to keep the minor league shelves stocked and has some chance at making it to Detroit, and Frazier was going to have a lot of hurdles in front of him anyway with Cameron Maybin, Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez penciled in as the outfield through 2010 with a good possibility of Gorkys Hernandez or Brent Clevlen being backups.

More later today, plus a few links of interest from the past few days.

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Hey, good news. My Weatherbug says it’s above 0. I’m sure it even feels like it’s above 0, but I am yet to make the decision to verify that one myself. Instead, I keep thinking spring is coming soon.

This was evidenced by MLB.com, which for some reason felt the urge to put the Super Bowl on its front page and sell Colts championship products. That made little sense. The story is gone now, but the sentiment put forward by Mark Newman remains: It’s time for baseball.

Thanks for the handoff.

We promise not to fumble.

Major League Baseball is now officially back at the forefront of popular sports consciousness, now that the annual rite of passage has just occurred in the annual spectacle that is the Super Bowl.

The next step was watching a portion of the third game of the Tigers-Yankees ALDS series last night on FSN Detroit. (I missed the second game a week earlier.) I knew the result of the game, but I had forgot the exacts of how we got there. But it was just nice to have a baseball game back, a full crowd at Comerica Park chanting “Let’s go Tigers” and a blowout of the evil empire. FSN Detroit made an excellent decision to replay the games to build excitement for the season — not that excitement wasn’t there, but man if a big, green baseball field doesn’t look nice right about now when I see a 2+ foot deep channel of Marquette sidewalk running between snowbanks.

Third, Bilfer found a picture from the Spring Training complex in Lakeland. Fans aren’t the only ones excited for the season. Quite a few Tigers are already at camp, almost two weeks ahead of schedule. The complete set is available on Flickr if one photo wasn’t enough for you. Looks like quite a few invitees are there, too.

So, there we have it. Spring is Coming. Think warm thoughts.

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At the re-vamped Yahoo! Sports, their video topic was the three most-improved teams this offseason. Yahoo “expert” (let’s face it, no one really has a clue what’s going to happen) Tim Brown named his three most improved teams. Who ended up No. 1? The Tigers. Wow. Unexpected.

He said the Gary Sheffield deal was understated, lost in the fray of all the other bigger deals out there, but ultimately, just the upgrade Detroit needed to remain the American League favorites in 2007.

Agree? Disagree? I think it was a great move, and they are improved for it. Along with the continued development of some pitchers, plus the defense of Brandon Inge and Curtis Granderson, Detroit should be fine. But most improved? I don’t know about that.

But it’s nice to get the publicity.

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I think MLB.com does a lot of things right. I like the site. I like the stories and the columns. I like their blogs and how they incorporate it with players and writers. I understand your local beat writer is hit-or-miss, but given my reading, I believe the Tigers have one of MLB.com’s best in Jason Beck. Their player profiles are even pretty good. But you know what I’d like to see them do? Something like this player widget that NBA.com has.

I swear I didn’t do that just to get Webber on the site. I’m not really sure how often I’d incorporate it, but I do like the idea of having stats, highlights, etc, all available from a nice looking insert.

Of course, this brings up the question from the independent media standpoint of the league controlling the message, controlling the stories, and all that. But as a blogger, I really do like it and think bloggers help keep the message in check, call out when the league spins, etc.

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I was shoveling up here today. Sounds like Detroiters had some snow of their own to contend with. Here’s a few links to warm you up.

Toledo and Detroit have extended their minor-league development agreement through 2010. (That seems to be the magic year for everything). At this point, it would be weird to picture the Tigers with any other minor league organization, wouldn’t it?

(Via Infinite Dia(b)logue) comes this link to Baseball Analysts, which looked at what minor league stats were predictors of major league success. They found having above average strikeouts and an above-average ground ball rate were good forecasters. ID has a look at some Tigers prospects, but the Baseball Analysts also singled out Dallas Trahern for mention.

(BA:) Dallas Trahern is a classic groundball pitcher who throws strikes and keeps the ball in the yard. A 34th-round draft pick out of high school, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthander throws a sinking fastball in the low-90s and a hard slider. He’s been moving up one level per year and is likely to be assigned to Erie in the Eastern League (AA) as a 21-year-old. Like most of the pitchers in this group, Trahern suffers from a lower-than-desirable strikeout rate.

Jon Paul Morosi did a nice article on Nate Robertson in the Freep. I’ve been a fan of Nate since he was a bottom-of-the-rotation guy who seemed to keep coming through in the crunch during the pre-2006 years. I may even have dabbled with him on my fantasy team at some point out of loyalty and some strikeouts. Given he lives in Michigan year-round, by choice(!), it just makes the success story even better. I think he’ll keep improving and hope he remains a Tiger for while.

New: Justin Verlander and other major league stars filmed a commercial for a new version of the MLB hat, the NY Times reported. Jose Reyes (Mets), Johan Santana and Justin Morneau (Twins), Jonathan Papelbon (Red Sox), Robinson Cano (Yanks) and David Eckstein (Cards) were in it. The best line came from Morneau.

“I got an idea about how to stay warm,” said Morneau, the 2006 American League most valuable player, as he shuffled between the street and a dressing room at the back of the store. “I could find all the White Sox hats and light them on fire.”

Finally, as a site note, below this paragraph you’ll notice I’ve added a link to Sphere, which brings up related content. I’ve found this to be pretty interesting at times, so hopefully it’s of use to you, too.

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