Please don't bunt: 2012 Tigers

Chapter 28 in The Saga of Brandon Inge, 34-Year-Old Baseball Player with Two Surgically Repaired Knees and a .548 '11 OPS:

On Jan. 19, as the Tigers kicked off their winter caravan at Comerica Park, Brandon Inge talked happily about his intentions to earn a full-time job at third base this season.

"I've played baseball my whole life. I've started my whole life," he told the Free Press. "I'm a baseball player. I don't want to platoon."

That was before the Tigers said Thursday that Miguel Cabrera would switch from first base to third base after the signing of free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder.

"He's not the happiest camper," manager Jim Leyland said of Inge, a lifetime Tiger.

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSJhqugGprU

Just four months removed from winning a World Series title and retiring from managing the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa will be returning to baseball.

According to MLB.com, La Russa will assume a non-official role as an assistant with the Detroit Tigers during spring training.

“Tony’s going to be down for a couple weeks,” Leyland announced Thursday, according to the report. “He’s going to work with Dave (Dombrowski) in the front office, and he’s going over to Jupiter for a few days and then go out to Arizona for a few days. He will not be in uniform.”

La Russa said shortly after retiring from the Cardinals that he would be interested in other positions around the league.

Interesting.

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=C4&Date=20120222&Category=SPORTS02&ArtNo=202220805&Ref=PH&Item=1&Maxw=640&Maxh=410&q=60

dude sucks at retiring.

best baseball friends

lmao tony smiles!

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0228/mlb_g_leyland_gb1_400.jpg

Projection for Verlander? Everyone went on about how lucky he was last year in terms of BABIP and no blown saves.

The sky is the limit when you eat

http://cbsdetroit.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/verlander-fastball-flakes.jpg?w=300

18-9 W-L, 3.30 ERA, 240 IP, 230 K.

would eat

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l9qQnbFwc0Q/TF9G79y-qzI/AAAAAAAAAL4/Ai2hGggiP-s/s320/Mr.Burns.baseball.jpg

I have Verlander in an auction league. I think he hits $27 out of our $260 budget, so I'll probably keep him, but the Tigers infield D does not make me feel good.

beck.mlblogs.com/2012/03/01/fielding-bible-forecasts-tigers-22nd-in-defense-this-year/

The Tigers’ number is negative, but at minus-11, it isn’t nearly as bad as what might have been expected.

http://beck.mlblogs.com/2012/03/01/fielding-bible-forecasts-tigers-22nd-in-defense-this-year/

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0pmxbWHfP1qk9es5o1_500.jpg

Bob Wojnowski ‏ @bobwojnowski
Tigers prized pitcher Jacob Turner dealing with a "dead arm period"? This, folks, is why you should always trade prospects for proven talent

Jacob Turner is 20 years old.

"This, folks, is why you should always trade prospects for proven talent"

is this guy joking or brain damaged?

it's true, proven talent never has arm troubles

Bob Wojnowski ‏ @bobwojnowski
Verlander was never considered trade bait like Turner was. The kid's only 20, so he can still develop. But it's a crapshoot (baseball term).

Yeah, I remember back when Verlander was a mere potential starter, not really discussed much. He came out of nowhere, almost two whole years after being drafted number two overall.

When will MLB front offices wise up and make decisions based on guaranteed results?

On Verlander's luck:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/03/16/justin.verlander/index.html?eref=sircrc

apparently Vegas gives the Tigers about a 90% shot of winning their division, dunno if I've ever seen it that high before

'crapshoot' is a baseball term? O_o

so Miggy has a "somewhat" broken face after taking a bad hop to the face.
playing 3rd base.

it was a bad hop, but he seemed to be playing it weirdly -- he was kind of facing toward second.

it'll be worth it, though, because of all the extra offense the tigers will get from the dh spot

Their offense will probably be about as productive as it was in 2011. Martinez had a very good season with ridiculous men-on and RISP numbers. I don't think Avila or Peralta will hit as well, though Jackson shouldn't be as bad, and a whole season of Boesch instead of Ordonez should help.

@KeithOlbermann
I plan extensive coverage of Rihanna's engagement AND Drew Smyly being named 5th starter for Detroit for my boss @UncleRush at @GlobalGrind

verlander still assassinating people; my god

hey guys guess what alex avila did today?

(answer: he bunted)

Pleased with this display against Beckett (five HRs and counting), but somewhat concerned about Fister leaving with his hand on his side. #fistered

Best thing that's happened for the Red Sox thus far today? The player they IHBP'd was forced out at home (but two runs scored after that).

http://a.yfrog.com/img877/6861/idee.png

@Tom_Gage
New hope from #Tigers for Victor Martinez to return late this season - didn't need ACL reconstruction - won't know until July, though

Verlander 1 H in 8 IP vs Rays, the guy is savage

Still can't get into the Perfect Game Club though.

Uh oh.

Schlereth? Really?

Just heard my boss, down the hall, with a similar exclamation.

http://l.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/Kf3WxWHLlkuj_XbSj.AIRQ--/YXBwaWQ9eXZpZGVvO2NoPTIxNTtjcj0xO2N3PTE2NDtkeD0xO2R5PTE7Zmk9dWxjcm9wO2g9ODU7cT0xMDA7dz02NQ--/http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/v/mlb/players_l/20110503x/8501.jpg

More exclamations.

DURING THE OFF-SEASON JUSTIN VERLANDER FORGOT HOW TO WIN

(Not an exclamation from my boss, btw.)

Oh, here's Valverde now.

looking for a wild pitch here

Today's designated hitter is Brandon Inge.

Inge was hitless in three at-bats Thursday to finish 1-for-9 (.111) in his three-day trial with the Hens, but drew a pair of walks to give him a .417 on-base percentage (5-for-12) during the stint.

"The timing will come back," said Inge, who plans to rejoin the Tigers in Chicago on Friday. "I'm not worried about the results right now. When you're going through a rehab, getting timing, seeing the pitches, and drawing walks is important.

"I really didn't get many good pitches to hit. They weren't throwing me much -- which was kind of funny."

Uh, LOL?

Verlander CG on 131 pitches. Left bases loaded. Last seven fastballs clocked at 100. Won by one run.

Hilariously awful Inge at-bat yesterday. Runner on second, none out. Squares around but takes fastball right down the middle.

...second pitch well outside zone. Swings, pops out to second base.

The Tigers currently have the best fielding percentage in the AL.

One example of the Tigers' superior defense: Young managed to hold the hitter to a triple here.

http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DELMON-YOUNG.gif

http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DELMON-YOUNG.gif

that's a rough inning for rick porcello

Ironically (or not), Inge has made more miscues at 2B than Cabrera has made at 3B.

nice job by smyly

Now losing in the 11th due to a suicide squeeze off the knee of Gonzalez.

Welcome to MLB, Thad Weber.

@jonmorosi
It's sad to hear the boos for Brandon Inge.

@jonmorosi
If Inge keeps playing like this, he's going to get released. We all see that. Let it happen peacefully.

@jonmorosi
I agree that Inge doesn't deserve a spot on this team right now. But it's possible to believe that without cursing the player.

lol, sleepless nights in the morosi household

Let's see:

Inge was allowed over 300 plate appearances last year despite hitting .197/.265/.283.

He somehow played his way back onto the team by the end of last season and still sucked.

He sucked during spring, sucked during rehab, and room was still made for him.

He complained after his rehab stint that pitchers were THROWING AROUND HIM.

Going into today, he was hitting .059/.059/.235 and had already made several mistakes in the field.

Some fans are upset about that.

jimmy leyland knows better than to question inge's heart

i saw miggy make a couple almost-smooth plays at third early today!

the fuck is wrong with Scherzer?

his eyes are different colors, duh

His eyes and his infield.

Four of the six innings thus far extended by defensive miscues. Knew it would be an issue, but watching it happen is something else.

This would be something like the tenth straight game in which they've failed to score more than four runs.

Noesi to hit these days, apparently.

Or catch and throw -- but that might be the whole season.

@DKnobler
Over last 30 years, only Whitaker and Trammell played more games for Tigers than Inge. http://cbsprt.co/I53NC2

BYE!

Delmon obviously having difficulty coping with his departed teammate:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/detroit_slugger_delmon_young_busted_qabDrrRJ45eBxoay6qou1O

Update: Things have taken a turn for the worse, or at least toward the less funny. It’s being reported that prior to the attack, Young made some antisemitic remarks and now faces a hate crime-related charge because of the incident in front of the Hilton New York.

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2012/04/27/delmon-young-arrested/

sadly not all that surprising

@JonHeymanCBS
Smyly face :)

yeah wtf is that tweet about

Smyly has been effective.

:)

@Rosenberg_Mike
Delmon Young has been suspended for 7 days, retroactive to Friday. He can play again on Shabbat Eve.

http://mlbfancave.mlb.com/fancave/video.jsp?content_id=21121271

Smyly seems pretty legit. Should have realized it after he K'd Cano on three pitches and pretty much shut down the Yankees.

Maybe his opponents will have him figured out the second time around.

Fister (60 pitches through six innings) booed by Ms fans for one pickoff attempt.

Web reaction to Brandon Inge's grand slam vs. Tigers
1:05 PM
Tigers 10, Athletics 6
Michael Rosenberg: For Ernie Harwell, all games were can't-miss
Detroit 10, Oakland 6: Tigers fend off Brandon Inge's grand slam for win
Brandon Inge hits grand slam in first game as Tigers' foe

This grand slam was merits three Free Press articles because it occurred during the 8th inning with the A's down by only eight runs. The otherwise unhittable mop-up man Colin Balester was on the mound.

was

so far these guys have been kinda disappointing

The team isn't that much different from the one they had in 2011. The biggest difference is the level of hype (with their even-weaker division a possible second). They're 16-15. Through 31 games last year, they were 14-17 and won 81 more games.

tigers gettin inge'd

ingecide

@NotHawk
YOU'VE COME BACK FROM A 6-0 DEFICIT TO TAKE A 10-6 LEAD AND YOU'RE BUNTING A RUNNER OVER IN THE 9TH? KILL YOURSELF, LEYLAND.

Yeah, this sac bunt -- executed by table ALEX AVILA -- happened between a HBP and a walk. No runs scored that inning.

There were no bunts during the eight-run inning.

table SETTER

Three errors within 10 batters...

B Dozier safe at first on error by first baseman P Fielder.
J Mauer doubled to deep left, B Dozier scored, J Mauer to third on throwing error by shortstop R Santiago.
E Komatsu safe at first on error by second baseman R Raburn, J Carroll to second.
T Plouffe lined out to third, R Doumit to second on throwing error by third baseman M Cabrera.

parity

hit em where they are

D Butera safe at first on error by third baseman M Cabrera.
J Willingham safe at third on error by first baseman P Fielder.

Tigers have a lot of shit players, it turns out

entire AL central seems more depressing than usual this year

Verlander's gone at least six innings in his last 51 regular-season starts--that's gotta be the longest streak in ages. (Maybe back to Carlton or somebody of that vintage?)

Checked really quickly, but I think Carlton went 69 straight of 6+ from '79-'82. Maddux and Clemens probably put together some lengthy streaks too.

I heard the other day that he has the longest streak since Carlton, yeah.

max scherzer: two true outcomes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeQxfQaZPQ4&feature=related

This team has not won two consecutive games since the 17th/18th of April.

Leading 7-5 in the top of the 7th, facing struggling long reliever(?) Francisco Liriano (ERA over 8, 24 BB in 31.1 IP, etc.):

Leadoff hitter Quintin Berry reaches on a bunt because he is a fast runner (four seasons of 40+ SBs in the minors).

Next hitter, Andy Dirks -- who cannot bunt, looks terrible whenever he attempts to bunt, and has an .883 OPS -- gets the bunt sign. Fails two bunt attempts, strikes out swinging.

Berry takes off on the first pitch to Miguel Cabrera (clearly taking), steals second base*.

The Tigers ended up scoring three runs that inning, despite Leyland's strategy to play for one run.

*Guess who stole second earlier in the game? Miguel Cabrera. Can definitely see why Leyland would have preferred to give up an out to get FAST RUNNER Berry to second.

three homers, four runs

Three runs surrendered after two-strike/two-out pitch was ruled a foul tip that hit the ground before being caught. 1: The ball did not hit the ground. 2. #1 shouldn't matter because it was a swing and miss. 3. HOORAY for the human element.

And THEN, the Tigers' leadoff hitter the following inning was called out at second when he attempted to stretch a single. He was safe. See #3.

And THEN, the Tigers' leadoff hitter the following inning was called out at second when he attempted to stretch a single. He was safe. See #3.

This just happened again. Same fucking crew.

Member of same fucking crew blew a call at first in the first of THIS game.

‏

@beckjason
If you lost count, that's six ejections for Leyland and #Tigers coaches this road trip.

@matthewbmowery
Chris Guccione must be feeling left out. He's the only umpire on this crew who's not yet ejected a #Tigers coach this series

Lots of ballgame left.

And now the face of Alex Avila is spewing blood.

Fun!

10th career triple for prince

Cabrera just hit one into the UPPER shrubs beyond Comerica's CF fall. Pretty sure that's a first.

‏@ESPNStatsInfo
Miguel Cabrera HR off Hiroki Kuroda went 466 ft, T-4th longest this year, and Cabrera's longest HR since April 21, 2010 (468 feet)

And now he just put one in the camera well.

Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi
Double steal changes entire complexion of inning. Takes away DP possibility. Defense continues to hurt Tigers.

The Tigers need an elite third-string catcher, huh?

Valverde just blew a save without giving up a hit.

nice job jose

Must have been happy with his fastball since he threw nothing else.

Regarding IBB of RAMON SANTIAGO, McCarver: "THIS is a good move by Pena."

Game over.

jose improves to 3-1

Embittered, disgusted McCarver, regarding Omir Santos' walk-off fly-out: "Biggest moment of his life right here."

He WAS a Met, right?

TS: Jose Valverde vs. Todd Jones

happy magglio day everyone

i was in attendance for omirs hr off papelbon and barely escaped fenway that night w/o being beat up

rough start

He WAS a Met, right?

Who are you talking about? McCarver broadcast Mets games for a few years, he didn't play for them.

Omir Santos

20-year-old 3B nick castellanos, who was hitting .405/.461/.553 in 55 high-a florida state league games, will make his double-a debut for erie tonight.

kinda seems like the tigers have enough corner infielders already, but . . .

Tigers currently 0 for 7 when Jimenez starts them 2-0.

Avila just left the game.

The Indians have just hit their third triple of the evening. This one followed a two-out walk.

Still watching.

...and this team's 1-2 hitters are Quintin Berry and Matt Young.

Now featuring 10 Mud Hens.

AL pitching

WAR: 2nd
FIP: 1st
xFIP: 3rd

BABIP: 14th
ERA: 11th

Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
S Choo singled to right.
A Cabrera flied out to left.
J Kipnis flied out to center.
C Santana safe at first on error by right fielder B Boesch, S Choo to third.
M Brantley homered to right, S Choo and C Santana scored.

And then Johnny "Sucked as a Tiger" Damon robs Fielder of a home run.

MIGUEL CAIRO (.128/.150/.205) HITS TRIPLE TOWARD DEFENSIVE REPLACEMENT (WHO STRUCK OUT IN THE 9TH), SCORES WINNING RUN IN 10TH.

DEFENSIVE REPLACEMENT REPLACED 3-FOR-4 HITTER, BTW.

Second baseman recalled from single-A Lakeland...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCxtMb_ZXiI&

M Cabrera safe at first on throwing error by pitcher C Friedrich, M Cabrera scored on throwing error by catcher W Rosario.

They are playing NL teams have turned a corner.

Verlander's up to 56 6-plus starts. I know the value of that is connected to how many mediocre starts are mixed in, and Verlander's had a few scattered about, but it sure does give the bullpen a rest. Anyway, he must be close to Carlton's early-'80s streak. Not sure if there's any kind of an official post-WWII record (Spahn maybe?).

poor man's r.a. dickey imo

I've heard they've been dangling him in front of the Mets.

otm

fat dudes at all positions? your window is now. you *need* r.a. dickey

Delmon Young with a career-high 26...consecutive games without a walk.

pretty surprised to see Scherzer starting today after what happened.
i mean, good on him i guess - can't be easy.

He was doing fine until just now.

bernie miklasz on max scherzer

Thanks for that.

Tom Gage ‏@Tom_Gage
Scherzer on #Tigers pre-game about pitching 2 days after brother's death:- "This is what I love to do. This allowed me to get through it."

So yeah, Quintin Berry: .397 OBP in 117 plate appearances and 12 steals without being thrown out. Interesting routes in the outfield but probably significantly better glove than teammates not named Austin Jackson. Pleasant surprise but he's 27 with .267/.358/.338 minor league numbers.

@beckjason
that was Delmon Young's 5th PA with a 3-0 count this year. He's now 0-for-4 with a walk and 2 K's.

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Didn't realize Verlander's post-AS Game comments were such a big deal. Not sure how I feel about this. It might have just been something he said to cover up his embarrassment over getting shelled.

All those comments say to me: everyone except Selig knows it's an exhibition game.

Tigers play last 2 weeks of the season vs the Twins and Royals.

He was smiling on the mound. He didn't care.

Smiles a lot these days.

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/e8/d4/e8d4dd465a4df07db52b0e014db78929.jpg

If I ask if that's his blowup doll, I bet that would be gauged offensive in these post-Tosh.0 times.

answer = yes

@joe_sheehan
#Tigers on pace to shatter AL strikeout record (1266), a tribute to both their staff and their terrible, awful, no-good defense.

http://media.mlive.com/tigers_impact/photo/11329215-large.jpg

With one out in the eighth inning and an 0-1 count on Beckham, Verlander dialed up an inside fastball that was clocked at 100 mph. Beckham checked his swing, but the ball hit his bat and sawed it off, sending the barrel flying.

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2012/07/detroit_tigers_justin_verlande_50.html

Miguel 300

Game called in top of sixth with bases loaded, two out. Tigers lose with potential tying run on first base. Again, two outs.

Verlander's streak is over.

at least you didn't trade for alfonso?

That is true.

Insane ... down by three with two outs in the 10th, they scored five runs to win.

C Perez relieved J Tomlin.
J Peralta popped out to first.
B Boesch grounded out to shortstop.
A Avila walked.
A Dirks hit for D Worth.
A Dirks walked, A Avila to second.
A Jackson doubled to left, A Avila scored, A Dirks to third.
O Infante singled to center, A Dirks and A Jackson scored.
M Cabrera homered to left, O Infante scored.

"You look in their dugout, and you see Verlander and Cabrera and Fielder. But stars don't win games. Teams win games." -- May 24th quote from Chris Perez, whose team just got swept out of town (without having to face Verlander)

Previous inning went triple, two IBBs, K, DP, btw.

Jackson ranks third in the AL in batting average and on-base percentage and eighth in OPS. In fact, he has a better OBP and slugging percentage than Fielder.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/27671/austin-jackson-now-one-of-als-elite-players

Something I'm not totally getting right now is the idea that Verlander is still the front-runner for the Cy Young. Cliff Corcoran say this, WAR says this, and I've seen it elsewhere. To me, Weaver has passed him.

The most basic stuff favours Weaver: 14-1 vs. 11-7, 2.29 ERA vs. 2.63. Weaver has a slight edge in WHIP (0.951/0.977), Verlander a slight edge in K/BB ratio (3.80/3.41). When I look at their game logs, the first thing that jumps out is Weaver's one awful start against Texas in May--3.1 innings, 8 earned runs. If you knock that out of his record, his ERA drops to 1.44. In terms of quality starts, Weaver (ignoring the game where he got pulled because of an injury in the first inning) is 14/18, Verlander 16/22. Average game score: Weaver--64.4 (again ignoring the injury game), Verlander--63.6. Here's a big thing, I think: Weaver has had 11 starts this year where he pitched at least six innings and gave up 0 or 1 run; Verlander's had seven such starts.

And Weaver's done all of this missing almost a full month--which in fact seems to be a big part of the argument for Verlander, that he's pitched almost 40 more innings than Weaver. That's important, and so was his 6-inning streak that was just artificially ended. But I think I'd vote for Weaver right now.

strength of opposition? park factors?

38 fewer innings is a lot, especially when the other guy has a higher strikeout rate.

Weaver is 8th or 9th in the league in both versions of WAR. If he's lights-out the rest of the way he could make it up.

One thing I find interesting is how innings pitched seems to be a key component for starters when it comes to both WAR and how they're viewed by sabermetrically-inclined analysts. I certainly understand it up to a point--a starter who consistently eats up innings and carries your team late into the game takes a lot of pressure off overworked bullpens. At the same time, this does seem to run counter to the turn away from bulk counting-stats in other areas of the game. I haven't really detected a parallel elevation of everyday players who stay in the lineup and pile up ABs year after year (e.g., a Palmeiero or, a much dicier example, Joe Carter--and believe me, I'm fully aware of Carter's numerous gaping weaknesses).

Price would get more votes that Weaver, right? Weaver is 29th in AL strikeouts.

Speaking of which:

AL Strikeouts
1. Max Scherzer 160 (127.2 IP)
2. Felix Hernandez 159 (164.0 IP)

Price probably would--maybe Felix too. And I find that puzzling; Weaver is ahead of Price in ERA, WHIP, and K/BB ratio, and, if you pay any mind to such things, has the better W-L record. I know about BABIP, but are strikeouts considered that crucial to a Cy Young resume now? Is Nolan Ryan now a better pitcher than Greg Maddux?

(Since we're talking about pitchers, I guess I meant FIP rather than BABIP.)

one inning pitched is more crucial to a team than one (or three?) plate appearance.

Unadjusted ERA is considered a pretty misleading stat at this point.

Weaver's slightly ahead of Verlander and Price in ERA+ (and slightly behind Sale, who's first).

Verlander just K'd 14 -- including Granderson, Teixeira, AND Ichiro three times each.

*Teixeira Struggleface*

When I saw Verlander's line tonight, I thought "He must not have liked the turn this thread took." And then Weaver goes out and tops him (against inferior competition, granted): complete game shutout, 9K, 4 hits, no walks. Verlander's game score = 75, Weaver's = 88. Might be headed for a great five-way Cy race.

Which Schoenfield addresses this morning:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/27732/verlander-weaver-good-at-baseball

Detroit Free Press being hilariously terrible again:

http://www.freep.com/article/20120816/SPORTS02/120816060/ESPN-s-Keith-Law-disses-Tigers-Miguel-Cabrera-leaves-him-off-MVP-ballot

http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Avisail+Garcia+Detroit+Tigers+Photo+Day+g0wNLFhizL2l.jpg

Miguel Cabrera, Jr.

Dan Dickerson ‏@Dan_Dickerson
Scherzer now 10-2, 2.53ERA last 14 starts, has lowered ERA from 5.76 to 3.93...

MLB K leader, too (but Verlander will start tomorrow).

(Kinda wanna eye-poke entitled Tiger fans atm.)

inge having season-ending surgery, will miss oakland's series in detroit :-[

He would have raked.

Weirdest pair of series: swept by the Royals (shut down by Chen and Guthrie; Verlander hit hardest in years), then swept the White Sox (had their way with Peavy and Sale; Verlander excellent).

Matt Dery ‏@deryNBA
Leyland: "I've never been in a place where they talk about the lineup so much. Never. Ever in my life".

When he was running sub-Delmon (!) out there every day/night, his defense was that Delmon would eventually get hot. Delmon finally got hot -- so hot that his OPS is now near his 2011 OPS.

Last 7 days: .429/.478/.905
Last 14 days: .362/.388/.766

Delmon is sitting tonight (in favor of Don Kelly, based on small-sample size stats against Masterson).

swept by the Royals (shut down by Chen and Guthrie; Verlander hit hardest in years)

white sox were also swept by the royals in august

Playing for one run in the third inning while losing 3-0...

...and scoring no runs.

...and losing 3-2 (again).

I don't think he can catch up in home runs, but I'll just mention that Cabrera's within striking distance of a Triple Crown. Trout's had such a stranglehold on BA most of the way that I didn't even notice till a couple of days ago.

This is the Leyland shit that pisses me off.

Tigers down 3-2 in the eighth:

Avila, facing a new pitcher, takes four consecutive balls. He is replaced by Quintin Berry, the team's best base stealer (19 for 19).

Rather than see if the pitcher will continue to miss the zone and/or make more mistakes, Leyland opts to play for one fucking run.

Infante sacrifices Berry to second base.

Austin Jackson flies out.

Andy Dirks strikes out.

No runs scored.

And that's their fourth 3-2 loss in the last six games.

‏@LookoutLanding
Tigers have AL's fourth-highest wRC+, second-lowest FIP. Gosh I wonder what the problem is

can you please explain what that means to the stats-ingnorant of us (me)?

Good offense, good pitching, really bad defense.

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/index.php/offense/wrc/

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/index.php/pitching/fip/

So by second-lowest FIP, you mean second best, right? I was thrown by that at first. Now it makes sense.

thanks. i did try googling but still didn't really get it.

Holy cow--Cabrera 3-4, two HR, 6 RBI. So he leads in BA, has widened his RBI lead, and is within two homers of Hamilton.

He also has one more NSB this season than Austin Jackson.

a's strategy is, rightly, 1). take pitches 2). if u must swing, hit toward peralta

Just checking boxscores--how did Verlander throw 122 pitches in 6 innings with 5 hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts? That seems really high.

Through a combination of three-ball counts and two-strike fouls. The strike zone was pretty weird all night.

According to PitchFX, Verlander appeared to throw nine pitches in the zone that were not called strikes. Six of them weren't even near any of the edges of the zone.

I count 31 foul balls off him. Not sure how many were two-strike fouls, but it seemed like a lot.

The most frustrating thing about this time might be that they have three of the highest OBPs in the AL -- from the 1, 3, and 4 slots -- and are ninth in runs scored.

Thanks, "proven run producer" and number five hitter Delmon Young.

Missing you, Victor.

Three of the top six OBPs, that is.

Mauer
Fielder
Cabrera
Trout
Murphy(o_O)
Jackson

Random flashback:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/law_keith/id/6821256/keith-law-analyzing-doug-fister-deal

Seattle really made out like a bandit here, converting two pitchers whose value came in large part due to their home park and Seattle's great defense into three known prospects and reportedly a fourth who might be the best or second-best guy in the deal. Detroit gets a little depth in its rotation but gives up more value than it gets back.

Doug Fister doesn't throw hard, topping out at about 92 on his four-seamer and 89-90 on his two-seamer, but throws both pitches for strikes. He generates a lot of foul balls when he throws the two-seamer in the zone but rarely gets swings and misses on either fastball when he throws them for strikes. Instead, he rarely walks hitters and "trusts his defense," code for a pitcher who can't miss many bats because he doesn't have an above-average pitch.

Bases-loaded WP, Villareal covers plate, thinks it's a force play.

...

2ND PLAYER IN FRANCHISE HISTORY TO HIT 40 HOME RUNS AND 40 DOUBLES IN ONE SEASON (HANK GREENBERG, 1937 AND 1940)

Hi there, Mr. Deltoid.

http://beck.mlblogs.com/2012/09/27/scherzer-scratched-smyly-on-friday/

The shoulder fatigue that knocked Max Scherzer out of a start last week and held down his fastball in his last start on Sunday has now put the rest of his season in question. Scherzer has been scratched from his scheduled start Friday in Minnesota with what is now described as a deltoid strain, and he won’t pick up a ball to throw again until his arm is better.

mlb network used the dreaded 'great pitchability' to describe fister