Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City Royals 1

SOLID PITCHING

In his debut with the Tigers, Kenny Rogers looked great, if a little under the weather.  His pitches were well-located and he showed admirable discipline on the mound.  In a word, Kenny Rogers was effective.  His departure after the sixth inning could probably be chalked up to his recent illness; I think we can expect a longer outing from Rogers in his next start.

No one could have expected a better outing from Joel Zumaya in his first Major League appearance.  Though he walked Mike Sweeney, his first batter, Zumaya recovered with back to back strikeouts.  Zumaya then gave up a single to Doug Mientkiewicz before working out of a 2-out & 2-on jam by inducing a ground ball from Angel Berroa.  Though I am sure Zumaya will see his fair share of rough outings in his rookie season with Detroit, he was lights out on Monday; his fastball touched 100 mph and his off-speed pitches were just sick, when he was able to locate them.  In his first Major League appearance, Zumaya showed the ability to recover, which is vital in a relief pitcher. 

Rodney earned the save with a solid outing in the 9th.  No real surprise there.  This should become the pattern so long as Rodney’s role in the bullpen doesn’t fluctuate as often as it did last season.  Obviously, changes are expected as we wait for Todd Jones to return, but if Rodney is given the opportunity to become comfortable with his role in this bullpen, his appearance on the mound should continue to be an unwelcome sight for opposing hitters.

OFFENSE

Chris Shelton (2 HR, 3-for-4) and Carolos Guillen (1 HR) composed the offense in Monday’s game with 3 solo home runs.  Chris Shelton was the obvious player of the game in his first opening-day start with a homerun just inside each of the foul poles.  As for Guillen, who looked good on the field, that’s 1 solid start.  His homerun was a line-shot to left-center on pure strength.  I’d even say that it was pure lower-body strength; a good sign from a player who limped through last season recovering from knee-surgery.

Other writers have made much of Pudge’s walk yesterday, but I see things differently.  Sure, wow, Pudge reached first base on a walk.  Unfortunately, everything else I saw from his at-bat’s reminded me only of 2005.  Especially familiar was his 7th-inning stirkeout, which featured at least 2 terrible swings.  Though it is early, still absent is any sign of poise or patience at the plate.

Too big a deal has been made of third-baseman Brandon Inge’s base-running mistake as he attempted to steal second in the 5th.  The miscue occurred, ironically, as a result of a poor throw from KC catcher John Buck.  The throw arrived well on the first-base side of second-base, where Inge stopped short, probably on instinct, to avoid colliding with second-baseman Mark Grudzielanek.  I’m sure that Inge will react differently next time he finds himeself in that situation, but I think it had more to do with his level of experience on the basepaths than skill.  Inge produced 2 of Detroit’s hits in the game and looked comfortable in the field.

Curtis Granderson looked uncomfortable in his opening-day debut at the top of the order.  Though he went hitless, he did reach first base on a fielder’s choice in the 3rd, where he later went on to steal his first base of the season.  I fully expect a slow start from Granderson, but I believe he will show up with power before long.

OTHER NOTES

Though they did not make appearances, Chris Spurling, Jamie Walker and Bobby Seay were seen warming up in the bullpen at different points after the 7th inning.

Zumaya’s heat touched 100 mph both on the Kansas City telecast and on the stadium monitors, but it never showed 100 on the FSN broadcast; what’s up with that FSN?  I watched for it diligently yesterday, as I did any time Kyle Farnsworth was pitching last season, but I have never seen a 100mph pitch on an FSN Detroit broadcast.  Is there no room for that third digit?!  It’s like the second coming of Y2K!  Get with times, guys!

THE BIG PICTURE

While the Tigers certainly looked decent in their Opening Day win over over the Kansas City Royals yesterday, there was definitely room for some polish.  This is to be expected from any team at the start of the season, but it probably has just as much to do with a team adapting to a new manager. 

Overall, in what I’d say was the first noticeable difference in the team under new manager Jim Leyland, the Tigers looked focused.  We’ve heard focus and concentration preached all throughout Spring Training, and they were present and noticeable in the Detroit’s tight win over the Royals yesterday.

I was nervous as players got frighteningly close to each other on multiple pop-up plays.  I think this is a visible sign of Leyland’s pressure on this team defensively; players are nervous about making mistakes on the easy plays.  Leyland’s comments on defense show that he can forgive mistakes on the tough plays but may not be so quick to forgive mistakes made on the routine plays; Tigers fans saw their fair share of both last season.

Leyland was seen pacing the dugout.  Pudge was looking to him for signs from behind home plate.  You could sense Leyland’s nerves, but it was also clear that Leyland was in the game.  Leyland was calling the shots in ways that I would bet Trammel never did.  On Monday in Kansas City, this was Jim Leyland’s team.