Results tagged ‘ Ivan Rodriguez ’
Looking Forward
The 2006 season has started with a bang for the Detroit Tigers. As the team continues to play well, it brings up some interesting questions as the season unfolds; questions the likes of which Tigers fans have not had the luxury of pondering for a long time.
I want your comments/thoughts on the following questions:
- Jim Leyland said during spring training that the Tigers lacked swagger. Has the team gained that swagger now? If so, when/how have they shown it? If not, what’s missing?
- During spring training, it was said that if the team showed that they could be competitive, Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch would be willing to spend some money and/or make some key acquisitions to put them over the top. Have the Tigers done enough for Mike Ilitch and Dave Dombrowski to be willing to pull the trigger? If not, what does the team need to do?
- If Mike Ilitch/Dave Dombrowski do make some moves/acquistions to put the team over the top (as described above), what position(s) will be addressed? Which players do you think will be moved or otherwise displaced by their decisions?
Provide me with your thoughts/comments and I’ll provide mine sometime this weekend.
IT’S FUN AGAIN! Good Start Builds Buzz in City & Nationally
Pudge says that this team has the talent to go to the World Series this year. Detroit is becoming cautiously geeked about their baseball team’s hot start.
Quick Notes (4/21)
Spurling Sent to Toledo
Leyland on Spurling, Rodney and the bullpen. Changes for tonight’s lineup include: Vance Wilson behind the plate, Pudge at DH, Monore in center and Thames in left (Granderson has the night off).
TIGERS CORNER: Rodney will be relieved
During Todd Jones’ 2 1/2 week stint on the DL, the bullpen has not blown a save or lost a game…Leyland on Spurling, Rodney, the bullpen, and Pudge playing first base.
TODD JONES: Leyland’s meeting: Healthy, necessary
Todd Jones (in his column for the Detroit Free Press) on new Tigers manager Jim Leyland.
Detroit Takes Series from Oakland in the Ninth
Detroit Tigers 4, Oakland Athletics 3
The Detroit Tigers clinched a series win in Oakland on Thursday, coming from behind in the 9th inning for the win. The Tigers entered the ninth inning down by 2 runs in a game that had been scoreless since the first inning. Back-to-back RBI singles from Chris Shelton and Carlos Guillen tied the game 3-3 before Justin Duchscherer, in for injured A’s closer Huston Street, would eventually walk home the winning run.
Brandon Inge kept the threat alive in the 9th taking a walk after a marathon 15-pitch at-bat; a truly impressive feat which, though bizarre, I would call the play of the game.
The offense finally came through for Detroit in the ninth inning, but not without failing to score on multiple opportunities in the middle innings. For example, Detroit had the middle of the lineup at the plate with 2 runners on base and no outs in the sixth, but came away empty-handed. So far, clutch/situational hitting has not been a strong point for the Tigers.
Jeremy Bonderman gave up three runs in the first inning but recovered to turn in a quality start. Over 7 innings, Bonderman allowed 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Though Bonderman was able to hold the A’s to three runs, he still struggled at times with control. In his last two starts, Bonderman has not shown the command and dominance he displayed throughout the first half of last season. Fortunately, his outing on Thursday was good enough.
Fernando Rodney entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and pitched a perfect inning prior to the Tigers’ 9th inning rally. He returned to the mound in the bottom of the 9th, gave up 1 hit and 2 walks on his way to load the bases. The last 2 outs of the game came with the bases loaded; a force out at home followed by a game-ending strikeout. Rodney, who has been filling in at the closer role during Todd Jones’ stint on the disabled list, was brought into the 8th inning with the Tigers’ trailing. I have to question this coaching decision as it is obvious that this was done with no plan, other than leaving Rodney in the game, in the event that the Tigers were able to tie or take the lead.
OTHER NOTES
Pudge Rodriguez Flexible
Pudge will DH tonight and Vance Wilson will start behind the plate. Pudge is also interested in helping out at first base.
Ramon Santiago pinch-ran for Chris Shelton in the 9th inning of Thursday’s game, and later moved to shortstop. Carlos Guillen, who played first base for Venezuela during the World Baseball Classic, moved over to play first base in the bottom of the ninth. Two good moves by manager Jim Leyland as Shelton is not too quick on the basepaths, nor the most experienced at first base; a potentially dangerous liability during a tight game in Oakland, which has no shortage of foul territory behind first base.
SERIES WRAP
4/18: Detroit Tigers 3, Oakland Athletics 4
4/19: Detroit Tigers 11, Oakland Athletics 4
4/20: Detroit Tigers 4, Oakland Athletics 3
COMING UP
Mike Maroth (2-0, 0.73 ERA) will attempt to lead Detroit to a third straight victory as the Tigers open a three game series with the Seattle Mariners. Jarrod Washburn (1-2, 5.00 ERA) will pitch for the Seattle Mariners, who are currently last place in the AL West. The game will be televised on FSN Detroit and is scheduled to start at 10:05 PM EDT.
Don’t Spend It All in One Place!
Detroit Tigers 14, Kansas City Royals 3
How to silence the Detroit bats on Wednesday? At least 5 of 6 of the Kansas City pitchers couldn’t really tell you and I don’t know who would approve of Mike Wood’s answer anyway.
The Tigers were focused and aggressive at the plate. Here are 2 BIG things that I noticed:
- Whether a strike or a ball, Tigers batters took the first pitch in vast majority of the at-bat’s (except when there were 2 outs).
- Tigers batters were obviously being told to swing away when there were 2 outs.
Curtis Granderson (3-for-6; 2B, HR) showed up on Wednesday, with power. How about that? I expect that his production will be intermittent early on, but this should not be the last time we see him have a day like this.
WELCOME BACK PUDGE
(How long will you be staying with us?)
Ivan Rodriguez turned in a stellar set of at-bat’s in Wednesday’s game, going 5-for-5 with 3 doubles, a homerun and 5 RBI’s. Pudge explained himself, saying:
"This is my 16th year in baseball, and I always play this game like it’s my first. I love this game. Last year I didn’t have that. This year, I have it."
From Pudge, that’s 1 solid outing.
Right out of the gate, Chris Shelton is on. This season at the plate, his struggles will be:
- Adjusting to the scouts; meaning pitchers approaching him differently. Shelton struggled with this last August, as the advance scouts became all-too-aware of who he was. All he needs to do to overcome that is to do what he does so well; be patient and adjust.
- Situational hitting; pressure from Leyland to do different things at the plate, based upon the situation, even as he adjusts as described above.
Chris Shelton is poised to have a full break-out season. I can’t wait to watch.
WHERE’D-YA-GO MAGGLIO?
In the second game of the season, Magglio Ordonez went hitless in Wednesday’s victory, though he did turn in a sacrifice-fly in the first inning; scoring Placido Polanco and advancing Ivan Rodriguez. I think Maggs’ line on Wednesday had something to do with when his AB’s came, however, I would have felt much better if he’d had a hit or two to go with the SF.
Take a look at this summary of his plate appearances and maybe you’ll feel a little squeamish about the clean-up hitter too:
- 1st Inning – 0 outs, sacrifice fly on the first pitch.
- 3rd Inning – 2 outs, ground-out with a runner on first.
- 5th Inning – 1 out, strikes out as the first batter faced by RP Luke Hudson.
- 7th Inning – 0 outs, ground-out with a runner on second.
- 8th Inning – 2 outs, ground-out with a runner on second.
OTHER NOTES
What’s up with referring to taking both of the games in a two-game series as a sweep? I realize that, technically, that IS a sweep. But after a hitter goes 3-for-3 in the first game of the season, no one is raving about how he’s batting a thousand! Technically, the Detroit Tigers are first place in the AL Central; but this writer isn’t making any post-season predictions. It just seems kind-of lame to me. But if you check out some of the detroittigers.com articles or watch the FSN pre-game tonight, I’m betting you’ll come across at least a few instances of the S-word.
I’m going to be out of town starting Thursday thru Monday; expect comments on the Texas series and the Home Opener on Monday night.
THE BIG PICTURE
People will look at the Detroit/Kansas City series and say, "Well, someone has got to win."
They’re right.
However, I’m glad to see that it’s the Tigers who are winning so far, because in recent history, KC has been pesky for the Tigers.
Reflecting upon this opening series with KC, I was going to say that we’ll have a better idea of what to expect this year after these upcoming games with the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox. After giving it some thought, nothing will really surprise me after those games, regardless of the outcomes.
Detroit started its last 2 seasons with a strong April and a continuation of that pattern this year is entirely possible. I don’t think I’ll start forming a real opinion or getting excited about this season for the Detroit Tigers until mid-May.
Opening Day 2006
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.
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