Joker Marchant Stadium

• First appearance of Curtis Granderson as a NY Yankee against the Detroit Tigers
• First appearance of 2009 1st Round Draft Pick Jacob Turner
• Some solid innings pitched by Dontrelle Willis – Happy to see but I’m still very far from having much trust in him.
• My first glimpse of new 2B Scott Sizemore and CF Austin Jackson – I actually did see Sizemore when he was at the big league camp during 2008 Spring Training, but other than my pictures of that trip I don’t remember much.
• Saw Phil Coke pitch a few innings, he’ll apparently be in the bullpen this year but had some rough outings while I was there.
• Witnessed rough outing by new Tiger Max Scherzer.
• Many Tigers prospects made appearances such as (in no particular order) Casey Crosby, Robbie Weinhardt, Gustavo Nunez, Ryan Streiby, Audy Ciriaco, Brennan Boesch, Casper Wells, Brent Dlugach and Daniel Schlereth.
• Solid home run by Braves top prospect Jason Heyward – While not a positive for the Tigers, I was pretty excited to see Heyward made the trip to Lakeland.
• Gerald Laird hits a Grand Slam with his retooled swing.

My only disappointments were not seeing any playing time from Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez, Jose Valverde, Rick Porcello or Justin Verlander. Many of whom I’ve seen before and will in the upcoming season – so I’m OK with it. Twenty-one photos after the jump.

Detroit Tigers vs Atlanta Braves

Carlos Guillen headed to the dugout after taking some groundballs at 2B

Braves top prospect Jason Heyward

Max Scherzer started the game against the Braves

Jason Heyward at-bat - He hit a long home run to right field

Scherzer pulled from the game - He got only a single out that was due to an Omar Infante screw-up.

Willis getting checked out after a pickoff attempt to first base

The familiar Dontrelle Willis pitch delivery - You could tell he was energized on the mound.

Scott Sizemore at-bat - Get use to this odd stance that feels similar to Ichiro

Gustavo Nunez at shortstop and Brent Dlugach at second base

Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees

Jim Leyland and Joe Girardi chat during batting practice

Curtis Granderson as a New York Yankee - He got quite the welcome reception for a Yankee

Ryan Streiby at first base - He was very large making it no surprise that his power has been impressing many this spring.

Austin Jackson chats with Gene Lamont while on 3rd base

Tiger prospect Jacob Turner throws to his first batter

Curtis Granderson stands in the batters box waiting on the delivery by Jacob Turner

Jacob Turner concentrates while Curtis Granderson leads off of first base

Another of Jacob Turner - He had a rather effortless delivery while hitting 94 with his fastball

Audy Ciriaco catches an infield popup while playing third base.

Audy Ciriaco at third base with Adam Everett at shortstop. Audy was surprisingly tall or maybe it was just in contrast to Nunez who was not.

Daniel Schlereth looking home while Strieby holds the runner on first base. Schlereth had control problems this day.

Gustavo Nunez slides into second on a Yankee double-play

• Bottom 1st: Curtis Granderson singles on a ground ball to second baseman Alwin Perez.
• Bottom 3rd: Curtis Granderson flies out to left fielder David Lough.
• Bottom 6th: Curtis Granderson triples (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Wilson Tucker.
• Bottom 8th: Curtis Granderson lines out to center fielder Adrian Ortiz.

He was unable to score off the triple. The Whitecaps faced the Burlington Bee’s who started Alexander Caldera who was Kansas City’s 13th round draft pick from ’07. Caldera was making his third start of the season and had been shutting down lefties allowing only 3 hits, 0 walks and striking out 7 over 6 innings.

Great to see Curtis making consistent contact. Jim Leyland had stated that he wanted Curtis to get 25 at-bats in the minor leagues before he joined the team but according to Danny Knobler that wasn’t a literal statement:

“I had a good talk with him,” Leyland said. “We just want to make sure he has enough at-bats so that he comes back and can be effective. It’s one thing to have enough to play, and another to have enough to be effective.

“He might go down there for three days and feel like he’s right on it, and wants to come back. Those are the (baseball) rules. If they say they’re ready, they’re ready.”

I suspect we’ll see Curtis pretty soon if he continues to feel no pain.

Thomas never took an at-bat at even the Triple-A level before making the Tigers big league team and spent all of the 2007 season with the Double-A Erie Seawolves. There he showed acceptable hitting and decent patience but not much power. He ended the season with a .280/.359/405 line over 528 at-bats. One would expect such a youngster to come up and struggle for at least a little while as they adjust to big league pitching. Last year’s preseason favorite for AL ROY, Alex Gordon, certainly struggled before getting the hang of it late in the season and into the current season. I expected such a struggle for Clete but so far he seems very much at home.

With the help of MLB’s Gameday pitch-by-pitch data (called pitch f/x), we can take a look at what pitches opposing teams have been using trying to get him out. Get a good look at what pitches Thomas likes and which he is able to lay off. My intial expectations were to see him swinging at a number of out of the strike zone pitches and being a bit of a free swinger. He hadn’t, up until yesterday’s game, had a walk all season. Below is a look at all pitches, through yesterday (April 12th, 2008), that Clete has seen. For all graphs I have weeded out a number of bunts that he’s been asked to lay down (he’s a good bunter btw). The breakout shows balls put in play regardless of the result, called ball and strikes which include foul balls.

From this you can see that he has been a pretty good judge of the strike zone but does tend like swing at balls thrown outside a bit (keep in mind that he bats left handed so outside is to the left of the chart). Below is a further breakout of balls that were strikes which further shows that these are often ones he struggles with as well.

You can see with this strike chart that Clete will also swing at balls that are above the strike zone but has, thus far, been able to make contact and foul them off. His sweet spot, which is no surprise, is directly in the middle of the strike zone, if just a little outside. He hasn’t been able to successfully hit balls that are low in the strike zone though there has been few opportunities.

Just for completeness, below is a graph detailing all called ‘balls’ thrown to Thomas. He’s layed off some balls thrown on the edge of the strike zone, particularly pitches that are low. Other than a few, all are clearly outside the strike zone.

While his early success is very nice to see we should all keep our hopes in check. In 2006 Brent Clevlen was called up from Double-A and went on a tear through 31 games hitting .281 and slugging .641. This was promptly followed up by a very disappointing season in Toledo last year where he batted just .220 with a .304 OBP and no power. Will that be the fate of Clete? I certainly hope not but once major league pitchers figure him out we can expect his stats to take a downturn. However it pans out, he’s looked great in the field, at bat and on the basepaths and has opened numerous eyes. The rest is all up to him as he’s been given a clear shot at the future for the Tigers or other teams.

You can get the raw pitch f/x data directly from MLB.com. Thanks to Billfer @ the Detroit Tigers Weblog for pointing me in the correct direction for some useful pitch f/x tools and other examples.

“We know he’s going to miss at least a start, and we don’t want to take any chances,” club president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “Hopefully, in 15 days, he’ll be ready.”

We can only hope he returns in full health and with all control issues figured out as the team needs it. For now Detroit will be filling his rotation Armando Galarraga who will be making only his second major league start. The Tigers acquired Galarraga from the Texas Rangers this past February, sending Michael Hernandez to Texas. A small trade that looks good now since Galarraga will be helping the big league club this year, Hernandez would not have been. At the time Dombrowski was positive on Armando as well:

“Galarraga is a quality prospect with a quality arm,” Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a statement. “His acquisition adds depth to our roster, and he is a pitcher we feel will be able to help our club in the future.”

Thing is, Armando Galarraga isn’t exactly what I’d term a prospect any longer, and if so certainly not a top prospect. He started off with the Montreal Expos organization in 1998 as a nondrafted free agent. He did rather well when not injured and injuries continued to be his major issue through even the last few years. He gets a large number of strikeouts, something that followed him to the few innings he pitched in the major leagues but also something that makes him a bit more suited for the bullpen. Additionally, his splits don’t show a major difference between right handed batters and left handed batters but, unfortunately, aren’t great for either as well.

PECOTA (subscription) is far from positive on Armando and the same goes for Chone and ZiPS projections systems which put his projected ERA at 6.25 and 5.65 respectivly. I was surprised to see him selected to fill the rotation instead of other pitchers who Leyland has liked in the past such as Virgil Vasquez, but both have done very well in Toledo thus far.

Tigers will need him to pitch deep since we know that there isn’t the bullpen to continuously fill an entire nine innings.

He’ll report to Lakeland, where he’ll pick up his throwing and prepare himself for games. Once he reports there, the Tigers have 30 days to evaluate him, after which they’ll have to decide whether to add him to their 25-man roster or outright him, since he’s out of minor-league options.

Cruceta had a good year with the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks, a farm team for Texas Rangers. He pitched 65 innings striking out 70 and walking 40 with a 1.19 WHIP. A pitcher who can come in and get a strikeout when needed would truly help this bullpen. Maybe he could replace Jason Grilli in the ‘pen

1) Justin Verlander – I’m sure I don’t have to introduce Justin to everyone. He moved quickly through the Tiger minor league ranks pitching in high-A and double-A ball in 2005 with an impressive 0.90 WHIP. From there, Justin made the Tigers roster as the fifth starter out of Spring Training in 2006.

Signed for a bonus of $3.12M with a total possible payout of $5.6M, Detroit has already gotten an outstanding return.

2) Eric Beattie – A right-handed pitcher out of Tampa, Beattie was signed in the second round and handed a signing bonus of $800,000. Highly touted and carrying an arsenal of a low-90′s fastball and slider he struggled to find control and walked batters at an astounding rate. Beattie

Beattie never made it out of rookie ball for Detroit before being released in March 2007. He was subsequently signed as a minor league free agent by Boston and pitched low-A and A ball. Under Boston’s control, Beattie continued to walk batters allowing a total of 57 in just 29.2 innings pitched. He was released by Boston in October 2007.

3) Jeff Frazier - A right-handed outfielder, Frazier started in the outfield for West Michigan in 2005 before moving onto Lakeland in 2006. He walked very little and didn’t show power in either league and regressed quite a bit in the move to Lakeland. He was traded to Seattle in February 2007 for Yorman Bazardo, who is now with the big league club.

Jeff improved with Seattle playing in high-A and double-A ball and even showed a little bit of power when he was with the High Desert Mavericks. He is now back in the Detroit farm system after being acquired from Seattle for ‘future considerations’. He’s gotten off to a strong start with the Erie Seawolves so far this season.

Dontrelle Willis has failed to make a good first impressions this spring ending with an abysmal 8.64 ERA. His ERA isn’t the only stat that is wild for him this spring, he’s been completely unable to throw strikes. His OBP for opposing batters is .477, 2.40 WHIP (Walks Hits per Inning Pitched) and has thrown 4 wild pitches. That’s three more than any other Tiger pitcher. Additionally, opposing teams are stealing bases against him without fear as he’s allowed 5 stolen bases in just 6 outings. This could also be due to him concentrating on throwing strikes and paying no attention to runners.

As with Tim Byrdak yesterday, there don’t seem to be any excuses/reasons coming from either Chuck Hernandez or Dontrell himself:

“He’s working hard at trying to get himself back in step,” pitching coach Chuck Hernandez said. “He knows his overall consistency needs to improve, and he’s working hard at that.”

Willis’ next start is scheduled for the fifth game of the regular season, against the White Sox.

“I hope it clicks when the bell rings,” Willis said. “If not, I’ll continue to work hard.”

I hope it clicks too. His control won’t likely improve all that dramatically and has been on a steady decline the past few years. Below is a chart showing his Ball/Strike ratio and WHIP over his major league career.

Any of those numbers are markedly better than his numbers this spring.

Clete Thomas is a big leaguer?

There has been quite a bit of talk about statements made by Jim Leyland regarding Tiger minor leaguer Clete Thomas and a possibility of him breaking camp with the big league team. If you don’t know much about Thomas, as I did, Lee did a great writeup on him at Tiger Tales.

This makes for a great story but I’d put his chances at a long shot. While he has no doubt caught the eye of some of the Major League coaches, he has yet to see a pitch at even the AAA level. The view the coaches have gotten of him this spring has been small, a total of 23 AB’s and mostly in late innings against other teams minor leaguers. Going with an unproven player to start a season where expectations are extremely high would be a major shock.

However, Leyland is one who always goes with who he thinks is best. He did with Verlander and Zumaya only a couple years ago, though the circumstances here are significantly different. We’ll have to wait an see how this plays out, but Freddy Guzman will likely be backing up Inge in center field on Monday.

[UPDATE] – Freddy Guzman has been placed on waivers. I’ll still be surprised to see Thomas break camp with the big league but this is one step closer for him.

Other Tiger News:

• Jim Leyland states, once again, that Denny Bautista will be given his first chance to impress on Opening Day.
• Sports Illustrated has picked the Tigers for the World Series.
• Miguel Cabrera is Jayson Stark’s pre-season pick for AL MVP.

There are still plenty of opportunities for those looking to get an autograph though, but it’s best to arrive very early if that is your goal. I doubt there is a really bad seat in the house and today made for a nice day for a ballgame.

Nate Robertson looked outstanding. He threw consistent strikes and he remained in control for his entire four innings of work allowing a single hit while striking out four. It’s hard to get too excited about this outing for a number of reasons:

1. Nate has outings such as this all the time during the regular season and they are constantly followed by horrible showings. Consistency has always been Robertson’s nemesis but he’s shown more control over the years.
2. It’s Spring Training and it was against the Pirates.

The bullpen was the problematic piece of todays game as well as the most worrisome moving into the season. Aquilino Lopez and Macay McBride each had a solid outings but Byrdak and Larrison both struggled. Todd Jones was the major let down allowing four runs. His stuff was not fooling any of the Pittsburgh minor leaguers. According to Jason Beck he is still working on locating his fastball:

Jones said afterwards that he was working on locating his fastball, with obviously dire results. He spent the rest of the game in the dugout with pitching coach Chuck Hernandez trying to talk over mechanical issues. With just under three weeks before the Tigers head to Detroit, Jones has time to get his fastball location down.

I sure hope so since the last thing Detroit needs to go find early in the season is another closer.

Click on the Continued button below to view some pictures from today’s match up.

1. A view of Joker Marchant Stadium from the outfield lawn. A nice place to watch a ball game and catch a home run ball.

2. Nate Robertson on the mound in the first inning. Nate consistently threw strikes and was ahead of batters.

3. Pudge on third base. The Tiger offense looked alive letting us see some of the potential.

4. Brandon Inge at bat trying to move Dane Sardinha up.

5. Dane Sardinha on third base.

6. Brandon Inge walks back to the dugout.

7. Inge at third base while Danny Worth holds down shortstop.

8. Freddy Guzman running home after his game winning walkoff home run.

9. Players running some post-game sprints in the outfield.

1. Knology Park in Dunedin, FL.

2. A view of Knology Park from the inside.

3. Jeremy Bonderman and Max St. Pierre warming up before the game. There was a good story on St. Pierre’s background in the Detroit News a few weeks ago.

4. 2007 2nd Round Draft Pick, Danny Worth warming up before the game. He was one player I was looking forward to seeing swing the bat, amongst others.

5. Bonderman on the mound. He came out of the gates looking pretty good before getting roughed up a bit in the second inning.

6. Miguel Cabrera lobbing one into the outfield. He did not get on base in three at bats, but didn’t join in the with the rest of the team by striking out.

7. Michael Hollimon took over third base after Cabrera left the game. He, and Scott Sizemore, rate as some of the Tigers best infield prospects.

8. Clete Thomas saw minor action by coming in as a pinch runner in the top of the ninth.

9. Brent Clevlen after the game. Clevlen hit a double to the gap in left field.

10. Scott Sizemore relieved Placido Polanco at second base. Here he’s walking back to the locker room after the game.

The Tigers lost Randor Bierd during the draft to Baltimore. Bierd had a 3.35 in Erie last season and could have presented the team with another bullpen option later in the season if needed. This was something that didn’t need to happen, as I’ve written about before.

I’m assuming some new news has come forward just recently that prompted this move:

“Unfortunately, Tony has not be able to recover from his previous surgery and it does not appear feasible for him to continue his career at this time,” Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said.

Tony was known for solid defense but had struggled getting on base. Detroit has a close equivalent in Ramon Santiago.