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

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.

Reading through the article from the Detroit News did nothing to explain away the struggles that Byrdak has gone through. At least if he explained how Byrdak was working on a specific pitch or his mechanics were off or anything that can be readily fixed I’d feel much better. However, this was the best that Jim could muster:

“I just think he’s pressing. You can see it. He threw a lot of balls down that weren’t bad pitches, but were too far down.

“I think a lot of times when guys struggle like that, they want to see the result before they throw the pitch. That’s all I told him when I first went to the mound. Slow things down a little bit.

If Leyland believes there is no worry here and this funk is something that Tim will break out of then I can only take his word. However Byrdak has had a hard time returning to his 2007 form all spring. Below is a game-by-game log of his last 5 outings which covers half of spring.

This just isn’t good enough and in the regular season amounts to at least two losses.

The 2007 season can only be explained as a breakout year for Tim. His stats from previous years showed no indications that he would perform to the level that he did. Before the season he was dealing with a hurt elbow before being cut by the Orioles and subsequently picked up by the Tigers. The big question is: Can he produce again?

Surprisingly, PECOTA (subscription) doesn’t see a massive regression though far from his 3.20 ERA from 2007 with a projected 4.49 ERA. Other projections aren’t far off either ranging from a 4.10 ERA (MINER) to 4.69 (MARCEL) with him keeping a similar BB/9 and HR/9. Whatever his problem, Detroit needs to figure out whether he will produce.. and fast.

[UPDATE] – Wow, minutes after I write this Tim Byrdak was released by the team. This mornings paper had quotes (linked below) from Leyland emphatically stating that Byrdak was part of this team and only hours later he is released. This reminded me of other conflicting stories last week pointed out by Kurt @ Mack Ave Tigers.

Dave Dombrowski had to make a move and we can speculate for now if this move precedes an upcoming trade:

“For us, it was a matter of making a decision today,” said Dombrowski, whose team must finalize its 25-man roster ahead of breaking camp Thursday and preparing for Monday’s season opener against Kansas City at Comerica Park.

“We just didn’t feel comfortable that he could help our big-league club. Last night didn’t help his chances.”

Let’s hope there is some help on the way.

In other news:

• Ryan Raburn has been added to the list of Tigers with injuries after getting hit in the chest by a pitch in yesterdays game. The extent of his injury is unknown right now but this isn’t likely to have an impact after Inge was named as the starting centerfielder yesterday.

This spring he has been solid putting up the type of numbers that we’d all like to see throughout the season. He’s shown he very much is in control of his pitches allowing only 3 walks in 14.1 innings pitched, below his historical averages. There has been very little chatter or concerns expressed about Kenny this off-season and I hope it stays that way. Kenny will take the mound for today’s game against the Phillies and, assuming nobody is skipped in the rotation, again on Thursday.

You can listen to the game on AM 1270 WXYT @ 1:05 PM. Cale Iorg will also be joining the big league club today. BP has Cale as the Tigers #3 prospect and he was the Tigers 6th round draft pick last year.

Being that my tickets showed up a few weeks ago, I couldn’t be more ready to go to the game and get the season started. I’m hoping that it doesn’t turn out like the Cleveland Indians 2007 Opening Day in which the snow just wouldn’t stop. If you’re going to the game be sure to keep an eye on the weather.

As for other news today:

• Jim Leyland believes the team is not ready to play. Kurt @ Mack Ave Tigers noticed an inconsistent message, though I’ll take Jim Leyland’s thoughts on the team over Tom Gages’ opinion.
• Jim Leyland has finalized the rotation order, which I’ve outlined below. I don’t think anyone is surprised that Jim went with a lefty/righty mix.
  1. Justin Verlander
  2. Kenny Rogers
  3. Jeremy Bonderman
  4. Nate Robertson
  5. Dontrelle Willis
• Willis got roughed up a bit in the fourth inning of today’s game. Willis isn’t making me very comfortable as he continues to give way to many walks, 4 in 3.1 innings today and 11 over 13.2 innings this spring.

Denny has yet to allow a run in eight innings of work and given up only 3 hits and 3 walks along with 8 Ks. Impressive, given the lackluster performances thus far of Todd Jones, Zach Miner and Tim Byrdak. Yet this is only eight innings in the life of a very well traveled 26 year-old who has seen 115.7 innings over work at the major league level over the past four years, 8 innings in ’07, and not put up numbers close to these.

Going into the 2005 season, Baseball America ranked him as the Royals #2 prospect, right behind Billy Butler and ahead of Mark Teahan. Additionally he was rated to have the Royals system best fastball, curveball and slider. Initially a starter, Denny was moved to the bullpen in mid-2006 after starting a total of 15 games. After being moved to the bullpen and pushed to Triple-A he had a pretty good 2007 season with Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

Denny is extremely solid against right-handed batters but far from it against lefties. This might be OK in a bullpen that has some strong LHP’s in Byrdak and Bobby Seay. With the continuing troubles of Fernando Rodney and the idiotic moves by Jordan Tata, Bautista is very likely to make the team out of camp. He has the potential to put up some solid numbers for the team this year but it is even more likely that we will get to sit through a number of Grilli-esque innings. PECOTA seems to agree (subscription required.)

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 park was a nice park that is a bit smaller than Joker Marchant, holding a bit above 5,000 fans. There were quite a few Tiger fans in attendance as well. I was a bit surprised that so many turned out and many of them had also made the trip from Detroit.

Below are a number of key points and thoughts I took away from todays game:

• It was disappointing to see Bonderman struggle in the second inning. It felt like classic 2007 season Jeremy Bonderman wherein he struggled early and gave up some very solid outfield gap hits. Can’t say these runs are on him working on his changeup as Jeremy seems pleased with his progress on the pitch:
  

  “I’m not happy giving up three runs,” Bonderman said. “But I am very happy with my changeup.”

• Tigers had many bad at-bats. Jacque Jones reminded me of the Brandon Inge of last year by taking a couple half-swing called third-strike. He just simply looked stumped at the plate. Marcus Thames struck out with the bases loaded, swinging at a ball out of the zone.
• Finally got to see Denny Bautista pitch in person. He struggled a bit more than it might appear from the box score but he didn’t give up a run. He really takes his time between pitches as well but still doesn’t come close to Jose Mesa.
• Was looking forward to seeing Danny Worth but he took a single swing which resulted in a GIDP.
• St. Pierre looked good behind the dish. He connected with Sizemore to get a runner at second and with Hollimon at third. He took some of the better swings for Tiger batters today.
• Wished Bobby Seay would have stayed out a bit longer. He faced three batters and retired them pretty quickly.

Even though the Tigers lost and didn’t look great offensively in the process, it was a fun day. Tomorrow we’ll be going to the Tigers vs Pirates game at Joker Marchant. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to see Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez, all of whom were not in attendance today.

Hope you enjoy.