Well I will need a place to vent and complain and cry and possibly cheer during the upcoming season so here is where I will do that.


So the final 25 opening day roster is set and we open Monday night in Toronto.

My expectations this season? I hope they win 77 games.

Let's talk pitching...ugh

Here is our 5 man rotation that was announced today:

Verlander
Edwin Jackson
Armando Galalalalaragga
Zach Miner
Rick Porcello

Bonderman is still sidelined with pain and such from his blood clot situation from last season. They state he should be ready and in the rotation in a few weeks. I don't think it makes that much of a difference as I have given up on Bondo every coming into his own. I think he is a 11 or 12 win pitcher and that is that.

Hopefully Verlander can turn this around and get back to form from the years prior to last years debacle. Hopefully getting rid of pitching coach Hernandez and his constant tweaking of Verlander and others will prove to be beneficial.

Jackson as #2? I guess in that lineup though I would rather see Armando there.

Miner is Miner. I will never understand how this kid is still on this team. Another problem with Leylands over used loyalties.

Porcello...I am excited to see this kid. But I don't think he should be up just yet. I hope when Bondo gets back Rick is sent back down to continue to develop. Unless he comes out and is a beast, but I don't think that will happen. This might be Leyland taking a shot in hopes it works out and gets him a new contract.


Bullpen:

I think we may actually have a decent bullpen this year. Obv better than our starting rotation. Very excited about Perry, our pick last year make the team. He has had a great spring training and looks to be the real deal. Fernando "I wear my hat crooked and look like an ass on the mound" Rodney was named our closer today. I don't think it will take long to see Perry take over that spot. I have watched Rodney play for 3 years now and he just plain sucks. Another loyalty issue.

Rincon, Seay, Lyon, Bonine, and good ol Nate Robertson fill out the rest of the bullpen. Why they gave Nate $17 million is beyond me. Oh yeah, Leyland loves him so...

Batting:
Good to see Sheffield gone. Big issue in the city these days but I don't believe there will be a time this season where anyone can truly say "Well if we still had Sheff then we would have won/scored/etc." Some people say that he is feared by pitchers around the league. That a pitcher will be scared because he is sitting at 499 HR's. Really? I think the .179 BA might make them feel pretty safe. Oh an he crushes the ball! (foul). This combined with picking up Anderson from Atlanta helps in a few ways.

We now have a legitamate OF to give Granderson days off, possibly come in and replace Guillen in LF when common sense starts working and if Carlos had no range at SS and 3B what makes you think he can chase balls all over LF. Or he could go in RF and Mags is the DH. Personally I still want Guillen as the DH but whatever, Mags would be good too but I think Mags still has some legs left to play OF.

We will most likely have the worst 7 8 9 combo in the bigs this year batting wise. With Inge, Everett, and Laird/Treanor. But we have a solid 3B and a allegedly solid SS and two decent Catchers. Give and take I guess.

Cabby will have a monster year. I hope.


I think again this year comes down to pitching. Last year it was starters and BP, this year I think starters will be the downfall. We'll see.

We will be lucky not to finish in the basement of the AL Central this year.

But I am still giddy with excitement that Tigers baseball is about to get underway.

Jesus verlander, learn2pitch


Toronto fans are are classless. Up 12-5 and throwing shit like baseballs at Tiger outfielders. Suck cock assholes.

Verlander doesn't miss bats. I haven't looked at the numbers, but I am convinced he'll never be anything better than a #3 starter in the majors because:

1) He doesn't miss bats. For a guy that sits pretty comfortably at 95-96, people don't swing and miss at his fastball very much. His curveball is kind of a knee-buckler, but it doesn't have the late break/toxic tilt to generate swinging K's like a good slider does.

2) He can't locate down in the zone. I don't think I've seen him throw back-to-back pitches for strikes in the bottom quarter of the zone in forever. When he misses, he misses up over the plate and gets rocked.

3) I am too sad to keep going.

EDIT-

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...&position=P

Check out the "plate discipline" numbers. Click on "show averages" to compare him to the league-average. It's not pretty

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I called it. Wife was all excited (she is a bigger tigers fan than I) and I said before the start of the 8th that it will be sad they will lose this game. she got mad and I pointed out that either Lyon or Rodney would blow it and sure enough, Lyon solidified my undying hatred for him. This little fuck whined at the end of spring training because he was not made the closer. Said that he was under the impression that is why he was brought in. Well son, it helps to actual pitch well to be a closer. You didn't continue to help your case tonight you stupid fuck.

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I'm still pissed about last night.

I don't want another 0-7 start. I won't be able to handle it. I'm fragile. 3-4 is perfectly fine with me.

Edwin, who was a big ? in my mind proved me wrong for at least one game last night and to see what happened really annoys me. Annoys me more that I saw it coming a mile away.

I probably stated this above or a million times last year, I hate the way Leyland micromanages the pitching during games. At first I was pleased that he let Jackson stay out as long as he did since he loves to pull pitchers who make one mistake regardless of the inning. Then he puts Seay in and Bobby does his job. Why not let him finish it out that inning? Why bring in Lyon who was absolutely horrid all spring training, giving up homers like it was his job. Why not Perry at least, you know the guy who gave up no runs all spring? Maybe because Lyon has been whining like a baby because he was supposed to be the starter so you figured he would have a fire under his ass to pitch well to get that job he so desperately thinks he deserves? So Lyon comes in and gives up a 3 run shot.

Inge, who for whatever reason has stated that he will be better at the plate because he is the 3B again, comes in and gets his 2nd HR of the season and ties it up and what do we do? We bring Lyon back out? WTF? You have Perry, Rodney (yuck), and Robertson (who went 123 the night before in his one short inning) in the BP and you bring out the donkey who couldn't get one out without giving up a 3 run shot? Who had three guys hit off him and hit him hard all three times, one line drive down the middle, a HR, and a shot at the warning track. WTF Jim? Oh, sorry, you thought he was a better matchup. Oh, sorry, yeah, bases loaded one out. Yeah, clearly the matchup was on your side there. Idiot.

Can't wait to see how it goes tonight. Miner is pitching so it won't be too good to start with.

Wow, really have impressed me the last few days.

Blew out the Rangers on Opening Day 15-2. Good to see Cabby is not starting off with a slump like last year. 3 HR's and 10 RBIs so far.

Starting pitching is looking okay. Galalalalalalragagaga looked really good Friday, Verlander was a little improved on Saturday and Jackson pitched well even though he gave up two homers. 2 bad pitches and the rest of the time her looked great.

Yesterdays comeback win was fun to watch. Inge leads off the 8th down 4-0 with a solo homer, his 4th of the year, and by the time he is back up again in the 8th it's 4-4 and there are runners on 2nd and third and he hits a liner down the middle to score two and we end up winning 6-4.

Rodney so far has looked so much better than he has the last 3 years. Seems more in control, head is not jerking around, etc, He says he hasn't felt this healthy in a long time so maybe he has what it takes. Still plenty of time though to figure that out.

Nice to be 4-3 and not 0-7 though. That is all I care about.

While I will agree Miner is not high on my list of people I want in the starting rotation, I find it odd that after one bad start on a very cold and windy afternoon, where even the other pitcher, Gavin Floyd had a horrendous day, Leyland takes Miner out of the rotation and back in the BP and will run with a 4 man rotation until he either decides to put Nate Robertson back in or wait and see if Bondo will be healthy in the next 11 days.

Miner had one very good start, in a dome, and then one terrible outing on a day the winds were 30+ mph and it was in the 30's. I don't think it is time to give up on him just yet. Hell his one start in Toronto was better than verlanders 2 starts this year. Why not put Verlander in the BP as well. Stop micromanaging Jim. You're pissing me off.

I love Armando. Was hoping last year was not a fluke and so far this year he has continued where he left off. Should end today at 2-0 with a.68 ERA.

Just quietly trucking along nicely. Some little hiccups here and there but for the most part doing what we need to do and that is just win series 2-1. Nice to win a series against KC since they have had our number for years. Helped we only had to face Grienke and not Meche and Grienke.

Now we have the slumping Yankees in town and did well in winning game 1 though Rodney is getting scary again. First 5 appearances he gives up only one hit and now his last 5 appearances he is giving up hits and runs like the old Rodney. We'll see.

Going to my first game of the season on Sunday against the Indians. Can't wait to get back to the ballpark.

Amazing thing about baseball...one tiny misplay and boom a 10 run inning.

If Josh catches that ball it's 2 outs and it looked as if Swisher was tagging to try for home and Josh has shown that he can throw it plus it was a shallow hit and that might have gotten us out of the inning. Don't know what would have happened after that but if he makes that catch and only gets the 1 out I still don't think they light us up for 10. Oh well. Just win tonight and win another series, that is all that matters.

Jackson looked good again. Hate seeing him pitch well only to get no run support and having the BP blow up after he exits the game with 0 runs on the board.

I really think Porcello needs to be in AA. Some have made a Greinke comparison (in terms of when they got to the big leagues, not in the type of pitcher they are)...but I don't see it. Greinke at least logged some time in AA and AAA....Porcello has never even pitched in AA.......not that he needs a full a year at each level...but I think the Tigers are making a mistake.

I agree. I was excited at the start of the season just to see what he has but I didn't think it was the best move to bring him up so early. Part of me thinks Leyland did it to hopefully have Porcello come out like Verlander did in his rookie season and thus maybe increase his chances at coming back next year. But the other part of me realizes that there was no one else that deserved that call up after spring training except him so I guess you had to give him a shot. If Willis or Bonderman were ready to go I don't think he gets on the opening day roster. I hope as soon as Bonderman does get back that Porcello is the one sent down instead of Miner. But it would not surprise me if it does end up Miner getting the boot. He already got it once this season.

Good game yesterday. Nice to see Verlander pitch well. 11Ks. Had great seats a couple rows in front of the Tigers bullpen. Watched Verlander warm up before the game.

Nice to win another series after that NYY crap. Also nice if we can keep winning series against Central division teams.

1-1 vs the ChiSox
2-1 vs Royal
2-1 vs Indians


got Minny in tonight.


Inge also still on his getting on base streak. Going to enjoy it till his number fall back to reality.

i like porcello personally. i think he's very talented and am not surprised at the tigers keeping him up. i like the fact that leyland only gives him 5 innings or so of work, i think it's good experience for him and he's doing very well with it.

i can't wait for some of the bigger bats to heat up a little. maggs, placido and grandy will most likely be bat .300 for the season. i'm pretty excited so far this season. And i think it can only get better.

It was great to see Willis get his first win last night. Sadly I was didn't get to watch it all because of the Wings game but I was flipping back at every commercial and intermission to watch him.

I don't know what will become of the D-Train but I am pulling for him. For him to be a Major Leaguer and then fall apart and get sent all the way back to single A and not whine or complain once says a lot about his character. I believe him when he said he felt bad for letting the team down and how bad he wanted to get back and be a part of this team and last night was a big step for him. I love watching how excited he gets and how he acknowledges every play behind him. I hope he can keep it up and be a part of this rotation this year.

Let's see if Justin can continue his 3 game streak of utter dominance. I will believe it when I see it. He still worries me. If he can put together 2 more decent starts then I will be back on the JV bandwagon.

As a Marlins fan, I really really hope that Willis puts it back together. Pitchers can do this (completely fall apart and then come back and be effective). I will be rooting for him.....he is one of the game's good guys.

D-Train had his second straight quality start on Sunday. Good for him, sadly he got no run support and Hammels pitched really well.

Verlander seems to be getting into a groove now. 7IP 5H 0R 0ER 0BB 8K yesterday vs the Royals. Things seem to be gelling really well and I am pleasantly surprised. Big game tonight with Grienke. I hope we can crush his soul!

I love watching Grienke. He was plain sick as hell last night. EJackson was doing good until he slipped on a bunt and then imploded a little.

Brandon Lyon puts me on LFT. I was switching between the Canes/Pens game and this game and I flipped back and Lyon was pitching. I looked at my wife and said, here are some more runs, watch this, and then boom, I think it was Guillen, HR. He sucks so fucking hard that I might actually be dumb enough to say I would prefer Farnsworth in the pen than him. They need to just release this douchebag.

Today is looking promising. 8-3 in the 9th but another fine performance from Porcello. Glad to see he has turned it around and I think he deserves to stay.

Last 5 games...

5-0 32 IP 22H 5R 5ER 10BB 20K 1HR 1.40ERA

Going to the game tonight. Guess last night would have been the better one to go too though. Oh well. Let's go for 6 in a row!

Weeee 7 game winning streak. Let's hope they can keep this up. Let's hope Maggie is back on track and can hit another homerun soon instead of 2 months from now. Let's hope they can still win games when not playing the NL Central.

Washburn for some prospect that I am not familiar with and Luke French.


Do I like it? Not really.

While having 3 of the top ten SP's in the AL in your rotation sounds like a great thing, the problem is this.

1. We don't need pitching. We need bats. We have only one player in our lineup(s) that hits over .270.

2. We don't need pitching. We have no legit lead off guy. I love Grandy but he is not a lead off guy.

3. Inge is injured. He is playing hurt and they have no one to really replace him and thus he gets to play instead of go on the DL and it is hurting the team more with him in there. Go after a 3rd baseman.

4. I don't mind getting Washburn except we gave away what I believe was a needed part of this starting rotation. By giving up French we have to keep Porcello in the rotation. He has lost velocity, he has pitched more innings than he ever has at the tender age of 20, and he is never allowed to go past 5 innings thus forcing the weak BP to work extra hard and put more pressure on Verlander, Edwin, Wash, and Galalalalraalalgaga to go longer. If you get Wash and not give up French then you can send Porcello back down which I think personally is better for his development and better for this team which, if you are getting a rental pitcher it must mean you are going for it this year. French is a perfect 5th man in this rotation and now we don't have anything and we have to risk putting Porcello out there and hope he doesn't get injured or break his confidence.

5. WE NEED A BAT OR TWO. So now instead of losing 2-1 3 times a full rotation we lose 2-1 4 times. Big deal. We can't hit. Don't be fooled by one single 13 run game against Texas with a crappy pitcher and no Kinsler in the lineup. Don't get fooled by what happens in Cleveland as well.

1. Yes, you do.

2. Every team can use more pitching.

5. I don't think Kinsler is that good defensively.

depends on which washburn shows up. if it's the washburn from the last 3 months who's been lights out, good pickup. if it's the washburn who was affectionately known around here as washbum for the previous 3 years and basically stole 36 million dollars from the mariners, bad pickup

1. Not as much as a bat

2. Not as much as a bat

5. I know it was a joke but I suck at those.

1. Even if that's true (and I certainly don't know enough about the Tigers to say it isn't), that doesn't make the trade in and of itself a bad one. Of the non-pitchers that have been traded this week, who would you want and do you think you could've got them for who you gave up in this trade? Do you think you could've got Scott Rolen?

2. I think you just said that every team could use a bat more than pitching.

I really didn't mind the washburn trade at all. They didn't give up much (compared to what TO was asking for RH) I don't think French is gonna be the next Smoltz, although i'm hoping Washburn does the same thing Alexander did in 84.

I was super impressed with Porcello last night, he definately made the nay-sayers question themselves and I believe this kid has a very bright future. I'm happy the tigers are looking to keep him long term instead of using him as a bargaining chip to aquire an old guy who might have a couple years left.

I agree with the hitting thing, we really need a bat in the lineup. Maybe CG coming back will be the spark the club needs. The price at the trade deadline was WAY too much to add a corner infielder. Since they weren't putting Inge on the DL maybe they could've kept that quiet. I think the fact that EVERYBODY knew they were looking for a 3rd baseman to let BI rest a bit might have drove the price up that much more. Regardless of that tho, a strong hitter was gonna cost them anyway.

BTW, i was upset that they didn't let RP come out for the 9th last night. His pitch count under 100, his stuff was amazing and putting FR in the game still scares the hell out of me. Not to mention, he was well overdue to blow a save. I just thought the kid deserved to go the distance. Its too bad that after the incredible performance, he doesn't get the win.

i'm so glad the bats woke up tonight....

i wish we would've taken a closer at the TD tho, i don't know if i can ride the rodney rollercoaster much longer.

I don't get why people want to get rid of Rodney or wanted them to get a closer at the trade deadline. Do you know how many teams and fans would be content with having their closer blow their first save in the month of August. All of them I suspect except for Detroit.

There is not one closer in the league right now with 7 or more saves that has not blown at least one save. Many have more than 1. Actually 34 closers with 7 or more saves and all have blown saves and 6 have 1 blown save and Rodney is one of them. Why on earth would the Tigers get a closer at the trade deadline? Especially since I believe at the trade deadline he was the only closer with 7 or more saves without a blown save.


He might make it interesting but his job is to close the game out, and he has done that at a 96% clip. Nothing at all wrong with that part of this team.

he makes it way tooooo interesting for my liking. especially when he's in a non-save situation. His era is kind of high, he walks alot of batters, although his so/bb ratio is only 2/1, i think it could be better for a closer. I've always had a problem when they put him in a game, unfortunately, i don't think we have a better option. sure he's getting the job done, it's just not at all pretty.

Closers don't get graded on prettiness, they get graded on getting saves in anyway they can at he has done that. No GM or manager would ever think of pulling a guy who has blown one save all season because he doesn't look pretty. Baseball is about results and nothing else.

i'm sure that leyland gets the same sinking feeling that most fans do when rodney enters the game. The guy just makes everyone nervous. I don't know how jim's heart can take it.

I'm not picking on the guy btw, i'm glad he's getting the job done. His numbers are less than stellar tho, even for a closer with the exception of his sv %.

i hope that seeing how well maggs is hitting the ball now is something that will be a factor down the stretch. I'm thinking he may be out of his slump, but time will tell. I think the time off did him some good.

finally....

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

hopefully this is the bat we need.

7 game lead. 26 games to go. 6 game winning streak. Sweep in Tampa.

Great to see the Tigers playing games that matter in September.

This town needs a boost.

Another late inning win for the Tigers tonight. If they go 10/9 over their final 19 ames, then MIN an CWS have to go 17/1 to pass Detroit.

It ain't a lock just yet. If Verlander, Jackson, and Porcello can hit the post season with some momentum then anyone facing the Tigers are going to have to worry.

**** Washburn.

9

Thank god we got Cleveland this week.

and just for the record. I said I was not happy with the Washburn pick up. He was the last thing we needed. I mean I didn't think he was going to get injured but him losing all but one game was expected. This guy thrives when he has no pressure on him. His playoff stats are horrendous and his stats when in a race are just as bad. He is just one of those guys who doesn't like to draw attention to himself.

So it should be Justin, Jackson, and Porcello for the playoffs and Robertson when needed if he can continue to maintain what he has done recently. At this point, if Wash was not injured, I don't think he gets in the playoff rotation.

Some "fans" around here say they need to choke because they will get embarrassed in the playoffs and it's better to just not go. People are stupid. Not that I think they can beat the Yankees, but many thought the same thing in 06 and we all know what happened.

Looking at my first post, I said 77 wins and possibly riding the cellar all year. Instead they have been in 1st since May 10th. Nothing more fun than watching meaningful games in Sept.

8

i don't know what i thought of the washburn trade, i mean, at first i thought it may have been a good trade on paper, but i didn't think we needed to add to the rotation (although, by all accounts we didn't give up too much). I really don't understand why they would've picked up somebody who they knew was injured, from what i've heard, this has been a persistant injury all year. (there is nothing wrong with a girl who listens to sportstalk radio constantly). with that in mind, it's was only a matter of time before his knee completely went.

i wish they would've picked up huff b/f the TD. The fact they have him down the stretch but not for the playoffs is sad. He's definately proving to be a decent bat that can be a good p/h option.

good to see nate have a decent outing last weekend. they definately need a 4th starter for now, hopefully he can continue to stay healthy and help out. I'd love to see them go to a 3 man rotation right now. I don't get the concept of MLB "babying" pitchers nowadays. 5 man rotations and limiting pitch counts is absurd, honestly. i see the reasoning behind it, but when you look at the greats of yesterday and the longevity of them, it makes me wonder why they would be trying to hold them back. Complete games are things of the past, its amazingly rare to see a pitcher go a full game, no matter how great he's throwing. With the advance in training methods, i would think pitchers would be more inclined to last longer, not have to rest as much and still be better.

6


Big 4 game series M-Th. Will be going Wednesday. Luckily each win will reduce the magic number by 2.

4

2

great game glad to have been there cheering on the motown kitties.

i'm jealous...

I was just watching the replay of this game and watching Delmon Young point and yell at his pitcher for throwing at Everett which in turn made Bondo throw at Young was priceless.

Baseball is awesome

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-t...o&type=lgns

Just got home from work. Gonna head down to Comerica. Win & Minne' loss please.

At this rate I am going to just say that they really don't deserve to get in. This team has yet to show any urgency. It's like 06 all over again except this year when they lose the division on the last day, they won't be the wildcard.

the question is...if there is a chance of a tie going into tomorrow...do we pitch JV Sunday or do we save him for the chance of a playoff and start porcello tomorrow?

hopefully greinke tries to state his case for the cy young in his last start against the twinkies and figaro makes the start of his LIFE. that way this will be a non-issue

Wow when the shit hits the fan it really hits the fan.

I don't feel like being a whiny fan and I am in no way qualified to be a manager or GM but this team has put me on LFT the last 2 weeks.

I mean I guess nothing that happened this last week should be a surprise. It's not like our bats have been hot at all this season so it really is no surprise that the Tigers performance at the plate has been pathetic. Have they choked? I guess, but it depends on your definition of choke.

My biggest complaint, whether valid or not, is that there seems to have been absolutely no sense of urgency the last 7 games.

Going into game 4 against Minny was the time to go out and play your damn heart out and get the win. Then you clinch the division and can rest players all you want and set up your rotation for the Yankees on Wednesday. Instead you go out and do nothing. You sit one of your biggest clutch hitters, Polanco, so he can rest. Rest? He can rest the next day. You need to win. There were two occasions where his replacement, Santiago, was up to bat with the bases loaded and did nada. I am not saying it is a given that Polly would have come through, but come on, biggest game of the season and you have bases loaded and your down...Polly or Santiago. The choice is simple. Leyland said that Santiago was better against Baker than Polly. Oh it showed when he went like 0-3 against him that day and twice had runners in scoring position.

I have issue with some of the remarks after the games this weekend. Friday and Saturday there was much said about how this was no big deal and we will get them tomorrow, etc. Then yesterday Verlander does what he does and everyone is like, oh this was so fun, I liked it. Now we got a chance to go into Minny and win a play-in. HELLO, it's fun? Are you crazy, you had a 7.5 game lead less than a month ago. You had opportunities to rest and not even play Verlander on Sunday. You think you are just going to go into the Dome of Hell and win it?

Now we got Cabby. Poor Cabby is not handling the situation to well. On top of going 0-11 with a walk this final series, he has gone and got himself in trouble that resulted in Dombrowski having to pick him up in jail at 7am on Saturday morning. So much wrong with this.

1. He started the night by hanging out at the Townsend drinking all night with the players from the White Sox.

2. Gets home around 6am drunk (.26 on the breathalyzer, good thing he didn't get caught driving I guess) and got into a fight with his wife and she kicked him out so he got put in jail for the morning.

3. His face is all cut up from the fight.

This is not what we need going into tomorrow night. Bad enough we have to rely on a good but young Rick Porcello, but our best bat is on a downward spiral to some big problems.


I don't expect much from them tomorrow. Of course I want them to win and get in and at least get a chance to play against the Yankees. We could have Verlander for games 2 and 5(if necessary) so anything can happen but you never know what team you will get.

Ugh it is getting ugly. Now there are reports that Cabby was warned by the organization for a incident at a bar back in August. On top of that the organization told reporters at one point on Saturday that a dog scratched his face and that they didn't tell the team anything as well. It's coming in fast and it all don't look good. Hoping this was an isolated incident but it seems not to be and the organization has been trying to cover it up.

Tucking Figers

How do you get doubled off of First with one out and a man on Third?

How do you let a goddamn ball get past you in the outfield for a Triple?

How do you NOT turn a goddamn double play when you're PLAYING AT DOUBLE PLAY DEPTH AND YOU GET A GODDAMN HARD GROUNDER TO THE RIGHT OF GODDAMN SECOND BASE?!?!?!?