The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – INSIDE PITCH
A strong rotation and an even stronger batting order are expected to help the Tigers repeat as the champions of the weak American League Central.
Detroit also boasts a bullpen with three tough veterans at the back end — Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde, who isn’t expected to be a perfect 49-for-49 in saves but should be in the 40-50 save range again.
The key question facing manager Jim Leyland with spring training winding down was which of the rookie lefty candidates he was going to plug into the back end of his rotation. Andy Oliver had the highest ceiling, but his control issues from the last two years surfaced in a late-spring start.
Instead, 2010 second-round draft pick Drew Smyly got the job. Smyly, 22, was the organization’s minor league 2011 Pitcher of the Year but made only a sprinkling of starts in Class AA. Still, he has command of four pitches to overcome a fastball that barely sneaks above 90 mph.
Jacob Turner, a right-hander who was the team’s first-round pick in 2009, was shelved by right shoulder soreness midway through the spring and was expected to begin the season with Class AAA Toledo. He has his own control issues and some other problems to work on (holding runners on base, for instance) but is still regarded as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects.
Detroit’s alternating right- and left-handed batting power hitters will pose problems for everybody and the awesome twosome of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the middle of the lineup takes the pressure off the likes of Brennan Boesch, Delmon Young and Ryan Raburn, each of whom was expected to have a productive season.
The addition of Fielder, signed when Victor Martinez was lost to a winter knee injury, was made possible by Cabrera’s eagerness to return to third. Cabrera, who played the position two seasons with Florida before Detroit obtained him 2008, was struck in the face by a bad-hop grounder Mar. 19 and suffered a broken bone below his right eye but was expected to be ready to play when the season began April 5.
The lone lineup issue was Austin Jackson’s presence at the top of the order. Jackson reduces his speed impact by not getting on base enough, which is because he strikes out way too much (170 and 181 times his first two seasons). But Leyland doesn’t feel he has viable alternatives. Jackson makes up for is offensive inadequacies with sterling play in center, which helps cover up for the subpar Young when he’s in left and the so-so Boesch (very strong arm) in right.
Few expect Justin Verlander to repeat his AL MVP/Cy Young season — but few would be surprised if he did, either.
Doug Fister isn’t expected to post another sub-2.00 ERA for the Tigers but he is expected to be in the neighborhood of 15 victories, a category that could also be reached by Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello.
Defense is not going to be strong suit for the Tigers but they are expected to be able to mask some deficiencies with pitching and offense.
Leyland admits he won’t field a gobble-up-everything defense but also expresses confidence it will be a gobble-everything-you-can-get-to style of play in the field. He notes Jhonny Peralta proved to be a very reliable shortstop for Detroit last year and feels Cabrera and Fielder will be similar.
Alex Avila was ground down behind plate last season and Detroit had to play him from mid-August on because it had no viable alternative. The club feels that was solved with the return of Gerald Laird to back him up. Laird left the Tigers a year ago, winning a World Series with St. Louis, because he didn’t want to back Avila up.
Versatility will mark Leyland’s other reserves. Ramon Santiago can play second, short and third while Don Kelly can play any position on the field and provides a quality left-handed backup bat as well.
Leyland had to pick two more backups from veteran Brandon Inge, rookie Danny Worth and outfielders Andy Dirks and Clete Thomas.
One of Detroit’s chief goals this season will be to get home field advantage for the post-season. While injuries and lack of bullpen depth were bigger factors, the Tigers feel another reason they fell six wins short of winning a World Series was because they were just shy of having the home field edge against Texas.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – NOTES, QUOTES
–LHP Drew Smyly will be the Tigers’ fifth starter, manager Jim Leyland announced, and he’ll probably make his big-league debut April 12 against the Rays. However, Leyland did not confirm that Smyly would be on the Opening day Doster. The Tigers might decide to have him make one minor league start since he’s not on the 40-man roster.
–RHP Luis Marte will be the Tigers’ seventh reliever, manager Jim Leyland announced. Marte, 25, had a 2.08 ERA through 13 appearances this spring. He had four relief outings for Detroit last September, going 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA.
–3B Miguel Cabrera missed nine games recuperating from a non-displaced fracture of the orbital bone below his right eye but didn’t miss a beat Friday in his return to the Detroit lineup. Cabrera doubled to right in his first at-bat and doubled to left in his second. He handled his first fielding chance without incident also, taking a ground ball and stepping on third for a force out. Manager Jim Leyland felt before Cabrera was struck in the eye by a sharp bad-hop grounder that he was making his return to third a non-issue. “I think he was doing very well,” Leyland said. “In fact, some of the drift I was getting from different writers and scouts, including a lot of guys that were doubters to start with, was that he’d begun to look good at third.”
–C Gerald Laird had to be helped off the field Friday after colliding with 1B Don Kelly and spraining his left knee while catching a foul popup. Seriousness of the injury was not immediately known, although Laird said he expected to be ready for Opening Day. Detroit listed him day-to-day, with further examination scheduled Saturday. Laird made an attempt to remain in the game following the second-inning incident but had to be helped from the field when he was unable to walk. Manager Jim Leyland replaced him with last year’s top draft choice, C James McCann. Leyland indicated earlier in the week his emergency catchers were Kelly and INF Brandon Inge.
–INF Brandon Inge’s chances of making the Detroit roster might have been enhanced Friday when backup C Gerald Laird suffered a left knee sprain in the second inning of an exhibition game when he collided with 1B Don Kelly as he caught a foul popup. Inge and Kelly have been tabbed as the Tigers’ emergency catchers by manager Jim Leyland. Inge lost his chance at third base when 3B Miguel Cabrera was shifted there after Detroit signed 1B Prince Fielder to replaced injured DH Victor Martinez. Inge has been playing second base this season, but his average has been below .200 and there has been speculation the Tigers might cut or trade him despite the fact it will owe him nearly $6 million for his 2012 salary and 2013 buyout. Detroit would need someone to spell C Alex Avila if Laird has to be placed on the disabled list.
–RF Brennan Boesch appears to have his swing down pat, ready to start the season benefiting from hitting in front of 3B Miguel Cabrera and 1B Prince Fielder. Boesch hit three home runs in a span of four games during the week, two coming off left-handers. Manager Jim Leyland plans to bat Boesch second in the order. “I’ve hit power guys second before,” Leyland said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. He’s in a pretty good groove.” Said Boesch: “You build to a point in spring training where you feel like you have the swing where you want it to be. From then on, the swing is no longer something you’re concerned about. That’s when it starts to get fun, when you can trust your swing and start competing out there.”
–LHP Duane Below faltered in his final bid to make Detroit’s rotation, walking four the five batters after retiring the first four batters he faced. Below gave up three runs in 3 1/3 innings. “This wasn’t the start I wanted to have in my last start of the spring,” Below said. “It’s frustrating.” Below had an impressive start against the New York Yankees last time out. He still could make Detroit’s team as a reliever. Leyland hasn’t expressed a preference but a third lefty would be useful in long relief with four right-handers in the rotation. Detroit won’t need a fifth starter until mid-April.
–LHP Andy Oliver was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on March 29 after turning in two so-so starts in his bid to join Detroit’s rotation. “We felt like he wasn’t the guy,” manager Jim Leyland said. “We’re not down on him. I like him very much.” Oliver was strong in his first three spring outings, but struggled in his last two, walking five in one and getting hit hard by Houston in the other. He pitched 15 2/3 spring innings, striking out 10 and walking the same number. Control was an issue for him in the minors last season and over his spot starts for the Tigers in the last two years.
–RHP Rick Porcello will make his final spring start April 4 in an exhibition at Toledo. Porcello pitched in a minor league game his next-to-last appearance, so LHP Duane Below could start another game against Major League hitters. Porcello has been sharp this spring. Manager Jim Leyland said his 23-year-old “won’t pitch much (against Toledo).”
–LF/DH Andy Dirks had two hits March 29 to hike his batting average to .422 this spring, which would seem to make him a good bet to make Detroit’s opening roster over OF Clete Thomas. “He played all winter, so he came in sharp, and has been able to maintain that,” manager Jim Leyland said. Thomas is out of options, so would have to be waived to be sent back to the minors, while Dirks has options remaining. Dirks played well as a fill-in outfielder last year when called up in mid-season.
–RHP Doug Fister had to skip a start after developing soreness in his right middle finger. He came out mid-game when he began experiencing pain in the finger. His scheduled start March 28 was postponed to Sunday to give him time to recover and allow manager Jim Leyland to continue auditioning his rookie lefties for a spot in the rotation. Fister said the problem first cropped up last June while pitching for Seattle and was a minor issue at times after he joined Detroit. “I’ve dealt with it before and it was nothing,” Fister said. “I didn’t miss any time last year with it and just pitched through it. With spring training, you just want to get rid of it before the season starts.”
–RHP Jacob Turner was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on March 26 after a bout of right shoulder tendinitis shorted out his bid to win the fifth spot in Detroit’s rotation. Turner, 20, was shut down following his second spring start when his fastball velocity dipped noticeably. He was idled for nearly two weeks.
–LHP Adam Wilk was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on March 24, falling short in his bid to become a member of Detroit’s rotation.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “There are a lot of guys in the big leagues with less stuff than Adam Wilk. He’s going to be in the rotation in Toledo. If he’s the guy they say is doing the best if we need someone, he could be back up.” — Manager Jim Leyland.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – ROSTER REPORT
Manager Jim Leyland knows his team is solid when he enters a season with three $20-million-a-season players and his biggest problems are finding a fifth starter, one early reliever and who the DH is going to be for any given game. Detroit was good last year — 95 wins and losing 4-2 to Texas in the League Championship Series — and should be a strong postseason team this year.
ROTATION:
1. RHP Justin Verlander
2. RHP Doug Fister
3. RHP Max Scherzer
4. RHP Rick Porcello
5. LHP Drew Smyly
The top four starters formed a reliable and formidable rotation once Fister joined the team from Seattle at the end of July last year and have looked strong in the spring.
Verlander comes off a Cy Young/MVP season and while he can’t expect to duplicate that, it speaks to his talent that it’s at least possible. Fister won’t have an ERA below 2.00 for the Tigers but will win games. Both Scherzer and Porcello have room for improvement.
Smyly topped LHP Andy Oliver for the fifth starter’s job. Rookie RHP Jacob Turner, who had shoulder tendinitis midway through spring training, could be ready in April or May.
BULLPEN:
RHP Jose Valverde (closer)
RHP Joaquin Benoit
RHP Octavio Dotel
LHP Phil Coke
LHP Daniel Schlereth
RHP Collin Balester
RHP Luis Marte
Dotel was signed as a free agent between seasons to add veteran depth at the back of the bullpen, which the organization hopes fixes a late-season weakness from last year.
Coke is capable of working an inning or two if necessary and Schlereth keeps getting better as a situational lefty. With so many right-handed starters, a third southpaw in the bullpen would be a boon.
Marte edged LHP Adam Wilk, LHP Duane Below and RHP Bryan Villarreal for the last reliever spot.
LINEUP:
1. CF Austin Jackson
2. RF Brennan Boesch
3. 3B Miguel Cabrera
4. 1B Prince Fielder
5. LF/DH Delmon Young
6. C Alex Avila
7. SS Jhonny Peralta
8. DH/LF Andy Dirks
9. 2B Ryan Raburn/Ramon Santiago
This lineup goes right-left from 1-7 and Leyland can manipulate the bottom two to continue if he so choses. Fielder was signed to replace DH Victor Martinez, out with a knee injury, necessitating the shift of Cabrera from first to third.
Young and Raburn had monster springs as the lineup was productive from the first exhibition game. Dirks figured to split left field and DH duties with Young with Raburn the primary second baseman.
Detroit’s strength in the minors is pitching with little or no help available in case of injuries. The top prospect, 3B Nick Castellanos, is seen as not being ready until 2013 at the earliest.
RESERVES:
UT Don Kelly
INF Ramon Santiago/INF-OF Ryan Raburn
C Gerald Laird
UT Brandon Inge/INF Danny Worth
Kelly pitched in one game and caught in another last season to give him Major League experience at all nine positions during his brief career. He might start at third when 3B Cabrera DHs and provides the Tigers with a solid left-handed pinch-hitting bat.
Santiago or Inge will be the defensive option for Raburn at second. Santiago also can spell Peralta at short. Laird will catch 40 games when Avila is the DH or gets a rest. Inge could also play the outfield.
OF Clete Thomas, out of options, hoped a late push would get him on the roster in place of Dirks, who has an option. The light-hitting but solid defensively Worth was making a long-shot bid to displace Inge.
MEDICAL WATCH:
–3B Miguel Cabrera (broken right orbital bone) was hurt March 19. He returned to Grapefruit League action March 30, and he expects to be ready to play on Opening Day.
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