The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – INSIDE PITCH
That high-priced first baseman Detroit signed during the winter is turning out to be exactly what he is, a Prince. Prince Fielder has fit the Tigers like a pair of custom-made shoes.
It took about four minutes after news leaked out for manager Jim Leyland to find out what his owner, Mike Ilitch, had gotten when he agreed to shell out $214 million over nine years to land Fielder for his team.
“I didn’t have to make a call to find out about him,” Leyland said. “I got six calls right away. He got the highest raves of any player I’ve ever gotten in a trade or as a free agent. The only call I made was to Tony (La Russa).
“Everybody said he was a great talent, a character addition to our clubhouse, a quality human being.”
Fielder has two home runs and three RBI with a .417 batting average in his first three games with Detroit, where his estranged father, Cecil, played first base from 1990-96.
Prince goes out of his way to credit Miguel Cabrera for agreeing to move to third so he could sign with Detroit, where he became a local legend as a 12-year-old for hitting a ball over the fence at Tiger Stadium in a batting practice session.
Cabrera had been tailoring his winter workouts with an eye of returning to third for at least part of the season when Victor Martinez sustained a left knee injury, knocking him out for the season and inducing Ilitch to green-light the signing of Fielder.
“I think it was personal thing,” Leyland said of Ilitch’s determination to get a quality replacement for Martinez. “He always liked Prince. He liked him when he was a kid here and he wanted to draft him, but he was taken just before our pick (by Milwaukee). He likes stars.”
Fielder’s standard response to nearly everything he’s been asked about returning to Detroit is: “It’s cool.”
He and Cabrera share a coveted area of the Tigers’ clubhouse. Make a sharp immediate right when you enter, make a quarter-turn back the way you entered and there they are.
Cabrera owns the first stall and Fielder the third, with a vacant cubicle between that they share for overflow items.
Fielder’s two sons roam the clubhouse at will pre- and post-game with Cabrera treating them like they were his nephews.
The Tigers drew more than 110,000 fans for the season-opening series with Boston and it seemed like Fielder drew ovations simply for breathing. He has been assigned the fourth spot in the batting order in an effort to force pitchers to pitch to Cabrera in the No. 3 spot.
Cabrera walked three times in the Tigers’ opener, the last intentionally, and Fielder followed with a sacrifice fly.
Boston threw the same kind of shift at Fielder that Detroit shows designated hitter David Ortiz of the Red Sox, overloading the right side of the infield with three players and giving him a big fat hole to shoot at.
Fielder topped a grounder through the left side Sunday after Cabrera’s single with Detroit down by two in the bottom of the 11th. From the Boston perspective it was OK that he give up a shot at a game-tying home run to hit a single.
On the other hand, the Tigers’ lineup is so strong that the batters following have good power too, as Delmon Young’s sacrifice fly followed by Alex Avila’s game-winning home run demonstrated.
“I was just trying to hit it where they were pitching me,” Fielder said. “Obviously in the back of my mind I saw a lot of room over there (on the left side).”
For a big guy (OK, a huge guy), Fielder has a short, compact swing that gives him power to both fields. He has a short stride and load that enables him to remain balanced while he swings, which lets him get to the inside fastballs, breaking balls and changeups that the long swingers can be vulnerable to.
Fielder is a career .280 hitter, yet he marvels at Cabrera’s hitting ability.
“For a big guy like that to hit .340, with probably no infield rollers and definitely no bunts … I can learn a lot from him,” Fielder gushed of Cabrera. “He’s aggressive yet he still walks.
“Hopefully, I can be as good when I grow up.”
———————————————–
MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – NOTES, QUOTES
–RHP Collin Balester made his Detroit debut Sunday, allowing a run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Balester was obtained from Washington between seasons in exchange for RHP Ryan Perry to give Detroit some multi-inning flexibility in early and mid-game situations.
–1B Prince Fielder grounded a single to right field on Sunday, collecting the 1,000th hit of his Major League career. He added a second single later in the game. He also got a good look at an over-shifted infield designed to either gather in liners or ground balls to the right side, or make Fielder give up some power to shoot balls to left. Nobody said anything to Fielder about the shift but he decided to take what they gave him and go the other way with outside pitches. “I was just trying to hit it where it was pitched,” he said. “Obviously in the back of my mind I saw a lot of room (on the left side).”
–LHP Duane Below was asked if felt good enough to pitch Sunday after working 2 1/3 innings the previous day. Who could say no? “They asked me if I felt good,” he said. “I told them I felt fine.” Below went down and warmed up in the 11th inning and was called in to get the last out of the inning, earning his second victory in two days when Detroit rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 11th for a 13-12 win. “I was going back out there if the game had gone longer,” Below said. “I was going to do my very best. If you ever hear me complain, please slap me. There’s nothing to complain about.” A final spring cut, Below was added to the opening game roster when RHP Luis Marte pulled a hamstring in his final exhibition appearance.
–RHP Jose Valverde struggled because of a sinus infection over the weekend, but expects to be able to pitch Tuesday when Detroit hosts Tampa Bay for a three-game series. Valverde said he could have pitched Sunday and Detroit might have been forced to use him had the game gone much longer than 11 innings before the Tigers rallied for a 13-12 victory. Valverde was held out of Saturday’s game with Boston because of the illness.
–RHP Doug Fister has no idea how long he’ll be laid up by his sore left side muscle but his manager said the Tigers will be cautious with it. “I’m a little tight,” Fister said. “It’s sore, but I’m just going to take it one day at a time.” “We’re going to take our time with it,” manager Jim Leyland said.. “I don’t really know (how long he’ll be out), but we’re not going to push it.”
–LHP Drew Smyly probably will join Detroit on Thursday for his Major League debut. He is expected to start against Tampa Bay in the final game of a three-game series. Smyly was shaky in the only Triple-A appearance of his brief career. The second-round 2010 draft choice gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings on April 7.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1,000 — Hits by 1B Prince Fielder in his eighth season in the Major Leagues. Fielder’s first-inning single Sunday got him to 1,000.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “If you ever hear me complain, please slap me. There’s nothing to complain about.” — LHP Duane Below, after winning his second game in as many days Sunday for getting one out in Detroit’s 13-12 comeback win over Boston.
———————————————–
MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–RHP Doug Fister (strained left ribcage muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list April 9. The timetable for his return is unknown.
–INF Brandon Inge (left groin strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 30. He hopes to be activated as soon as he is eligible.
–RHP Luis Marte (left hamstring strain) went on the 15-day disabled list April 3.
–RHP Al Alburquerque (right elbow surgery in December 2011) went on the 15-day disabled list April 3. He hopes to resume throwing in early April, but he won’t be back with the Tigers before midseason.
–C/DH Victor Martinez (microfracture left knee surgery in January 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 12. He will miss the entire season.
ROTATION:
RHP Justin Verlander
RHP Max Scherzer
RHP Rick Porcello
LHP Drew Smyly
RHP Brayan Villarreal
BULLPEN:
RHP Jose Valverde (closer)
RHP Joaquin Benoit
RHP Octavio Dotel
LHP Phil Coke
LHP Daniel Schlereth
RHP Collin Balester
CATCHERS:
Alex Avila
Gerald Laird
INFIELDERS:
1B Prince Fielder
2B Ryan Raburn
SS Jhonny Peralta
3B Miguel Cabrera
INF Ramon Santiago
INF Danny Worth
UT Don Kelly
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Delmon Young
CF Austin Jackson
RF Brennan Boesch
OF Andy Dirks
OF Clete Thomas
———————————————–
