The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – INSIDE PITCH
Gerald Laird left the Tigers after the 2010 season because he could see only splinters in his Detroit future.
In the face of a thin market for light-hitting backup catchers, Laird signed with the St. Louis Cardinals — knowing that time on the pine was his lot as long as Yadier Molina was still breathing.
So after helping the Cardinals win the World Series, Laird left St. Louis to sign with Detroit again despite knowing his role with the Tigers would be no different than it would have been had he stayed with them for 2011.
A two-game sample is too small to base a reality on, but there are signs that accepting his role as a sub might have freed Laird to perform closer to his capabilities.
Detroit signed Laird so it could give starter Alex Avila the rest it was unable to provide him last season, when the lack of a capable substitute during the stretch run left Avila beaten up to the point where he was not a contributor to the Tigers offense in late September and during the playoffs.
“He’s a perfect fit for us,” manager Jim Leyland said. “He has a great relationship with everyone on the team, and we kid with him, but this guy’s a good major league player.”
Leyland started Laird in Rick Porcello’s start at the opener of Detroit’s series against Tampa Bay so he could give the backup some playing time while at the same time letting Avila sit against a tough lefty, the Rays’ Matt Moore. It also followed a day off by the team so Avila went two days in a row without catching.
Laird caught Porcello again Sunday, allowing Leyland to give Avila a day off not only against another tough lefty, Chicago’s Chris Sale, but also in acknowledging his regular catcher got hit three times Saturday by foul balls in unprotected parts of his arms and ribs.
This time Laird hit a home run leading off the third inning for the first run of the game, got a wind-blown double in the fifth to put Jhonny Peralta, who had doubled, in place to score on a wild pitch. Laird singled with one out in the ninth and scored Detroit’s fourth run in a 5-2 win.
“This is what he is here for,” Leyland said. “Last year, we beat the heck out of Alex (Avila) all year long. So don’t be shocked when you see Gerald Laird catching. That’s why he is here. If Alex does go down for two or three days, one thing you know is that this guy can catch and throw.”
One of Laird’s deficiencies his first time around with Detroit was his blind mindset to everything but a home run. He put a home-run swing on every pitch close to the plate and pitchers exploited this without mercy.
But look at Sunday’s results for Laird.
His home run was a 1-1 fastball right down the middle that he yanked to left. His wind-aided double was a fly ball to straightaway center that Alejandro de Aza broke back about 20 feet on before he realized it was hit 40 feet in front of him. But the point is Laird hit the ball to center.
His single in the ninth came on an outside 2-2 pitch that Laird put a good swing on with the intention of hitting it to right, which is exactly where it went.
Another reason Laird signed with Detroit was he felt it would give him a good chance to be on a second World Series winner. Even if it is as a backup again.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – NOTES, QUOTES
–RHP Rick Porcello became the first Detroit starter to win a game this year Sunday with 7 2/3 innings of strong one-run baseball. Porcello, who allowed two runs over seven innings in his first start, allowed a solo home run and used a low pitch count to get deep in the game. He had just 31 pitches after three innings and 66 through six. His manager has predicted a big year for Porcello, who this season seems more poised and polished. “He was commanding all his pitches,” said C Gerald Laird, who has been behind the plate for both of Porcello’s starts. “He was able to throw strikes behind in the count with his off-speed pitches. He was working his sinker to both sides of the plate.”
–C Gerald Laird caught RHP Rick Porcello’s second start of the season Sunday and helped out with his bat for a second time in a row. Laird, who had an RBI single in Detroit’s 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on April 10, went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in his team’s 5-2 win over the White Sox in Chicago. He had a wind-aided double to help Detroit score a run in the fifth and a single in the Tigers’ two-run ninth. “I got a couple good pitches to hit and I just put some good swings (on them),” Laird said. “Right now my swing feels real comfortable. I got lucky on that one, the wind helped me out.”
–2B Ramon Santiago got his first hit of the season, an RBI single in the ninth that helped Detroit beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2. Santiago was in the lineup at second because manager Jim Leyland intended to squeeze as many right-handed hitters into his batting order as he could against LHP Chris Sale. At the same time, Leyland needed Santiago in the field, available for a shift to short should anything happen to SS Jhonny Peralta.
–RHP Jose Valverde struggled through a non-save situation Sunday, allowing a run but preserving Detroit’s 5-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Valverde, like many closers, has a history of being way less than perfect when a game isn’t on the line. He gave up a leadoff double and a pair of one-out singles before settling in to retire the last two batters he faced. “I told him to make it easier on me,” C Gerald Laird said, “and throw it like he did to that last batter (a three-pitch strikeout).”
–3B Miguel Cabrera got off to a hot start in the first five games of the season but will take an 0-for-17 streak with him into Kansas City. Cabrera recorded his first 0-for-5 game since September of 2010, when he went hitless Sunday in Chicago. He hasn’t let it bother his defense, however, as he handled six fielding chances flawlessly, including a liner that Cabrera caught diving toward the line.
–CF Austin Jackson is still striking out at a rate of roughly once a game, but Detroit will take it because he’s hitting the way he did during his rookie season. Jackson faded at the finish in 2010 that dropped him below .300 for the season but he still hit almost .400 when he made contact. This season, Jackson has started 14-for-34 and is among the league batting leaders.
–IF Brandon Inge, one day off the disabled list, made his first start of the season Sunday as Detroit’s designated hitter. He went 0-for-2 before being pinch-hit for by RF Brennan Boesch, whose absence from the starting lineup was a reason for Inge DHing. “If I was playing Boesch, it would be different,” manager Jim Leyland explained. “I can’t DH Santiago, because I wouldn’t have a shortstop in case something happened to (SS Jhonny) Peralta. I had to leave Raburn active (so) I can move Raburn to second. That’s why that was done. It’s not that (Inge) is not going to play second base, just the way I played the lineup, to give Boesch the day off against a pretty nasty lefty, I wanted to keep my options with Santiago able to go to shortstop.” “Anywhere is fine with me,” Inge said. “Just happy to be back in there.”
–LHP Adam Wilk saw his first major league start come to a sudden end Saturday after five innings, when he was struck flush on the left shoulder by a 1B Prince Fielder foul ball while sitting in the Tigers dugout. It is not expected to make him miss his next start. Wilk gave up a pair of solo home runs but only walked one and fanned four. “I had no idea it was coming,” Wilk said. “There was a group of players at the railing and I didn’t see it coming at all. It bounced in the dirt, then got through the opening (of the dugout). First thing I knew it had hit me. It got me flush, but I feel fine. It’s going to be a little stiff and will hurt a little bit, but other than that, it’s O.K.” Wilk pitched five times in relief for Detroit last season, but this was the first time his mother, Deborah, had been able to watch him in action in the majors.
BY THE NUMBERS: 9 — Games into the season before a Detroit starter was the winning pitcher. No Tigers starter had won a game until RHP Rick Porcello pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in Detroit’s 5-2 win at Chicago over the White Sox.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “They’re good. We see that all the time, though, where we come from. You go up and down the American League East and you’ll see that kind of lineup every time you play.” — Manager Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay, on the strength of Detroit’s lineup.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–LHP Adam Wilk (left shoulder) was injured April 14 when he was struck flush on the left shoulder by while sitting in the Tigers dugout. It is not expected to make him miss his next start.
–RHP Octavio Dotel (back stiffness) was unavailable to pitch April 12.
–INF Brandon Inge (left groin strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 30. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Toledo on April 10 and came off the disabled April 14.
–RHP Doug Fister (strained left ribcage muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list April 8. The timetable for his return is unknown.
–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
LHP Adam Wilk
BULLPEN:
RHP Jose Valverde (closer)
RHP Joaquin Benoit
RHP Octavio Dotel
LHP Phil Coke
LHP Daniel Schlereth
RHP Collin Balester
LHP Duane Below
CATCHERS:
Alex Avila
Gerald Laird
INFIELDERS:
1B Prince Fielder
2B Ryan Raburn
SS Jhonny Peralta
3B Miguel Cabrera
INF Ramon Santiago
INF Brandon Inge
UT Don Kelly
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Delmon Young
CF Austin Jackson
RF Brennan Boesch
OF Andy Dirks
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