SB Nation - Nate Robertson

Dodgers Offseason Path Appears Set

Eric Stephen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:01:01 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Juan Pierre may be traded to fill a hole in the starting rotation.

Through three days of the winter meetings, the Dodgers haven't made any deals, but we do have a better idea of their plans this offseason. Randy Wolf signed with the Brewers today for $29.75 million over three years, leaving the Dodgers with a sizable void to fill in their starting rotation.

Actually, there are two holes to fill, behind Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Kuroda. It appears the Dodgers are still in the market for one starting pitcher, but general manager Ned Colletti said he is looking to fill one of the two open rotation slots from within. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported:

Colletti said he's comfortable holding the last rotation spot for a Spring Training competition involving James McDonald, Scott Elbert, Josh Lindblom, Charlie Haeger and Ramon Troncoso. Colletti added left-hander Eric Stults to that group he originally listed on Tuesday.

In my mind, Elbert is the favorite of that group, with his electric left arm, but there is plenty of time for that to get sorted out. McDonald had success out of the bullpen (2.72 ERA, 8.70 strikeouts per nine innings), and I can see him returning to that role in 2010, even though I'm not ready to give up on him as a starter just yet. Both Haeger and Stults are out of options, so they will not only be fighting for a starting role at Camelback Ranch, but also will be fighting for their baseball lives.

How the Dodgers fill that other starting rotation slot has yet to be seen, but the Dodgers don't have much room in their budget without getting creative. If the Dodgers wanted to pay a pitcher $10 million a year, they would have either offered Wolf arbitration, or made an offer to him when presented the opportunity by Wolf's agent, Arn Tellem, today. Wolf's deal, coupled with Brad Penny's deal with St. Louis (one year, $7.5 million plus incentives) and the oft-injured Rich Harden's deal with Texas (one year, $7.5 million with an $11.5 million option for 2011), made it clear that most free agent pitchers are simply out of the Dodgers' price range. If they sign a free agent pitcher, it might be someone like a Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland, again. That is, if they come cheaply enough.

Another option to fill the starting pitching void is to trade Juan Pierre. The idea here is to swap Pierre's contract (two years, $18.5 million) for a high-priced pitcher in a swap of inflated contracts, using that money to pay for a position in need rather than for a fourth outfielder. Options here include:

		2009		2010 Projected
Pitcher	2010 Age	ERA	FIP	ERA	FIP	Contract remaining
Bronson Arroyo	33	3.84	4.78	4.11	4.49	2010: $11m; 2011: $11m option ($2m buyout)
Aaron Harang	32	4.21	4.14	4.18	4.14	2010: $12.5m; 2011: $12.75m option ($2m buyout)
Paul Maholm	28	4.44	3.83	4.29	4.20	2 years, $11m total, plus $9.75m option for 2012
Nate Robertson	32	5.44	4.55	4.89	4.67	2010: $10m
Jeremy Bonderman	27	only 10 IP		4.43	4.22	2010: $12.5m
2010 Projections from Bill James Handbook					Contract info courtesy of the amazing Cot's

I would have thought Kevin Millwood was another trade option (due $12 million in 2010), but he was traded to the Orioles earlier Wednesday. Maholm may be a pipe dream, as his contract isn't all that onerous, but the Pirates seem interested in Pierre, so maybe there is a fit.

Matching up Pierre with a team directly might be tough, so a three-team trade may be the way to go. In fact, Pierre may be traded to fill a different hole, second base. Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports tweeted this on Wednesday night:

Dodgers are more concerned about 2B than letting on publicly, but 3-way trade tries at offing Pierre while filling 2B aren't working yet.

This is interesting, because in the report by Gurnick, Colletti showed a faith in Blake DeWitt manning the second base next season:

At second base, he's sounding more and more comfortable with DeWitt, although he still hopes to add a veteran from a group of free agents that includes Ronnie Belliard, Craig Counsell, Juan Uribe, Jamey Carroll and Felipe Lopez.

"Barring something not on the radar, it will be Blake DeWitt plus a veteran if we started the season today," Colletti said

Whether or not any budget constraints forced this philosophy, Colletti appears to have a faith in the Dodgers' young talent to play a big role in 2010. If you ask me, I think the Dodgers bring back one of Garland or Padilla, and bring back Belliard to caddy for the Blakes -- DeWitt at second and Casey at third. Which means the 2010 Dodgers will look a lot like the 2009 Dodgers in many ways, and the returning cast will have to step up.

Diamond Leung reported that Colletti expressed that same sentiment while showing faith in Chad Billingsley in an interview with Sirius XM:

"Sometimes, you have to make your guys better. You just can’t continue to expect to fill everything from the outside and continue to sign free agents and continue to trade away players. You end up in the same spot more times than not and most of the time worse off than before you started making moves…

The 2010 Dodgers need their guys to be better if they want to stay atop the NL West.

Breaking Down Arnsberg: What Are the Astros Getting?

davoag — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

Is the criticism of Brad Arnsberg justified?

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In case you missed the FanShot from last Friday, the Astros hired a new pitching coach. Brad Arnsberg comes with a reputation as a young pitcher-killer, but was loved by all his staffs and seemed to be able to work some magic with 'reclamation projects.' The World Wide Web was abuzz with articles about his abundance, or lack thereof, of talent. A fine hat-tip to clack and AstroAndy for linking to them.

What I wanted to do, though, is to see if it was warranted. What we're really worried about here are young pitchers, right? Guys 24 years old and younger are in the prime area for suffering from over-use. There are two different models out there currently used to predict injuries to young pitchers. Both were researched pretty thoroughly, but it's hard to tell if they're good predictors of injury potential or just good at explaining what happened in the past.

When I went back to research Arnsberg, I looked at every staff he had from 2000 in Montreal to 2002 with the Marlins and through his five-year tenure in Toronto. I focused on all the pitchers he had that were 24 or younger. This is a bit of a departure from the model, since they stop at 25, but since two-thirds of his stops were of the one-year variety, I downgraded the age a year. The two methods I mentioned were Tom Verducci's theory on an increase in innings from year to year, most recently laid out here. The other was Pitching Abuse Points (PAP), first published back in 1998 by Rany Jazayerli here. I believe it's been tweaked a bit here and there since then, but it's a good starting place for the discussion. My results after the jump...

Arnsberg oversaw 28 different pitchers in their Age 24 season or younger. His biggest year for this was in 2000 in Montreal, when 10 different young pitchers got into games. The 2000 season also seemed to be a learning year for Arnsberg as to how best to utilize pitchers. Of the 10, only one threw more innings than the previous season (Javier Vasquez, +63 IP) and only one had more than 10 PAP per start (Vasquez, 16 PAP). Carl Pavano pitched seven fewer innings than in 1999, but had a PAP/Start of 4.8 and then suffered an injury the following season. The rest all had significant drops in innings pitched and none had more than 2 PAP/start. None of the relievers in his bullpen threw three straight days and only Pavano suffered an injury the following season. Knowing what we do now about Carl, it's easy to see it probably wasn't Arnsberg's fault.

The next year he surfaced was in 2002 with the Marlins. Five guys played at 24 or younger and two of the five had jumps higher than 30 innings. Both Justin Wayne and Nate Robertson pitched over 40 innings more than the previous season, but each threw the majority of their innings in the minors, not the majors. It's hard for me to pin these jumps on Arnsberg for that reason, since their workload was controlled by the minor league pitching coordinator, not the big league pitching coach. As for the other three, Josh Beckett threw 47 less innings than the previous season and averaged 2.1 PAP per start. Pretty reasonable for a 22-year old. Brad Penny had a 69 inning drop in his workload and had 0.8 PAP/start. The other guy in this group was Blaine Neal, a reliever who saw his workload go up by six innings and was used three straight days twice that season. One of those times, though was on both ends of a double-header, when he faced just one batter in the first game. No real injury trouble here, at least not by Arnsberg's work. Beckett had the blister problems, but that's not related to overuse and Penny did have arm trouble, but much later than this.

On to the Toronto years, where Arnsberg saw an impressive group of young pitchers hit the big leagues. In his first season, he had five pitchers in the age range we are looking at. Two drastically increased their inning total (Dustin McGowan, +70, Chad Gaudin +74) while one starter also saw an uptick into the danger zone (Gustavo Chacin +36). The other two guys, Brandon League and Shaun Marcum had smaller increases or decreases, but only Chacin had any PAP to speak of. Chacin's total of 3.7 PAP/start is high, but not distressingly so and his innings increase was slight in comparison to McGowan's. Still, Chacin did suffer a major drop-off in performance and had an injury or two thrown in for good measure. Of course, his delivery is a bit quirky and he came out of nowhere to begin with, so it's hard to say whether Arnsberg led to this flameout. Certainly, the other guys on this list went on to have solid years after 2005, so we may just be dealing with a small sample size.

In 2006, Arnsberg oversaw seven young pitchers, including newcomers Casey Janssen, Ty Taubenheim, Jeremy Accardo and Davis Romero. Accardo, Romero and Dustin McGowan all had inning increases but the rest saw their totals drop. Janssen was the only pitchers with more than 1 PAP/start and his was exactly one. Marcum saw his total drop by 35 innings and had a PAP of 0.8 while League had a slight drop in innings, but was used twice three games in a row. Taubenheim moved from a starter's role in the minors to the bullpen in the majors, which explains his 60-inning drop. None of the evidence here supports the conclusion that misuse led to any injuries.

In 2007, there were only four pitchers in our age-range, including two holdovers, League and Taubenheim. Newcomers Jesse Litsch and Josh Banks both saw increases, though Litsch saw his total rise by 29 innings, just underneath the magic threshold. Litsch also had just 0.7 PAP/start, meaning he wasn't throwing a ton of pitches. League saw his total drop by 59 innings, in part due to injury (I think, though I can't find it anywhere). Taubenheim had his total rise by 15, but was not used in more than two straight games, so he didn't really get overworked.

Litsch was the only pitcher considered young in 2008 and he saw his total innings drop by 11, but his PAP jumped up to 4.2 per start. More distressingly, though was how he was used down the stretch. From August 21 to September 29, Litsch started nine games and threw 61 innings and 980 pitches. He totaled 88 PAP for an average of 9.7 per start, a huge jump over the beginning of the season. He went 5-4 over this stretch and had an average game score of 62.4. Those were both reasons why he pitched so much, I'm sure. He was doing so well that the Jays wanted to keep him pitching to keep them in the race, as the team got to 12 games over .500 on Sept. 12. However, Litsch was pretty much abused during this stretch. He was used once on two days' rest, throwing 49 pitches over three innings and was used once on three days' rest in the back half of a doubleheader. Litsch threw 110 pitches over 5 1/3 innings.

In 2009, Litsch was shut down in April and finally had Tommy John surgery in June. I think it's safe to say that his usage pattern at the end of 2008 may have led to this, but we can't be certain. Arnsberg's last year with Toronto saw five pitchers in our age-group, including Litsch. Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil, Mark Rzepczynski and Brad Mills made major-league debuts and all but Mills saw increases in their inning totals. None saw jumps of over 30, though they all had more PAP than in Arnsberg's past. Romero tallied 6.3 PAP/start and saw his innings jump 14, while Brett Cecil had a jump of 24 innings and 2.1 PAP/start. Rzepczynski made the jump straight from Double-A and saw an increase in 28 innings while having a PAP of 3.8 per start.

What does this mean? Arnsberg gets blamed for the injuries to Marcum and McGowan, but in their formative years with the club, you can see he really didn't do much to hurt them. Only in 2008 did his usage patterns significantly change, and that also coincided with a new manager, Mr. Old School Cito Gaston. This is a classic example of a guy from a bygone era trying to throw pitchers out there like they did in the '70's and hoping it will work. In 2008, for example, Gaston used pitchers on short rest six times, while the American League average was just 3.7. In 2009, he was right in line with the league average of 3, but it still shows that he used his pitchers differently than most of the league. Arnsberg didn't like it, and clashed with his manager as was chronicled here and here. I'm not sure you can blame Arnsberg for what happened to Litsch but you definitely can't blame him for Marcum and McGowan. B.J. Ryan also can't be blamed on him, nor can A.J. Burnett, as both guys had either a history of injuries or a jump in innings before coming to Toronto.

At least one place is mad Arnsberg left Toronto, while there are a couple other places that still levy criticism. I'm not sure how Arnsberg will do with Houston, but I do know he's got a pretty good track record of keeping the young guys healthy. He'll have a tough time on his hands next season, though, as Bud Norris saw a 95 inning jump in his workload, though his PAP/start was just 0.5. Yorman Bazardo was also in the danger zone with a 34 inning jump, and his performance doesn't need any regression. The only worrying part of the bullpen was Sammy Gervacio being used three straight days three different times and once for four straight games. Of course, the 24-year old only threw more than 20 pitches in a game twice, so it's not as worrisome as it appears.

To review, Arnsberg coached for four different managers and only under Gaston did his track record go astray. Out of all his young pitchers, just three were inordinately abused: Chacin, Litsch and Vasquez. Now, we can see that Vasquez was just built to hold up to a higher workload, similar to Roy Halladay. Still, it doesn't excuse the abuse in the first place. Is Gaston more to blame for the last couple of seasons in Toronto? We can't REALLY tell, but after reviewing all this, I certainly feel better about the Astros' new pitching coach.

Total Buzzkill: Twins 8, Tigers 3

Ian Casselberry — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:15:10 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Not even Miguel Cabrera can bear to face how the Detroit Tigers blew an ideal chance to clinch the AL Central Thursday afternoon.

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The storyline was laid out perfectly. All the Detroit Tigers had to do was follow it. But they don't do so well with that.

Sometimes, that's not a bad thing. If the Tigers simply followed the path that was drawn out for them before the season, they wouldn't be playing for an AL Central division title. But this afternoon, with a sellout Comerica Park ready to celebrate, it was most certainly a disappointment.

Detroit had a chance to score more runs on Scott Baker in the first inning, but stranded two runners on base. They took a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by Gerald Laird, but Baker didn't allow anything else from there. And one run wasn't nearly enough offense with the way the Tigers pitched this afternoon.

The Twins jumped on Nate Robertson in the third, as three singles, a hit batsmen, and a sacrifice fly resulted in three runs scored. That turned out to be a lead Minnesota never gave up. Denard Span drove in another run in the fourth, and a three-run margin was plenty against a Tigers offense that had no spark.

But the Tigers still arguably had a chance while down by three. At least they did until the eighth inning. Casey Fien got two outs, but also put two runners on. Bobby Seay came in to face Span, but walked him on six pitches. Seay probably should've been taken out from there. If the idea was to keep him in for Joe Mauer, well, Seay still had to get Orlando Cabrera out.

Seay didn't get Cabrera out, serving up a bases-clearing double that put the game out of reach. With the score 7-1, Jim Leyland apparently felt Seay might as well face Mauer. At the very least, he could end the inning, right? Not so much. Seay hung a slider out over the plate for Mauer to smack to the opposite field, driving in one more run.

The Tigers showed a faint pulse in their half of the inning, scoring two runs. But by then, it was far too little, much too late.

So the AL Central is still up for grabs. The Tigers had a chance to shut the door on the Twins, but instead let them get a foot in. And Minnesota very likely won't be taking it out. Detroit could still win the division by winning two of three this weekend from the White Sox. Or this could be resolved with a Tigers win and Twins loss. (Zack Greinke might be able to help Detroit out with that on Saturday.)

Detroit's gratification has been delayed, and who knows for how long? But hey, at least this weekend's last three games will be interesting.

Comment of the Day:

Not the best time...

For Nate Robertson to remember he’s Nate Robertson…

by moonshineboy

Anything is Possible! Tigers 12, White Sox 5

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:55:23 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Curtis Granderson can't believe the comeback he and his Detroit Tigers staged in Chicago on Saturday night.

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Now that was a comeback.

The Detroit Tigers have rallied plenty of times this season when they were behind. But what they did Saturday night in Chicago stands apart from those other revivals.

We've seen pitching duels where Detroit finally broke open a close game by taking advantage of an opponent's inferior bullpen. We've seen game-tying hits and home runs. We've seen walk-off wins. And we've enjoyed many celebrations along the way.

But had we seen anything like this? Down 5-0 after four innings, on the road in hostile territory? Against a pitcher who hadn't allowed more than three runs in his last six starts? With an offense that hadn't scored a run in its last 14 innings?

I guess they were due. In a big way.

Remember last weekend, when the Tigers got all those singles against Carl Pavano, but only scored two runs? It was a bit of a different story Saturday night versus the White Sox.

After only getting one hit off Freddy Garcia in their first four innings, Detroit began to chip away at the 5-0 deficit Nate Robertson left them with. Miguel Cabrera broke the seal with a solo homer in the fifth. But that was just the beginning.

Cabrera drove in two more runs in the sixth, cutting the margin to 5-3 and suddenly making a Tigers comeback look possible. That possibility became reality in the next inning.

Four of the first Detroit batters hit singles, driving in another two runs to the game at 5-5 and chasing Garcia out of the ballgame. Tony Pena took over and promptly gave up another two singles, bringing in two more Tigers runs. The comeback was complete.

But apparently, the Tigers wanted to make sure this one stuck. In the eighth inning, Detroit strung together four straight two-out hits (fueled by Curtis Granderson's triple that was almost a homer), each of them driving in a run. The team that was down by five and looked flat-lined was up by six, with a more than healthy heart rate. Granderson finished off the avalanche of runs in the ninth with a RBI single.

Could there have been a more important win this season? Had the Tigers lost on Saturday (and taken a series loss for the second straight weekend), their lead in the AL Central would be a mere one game. And depending on what happens Sunday, they could've found themselves tied for first place as they play the Twins beginning on Monday.

But instead of a demoralizing loss, the Tigers rallied triumphantly. Perhaps their most inspiring win in a season full of stirring comebacks.

Roar:

Yes, the offense roared mightily. Cabrera went 4-for-6 with four RBIs. Placido Polanco went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Gerald Laird and Magglio Ordonez combined for five hits. And Granderson broke out of a 2-for-22 slump with a 3-for-6 night and three RBIs.

But a comeback like that doesn't happen without the pitching also shutting the opponent down. And the Tigers' bullpen put some serious clamps on the White Sox over the final 5.2 innings. Most important was Alfredo Figaro, who took over for Robertson in the fourth and allowed only one hit in almost three innings of work. If baseball teams handed out game balls, he'd get one.

Comment of the Night:

On a night in which more than 1,300 comments were posted in the GameThreads (almost 1,700, if you count the Afterglow thread - and I didn't post any comments!), this wasn't easy. And I may well have not gotten this right. There was a lot to scroll through.

But kudos to you for sticking this one out. The Tigers definitely rewarded you for your fandom.

Freddy Garcia

turned into a pumpkin. And Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez are all gods among men

by ChrisDTX

And your runner-up, with visual aid. Thanks to everyone who spent their evening with BYB, and participated in one hell of a night. You guys are truly amazing. And this fun had better continue.

Tigers Win! Game 154 Afterglow

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:05:38 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

2 months ago: Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland (10) signals to the bullpen for right-handed pitcher Alfredo Figaro as Leyland takes starting pitcher Nate Robertson, right, out of the game during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, in Chicago. Also on the mound is catcher Gerald Laird. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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How often does a game turn around like that?

The Tigers fell behind 5-0 after four innings, and it was looking bleak. Nate Robertson was looking like the pitcher we all feared he really was. And when was this team going to score a run again?

But then something clicked. Detroit began to chip away with a Miguel Cabrera solo homer in the fifth. And that apparently broke the seal, because from there, the runs and hits just kept coming. 11 more runs and 17 more hits, to be exact.

Tigers beat the White Sox 12-5! Full recap to come. But for now, enjoy the afterglow... and maybe, just maybe, a turning point for this team.

Afternoon Prowl: 1984 Anniversary, Nate's Extra Day, Podcast Roundtables, and Playoff Ticket Prices

Ian Casselberry — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:30:14 -0000

Which 1984 Tigers will be at the 25th anniversary celebration of the World Series Champions? 24 members of the team will be there, including Sparky Anderson, Darrell Evans, Kirk Gibson, Guillermo Hernandez, Jack Morris, Lance Parrish, and Alan Trammell.

Fans will have an opportunities for Q&A and photos with the players. Gates at Comerica Park open at 5 p.m. The on-field ceremony will take place at 6:40 p.m.

To give Nate Robertson an extra day of rest, the Tigers are pushing him back from Friday to Saturday. Eddie Bonine - who's gotten plenty of rest, having not pitched since last Wednesday - will now get the starting nod on Friday. Bonine will oppose Freddy Garcia, while Robertson will pitch against Jake Peavy.

UPDATE (6:30 p.m.): According to MLB.com's Scott Merkin, Peavy will start Friday and Garcia will pitch on Saturday. (via Jason Beck on Twitter)

I was a guest on the latest edition This Week in Detroit Tigers Baseball, joining Eye of the Tigers' J. Ellet Lambie, The Knee Jerks' Greg Eno, and host Joe Dexter to chat about last weekend's showdown with the Twins and this week's series against the Indians and White Sox.

Joe also talks to TigsTown.com's Paul Wezner about Casey Crosby and the Tigers prospects that will be playing in the Arizona Fall League.

You can listen to or download the podcast from Motor City Bengals, and TWIDTB is also available on iTunes. Thanks to Joe for inviting me onto the show.

Before Edwin Jackson pitched seven shutout innings on Tuesday, Jon Paul Morosi was beginning to wonder if Nate Robertson would've been a better Game 2 starter in the playoffs for the Tigers. (Morosi also has a little bit more on whether or not Jackson was tipping his pitches.)

The Tigers' price hike for playoff tickets concerns Billfer at The Detroit Tigers Weblog. Season ticket holders, in particular, have to plunk down a serious chunk of change for their postseason package. But even for individual tickets, it's quite an increase. I know I paused before buying my ALDS tickets on Tuesday, only to remind myself that I haven't gotten to see any playoff baseball in person.

Brandon Inge's forearm tattoos figure prominently in a conversation with former teammate Kyle Farnsworth in a post at The Dugout. The post includes a photo taken by our own allikazoo, which... is causing a bit of a problem. How about some proper attribution for the photographer, Fanhouse?

If the Tigers decide they don't want Placido Polanco back next season, here's one Twins fan who would like to see him play second base for the home team at Target Field next year.

Curtis Granderson lists the pros and cons of playing at the Metrodome in his latest post for Big League Stew. Kind of makes you wonder if players appreciated playing indoors more than fans and media did. Though Grandy has plenty to dislike about that place, too.

I'm glad to see MLB opening a training academy in China, much like what we see throughout the Latin American countries. But my favorite thing about the AP story on this is the accompanying photo.

One more thing from the "Stew": The Cleveland Indians were the latest team to be featured in their "Walk Toward the Light" series. Will these three games with the Tigers push the Tribe a bit closer to that final resting place?

Rod Allen does a great job on FOX Sports Detroit's Tigers broadcasts without using a telestrator. Last night, Detroit4lyfe caught Allen showing us why it's probably good that he doesn't always have one. Though this was an entertaining moment during last night's game.

Morning Prowl: Playoff Tickets, Metrodome Conflicts, Ernie's Speech, and the Roar of '84

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:05:13 -0000

Remember, playoff tickets for the first-round division series go on sale today at tigers.com, beginning at 10 a.m. EST. Are you buying? (And does it not feel right to be doing so before the playoffs are, you know, official?) You can also buy tickets via phone at 1-866-66-TIGER.

And who had their registration selected in the raffle? I know john.kmiecik did. I lost out. Anyone else? Kurt has a bit more on this at Mack Avenue Tigers, asking someone with the team about the raffle selection.

By winning Sunday in Minnesota, have the Tigers already avoided being lumped in with so-called "chokers," like the 2007 and 2008 Mets? Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan seems to think so, but believes Detroit isn't out of the danger zone just yet. Or does he just want to see the AL Central stay close to give baseball one tight race?

(via The Daily Fungo)

For all those who said their goodbyes to the Metrodome on Sunday, there's still a chance the Tigers could play another game there. If there was a tie-breaker, one-game playoff to determine the winner of the AL Central, it would be played in Minnesota, by virtue of the Twins (America's underdog, according to Jon Paul Morosi) winning the season series over the Tigers.

However, there appears to be a scheduling conflict with the Metrodome, as a Monday Night Football game between the Vikings and Packers is set to be played on October 5, which is a one-game playoff would take place. So would such a game have to be played at, say, 11 a.m.? (Of course, the Tigers could avoid all this by winning the AL Central within the regular 162-game schedule.)

Did the Tigers overlook the Royals in their last six games against them? That's what Nate Robertson seems to think.

Ernie Harwell's thank you to the fans last Wednesday at Comerica Park was entirely consistent with the way he conducted himself as a broadcaster, according to The Detroit Tigers Weblog. As Billfer says, Harwell never overtook the moment, letting it instead speak for itself.

If you missed this in Sunday's Freep, Jo-Ann Barnas asked several Tigers to share their feelings on Mike Ilitch. As you might imagine, everyone had nice things to say about the guy who signs the checks (though I think all of the sentiments expressed are genuine).

I just thought it would've been much funnier if one of the guys had said something like, "Mr. I's a great guy. Loves baseball. Pretty sure I caught him not washing his hands in the bathroom." This is probably why I am not employed by a metropolitan newspaper.

Take 75 North highlights the minor leaguers who were considered the Tigers' top prospects, and looks at their 2009 seasons. Who met their expectations? And what can be expected from these players next year?

With the celebration of the 1984 World Series Championship team scheduled for next Monday, September 28, Old English D hopes you'll share some of your memories of that season.

Speaking of that '84 season, if you didn't see it last week, Big League Stew posted a set of photos from the Tigers' championship run. Some are unfortunate, but they're all memorable. I'd love to have the image of Kirk Gibson celebrating the Tigers' triumph on a wall somewhere in my house.

Tigers Tracks has reached the number 7 in its "Tigers By the Numbers" series. Hello, Pudge Rodriguez.

(I wonder what Pudge thought of Cecil Cooper getting canned by the Astros yesterday?)

From last season's catcher to this year's, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo talked to a scout who loves what Gerald Laird has done behind the plate this season.

Fire Jim Leyland breaks down the value of each Tigers position player (for instance, how much Laird's defense is worth to the team), and has two different charts to illustrate his data.

Murray Chass makes his case for Jim Leyland winning the AL Manager of the Year award.

At DesigNate Robertson, Rogo lists 33 things he'd rather do than watch another series at the Metrodome. Really, I counted them.

There Will Be No Sweep: Tigers 6, Twins 2

Ian Casselberry — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:10:14 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

Is Nate Robertson the starting pitcher the Tigers hoped they were getting with Jarrod Washburn?

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In my three years of writing for Bless You Boys, I've been pretty hard on Nate Robertson. But with a combined record of 16-24 and a 5.55 ERA in 2007 and 2008, along with losing his spot in the rotation during Spring Training this year, Robertson made it pretty easy to get down on him.

However, I come today to praise Nate Robertson. (Out in Scottsdale, AZ, Mike McClary is loving this.)

The Detroit Tigers needed a win today. Their season wasn't on the line, necessarily (though some people reading this will disagree, I imagine). They would still have left Minneapolis with a one-game lead in the AL Central had they lost. But a three-game lead would've made things considerably more comfortable. And Robertson did what he could to make sure the Tigers got that.

Since getting those "fatty, marble-like nodules" taken out of his elbow, Robertson has been a different pitcher. In his first two starts, he'd allowed one run in 10 innings. And if the groin that he injured (or pelvis he inflamed, depending on your terminology of choice) in his last start was healed, he seemed likely to give his team a respectable effort against a familiar opponent.

Holding the Twins to two runs over five innings probably qualifies as respectable, don't you think?

But pitching hadn't been an issue for the Tigers in this series. Their hitting had been the problem. Particularly, hitting with runners in scoring position. Placido Polanco took care of that today. In the fifth inning, behind 2-1, the Tigers had runners on second and third with one out. Time for a weak pop-up or double-play groundball, right? No, Polanco opted for smacking the ball into right field instead. Both runners scored, and the Tigers had the lead.

Detroit padded that lead in the late innings, thanks to a solo homer from Ryan Raburn and sacrifice fly from Polanco (again, driving the ball with runners on base). That gave the bullpen some extra breathing room, though they may not have needed it with the way they pitched. Zach Miner, Bobby Seay, and Fernando Rodney combined to allow two hits over four innings. And perhaps most importantly, they only allowed three fly balls, reducing the chances for a repeat of Saturday afternoon's flub.

And with that, the Tigers say goodbye to the Metrodome (unless events conspire against Detroit and there's a one-game playoff for the AL Central in Minnesota). They also lose only one game off their first-place lead, managing to avoid the worst-case scenarios that Tigers fans feared coming into this weekend.

Roar:

How about Gerald Laird batting 2-for-4? He doesn't just throw out baserunners. Though he did throw out Nick Punto once, and would've gotten him again had the Tigers not been guarding against a hit-and-run in the seventh.

Comment of the Day:

rook34, you have been one serious Debbie Downer lately, but I'm giving this one to you.

a thought on todays game, from pat riley

I recall an article where pat riley told a story of the last thing his father told him: someday, when things are going wrong, you’re going to have to plant your feet, make a stand, and kick somebody’s ass. Today is our day. I am mixing metaphors, but there is no reason, not domes, not nate, not our recent inability to score a damned run, thaat the tigers cannot beat these people. Today.

by rook34

Now, lighten up, Francis.

Oh, and here's a runner-up I'm sure everyone can agree with.

Twins Foiled By...Nate Robertson?

Jesse — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:13:33 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

Has anyone told these guys they should let the girls catch the bouquet?

Browse more photos »

Twins 2, Tigers 6

It looked good, briefly. A Jason Kubel ground out in the first plated Orlando Cabrera for a 1-0 lead, and after the Tigers tied it up in the top of the fourth Minnesota came back in the bottom half to answer. Delmon Young's double was the alpha, Nick Punto's clutch two-out hit was the omega, and the Twins re-took the lead at 2-1.

But that was as good as it would get.

It wasn't a good night for Scott Baker. He struggled early to find his rhythym, giving us a hint during his very first plate appearance when he had trouble putting Curtis Granderson away. Seven pitches later Granderson would strike out, but it would be a promise of things to come. By the time the fifth inning rolled around Baker had been staked to a 2-1 lead. I'm still cringing at what happened.

In reality, the inning wasn't as horrible as I remember it being. At the time it was total agony. A seven-pitch walk to Gerald Laird (yes, Gerald friggin Laird, and that I still maintain that changeup was a STRIKE), Ramo Santiago picking up a single, Granderson grounding out but still advancing both runners. Placido Polanco scoring them both on a single to give the Tigers their first and final lead of the game. Marcus Thames adding another single, Miguel Cabrera flying out (that's two if he could just get one more!!!) and Magglio Ordonez picking up yet another single (NO!) to complete the Tigers' three-run inning. Baker was lifted with two away in the fifth, having faced seven batters and given up four singles, a walk and three runs.

Ron Mahay finished the inning.

Francisco Liriano picked up the final out in the sixth, managed a perfect seventh (with a pair of strikeouts no less), and then paid for his successes in the eighth. He'd done well for four outs, but to be fair it wasn't like he knew where his pitches were going. Liriano consistently missed his spots, but as we've come to know, Liriano can also be at his best when he's effectively wild. Which is a great way of saying "thanks, hitters, for swinging at crap", although at the same time his slider is still pretty tough.

So when Liriano surprised everyone by throwing two consecutive pitches low in the strike zone to Ryan Rayburn, it came as some surprise. Rayburn's solo home run, not so much of a surprise. Cisco walked Brandon Inge, who would later score off a sacrifice fly with Jon Rauch on the hill. Liriano clearly still has some work to do mentally. All the talent in the world, and I'm not going to complain too much about a guy with his stuff being "effectively wild", but there has to be some sort of consistency because right now there's none.

The Twins don't pick up the sweep, and it's a shame, but they still come away with a series win which puts them one very meaningful game closer to first place than they were when this whole stress-filled weekend started. A week from tomorrow we get to be in Detroit for a four-game tilt which, hopefully, still means something. Which will depend on how things play out over the next week.

Minnesota gets a three-game stand in Chicago with the struggling White Sox before getting a day off, and then taking on the Royals for three next weekend. While the Twins are in Kansas City, the Sox will be hosting the Tigers. Detroit, meanwhile, gets Monday off before travelling to Cleveland for three. Both the Twins and Tigers are on the road, both play the Sox. This will be a very telling week.

It's been a great weekend, and I'll see you all tomorrow

Tigers Win! Game 149 Afterglow Thread

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:45:55 -0000

Mission accomplished! That is, if you were of the opinion that the Detroit Tigers just had to avoid getting swept this weekend in Minneapolis. The bats finally came through to support the pitching, getting some key hits with runners on base, something that had been all too rare in the first two games of this series.

Nate Robertson sure looked healthy, and perhaps ready to give Detroit the starting pitching boost it needs down the stretch. Pitching five innings, he allowed two runs and six hits, adding six strikeouts. And Placido Polanco made sure there was no squandering today, slapping a single in the fifth inning that drove home two runs and gave the Tigers the lead.

Tigers beat the Twins, 6-2! Full recap later on. But for now, enjoy the afterglow. Are you feeling a little better after a win or still kind of the same?