SB Nation User Blog: TigerFanInCleveland

Are We There Yet?

TigerFanInCleveland — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:56:36 -0000

I can't help but think of this season as a Simpsons' episode, with all the comedy and fanfare to make the work of the team on the field just imperfectly genius enough to make it the best thing going. Now, at just a few weeks to go, I can hear Bart sitting in the back seat repeating "are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet?". Kudos to Dombrowski and Leyland for sticking with a strong game plan and for taking chances on role players that have made this season great. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kent Brockman, Bumblebee Man, Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure and Sideshow Mel make a few plate appearances and contribute to victory down the stretch. LETS GO TIGERS!! Woo-Hoo!!

Poll

Which Simpsons' character is most likely to score or prevent a run to contribute to a Tigers victory?

Kent Brockman

1 votes

Bumblebee Man

5 votes

Lionel Hutz

3 votes

Troy McClure

7 votes

Sideshow Mel

5 votes

21 votes | Poll has closed

Robert Manuel is having a nice season

TigerFanInCleveland — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:16:10 -0000

Three years ago, John named Robert Manuel (then of the Mets organization) his Starting Pitcher of the Year in the GCL. Manuel led the league with 8 wins and a 2.06 ERA. His professional career was getting off to a good start. Fast forward nearly three years. Manuel had been dealt to the Reds (for Dave Williams), and is currently the closer at AA Chattanooga. While 25 year old minor league relievers in AA aren't usually the topic of great prospectdom here, let's not overlook his 2008 stat line in AA only:

4-3, 1.43 ERA, 2 SV, 63.0 IP, 41 H, 14 BB, 78 K, 2 HR allowed

The guy has been promoted two levels this year alone. He's obviously blossomed after being converted from a starter to a reliever in 2007 while still in the FSL. Looking over the Reds 40-man roster, it is apparent that there some aging vets that ought to be on the way out after this season. It seems to me that there is a solid chance that Manuel could make a run as a back of the bullpen anchor in Cincy by 2010 or 2011, even with Dusty running the show.

What are Reds fans saying (btw, is dougdirt still on here?) about Manuel and do you see promise from him as a top reliever?

Taking in a little A ball tonight

TigerFanInCleveland — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:48:11 -0000

Even though the Indians were in town against the Twins and Cliff Lee was pitching, we opted to head to the Lake County Captains game against the West Virginia Power. Classic Park is just that - a classic park. Nice field, great sightlines, fun fan interaction without going too overboard - overall a good experience (except possibly for the three knuckleheads who ran in the "Fish Race" obviously wasted since they were late getting the inning started because these clowns were tackling each other in the OF instead of "racing", but I digress...). Not having any expectations of who to watch for talent, the real show for me tonight was seeing two West Virginia players in action. Those would be 2B Eric Farris and starting pitcher Daniel Merklinger.

Farris, a 2007 4th round pick out of Loyola Marymount, batted leadoff. He started the game with a line drive to left, and in the third inning hit a fly ball double to left. He scored that inning, and then in the fourth he hit another double, this time toward left center. Batting right-handed he had a slight pull in his swing but looked to have really good extension and his hips were squaring up well. He may have just been really far out in front of what he was seeing all night, because in the sixth and eighth he fanned on some breaking pitches, swinging each time. Again in the ninth he fanned, but this time fouled off a few fastballs down and away before swinging and missing at a high fastball. He played solid defense, not needing anything spectacular to do the job tonight, but did very cleanly scoop up some hard hit grounders that gave other infielders some trouble tonight. Of all the players we saw tonight, I was most impressed overall with Eric Farris.

Merklinger is a 2007 6th round pick out of Seton Hall. He is a lefty, had a pretty good fastball and good movement down and in on righties with what could have been a slider, though I wouldn't expect him to be throwing one in A ball. In any case, he had very good control, and got guys missing at pitches all night. He ended with 6 IP4 H 1ER 1 BB 6 K. Last year in rookie ball he was a reliever, finishing second in K/9 in the Pioneer League (13.17). Having been converted to a starting pitcher in 2008, his 2008 season ERA is near 6.00. However, looking at his gamelog shows he's had some ups and downs all year, which I expect would be due to the conversion. Tonight he definitely had his game going though.

Overall, this wasn't a great game, as the Power dominated the Captains 8-1. Thankfully, the night was worthwhile because we were getting a glimpse of some good talent in the lower leagues.

New, from Joe Torre: The Miller Rules?

TigerFanInCleveland — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:01:50 -0000

One better-than-average month does not a prospect make. Unless the pitcher in question is a former lights-out can't-miss left-handed super-prospect coming off of major injury and even worse control issues as he settles into his old pitching motion. I'm going to declare:

Greg Miller should be back on the prospect radar.

Reliever? Sure, and most pitching prospects aren't. Pressure situations? Maybe not, but any time someone trying to get over having the K:BB ratio he has had for 2 years is feeling the pressure with every pitch. Performance? Okay, he hasn't quite put the walks completely behind him. But for a one-month stretch, Greg Miller appears to have finally found a rhythm, and his performance is starting to show increasingly positive results. Consider since May 10th: 8 appearances, 10 IP, 5 H, 6 BB, 13 K. That is a 1.10 WHIP, fanning more than a batter per inning, at the Triple-A level in a horrible pitcher's park.

Does this mean that he should get the Joba treatment from Joe Torre and jump into the saddle in LA? Heck no. Is he a better pitcher today than Seth McClung at 24? In my opinion, yes. Could the organization groom Miller as the eventual heir to Takashi Saito, or even Jonathan Broxton? Perhaps. He's 24, he's got plenty of arm left, and he can strike guys out.

What role, if any, do you see Greg Miller filling for the Dodgers in the next 3 years?

Round Rock action tonight

TigerFanInCleveland — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:32:15 -0000

Traveling in Austin this week, I was able to take in a game at Round Rock where the Express tangled with the Memphis Redbirds. First of all, I loved the 2007 Express baseball card giveaway, complete with Hunter Pence card (mint condition, not taking it out of the pack I guess). The park was nice, especially the tribute to the older-style upper deck porch in left.

On the field, Matt Albers looked tough at times, while Tomo Ohka was unimpressively mixing in a 91 mph fastball with 83 mph crap. Albers located his off-speed stuff early but couldn't find the strike zone with his 94-mph fastball until the 3rd. Once he was on, he looked solid. Rick Ankiel (0-5) started in CF and batted 2nd.

I was surprised by five really nice performances more than anything though. Mike McCoy started at SS for Memphis and played some really sharp defense, ran well and had a nice flare to left in the 1st. Josh Anderson played solidly in CF, but more impressively he really showed great patience and a nice stroke at the plate, fouling off pitches until he found one to hit sharply. Tagg Bozied (2-4, 2B, 10th HR) hit the ball hard off Albers and played effectively at 1B. Troy Percival was mixing his 93 mph fastball (nice movement too) with an 83 mph change and a filthy 76 mph curve. And finally, Mark McLemore (no not THAT one) had some dominating stuff in the 7th for Round Rock. Looking back at his game log, he fanned 11 against Memphis in 6.0 IP on May 19th.

Overall, a good time, and I hope worthy of this diary.

Brandon Erbe exhibition performance

TigerFanInCleveland — Tue, 22 May 2007 22:19:09 -0000

Okay, I didn't realize that Erbe had been getting shelled in the recent games prior to this exhibition outing. But, in case you hadn't noticed, he pitched 4 IP with 4 H, 0 BB, 0 ER and 6 K in long relief (starting in the 2nd inning) against the Blue Jays. What to make of this? Is he on his way up to the big club any time soon? Or is this a confidence builder for him, and for the organization? I'm inclined to think it is the latter, but I was hoping for some O's fans that know better to shed some light on this.

Chase Wright to get the call

TigerFanInCleveland — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:18:25 -0000

After Mussina and Pavano go to the DL, ESPN's Steve Phillips just reported that Chase Wright will get the call over Hughes because the minor league director indicated that Wright was "better prepared to succeed right now."

Uh, better prepared than the best pitching prospect in baseball? Then why IS he the 'best' pitching prospect in baseball? I understand there are issues with the logistics of bringing Hughes in for three starts then sending him back down, or the problem of using up his options and ruining his psyche or some other excuse. However, I don't see how the move based on that statement is the correct one.

Eric Should Probably Not...

TigerFanInCleveland — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 02:49:28 -0000

ESPN "analyst" Eric Young was covering his view of who the ideal OF from his experience was - defensively. The piece stemmed from Karl Ravech's statement that Tampa Bay has the best OF in the game, if not simply the best young OF. Eric Young, then, posited the following:

Best LF he's ever seen - Barry Bonds - this was succeeded by shots of Barry throwing out a runner from LF, not hitting a HR. btw Karl was quick to comment that Bonds, "IN HIS PRIME", was a very good fielder, and oh by the way can hit too.

Best RF he's ever seen - Larry Walker

Best CF he's ever seen - Andruw Jones

Okay, I can MAYBE see Jones as the best CF, but I still disagree that Griffey Jr isn't better in his prie. Another story entirely with LF and RF. Walker may have had a pretty good arm, but what makes him any better than Vlad? I think Ichiro is the best RF that the game has seen since Young has been around. The best LF - I don't know. Bonds was OBVIOUSLY a great hitter, but his defense has been good not spectacular. I don't see where Young gets this. Honestly I can't finish this thought but I didn't want the rest to go without others picking up from here. Any thoughts?

Pitch command and the Brewers

TigerFanInCleveland — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 01:38:15 -0000

Dave Bush gave up 6 ER in the first inning against the Cubs tonight, who were devouring his fastball after it wasn't being set up well by his curve. He has a really great curveball - WHEN he has command of it. Usually takes him 20-30 pitches in a game to get that, which hurts his stats overall. Despite that however, he is a workhorse at the MLB level and at 26 he could still find a way to find command of that curve early. Since the first he's struck out 7 and given up 2 hits.

The Brewers are showing great patience with that early command issue. That makes me wonder how they are handling Gallardo with the stuff he has. Are they helping him develop his command? Does he need it?

I also wonder how they see Will Inman, who does have great command, but of pitches that aren't as effective as Bush's good curveball. Does Inman have Bush's ceiling?

Lastly, what direction do you see the Brewers' pitching staff taking over the next three years? I see a staff of Sheets, Gallardo, Bush, Villanueva and Inman, with Capuano having been dealt at some point to an AL contender.

Billy Sadler

TigerFanInCleveland — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:26:32 -0000

Looking at John's book entry for Sadler (B- rating), he notes that this is a guy he's been watching for some time. Looking at his stats, I can see why. The K/9 and K/BB rates are great, and while he doesn't have an imposing frame he has been closing games at the AA level. From what I've read elsewhere, he doesn't figure to fit into the Giants' backup plans for when Armando Been-Eatin-ez implodes, with Brian Wilson tabbed as the future closer. I don't quite see how Wilson's stats project any better than Sadler's. Has anyone else noticed this? Steve Kline, Kevin Correia and Vinny Chulk could be options, but I think Sadler should be the next guy there given his raw stuff and ability to make guys miss. Thoughts?