Morning Prowl: Sizemore's Rise, the Passion of Ilitch, All-Star Inge, and Roster Suggestions

by Ian Casselberry on Jun 16, 2009 9:15 AM EDT in News Comment 16 comments

Thanks to everyone who participated in The BYB Introduce Yourself Open Thread yesterday. That was an impressive response, and it's been fun to learn a bit more about everyone. If you haven't introduced yourself yet, click on over and say hello to your fellow BYB'ers!

Take 75 North (which now also offers a newsletter) explains why it's a big deal that Scott Sizemore was promoted to Triple-A Toledo over the weekend. (Daniel Worth, on the other hand, seems to be taking the opposite career track in the Tigers' organization.) What could this mean for the Tigers' second baseman situation for next season?

This season, Sizemore is hitting .309/.405/.539 with nine homers and 33 RBIs.

Tigers owner Mike Ilitch told the Freep's Drew Sharp that he'll do "whatever we have to do" to keep the Tigers in first place and get them to the playoffs.

The Detroit Tigers Weblog makes the All-Star case for Brandon Inge. Is he Detroit's most likely representative, and the one Tigers fans should be throwing their voting support behind right now? And just how good has he been, compared to other AL third basemen?

Lynn Henning notes that Interleague Play is keeping Marcus Thames out of the lineup. I think it was crazy not to have started him on Sunday, regardless of lefty-righty match-ups. And he can always be replaced in later innings, if there's concern about his defense in left field. Thames is swinging a hot bat. Keep him in there.

Always a Tiger would like to see the Tigers make two roster moves: First, call up Dusty Ryan from Toledo to back up Gerald Laird (not only to give Laird some rest, but to bolster the depth at catcher). Secondly, put Zach Miner in the starting rotation. (Kurt's been driving that bandwagon for a while. Jump aboard! There's plenty of room.

BigJP actually has two additional suggestions for the starting rotation, one of which probably wouldn't be popular with many fans.

Blake has a photo slideshow of his Sunday trip to Pittsburgh at The Spot Starters. (I really regret not trying harder to make the drive to PNC Park last weekend.) There's a curious lack of pictures capturing the horror - the horror! - of Dontrelle Willis's eight-walk performance. (Blake opted to walk around the ballpark, instead.) I was hoping for at least one shot of a grown man shrieking in terror.

Big League Stew gives a fashion critique of the 1909 throwback uniforms the Tigers and Pirates sported on Sunday. I enjoyed Duk's post even more when reading it out loud in my best Heidi Klum voice.

The Jason Tyner era is over in the Tigers organization, as he was released by the Mud Hens. (In the same notebook, it's mentioned that Cameron Maybin was suspended for bumping an umpire during an argument.)

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

Ervin Santana really did give everything he had when holding the Tigers to one run a couple of weekends ago. 10 days later (and shortly after getting bombed by the Rays), he's missing a start because of a strained forearm.

Aaron Gleeman passes along a quote from a scout who doesn't appear to think very highly of Delmon Young's skills as a hitter with the Minnesota Twins. (Young is batting .252/.282/.286 with one homer and 18 RBIs this year.)

If you're among those (and I really don't know how many of you there are) hoping Bobby Valentine might be the replacement for Jim Leyland if he doesn't come back next season (interesting that both Tom Gage and Jason Beck wrote about his contract status over the past couple of days), maybe you don't want to know that Bobby V could end up with the Washington Nationals next season.

(via ShysterBall)

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Comments

a coue of other SBN blogs I look in on use the trick of reccing fanposts to get them to stick around the top of the list longer….if a couple of you guys could add a rec to the “Introduce Yourself” thread….

by ahtrap on Jun 16, 2009 10:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

French Kicks

I really think Luke French should get a shot in Detroit.

Over 11 starts and 66.2 IP in Toledo he has a 3.24 ERA and a WHIP of 1.21.

K/9: 7.3
BB/9: 2.4
K/BB: 3
HR/9: 0.7

He isn’t an ace but he’s always been projected as a possible back-end starter in the majors. One thing I think is clear, he can’t do any worse than Dontrelle.

Additionally I think Robertson should be released so Fu Te Ni can get into the Detroit bullpen.

After a rough start he has not allowed a run in his last 9.1 IP. LHB are hitting a paltry .132 against him.

His K/9 is 8.7

by MacRae on Jun 16, 2009 10:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Most Important.....

….Stat for any pitcher is WHIP….no ks per9 bb per9 or era….ITS WHIP

by BennieBladesFan on Jun 16, 2009 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I gotta disagree. WHIP makes no indication whether the number is generated mostly by hits or walks. If a guy has good BB/K numbers but a poor WHIP it could be that his defense isn’t very good.

WHIP is a worthwhile stat but it still takes into consideration something that a pitcher can’t control, hits. Knowing a pitcher’s K and BB numbers gives a clearer picture of how well a pitcher is performing.

Suffice to say at least that no one of these stats is more important than any other, they must be taken together to paint a statistical picture.

by MacRae on Jun 16, 2009 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

there is no one most important stat! It’s semantics.

Mack Avenue Tigers

by MackAveKurt on Jun 16, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I Agree....

…..that those numbers are important……But Whip is the stat that is the most omprtant….Especially for a reliever

by BennieBladesFan on Jun 16, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't see why not

then I can name is put-out pitch the ‘French Kiss’

by Tagne13 on Jun 16, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm glad

the release Robertson for Ni bandwagon is growing. It seems like such an obvious move.

by StringTheory on Jun 16, 2009 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I Think Ni....

….should be added to the 40 man roster and Bonderman moved to the 60 days dl to make that happen….then recall NI…..Also I do like the idea of Luke French…..we also need a bat in left field…..personally if they dont trade for one I think it should be Thames….I have no idea why hes not starting now

by BennieBladesFan on Jun 16, 2009 11:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Robertson?

that.

by BigDaddyJC on Jun 16, 2009 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Do you think he's going to walk more people than Willis?

by Tagne13 on Jun 16, 2009 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

About The Same....

……Robertson will be released if he isnt traded to someone dumb enough to take him by the dealine….willis will end up in the minors or in the bullpen

by BennieBladesFan on Jun 16, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Happy Birthday

Ron LeFlore – born this day in 1948

Hazaa

by jelletlambie on Jun 16, 2009 2:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

IMO:

Dusty Ryan for Pineapple Express

Lose D-Train for good, move Miner to his spot in the rotation, bring up French for long relief

Bonderman to 60-Day DL to give someone like Ni a shot at a relief gig sometime this season

Swap Galarraga and Robertson’s roles. Give Nate one last chance in the rotation. If it doesn’t work out, so be it….switch them back. Can’t be much worse than Galarraga has been lately, however.

Sign Ben Sheets to a deal a’la Freddy Garcia’s last season to give him a tryout. If he comes back strong, boom, we have another starter for a possible run at the playoffs later on. Okay so maybe he wouldn’t agree to such a deal….do you have any better ideas?

Try and make a trade to get Mike Rabelo back maybe. He certainly isn’t getting any playing time with the Marlins. He’s familiar with many of our pitchers and is probably a better option than Dusty, Dane, or anyone else we might get. Plus Dombrowski gets his jollies by making his annual trade with the Marlins. Hey, we could also always trade for Brad Ausmus for the 18th time!

Do everything in their power to try and get Hawpe. He can play LF for us…Thames can DH full-time. If the Tigs are serious about making the playoffs THIS year, make it happen. Anderson on the bench. Clete/Dapper Don, see you next year guys!

I also hear that Bedard is probably going to be available but I can’t think of what we can give that they’d want.

by Tagne13 on Jun 16, 2009 5:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs