West Michigan makes the Midwestern League Playoffs

by David Tokarz on Sep 6, 2010 11:30 AM EDT in Detroit Tigers Minor League News

Sunday

Thad Weber went seven innings, giving up one earned run on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.and a homer allowed. Scott Sizemore was 3-for-5 and a triple short of the cycle while Andy Dirks was 3-for-5 with a double.

AA: Erie 1, Akron 0

Brooks Brown went six scoreless innings, giving up a mere two hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Brandon Douglas was 3-for-4.

A+: Daytona 6, Lakeland 0

Lakeland lost their season finale, and it was Luke Sorensen that got the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) in six innings on eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Four Flying Tigers reached base.

A: West Michigan 5, Fort Wayne 4

Congratulations to the Whitecaps for making it into the Midwestern League playoffs! Jared Wesson gave up four runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Both Cory Jones and Clay Jones were 3-for-5.

West Michigan joins fellow Michigan-based team Great Lakes in the playoffs. The 'Caps will meet Lake County (Ill.) in a best-of-three series beginning Wednesday. That same day, the Loons will meet Fort Wayne.

SS: Aberdeen 8, Connecticut 7

This game was a must-win for the C-Tigers. And they lost not only the game, but their playoff hopes. Clemente Mendoza got shelled in 1.2 innings, and Wilsen Palacios went 6.1 innings, giving up a hit while striking out six. Ryan Enos was 5-for-7 while James Robbins was 3-for-6 with a double.

Saturday

AAA: Toledo 6, Columbus 4

LJ Gagnier went 6 innings, surrendering an earned run on five hits, three walks and a homer while striking out seven. Mike Bertram was 3-4 and a homer short of the cycle while Andy Dirks was 3-4 and a triple short of the cycle.

AA: Erie 5, Akron 4

Adam Wilk gave up two earned runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 7.2 innings. John Murrian was 1-for-3 with a homer.

A+: Lakeland 3, Daytona 1

Jeff Barfield pitched 6 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Gustavo Nunez was 1-for-3 with a stolen base.

A: West Michigan 8, Fort Wayne 3

Trevor Feeney surrendered three earned runs in five innings on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Alexis Espinosa was 3-for-3 with a double, triple and homer (and a single shy of the cycle).

SS: Aberdeen 3, Connecticut 1

Brennan Smith gave up two earned runs in 4.2 innings on four hits and five walks with four strikeouts and a homer. PJ Polk was 2-for-4.

Friday

AAA: Toledo 5, Columbus 3

Andy Oliver gave up three runs in six innings, on four hits, five walks and a homer with only four strikeouts. Scott Sizemore was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks while Andy Dirks was 3-for-4 with a double.

AA: Erie 10, Akron 5

Duane Below went 6.1 innings, giving up an earned run on a walk and two hits with four strikeouts. Brandon Douglas was 0-1 with four walks.

A+: Lakeland 3, Daytona 2

Luke Putkonen went 8.2 innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits (one a homer) and four strikeouts. Bryan Holaday was 3-4 with a double and a walk.

A: Lansing 6, West Michigan 2

Luis Angel Sanz went 5.1 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and three walks with a homer and four strikeouts. Jamie Johnson was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk.

SS: Connecticut 7, Aberdeen 6

Josue Carreno went three innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Ryan Enos was 2-for-4 with a double and a homer.

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Comments

When are the Tigers going to realize that Dirks/Douglas is FAR better than Dlugach/Frazier? I’d do Simons/Gagnier first to see better about Rule 5.

by StephenGrosberg on Sep 7, 2010 8:46 AM EDT reply actions

It’s Mark Sorensen and he’s pitching better. What about my previous comment? I greatly appreciate your post, but would appreciate a comment on the stats like Andy Dirks BA and Thad Weber scouting report with stats. Fastball at 91-92 with another average pitch or possibly above average pitch noted if they have it. I understood that Zach Simons was 93-94.

by StephenGrosberg on Sep 7, 2010 4:01 PM EDT reply actions

Zach is one of the players that I've been watching for a while

The Tigers got Simons in the trade for Jason Grilli from the Rockies, so he was already a hero in my book when he came to the Tigers! But he’s been putting up an ERA in the mid 2’s with a WHIP in the 1.0 to 1.17 range pretty consistently. He was just bumped up to AAA Toledo in August, and he will be Rule 5 eligible if he’s not added to the 40 man roster and protected this November.

Andy Dirks has had a nice season, with a good mix of power, speed, and a decent OBP. He’ll have to be added to the list of prospects that are just starting to knock on the door in Detroit, but they have another year to add him to the roster.

I think that the Tigers realize what they have with Douglas, and Dlugach seems to boot the ball around too much. I doubt if either is a long term answer at shortstop. Douglas will be moved along at his own pace. He’s in for another promotion to start the season in 2011. Frazier was the Tigers All Star in the International league All Star game this year, and he put up some nice numbers but looked totally helpless against major league pitching when opportunity knocked for him.

Weber spent most of this season in Erie and has just moved up to Toledo. I won’t draw many conclusions from his numbers, but his ERA hovered just over 4.00 in parts of two seasons with Erie. His other peripherals look decent, but nothing jumps out at you. Scout.com had him ranked as the Tigers # 25 overall prospect at the beginning of the season. Baseball America had his average fastball clocked at 90.23 mph, but that was after last year. He also has another year before they have to add him to the roster.

If you survived 2003, you can get through this!

by Tigerdog1 on Sep 8, 2010 1:42 AM EDT reply actions