Bless You Boys: All Posts by Rob Rogacki

GIF of the Day: Max Scherzer strikes out Chris Davis, #Maxface is born

2013-06-18T03:18:14Z

Max Scherzer became the first Tigers pitcher in over a century to start the season 10-0 tonight, pitching six strong innings for the Tigers in their 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. While he only allowed one run, he struggled at times, especially in the fifth inning.

With Chris Davis at the plate and the bases loaded, Scherzer watched as two consecutive fastballs on the outside portion of the plate were called balls by home plate umpire Tim Timmons. Nevertheless, Scherzer struck out Davis on the 3-2 pitch.

Scherzer was understandably pumped up, and #Maxface was born.

And since I don't have enough Twitter accounts already, I created @TigersGIFs for even more GIF fun. If you see anything GIF-worthy during the game, mention that account on Twitter and I'll GIF it that night.

h/t @philcokesbrain

More Roars

•Tigers 5, O’s 1: Max reaches 10-0 | GIF: #MaxFace

•Austin Jackson’s return revs the engine

•Kurt: Maybe Leyland has a bleeping point

•Links: Porcello is improving

Game 68 Overflow: Orioles at Tigers

2013-06-18T01:27:18Z

Stuff that happened:

The Tigers scored five runs, two of which came off the bat of Miguel Cabrera on a towering home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Chris Davis supplied Baltimore's offense in the top of the second with a solo home run.
Max Scherzer pitched six innings, striking out 10 batters.

Thread stuff that happened:

A discussion on the greatness of Old Bay
Inning's over, crap

JUNE OFF-TOPIC OPEN THREAD

2013-06-17T16:35:50Z

Given that recap threads have started to turn into an extension of the wild and unpredictable game threads themselves, I figured it was about time we created an off-topic thread. I'll post this to the front page today, but be sure to rec the post so it stays at the top of the fanpost queue for the next couple weeks. Also, I'll start linking this post in the game thread once the game is over for those who haven't finished their evening conversations quite yet.

Here are a few controversial statements to get the conversation(s) started:

Arrested Development is overrated.
The ending of Inception wasn't real.
Hawk Harrelson is entertaining as long as he's not calling a Tigers game.
Jack Morris doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.
Daniel Craig will be the best Bond ever after he retires.

I may or may not believe these, but sometimes it takes a little fib to stir the pot. Have at it, BYB.

Here are a few controversial statements to get the conversation(s) started:

Arrested Development is overrated.
The ending of Inception wasn't real.
Hawk Harrelson is entertaining as long as he's not calling a Tigers game.
Jack Morris doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.
Daniel Craig will be the best Bond ever after he retires.

I may or may not believe these, but sometimes it takes a little fib to stir the pot. Have at it, BYB.

Game 68 Preview: Orioles at Tigers

2013-06-17T14:49:07Z

Baltimore Orioles (40-30) at Detroit Tigers (38-29)

Time/Place: 7:08 p.m., Comerica Park

SB Nation blog: Camden Chat

Media: Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Pitching Matchup: RHP Jake Arrieta (1-1, 6.63 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (9-0, 3.19 ERA)

Jason Hammel was originally scheduled to start tonight for the Orioles, but he has been pushed back due to illness. He may or may not start tomorrow night, but in his place tonight is right-hander Jake Arrieta. Arrieta started the season in the Orioles' rotation, but after allowing 14 earned runs in his first 19 innings, he was optioned to Triple-A. When optioned, he opened up about some anxiety issues that he has been having on the mound. Unfortunately for him, a trip back to the minors doesn't seemed to have helped much. In seven appearances (six starts) for Triple-A Norfolk, he is 3-3 with a 5.50 ERA and 3.84 FIP.

Arrieta struggled mightily with his command when pitching for the O's in April, walking 16 batters in just 19 innings. He seems to have gotten this under control in the minors, lowering his walk rate to 2.50 batters per nine innings. The command issues are nothing new for him, though. He has walked four batters per nine innings during his major league career. Last season's rate of 2.75 batters per nine innings was a career low at any professional level, but it didn't stop him from posting a 6.20 ERA and 4.05 FIP in 114 2/3 innings.

He relies primarily on a four-seamer/two-seamer mix, using his fastball roughly 60% of the time throughout his career. He was using his fastballs -- the two-seamer, in particular -- more often early this season, but that is probably due to him falling behind hitters so frequently. He throws a slider to righties and a changeup to lefties, the latter of which is consistently one of his worst pitches according to PitchFX's pitch values. His changeup has been -10.5 runs below average since the start of 2010, and is probably a reason why lefties have hit .284/.370/.494 against him during his career. He also throws a curveball that he likes to use when ahead in the count, but will also use at the start of an at-bat to keep hitters off balance.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Max Scherzer was dominant in his last start. We're starting to get very spoiled with Max, but here's an indication of how good he has been in 2013: he hasn't allowed more than five hits in a start since April 29th, and hasn't allowed more than seven hits in a start this season. In fact, you have to go back to May 15th to find a start where he allowed five hits. In the five starts since that day -- the Tigers' lone loss to the Houston Astros this season, if you're curious -- Max is 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 2.51 FIP. He has nearly twice as many strikeouts (106) as hits allowed (57) this season, and his 0.87 WHIP leads the majors among starting pitchers.

Properly introducing the 2013 Orioles

Since I was in Peru when the Tigers and Orioles faced off earlier this year, here's a quick primer on what the O's have done in 2013 thus far. They currently sit second in the AL East, just 1 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox after taking three of four from the Sox at Camden Yards last weekend. You already know about what Chris Davis is doing at the plate this season, and I've got bad news: he's heating up again. After struggling for a brief period -- which included the last time these two teams faced off, minus that awful hanging changeup from Rick Porcello -- Davis is hitting .348/.441/.826 with three homers in his last six games. Adam Jones has quietly put together another All-Star worthy campaign, hitting .303/.327/.517 with 14 home runs.

In my Orioles preview before the season, I said that this might be a rough year at the plate for Manny Machado. I could not have been more wrong. Machado has permanently wedged himself into the "best young player in baseball" debate by hitting .327/.358/.495 with 32 doubles so far this season. He's on pace to break Earl Webb's single season record of 67 doubles, and he doesn't even turn 21 until July 6th. If the Tigers didn't already have a pretty special third baseman themselves, it would be very easy to become envious of the young star. Machado's glove is miles better than Miguel Cabrera's though, as he has already been worth +16 defensive runs saved this season.

The O's are heavily reliant on the home run ball, hitting a major league leading 92 dingers in 70 games this season. They are second in the AL in runs scored with 341, but have played three more games than the Tigers, who are third with 336. Their pitching has been suspect, allowing 325 runs on the season, which is tied for second most in the AL behind the Astros. We saw 2012 first round pick Kevin Gausman during the last series, but he was sent down to the minors as part of some roster shuffling to rest a depleted bullpen late last week. Their bullpen has been much better over the past couple weeks, but they will need more innings from the starters as the season goes on.

Outlook

Scherzer dominated the O's in his last start, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in eight innings while striking out 10 batters. I'm a little fuzzy on what happened after that, but I'm fairly certain it involved pain, suffering, and a potato famine of some sort, so we won't go into specifics. Meanwhile, Arrieta hasn't faced the Tigers since April 5th, 2011 when he held the Tigers to one run in six innings. Given his command issues and the Tigers' winning ways at Comerica Park, I'm not sure he'll be able to repeat that performance.

Prediction

The O's knock out Max earlier than last time they faced off, but the Tigers offense carries them to a win.

Tigers week 11 review: Panic in Panic Town? Not quite

2013-06-17T11:30:04Z

Relax, Tigers fans. It's all good.

The Tigers split six road games against the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins this week, but were a hanging split-fingered fastball away from finishing the week at 4-2. Before we go there, let's take a look at the week as a whole.

Coming off a three game sweep of the Cleveland Indians, the Tigers came into the week with a 5 1/2 game lead in the AL Central. They were stymied by Jeremy Guthrie on Monday, losing a 3-2 contest to the Royals. Guthrie was able to induce a lot of weak contact resulting in a ton of lazy fly balls that the Kansas City defense was able to corral easily. Doug Fister walked away with the rare complete game loss, dropping to 5-4 despite an excellent ERA in his previous few starts.

Max Scherzer dominated the Royals offense for most of the night in his start on Tuesday, but the Royals were able to scrape across a couple runs, tying the score at two for the second night in a row after the Tigers had taken a 2-0 lead. Victor Martinez's sacrifice fly in the 8th inning provided the difference, giving Scherzer his ninth win of the year.

Justin Verlander did everything he could to out-do both Fister and Scherzer on Wednesday, pitching seven scoreless innings. With the Tigers leading 2-0 in the ninth, Jose Valverde hung an 0-2 splitter to Lorenzo Cain, and the splitter didn't come back. The Royals capped off the rally with a run off Phil Coke in the tenth to take the series, sending the Tigers fanbase into a frenzy.

After an off-day filled with questions about the status of the closer role, Jim Leyland laid the rumors to rest by stating that Valverde would still close out games on Friday. He backed up his claim by having Valverde pitch the ninth of a 4-0 game on Friday, and Papa Grande kept the shutout intact with a scoreless inning. Rick Porcello was brilliant through seven innings, allowing just three hits and no walks. Austin Jackson returned to the lineup after missing over a month on the disabled list, filling a massive void in the leadoff and outfield.

Anibal Sanchez made his first start in 11 days on Saturday, having missed his scheduled start on Sunday due to shoulder soreness. He said that he felt fine during the game, but something wasn't right. Sanchez walked four batters in 3 2/3 innings, and left the game in the hands of the bullpen. Darin Downs pitched well in his first 1 1/3 innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth inning. The Tigers offense couldn't solve Samuel Deduno, dropping their first game of the series.

Torii Hunter hit his 300th career home run in the first inning of Sunday's game, giving Fister an early 2-0 lead. Fister took a no-hitter through five innings, but a home run by Brian Dozier ended any premature talks of another no-hit bid against the Twins in 2013. Austin Jackson may have stolen the show, hitting an upper-deck home run of his own, stealing a base, and playing his usual excellent defense in center field. The Tigers took the series rubber match 5-2.

Batter of the week: Austin Jackson

If there were any questions about Jackson's hamstring heading into this weekend, he answered them decisively by hitting .333/.385/.583 in three games with three runs scored, two RBI, a home run, and a stolen base. The Tigers offense also perked up a bit, scoring 12 runs in the three game series at Minnesota after scoring just seven in Kansas City. Don Kelly deserves a mention for picking up four hits in seven at-bats, while Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta both walked six times each.

Pitcher of the week: Rick Porcello

Porcello's dominant outing on Friday night is starting to become the norm, which is just plain scary. Porcello struck out five and didn't walk anyone in seven innings against the Twins. Joaquin Benoit pitched three scoreless innings, and Justin Verlander was very impressive against the Royals, striking out eight in seven innings.

Week 11 record: 3-3
Runs scored: 19
Runs against: 16
.585 pythagorean win percentage

Overall record: 38-29
Runs scored: 336
Runs against: 251
.642 pythagorean win percentage

Game results:

Monday: Royals 3, Tigers 2

Tuesday: Tigers 3, Royals 2

Wednesday: Royals 3, Tigers 2 (10 innings)

Thursday: off day

Friday: Tigers 4, Twins 0

Saturday: Twins 6, Tigers 3

Sunday: Tigers 5, Twins 2

AL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Detroit	38	29	.567	0	Won 1
Cleveland	34	34	.500	4.5	Won 1
Kansas City	33	34	.492	5	Won 1
Minnesota	30	36	.454	7.5	Lost 1
Chicago	28	38	.424	9.5	Lost 4

(updated 6.16.2013 at 10:12 PM EDT)

Upcoming week:

The Tigers return to Comerica Park to start a 10 game homestand, with the Baltimore Orioles in town first for a three game set. Jake Arrieta will make a spot start tonight in place of Jason Hammel, who has been feeling a bit under the weather lately. The Orioles themselves don't know who will start Tuesday. It could be Hammel, Zach Britton, or Kevin Gausman, depending on when Miguel Gonzalez's wife goes into labor. Chris Tillman is a fairly safe bet to make his scheduled start on Wednesday given how well he has been pitching lately.

The Tigers will then get their first look at the Boston Red Sox, who saw a three game division lead cut in half after losing three of four games in Baltimore last weekend. Like the Orioles, their pitching rotation is also up in the air with Clay Buchholz possibly headed to the disabled list. John Lackey and Jon Lester will likely be the starters on Thursday and Friday, while Felix Doubront likely will start Sunday afternoon's game. If Buccholz can't start Saturday, we may see Rubby De La Rosa or Alfredo Aceves opposite Max Scherzer.

Day	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
Date	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Opponent	vs BAL	vs BAL	vs BAL	vs BOS	vs BOS	vs BOS	vs BOS
Time	7:08 PM	7:08 PM	1:08 PM	7:08 PM	7:08 PM	7:15 PM	1:08 PM
Tigers pitcher	Scherzer	Verlander	Porcello	Sanchez	Fister	Scherzer	Verlander
Opposing pitcher	Arrieta	TBD	Tillman	Lackey	Lester	TBD	Doubront

Minor leagues:

Toledo went a perfect 6-0 last week, scoring at least seven runs in five of the six games that they played. Going back to last week, they have won 10 of their last 11 games. They are still in last place in the West Division, but they no longer have the worst record in the International League.

Double-A Erie lost 22-1 yesterday. They went 4-3 on the week, but 22-1? Ouch.

High-A Lakeland went 3-1 on the week. The reason for only four games? The Florida State League All-Star Game was on Saturday, with the South winning 8-1. Jeff McVaney went 0-for-4 in the game, while Melvin Mercedes pitched 2/3 of an inning without allowing a baserunner.

Low-A West Michigan was 4-4 on the week heading into the Midwest League All-Star Break. Jeff Holm, Devon Travis, and Jose Valdez will play for the East team.

Minor league players of the week: Jeff McVaney and Melvin Mercedes

Partially due to their All-Star game appearances, and partially because I don't want to sort through stats at 2:00 a.m., McVaney and Mercedes are co-players of the week.

Good reading:

Week 10 stats:

PLAYER	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	SB/CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	wOBA
Dirks	15	15	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0/0	.133	.133	.133	.267	.118
Hunter	23	22	4	2	0	1	2	3	0	7	0/0	.182	.174	.409	.583	.250
Cabrera	25	19	4	1	0	1	5	2	6	6	0/0	.211	.400	.421	.821	.371
Fielder	26	25	8	3	0	0	1	4	1	0	0/0	.320	.346	.440	.786	.343
Martinez	23	21	3	1	0	0	2	2	1	2	0/0	.143	.174	.190	.364	.162
Peralta	24	18	4	2	0	0	0	3	6	5	0/1	.222	.417	.333	.750	.352
Avila	17	15	2	1	0	0	1	0	2	6	0/0	.133	.235	.200	.435	.208
Infante	20	20	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0/0	.300	.300	.300	.600	.266
Kelly	7	7	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0/0	.571	.571	.714	1.286	.561
Pena	5	5	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0/0	.400	.400	.600	1.000	.431
Santiago	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.500	.250	.500	.750	.443
Tuiasosopo	8	7	2	2	0	0	1	0	1	2	0/0	.286	.375	.571	.946	.403
Garcia	11	11	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	0/0	.273	.273	.364	.636	.276
Jackson	13	12	4	0	0	1	3	2	1	0	1/0	.333	.385	.583	.968	.418

PLAYER	W-L	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	WHIP
Verlander	-	-	7	3	0	2	8	0.00	1.63	0.71
Fister	1-1	-	15.2	11	1	2	10	2.87	3.00	0.83
Scherzer	1-0	-	7	3	1	2	6	2.57	4.06	0.71
Sanchez	-	-	3.2	5	1	4	3	4.91	8.24	2.45
Porcello	1-0	-	7	3	0	0	5	0.00	1.63	0.43
Benoit	-	1	3	2	0	0	4	0.00	0.40	0.67
Coke	0-1	-	1	2	0	0	0	9.00	3.06	2.00
Downs	0-1	-	2.1	5	0	0	4	11.57	-0.37	2.14
Putkonen	-	-	1	1	0	0	1	0.00	1.06	1.00
Reed	-	-	1	3	0	0	0	9.00	3.06	3.00
Smyly	-	-	1.1	2	0	1	0	6.75	5.31	2.25
Valverde	-	1	2.2	2	1	1	3	3.38	7.94	1.13

More Roars

•Tigers 5 Twins 2: Torii Hunter hits 300th HR | GIF

•FanPost: Al-Al is needed in Detroit

•Kurt: I (bleep)ing want Smyly to close!

GIF of the Day: Torii Hunter's 300th career home run

2013-06-16T23:58:51Z

Torii Hunter spent the first 11 years of his career playing for the Minnesota Twins. He hit his first home run at Tiger Stadium back in 1999 and had been tormenting the Tigers ever since... until he signed with them last offseason. It was only fitting that his 300th career home run came at Minnesota, where he is still beloved by the Twins fanbase.

As usual, Torii was all smiles after he touched home plate. He chose to skip the awkward high fives this time, instead going in for the real thing with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.

Torii has been scuffling recently, hitting just .167/.222/.214 over the past two weeks leading up to today's game. To say that he was relieved after hitting #300 might be an understatement.

Congratulations, Torii. You might not have another 300 home runs left in you, but maybe it's time for a ring or two instead?

Update: Houston, we have liftoff.

Austin Jackson's bomb in the fourth inning couldn't be ignored.

Game 67 Preview: Tigers at Twins

2013-06-16T14:46:59Z

Detroit Tigers (37-29) at Minnesota Twins (30-35)

Time/Place: 2:10 p.m., Target Field

SB Nation blog: Twinkie Town

Media: Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Pitching Matchup: RHP Doug Fister (5-4, 3.28 ERA) vs. RHP P.J. Walters (2-1, 2.49 ERA)

Like Samuel Deduno yesterday, Walters made his season debut against the Tigers at Comerica Park back in late May. Unlike Deduno, Walters pitched well in his debut. He got the better of Doug Fister by allowing just two runs in six innings, all while throwing just 81 pitches. He has continued to pitch well in his other starts, allowing five earned runs in 19 1/3 innings.

Walters has seemingly embraced the Twins' pitch-to-contact philosophy more than ever this year, decreasing both his walk and strikeout rates by a full batter per nine innings. The result? A 5% increase in ground ball rate that hasn't really translated to more outs, thanks to a .337 BABIP and the Twins' shoddy infield defense -- and it's not improving anytime soon now that Trevor Plouffe is back from the DL. The real secret to Walters' success seems to be that he is limiting the home run ball. He's allowing just 0.36 home runs per nine innings after averaging 1.75 dingers per nine innings last season. If and when a few more balls start leaving the park, we will likely see his ERA get closer to his 4.28 xFIP.

Walters' bread and butter is a two-seamer/curveball combo that he is throwing nearly 75% of the time in 2013. The two-seamer sits in the low 90s and doesn't seem to be very deceptive. Opposing batters hit .333 on that pitch last season and are hitting .372 so far this year. They have a .385 BABIP in these situations, but a .628 slugging average and .256 ISO off the two-seamer indicates that the success may not be as luck-driven as an elevated BABIP would indicate.

The curveball, on the other hand, has been much better. Opposing batters are hitting .263 off the hammer, but with a .316 slugging average and .053 ISO. With an 11.7% whiff rate, it has been Walters' preferred two-strike option this season. He also throws an effective changeup to left-handed hitters, a big reason why they are hitting just .244/.292/.333 off him this season. His fourth pitch is a cut fastball that he throws primarily to right-handed hitters. While it ranks as his best pitch in terms of runs above average per 100 pitches, it hasn't stopped righties from mashing him at a .339/.371/.492 clip this season.

Meanwhile, Fister continues to be the victim of a lack of run support. Since starting the year 5-1, he is 0-3 with a 3.60 ERA, a figure that looks a lot better when you consider his poor start in Texas. He is 0-2 with a 2.67 ERA in his last four starts despite averaging almost 7 2/3 innings per outing during that stretch. He has been very efficient -- in no small part due to getting into a good rhythm early in games, in my opinion -- but hasn't been able to avoid the big inning in three of those starts. Could pitching with an early lead ease his burden and prevent the big inning from happening? It would be nice to find out.

Outlook

I preached patience for the Tigers' offense yesterday, and that didn't seem to work. Of course, I couldn't see the game so I wouldn't really know, but I won't get into that. Today? Bombs away. Walters throws his two-seamer over half of the time to start an at-bat, and hitters are clobbering it all over the park. Of the eight hits that Walters allowed to the Tigers in their matchup earlier this season, six of them came in at-bats of three pitches or fewer. While being aggressive early in the count may not drive up Walters' pitch count particularly quickly, it seems better than the alternative of facing the best bullpen in the league in the later innings.

Fister, on the other hand, just needs to keep pitching like he has in his last four starts. The runs will (hopefully) come eventually, but the losses aren't his fault. Hopefully this won't be the case again today.

Prediction

Fister avoids the big inning and wins despite another poor offensive performance.

Game 66 Overflow (Sorry, Mick): Tigers at Twins

2013-06-16T00:31:15Z

Stuff that happened:

I think it's 2-2. I can't see the game though, so we can't be sure.

Thread stuff that happened:

Education
Northern Ireland
Canadian bands

Bless You Boys: All Posts by Rob Rogacki

GIF of the Day: Max Scherzer strikes out Chris Davis, #Maxface is born

More Roars

Game 68 Overflow: Orioles at Tigers

JUNE OFF-TOPIC OPEN THREAD

Game 68 Preview: Orioles at Tigers

Baltimore Orioles (40-30) at Detroit Tigers (38-29)

Tigers week 11 review: Panic in Panic Town? Not quite

This week's podcast

Batter of the week: Austin Jackson

Pitcher of the week: Rick Porcello

Game of the week

Game results:

AL Central Standings

Upcoming week:

Minor leagues:

Minor league players of the week: Jeff McVaney and Melvin Mercedes

Good reading:

Week 10 stats:

More Roars

GIF of the Day: Torii Hunter's 300th career home run

Game 67 Preview: Tigers at Twins

Detroit Tigers (37-29) at Minnesota Twins (30-35)

Game 66 Overflow (Sorry, Mick): Tigers at Twins