Mack Avenue Tigers has more on Detroit's newest reliever, Fu-Te Ni, including a video clip "mixtape" that gives you a look at his sidearm-type delivery. It looks similar to Clay Rapada's to me, but if Ni has better control than Rapada, that obviously works in his favor. I'm very curious to see how he'll perform against the likes of Jack Cust and Jason Giambi, and Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer after that.
(On a personal note, my mother has been asking me for years, "Why don't the Tigers have any Asian ballplayers?" I mention Hideo Nomo and Masao Kida, but those names do nothing for her. Now, finally, Fu-Te Ni has settled this particular issue within Team Casselberry. I just hope Mom stays up to watch these games in Oakland. [She won't.])
Adam Everett is among Jon Heyman's list of the best free agent signings. Kerry Wood is on the "worst" list, which might mean that the Tigers dodged a bullet in losing out on him this winter.
Heyman also praises two of the moves Dave Dombrowski made in the offseason, both of which have been significant additions to the Tigers' starting rotation.
Want more national love for the Tigers? Yahoo's Gordon Edes has the column for you, marveling at how well Detroit has played despite the big names that have either underperformed or were told their services would no longer be required.
Always a Tiger is taking a look at Tigers history "by the numbers." BigJP's first post featured Lou Whitaker, and his latest looks at Charlie Gehringer. See how this is going? Number one, number two, etc.
Jon Paul Morosi filled out the All-Star pitching staffs for both the American and National League rosters, and both Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson are on his AL team. Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal has quite a different take on the All-Star rosters, and gives the Tigers just their one obligatory representative.
Fire Jim Leyland checks out Alfredo Figaro's two starts through Pitch F/X, and finds that Jim Leyland's assertion that Figaro wasn't pitching aggressively was pretty spot-on. (Differences between Comerica Park and Minute Maid Park should be taken into consideration, however.)
FJL also takes a look at Luke French's pitching repertoire, and seems less than impressed.
Bobby Seay's been doing a good job out of the Tigers' bullpen, and rightfully gets a feature from Jason Beck on tigers.com. It's all about the slider. But I wasn't aware Seay currently leads the majors in holds with 16. Were you paying closer attention?
The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers has had enough of Carlos Zambrano, and wonders if the Cubs feel the same way. Would you like to see the Tigers get into that business or is a potential head case the last thing Detroit's pitching staff needs? (Thanks to Zappatista for passing this along.)
Lynn Henning has seen what I think many of us have also perceived since Magglio Ordonez returned from his "indefinite" hiatus: Nothing has really changed. (Here are the cold numbers.) Maggs still isn't driving the ball, and that home run last Thursday was due more to a terrible pitch by Ted Lilly than any adjustment made by Ordonez.
Remember Yorman Bazardo? Pitched in 14 games for the Tigers between 2007 and 2008? (I miss him, because I no longer have a reason to post my Bizarro picture whenever he pitches.) FanGraphs wonders why he's been in four organizations over the past four seasons.
We can't really blame Armando Galarraga's struggles on the World Baseball Classic, can we? Nevertheless, MLB Daily Dish lists a number of pitchers who have performed poorly this season, and each of them have something in common.