The Tigers and What Bruce Arena can teach us

Be afraid. The Tigers are playing well. I can't help but acknowledge their recent string of success -- 15-5 in their last 20 games. Sean Baligian, on WDFN, has said for months that the Tigers just needed one stretch of good baseball to put away the rest of the AL Central. And, as he predicted, the Tigers are 8 games clear of the Chicago White Sox. (8.5 games ahead of Cleveland). With the collapse of '09 still so fresh in everyone's mind, I'm not going to claim victory. Until the Tigers mathematically clinch 1st place, we'll all sleep with one eye open. Yet, I must give credit to the team for a fine stretch of both offense and pitching.

This afternoon, the Tigers go for the sweep with Verlander taking on Cleveland's ace, Justin Masterson, who's quietly putting together a fine season (11-8, 2.92 ERA). The Tigers need to maintain that killer instinct and nail that Cleveland coffin shut.

US Nats
With the Tigers playing well, I've at least got the US Nats to still kick around. Since taking the helm, Jurgen Klinsmann and the US Soccer team tied Mexico, lost to Costa Rica, and lost to Belgium. To be fair, that's decent competition. Even Costa Rica, despite the country's small size, produces quality talent. Yet, the US scored just one goal in those three games. One goal. That sucks. Against Mexico, they were dominated for long stretches. Only when Mexico replaced some starters did the US seize control and score an equalizer. The loss to Costa Rica was a bit more atypical. The US dominated for much of the first half but could not finish. Costa Rica had a few chances in the 2nd half and put one chance in the back of the net. Then, against Belgium, it was a somewhat ugly affair. Belgium showed off their technical brilliance and picked apart the US for most of the first half. They brought everyone forward, caring little about any US counter-attack. If not for some heroic Tim Howard saves, the US could've been down 3 or 4 goals. Ultimately, it was a 1-0 loss where the US hardly created any chances.

To be fair, the US did score a goal off a set-piece, but it was quickly waved off. Still no word as to why the goal was disallowed.

So, three games into the Jurgen Klinsmann experiment, and I don't see a huge difference from the Bob Bradley teams, with one exception. Bradley's teams rarely created a ton of opportunities against top competition but they had better fortune in actually scoring. Often, his drab sides would get pushed up and down the field and then somehow score on a rare corner kick.

Klinsmann is trying to implement a possession mentality with this team. An actual game-plan is a welcome change from Bradley. It was often difficult to discern if Bradley ever opted for a style or strategy. He certainly never discussed any of these things in post-game interviews. Nor did the players ever say anything. It was more likely Bradley simply relied upon individual players to create some magic. Sometimes it worked (the halcyon days of '09 when Charlie Davies was in full bloom). Usually, it didn't (Ghana, Gold Cup). The Bradley "non-style" drove fans crazy. He didn't appear to have a soccer brain needed for this level. Klinsmann, on the other hand, has been forthright with his new approach. He wants the yanks to carry the play, to build up from the defense and pick apart the opposition. In his three games, the US has often carried possession, but this approach hasn't resulted in any goals but the one against Mexico.

It's still a work in progress. Does the US look headed in the right direction? It's hard to say. Klinsmann might not have the personnel to pull off a possession game. For a few brief moments against Mexico, the US looked downright awesome. Brek Shea, Jose Torres, and Donovan blistered the Mexican defense with incredible one-touch, pinpoint passing. Yet, that dominance was not evident at all against Belgium.

After the Belgium loss, Alexi Lalas emphasized the need for patience. He's of course critical of the team's performance, but he realizes that Klinsmann is trying new things. These games are friendlies. Results are secondary to team growth. Klinsmann "bloodied" Edgar Castillo, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Robbie Rogers, Kyle Beckerman, and Brek Shea. He also reintroduced Jose Torres to the national team. Torres is one of the few US players capable of playing that central distributor role, like Claudio Reyna. Of the new (and reintroduced) faces, Shea has shined. Beckerman and Torres proved solid, and the rest should no longer suit up. Klinsmann will soon get a look at new US midfielder, Fabian Johnson, another German born to an American soldier. He's thrown his hat into the US team player pool. The list of names is growing. And, to his credit, Bob Bradley experimented with new faces too. So did Bruce Arena.

I recall attending a US vs Australia match in San Jose (with JoKo) early in Arena's tenure. He fielded the first All- MLS squad. It was a pedestrian affair, ending in a drab 0-0 draw. Yet, Arena got his first look at two young, inexperienced players who would play an integral role in the '02 World Cup and WC Qualifying campaign -- Eddie Lewis and Clint Mathis. Perhaps we'll look back at Klinsmann's early games as the discovery of Brek Shea. No doubt he'll get at least a few offers from European teams in the next transfer window. Whether MLS accepts  an offer is another story...

Nofrownmotown curse strikes again

Hours after I highlight Coke's awesome month of August, he gives up 3 runs and records zero outs, essentially losing the game for the Tigers.

Moving Forward

It's a good sign when I can use the phrase "moving forward" in September, and not refer to the next Tiger season. The Tigers are on pace to make noise this season. They're in the midst of a 10-3 run, which gave them some much-needed breathing room over the Tribe and ChiSox.

Strangely, the Tigers compiled the 10-3 record with weak starting pitching, no Brennen Boesch, no Carlos Guillen, and a healthy Brandon Inge. This is baseball. It doesn't always make sense.

With a 5.5 game lead over Cleveland, folks in Detroit are breathing easier. Yet, after the collapses in '06 and, especially, '09, nobody is ceding the division to Detroit. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Detroiter who's confident in this team. Even now. But I'm not gonna act like the sky is falling. Despite the issues with Scherzer, Penny, and Porcello, the bullpen suddenly looks strong. And, most impressive of all, the Tigers are getting some clutch hits. It's a strange and welcome sight.

This stretch run will largely depend, though, on the pitching. Overall, the Tigers rank 22nd in ERA. The top contending teams all rank higher, with Philly at #1. The Yankees, considered a weaker staff than Detroit, clock in at #10. The stats don't lie. The Tigers got problems with their arms.

Last time out, Verlander won his 20th game but gave up 4 runs. For Verlander, that's a chink in the armor. He also only lasted 6.0 innings. Still, in his five prior starts, he only allowed 8 total runs with a 1.96 ERA. That's stellar. No worries about JV.

Things start to get murky with Scherzer. For August, Scherzer posted a 5.45 ERA, highlighted by giving up 7 runs to KC in just 3.0 innings. Yet, he did well in his two prior starts yielding just 3 runs over 12 innings. The Tigers desperately need Scherzer to stabilize. It could be that Kansas City simply has his number. While they're a last place team, they do have a formidable offense. They're 4th in the AL in batting average. Against KC, Scherzer's got a 5.66 ERA. Against Minnesota, he's 5.27. Yet, he's 1.64 against the ChiSox and 3.72 against Cleveland. Scherzer's next start is Sunday night against the ChiSox. It's a high-profile game on ESPN2. It should tell us a lot about what to expect from this guy.

Now, the Tigers are on high-alert for Porcello. While Scherzer's been inconsistent, Porcello's been more consistent... but consistently poor. He did technically keep the Tigers in the game yesterday against KC. Over 7 innings, he gave up 4 runs. Yet, those 7.0 innings were the most he's lasted since July. His August ERA was 6.82, including an 8 run, 11 hit shellacking by Cleveland. The normally sedate Dan Dickerson and Jim Price pointed out yesterday that lefties teed off against him. For the season, Porcello's given up 13 HR, 59 runs to lefties. They're hitting a robust .337. That does not inspire confidence going forward. Especially when the top teams in the East can load their lineup with lefties (BoSox) or switch-hitters (NYY) or both (CLE). There's no easy answer for the Kid. This season, he's followed a poor month with a stellar one. In July, he posted 5 wins and a sterling 3.06 ERA. If that trend continues, expect a strong month of September, and then the Tigers should stash him in the basement in October.

With Porcello and Scherzer throwing blanks, Tigers' new acquisition Doug Fister has proven to be a steal so far. He came to Detroit with a stellar ERA (3.33) and awful W/L record (3-12). He's actually improved on that ERA in his 6 Detroit starts (2.97) and already equaled his Seattle win total. On Tuesday, Fister threw six perfect innings. The stadium was abuzz. He doesn't overpower batters, but he proves that effective pitching ain't always about velocity. He alternated locations and speed and, in general, kept the KC offense (which powered 18 hits off the Tigers the night before) off the bases. Also, Mrs. Nofrownmotown pointed out that Fister is now the handsomest Tiger.

Did the Tigers trade for Fister or Guy Pearce?

The bullpen, meanwhile, no longer requires two tubes of Rolaids. The key contributor in the turnaround is Phil Coke. After a hot-but-mostly-cold string of games as a starter, Coke returned to the bullpen mid-season. He struggled early, but his numbers recently... well... they sparkle. Coke appeared in 13 games in August. He allowed just 10 total hits and ZERO runs. Nada. Not a one. Oh, and he allowed just 2 walks and struck out 20. That's a 0.00 ERA for August, folks. Benoit's fared almost as well. After a troubling May, Benoit's posted a 2.61 ERA in June, a 1.17 ERA in July, and a 1.80 ERA in August. The Coke/Benoit/Valverde 1-2-3 punch served the Tigers well in this recent run. Soon, they get Alburquerque back. With the Amazing Al, a somewhat effective Schlereth, and the Coke/Benoit/Valverde triumvirate, the Tigers' bullpen is no longer a joke.

Who were those guys?

Buy that man a coke
A strange version of the Tigers battled the Rays last night at Tropicana field.

The Tigers were outhit 11-8. For most of the night, the Tigers were outpitched too. Yet, after Phil Coke got Zobrist to ground out to first base, the Tigers escaped with a 2-1 win, perhaps their most impressive road win of the season.

It wasn't great baseball, though. It was impressive because the Tigers beat a good team's ace, while playing without Boesch, Benoit, and Valverde. The Rays' David Price cruised most of the game. The Tigers finally broke free in the 7th. Delmon Young led off with a single, and then Cabrera got his first ever hit against Price - a souble to deep right. (Yes, I created a new hit specifically for Cabrera - the "souble". It's basically a double that's hit so hard that Cabrera doesn't have enough time to make it to 2nd base, so he's stuck with a single.) Delmon Young advanced to 3rd. V-Mart followed with a hard hit grounder to 3rd. Delmon was off on contact, and the Rays' easily threw him out at home. As I've said before, I've never seen a team thrown out so often at home. These guys got to stop running on contact. It's killing them. But it didn't kill them last night. Avila saved the day with an RBI single. Then Peralta hit a sac-fly, scoring V-Mart.

They got two runs off Price, while Penny somehow limited the Rays to 1. It was a bizarre game for Penny. The Rays got hits in every one of his innings but one. He fell behind almost every batter. Yet, he somehow escaped with just one earned run. It was reminiscent of Nate Robertson. The bulldog.

Leyland took out Penny with one on in the 7th. Schlereth notched one more out but then gave up a single and a walk to load the bases. No Alburquerque, no Benoit. So Leyland handed the ball to Ryan Perry, the wayward star from '09 who spent most of this season with Toledo. Facing another star from '09, Evan Longoria, Perry took his 6.29 ERA and got Longoria to pop out, ending the inning.

Coke took over from there. It wasn't any easier for him, though. In the 8th, Coke struck out the side but not before giving up a double and a walk. Then, in the 9th, he struck out two more but then gave up a double to Johnny Damon, an intentional walk to Longoria, and then allowed them to advance to 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch. Leyland's ulcer went into overdrive, and you could see him begging Gene lamont for his Marlboro-flavored Tums. The Tigers survived, though, as Coke got Zobrist to ground out to Cabrera. Cabrera fielded the sharp grounder and narrowly beat Zobrist on a foot-race to first. Game over. And the Tigers pulled off a strange win by somehow limiting the Rays to just one run despite giving up 11 hits.

I should note, though, that Honeymoon's over for Brandon Inge. The guy who .182 for the season resurfaced last night. Inge had two chances to tack-on runs. He came up with two men on in the 7th and struck out. The Rays walked Raburn to get to Inge. Then in the 9th, with the bases loaded, Inge popped out. Still, his defense was solid. I'd prefer for Inge to come on only when the Tigers have a lead, as a defensive replacement, but I guess we'll have to live with him platooning with Betemit. After a win like last night (when the Tigers were mostly outplayed), I'm not going to complain a ton.

Swing Players

We all know what Verlander can do. Same with Cabrera. Even if they don't perform up to their All-World ability, they'll still be pretty darn good. Same with Victor Martinez and Papa Grande. They may not be All-World, but they've still proven to be top-shelf players.

We also know what to expect from guys like Porcello, Penny, Austin Jackson, and Raburn. Porcello's gonna get rocked on occasion but also throw a 1-hit gem to keep the naysayers at bay. Penny's gonna give up 3+ pretty much every time. The question is whether that's over 3 innings or 7. As for Jackson and Raburn, they'll strike out most times, but, every now and then, they'll deliver a key hit.

For most of the Tigers, we know what they can and cannot deliver. Yet, there's a handful of players that remain unknowns. Their potential is still undetermined. Perhaps their ceiling is high. Perhaps they're just on a hot/cold streak. These are the swing players. They're like the state of Ohio or Florida in an election year. Their play determines the outcome.

Who qualifies?

Brennan Boesch, Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila. Peralta and Avila are in the midst of their first All-star seasons. Boesch is cementing his status as an everyday player. Last season, we all know he delivered strong enough numbers to warrant an All-star spot, but then he slumped drastically in the second half. This season, his average waffled between .270 and .290. He goes through hot and cold streaks, but nothing compared to his dreadful second half of 2010. One worrisome thing about Boesch is that his batting average with 2 outs and runners-in-scoring-position is .180. Yet, I suppose that's a sign of stats not telling the whole story. He almost single-handedly won this game as the rain poured down. It was such an impressive at-bat that Papa Nofrownmotown declared, "If they trade Boesch, I'm through with the Tigers!"

The kid's a fan favorite. He came to Detroit with little fanfare and has delivered. Much hope rests on his shoulders. Avila, though, takes on even more responsibility. Avila is the only catcher in the clubhouse. Victor Martinez, still smarting from a knee-injury, can't catch. Avila's caught 15 games in a row. And yet he continues to hit at his All-star pace. Currently, he's at .302, with 14 HR, and 59 RBI. This incredible season is on the heels of a 2010 campaign in which he hit .228, with 7 HR, and just 31 RBIs. Incredibly, his On-base-plus-slugging (OPS) is up to .911 from .656. Avila's hit rockets at the plate, and he'll also block the plate like a cliff breaking-up waves:

And Peralta... who saw this coming? Last season, the Tigers acquired Jhonny for Giovanni Soto. Nothing against Soto, but the kid's still battling in rookie ball. Peralta's hitting .313 with 18 HR and 65 RBIs. He made his first All-star team. He's still just 29 years old and in his prime. With all these cats, especially Avila and Peralta, are these seasons just aberrations? Or are they a sign of things to come? It's too soon to tell.

One thing is for sure, these kids came to play in 2011. Without them, the Tigers would struggle. The Tigers do not have much depth, so they need consistent production from these three to make noise in the pennant race. Cross your fingers and hope the happy days continue.

More on Leyland

I couldn't have said it better myself:

How Leyland is hurting the Tigers

The No Fun Team

It's called defense, and it helps win ball games
Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise? Another losing series to the Twins reminded Tigers fans how little separates the 1st place Tigers from the 4th place Twins.

Do the Tigers deserve to be in 1st place? In the Central, they're as deserving as anybody else. Maybe they've sucked the least. When it comes to batting, the Tigers are the strongest in the Central. Yet, they're close to last in pitching and defense. And they're definitely last in baserunning and team speed. I've never seen a Tiger team thrown out so often at home plate. It happened again last night, and it makes me wonder how Gene Lamont remains 3rd base coach. He has one friggin' job, and he fails over-and-over again.

Yet, Lamont's failings are just the beginning. Last night's loss to the Twins was the perfect opportunity for arm-chair managing/second-guessing Leyland.

It started with the lineup. Prior to the game, Leyland announced that Don Kelly (.231) would get the nod at 3B over Wilson Betemit (.288). Despite Betemit's superior numbers, Leyland said he'd platoon the two. Betemit is no savior defensively, but he's at least Kelly's equal. Neither offers much power, but Betemit has already provided clutch hits in his short time as a Tiger. This one should be a no-brainer.

In the early innings, Brad Penny pitched very well. He allowed just 1 run through 6 innings - another Jim Thome homer. The Tigers didn't fare much better. While they had base runners almost every inning, they couldn't string together a rally. They took a 2-1 lead on a Jhonny Peralta home run, but Minnesota took the lead right back on Penny's last pitch -- a 2-run HR to recently-called up Rene Tosoni.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Tigers had an opportunity to do more damage. With Boesch on 1st and Santiago on 2nd (and two outs), Cabrera rocked a shot off the wall in right field. Santiago scored easily, but the ball was hit so hard that Cabrera didn't even have time for a double. That didn't stop Gene Lamont from sending Boesch home. Minnesota's SS, Nishioka, took the relay and even had time to pause before realizing the Tigers were actually trying to score. His throw home easily beat Boesch. Horrible, horrible base-running and coaching by Lamont. Especially considering Victor Martinez (3 hits on the night) was up next.

Then in the 8th, Duane Below gave up a double to Mauer before retiring the next two batters. So, with two outs and a runner on 2nd, up came Jim Thome. With first base open, Leyland decided to still pitch to the guy who already had 3 home runs this series. The only surprise is that his hit wasn't a home run. It was a single. But it still scored Mauer.

In the bottom of the 8th, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs. Betemit pinch hit for Kelly and hit a sacrifice fly. That was the only run they managed that inning, but it at least tied the score. Then Leyland continued his run of awful decisions on the night by bringing in Jose Valverde in the non-save situation.

Now, you'd think a good pitcher is a good pitcher, regardless of situation. Yet, if you follow baseball, that's simply not true. I'm not sure why it is, but some guys thrive as relievers and suck as starters. Some only fare well against lefties. Some only work in the 8th inning but not the 9th. For Jose Valverde, he only works in save situations. It's mental. I can't explain it.

Still, Leyland opted for Valverde in the top of the 9th with the score tied. Thanks to two errors (one from Betemit and a very painful one from Valverde), the Twins loaded the bases with no outs. Valverde heroically struck out Plouffe and Joe Mauer. But the final out proved difficult. Justin Morneau hit a clutch single to score two. And that was the game.

Just another ugly loss by a team desperately clingling to 1st place in the worst division in baseball. Pennant races are supposed to be fun, but John's posting last night summed it up perfectly. We're all once bitten, twice shy. Why get excited by this team? They don't have the goods. They've got Verlander and Cabrera and handful of other fine players (VMart, Papa Grande, Boesch, Avila, and Peralta). Then it's a big drop-off. Their margin for error is extremely thin. So when the manager hurts the situation with a bone-headed hunch (Kelly, Valverde in the 9th), it drives us nuts.

This weekend, the Tigers welcome the Tribe to Detroit. A sweep by either team could spell disaster. Are you psyched? Got pennant fever?