I am not a reactionary blogger. I think if you’ve read me with any regularity, you know I tend toward the sane path, the middle ground, ignoring the talk radio and message board fodder. I try to think and analyze and be patient. So, I am not making a rash proclamation here:

Jim Leyland has to go.

To borrow from the Pistons’ introduction video: It’s time, Detroit.

It’s time to get rid of a manager whose decisions infrequently made sense and whose team seemed at times in the past two years to win despite him.

This team is really starting to piss me off. Which, you know, is a good thing. There were two directions this season could have gone once it became apparent this team sucks.

1. I could have lost interest and stopped watching the games, as many fans have chosen to do.
2. I could get more and more and more pissed off at the awful way this team is being run.

So it’s No. 2 for now. So while I still care, Jim Leyland has to go.

There are things a manager cannot do:

• Swing the bat for the batter.
• Pitch the ball for the pitcher.
• Make the final call on roster moves that overstock the team with no-field designated hitters

So I don’t blame Leyland for Magglio Ordonez’s proclivity for grounding into double plays, or for Miguel Cabrera’s thus-far bust at the plate, or for the Tigers’ pitchers nibbling at the corners — when they find the corners — and grooving balls down the middle of the plate. No, this team would be losing its fair share of games no matter who was at the helm — you, me, Joe Torre, Larry Parish, Bob Melvin. This mess does not fully rest on Leyland’s shoulders, make no mistake.

But there are things a manager has control over that are really pissing me off.

• GARY SHEFFIELD SUCKS AND PLAYS NEARLY DAILY

Sheffield is done. He should retire. Good riddance. I should have believe fans of every. single. team. he ever played for. He’s a damned waste of a roster spot. When he’s hitting, which he did for about 2 months last season, you just wish he’s shut his damn mouth and play baseball. And when he’s not hitting, and he’s hurting, HE PLAYS ANYWAY. He can’t throw. He admits this. He can’t hit. Maybe he doesn’t admit that. He’s not healthy. He admits this. But Leyland (and Dave Dombrowski) will not admit it, too. So they keep running his black-hole offense and poor defense out every day, while a guy — the only who has actually hit the ball outside the playing field! — sits the bench. This makes no sense. The purpose of the game of baseball is to win, not keep your overpaid, achey veteran in the lineup.

• CARLOS GUILLEN CANNOT PLAY A SINGLE POSITION AND IS IN THE FIELD NEARLY DAILY

This relates to Gary Sheffield, because it is so obvious the only possible place Carlos Guillen should occupy on the lineup card is designated hitter. He could have been a first baseman, I’m sure. But Miguel Cabrera couldn’t play third base and was too young to use as a designated hitter. (That is obviously not Leyland’s fault). Of course, Sheffield sometimes plays in left field, and rather than use Brandon Inge as the third baseman — a position he plays beautifully — the rookie, slick outfielder Matt Joyce becomes designated hitter. Well, yes, that makes PERFECT sense. Oh wait, it makes ZERO sense. This team is eventually going to hit. It’s already starting to pitch. But it’s never going to field, and will not be a contender unless changes are made to address that weakness.

• THE GUYS WHO WANT TO PLAY BASEBALL WITH ZEST SIT THE BENCH

Look, I know you’re not going to win 100 games playing your lesser-talented players even if they play the game with love and excitement. But frankly, you’re not going to win 100 games with this bunch of no-hit gimps in the field either. So I get more-and-more frustrated when I see Inge sit the bench while Guillen lollygags his way to another error, or Matt Joyce or Ryan Raburn sit the bench while the beerleague outfielder lobs the ball in that he jogged to retrieve. Or hell, poor Clete Thomas!  He played with energy, had fun, and was fun to watch, and now he’s in AAA-Toledo.

It seems like such a simple solution. Gary Sheffield is hurting, can’t hit, can’t field. Disabled list. Carlos Guillen can’t field. Designated hitter. Brandon Inge (who can’t hit, to be sure) plays near-gold glove defense at third. Let him. Matt Joyce/Clete Thomas play solid in the outfield. Start them in left. Why does he not do this?!?! Even if they lost, the games would be a lot more palatable than the way they are currently losing.

And there are other sins:

• The team looks sloppy. The fielding is awful. If this is a failure of mechanics, that rests on the manager. If this is a failure of concentration, that, too, rests on the manager. This is not something new.
• There is no accountability. Run the ball out, don’t run the ball out. Call for a ball, don’t call for a ball. Concentrate in an at-bat, don’t concentrate in an at-bat. It does not matter to Jim Leyland. He’ll keep trotting the same bunch of guys out no matter how many things they do wrong.
• As more of Leyland’s guys (Edgar Renteria, Gary Sheffield, Neifi Perez) were brought to the team, it got worse. Coincidence? Hmm.
• The no-hit, no-OBP catcher sometimes bats leadoff.
• The bullpen is disorganized and players are not put in the best position to succeed. (See long reliever /spotstarter Zach Miner pitching in a close-and-late game with runners on base. This has worked out like, never?)

I’m sure it can go on and on. I’ve edited and re-organized this post repeatedly and I feel like I’m still leaving a lot of the small stuff on the cutting room floor. But it comes down to this:

This team is underperforming, and the manager is not holding anyone accountable for their poor play, so he must be held accountable for the team’s play.

It’s time, Detroit. Fire Jim Leyland before it’s too late.

Share/Email This

Share/Email This

Dbacks 4
Tigers 3

Recap:

• Carlos Guillen and Edgar Renteria couldn’t decide who should catch a foul ball in the seventh inning.
• Jeremy Bonderman couldn’t throw strikes that inning either.
• Zach Miner gave up the game winning run, but Bobby Seay allowed him to score. Because ….
• Guillen couldn’t throw the ball to first inning later that inning.
• So this isn’t Seay’s fault at all.
• Miguel Cabrera finally hit a home run.
• Other stuff that doesn’t matter at this point happened

Analysis:

• When the Tigers became the Yankees, no good could come of it, and no good has.
• Miner is not a close-and-late pitcher. Period. Hell, he’s not a major league pitcher. Period.
• I propose the Tigers donate all their game salaries to Cornerstone Schools every time they lose. Because something positive should come from this team sucking.
• Except for Matt Joyce. He seems to earn his and probably needs it. Unlike say Carlos Guillen, who neither deserves it nor earns it. Or Gary Sheffield. Who for some reason batted third again. Because it worked so well last time he batted third or played left field.
• Forgive my sarcasm, I’m just really growing to dislike this version of the team.
• I echo everything stated by Scott at Quo Vadimus: The Tigers are not fun to watch.
• Yet I keep thinking they’re going to come out of this seasonlong tailspin.
• I obviously learned nothing from all my years as a Tigers fan or I’d know better than to be optimistic.

Share/Email This

Royals 8
Tigers 4

Recap:

• At least the Tigers scored 4. And fell to what, 0-22 when scoring less than 5?

Analysis:

• Same old. Same old.

Share/Email This

Royals 2
Tigers 0

Recap by the numbers:

• 1. The number of pitches Magglio Ordonez took to ground into a double play in the eighth inning after the first two baserunners got on, thus ending any real hopes the Tigers might score.
• 2. The Tigers lost for the second straight quality start by a pitcher.
• 3. Marcus Thames struck out three times.
• 4. The Tigers are .400. (OK, that one was a reach) this season.
• 5. The Tigers are 0-5 against the Royals this year.
• 6. The Tigers just got shut out for the sixth time this season.
• 7. Justin Verlander owns seven losses this year.
• 8. The Tigers are eight games under .500, the worst all season.
• 9. The Tigers stranded nine KC runners but still didn’t win!
• 10. Well I don’t really have a 10. but I felt like I needed one
• 0. The number of extra-base hits by Detroiters. (Also 0 seems more fitting than 10.)

Other notes:

Gary Sheffield didn’t play because his shoulder hurts. Shocker, I know. That experiment really lasted long. No mention of DL. Why in the world won’t the Tigers put him on the DL? I don’t get this and I get it less and less and less. Is he threatening things in the background or what?

The Tigers are in last. Well, laster than normal.

Analysis:

• It’s nice to see the pitching come together.
• Justin Verlander needed a start like this. Clay Rapada has been great. And Freddy Dolsi pitched the Tigers out of a bases loaded jam. So that’s awesome to see.
• But nothing is coming together. This team can’t score, and it has a good pitching performance. This team scores and has a bad pitching performance.
• This team makes very little sense. In like, any way at all.

Share/Email This

Royals 3
Tigers 2

Recap:

• Carlos Guillen drove in a run with a double.
• Matt Joyce hit a home run.
• That completes the Tigers’ portion of the scoring. One out into the second inning. Uh oh.
• Jose Guillen knocked in a pair of Royals runs on Tigers starter Nate Robertson to tie the game in the third.
• So it’s 2-2 after seven innings. Robertson pitched a quality start and left the game after 82 pitches (53 strikes).
• So the Royals won the game in the 8th inning when Jose Guillen doubled and Billy Butler walked. Then Guillen scored after Edgar Renteria tried to make a spectacular play on a ball hit up the middle, but instead sent the ball into center field the middle of no where.
• There were two outs at the time. He could have eaten the ball, leaving the bases loaded and a play anywhere. His error gave the Royals the winning run.
• Francisco Cruceta took the loss.

Analysis:

• I don’t quite get why Robertson was pulled when he was pitching well and had a low pitch count. But of course if he blew up in the 8th inning we’d not get why he wasn’t pulled probably. But back seat coaching aside, he should have continued pitching. He got a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Why wouldn’t he keep pitching? He had a great game.
• I don’t quite get why the hitting is so inconsistent.
• Curtis Granderson has been pretty much awful since diving in center field last week against Boston and coming up holding his hand. He may be playing through something he’s not talking about.
• Can we end this damned Gary Sheffield experiment already? He can’t hit and the Tigers are DHing rookie Matt Joyce, who can field. Sheffield didn’t contribute to the loss, far as I could tell from the radio, but he sure isn’t helping win any games either.
• The Tigers are an awful baseball team. They are not a good baseball team going through bad times. Most of the season, except for that week playing the Yankees and Rangers, has been awful. They started off the season 7 games under .500 by going 0-7. They won some games. They returned to 7 games under .500.
• There is no reason to believe they are anything but a bad club.
• And that deserves a

Share/Email This

Last week, I looked at the Tigers record by runs allowed. At that point, and in the four games since, they are yet to win a game when they’ve scored four runs or less. They picked up two more losses to bring their record to 0-19 (in 38 games) when scoring 4 runs or less. For an offense that was supposed to be all-powerful, well, it’s been anything but. So a Tigers’ pitching staff that has the fewest quality starts in baseball has been pitching under quite a bit of stress this year. But let’s see how they’ve done. (Numbers researched at Baseball Prospectus)

0 runs — 0-0 (no shutouts!!)
1 run — 1-0
2 runs — 6-0
3 runs — 0-1
4 runs — 4-4
5 runs — 2-7
6 runs — 1-2
7 runs — 0-2
8 runs — 0-1
9 runs — 2-0
11 runs — 0-3
12 runs — 0-1
13 runs — 0-1

So while the median runs score for the Tigers is 4.5 runs, the median for runs allowed is 5 runs. Well, this sub-.500 record thing makes sense at least. The picture I get when you put the runs scored and runs allowed together is very few times have the Tigers batters lifted the pitchers up when they stumbled (the two wins with nine runs allowed show the bats helping). And never are the pitchers helping the Tigers when they don’t score. It’s interesting that the Tigers are 7-0 when allowing two runs or less but 0-6 when scoring either three or four runs. They’re just not battling out the close ones like that. The two sets of figures aren’t aligned at all.

Next up a look at Tigers’ record by run differential, hopefully tomorrow.

Share/Email This

There’s been some disabled list news to update recently.

First, Dontrelle Willis pitched in Toledo last night, allowing 5 runs in 5-2/3 innings. He walked two and a third intentionally.

“It looked like it was pretty good through about 70 pitches tonight,” Mud Hens’ manager Larry Parrish said. “I thought he threw the ball well. He just ran out of gas a little at the end.” (Quoted in Toledo Blade)

Here’s the MILB.com box score and play-by-play recap. Willis gave up back-to-back homers in the second inning after forcing three groundouts in the first. He then got the next five batters out, on two strikeouts, two flyout and a groundout before a walk and another groundout. He walked another n the fourth inning and gave up a single in the fifth. He also collected another strikeout and a pickoff. Then the sixth inning did in fact unravel on him as Parrish said.

So it seems to me, there were some good signs there for Willis. I definitely think there were positives in the outing if you look a bit closer. He’ll see at least another AAA start though.

Rodney, Zumaya getting closer

Scott McNeish of MLB.com reports Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney will start throwing to batters this week in Lakeland. There’s no date for when they might return, if–knock on wood, cross fingers, don’t walk under a ladder–they are able to continue their progress without any setbacks. The Tigers’ bullpen hasn’t been the big problem this year, as first thought it might be. But it’s important the Tigers have all hands on deck for when (if?) they do start to put the pieces together during the summer. Having the two healthy for a stretch run is a must.

Share/Email This

Well, someone has to pay for the lack of pitching in Tiger Town. Popular finger pointing, however, goes past the teflon leader Jim Leyland and, rather, to one of his coaches: pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. Which, you know, isn’t real fair  in my mind.

I understand why the idea comes up. For one, this guy’s looking for a job and has a proven track record doing Hernandez’ job.  So why note flip the two, right? For two, the Tigers’ pitching staff is letting the team down. Especially the young starters. So someone has to be to blame, right? And,  I mean, no one saw this coming, did they?

It would be great if it was that easy. I mean it. It really would. Because right now. we’re all looking for solutions to turn the Tigers around, and I’m sure Mike Illitch, Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland are trying to figure it out, as well. But the answers aren’t that easy.

But, like all coaching positions in baseball, I think a little too much praise goes to the pitching coach when his staff does something good, and too much criticism goes toward the same coach when his staff does something bad. I mean, did Hernandez really forget how to coach between that magical year of 2006 and the dismal start to 2008? Or are guys who suffered through injuries after pitching during the magical 2006 season continuing to pay the piper this year?  We can’t say for sure. After all, who but Justin Verlander should best know the health of Justin Verlander? On the other hand, can we believe what he says? I guess that’s a decision you have to make for yourself. But the fact of the matter is, there’s no reason to believe that Hernandez is the cause of the suddenly dismal play.

I think firing him now would be making him the scapegoat and probably not result in any better performances from the pitchers.

Share/Email This

Does the 40-game mark matter as much as we all pretend (due to Sparky Anderson’s desire a team not be judged until then)? Maybe.  Maybe not.

• Around 40 games in 2007, the 4 American League playoff teams would have been Boston, Cleveland,, Los Angeles and Detroit (wild card). The 4 National League playoff teams were the Mets, the Brewers, the Dodgers and the Padres. World Series-bound Arizona was 21-19. The playoff-bound Yankees were 17-19.

• Around 40 games in 2006, the A.L. playoff teams would have Detroit, Chicago (wildcard), Boston and Oakland/Texas. Only Detroit and Oakland made the playoff of that bunch. The eventual Central Division champion Twins were 17-24. In the N.L., the playoff teams were the Mets, Cardinals, Reds (wildcard) and Padres. That was a decent predictor, as the Cardinals had the best record in the league before falling on their face and picking themselves back up to win the World Series. The Reds missed the playoffs.
• Around 40 games in 2005, Baltimore led the A.L. East with a .667 winning rate. They missed the playoffs. The World Series champion Chicago White Sox were running away with the league at 29-12. The National League pennant winner Houston Astros, however, started out 15-24.

You can go on and on and on. You know the only conclusion you can draw from the past three years? You can’t draw a conclusion at all! Some of the season’s best teams were in first. Some weren’t. It was better to be in first than not to be, obviously. But teams that started slow rallied in each of the three years.

Every team plays every team in its league. So for Detroit, that’s 13 teams. They haven’t even faced four teams at all and have spent 45% of their time playing against teams currently in first place. While, you know, you’d expect teams who expect to be contenders would split against first-place teams (the Tigers are 5-11) any review of the Tigers should note that strength of schedule).

So, maybe we shouldn’t put too much weight on the first 40 games. You’re still getting a skewed view of things and the first 40 really aren’t a reliable predictor.

Share/Email This