I've been spening most of my time dissecting the Lion's draft possibilities, so now im gonna do my detroit tiger's preview.
i'll first give my projected lineup:
Pitching Rotation:
1) Justin Verlander-RHP
Verlander had an off year last year as we all know, but i believe this year will be a return to form, meaning he should have 17-18 wins and a 3.5-3.6 ERA. This spring he has worked on slowing down his mound presence as well as working on his changeup and cutting down on walks. This should allow him to pitch deep into games as well as achieve more swings and misses.
2) Armando Gallaraga-RHP
Gallaraga was the story of the year as far as the pitching staff last season. As an injury replacement for Dontrelle Willis, Gallaraga established his place in the rotation by winning 13 games in his first full major league season, and will serve as an excellent compliment to fireballer Justin Verlander with his finesse pitching approach.
3)Jeremy Bonderman-RHP
Bonderman missed most of last season with a blood clot in his shoulder, leaving intense speculation as to how he would rebound this spring. Early this spring, he experienced shoulder tightness, so he had to miss some time while rehabbing. He threw 3 successful bullpen sessions, as well as 2 successful simulated games, and in his spring debut he threw 2 innings, with 2 hits, no walks, 2 strikeouts and 0 runs allowed. Look for Bonderman to be successful this season.
4) Edwin Jackson-RHP
Acquired from Tampa Bay in the offseason for outfield power hitter Matt Joyce, Jackson is young and has a live arm. His fastball has topped out at 97, and also has a considerable curveball and a work-in-progress changeup, much like Verlander. This spring, he has shown the Tigers his prowess at eating up innings, going 4 innings twice while giving up between 1-3 runs. This is by no means dominant, but the Tigers will take 7 innings with 3-4 runs allowed over 5 innings with 1-3 runs allowed every single day.
5) Nate Robertson-LHP
There was much speculation and competition this spring over who would be the Tigers 5th starter. The competition was between Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, Rick Porcello, and Zach Miner. In my opinion, Robertson has won the job, but just barely over Porcello, after hhis last two outings have totaled 7 innings pitched with no runs allowed and 5 strikeouts. Porcello is only 20, and has proved to be effective, but needs another season of minor league conditioning and experience to be a truly effective major league starter. Look for him to be a spot starter this season in case of injury or random double-headers. Miner has already been dropped from consideration by Jim Leyland, and will be a viable asset in the bullpen. Willis has continued to struggle with his delivery, and the walks have piled up. Look for him to start the season in Triple-A to work on his command.
Bullpen-
Zach Miner-RHP
Jaun Rincon-RHP
Ryan Perry-RHP
Bobby Seay-LHP
Fernando Rodney-RHP
Joel Zumaya-RHP
Brandon Lyon-RHP
Starting Lineup-
1) Curtis Granderson-CF**
2) Placido Polanco-2B
3) Miguel Cabrera-1B
4) Magglio Ordonez-RF
5) Carlos Guillen-LF*
6) Gary Sheffield-DH
7) Gerald Laird-C
8) Brandon Inge-3B**
9) Adam Everett-SS
*Denotes Position Switch
**Denotes Breakout Season Ahead
Bench-
Matt Treanor-C
Ramon Santiago-Util (2B, SS, 3B)
Marcus Thames-OF
Jeff Larish-Util (3B, 1B, LF, RF)
*Authors note-I would really want to see Brent Clevlan here, but I can't see the Tigers parting with Marcus Thames's power bat, and Larish is more versatile than Clevlan, although Clevlan can play all 3 outfield spots. Look for Clevlan, Timo Perez, and Cale Iorg to see time with the Tiger's this season
as always, comments are appreciated
5 comments:
what consist of a breakout season for brandon inge? an all star appearance? a 300 batting average? other than that you played this blog pretty safe although i believe galaragga is a rookie sensation and not much more i do hope he repeats. Granderson will be productive as well but a breakout season would be hard for him even though it is completely subjective. and finally do you have the tigers in the playoffs because I would say no but that is just my opinion
1) i think inge will return to hitting 20-25 homers on top of batting .270-.280 with 70-80 RBI's and hopefully 10 steals. This coupled with his usually stellar defense will give him a "breakout" season.
2) i certainly hope gallaraga repeats as well
3) Granderson won't start the season with a broken hand so he'll return to form
4) idk at this point. it'll be tough to outright win the division, but with the wildcard almost definitely coming out of the AL East then that seems to be the only option. IDK if they'll make the playoffs, but i think 85 wins is attainable.
no Rayburn on the team? I think Sheffield won't make it to the all-star game, and Thames will take his DH spot. Then the backups, will be Laird, Santiago, Rayburn, and Clevlen. Although I think Larish will definitely battle for a spot, especially if Inge has another .200 season and makes alot of errors like he usually does.
u would prefer rayburn over larish?
and if sheff does go down chances are thames and larish would platoon at dh b/c of the righty/lefty combo
and laird as a backup? behind who?
i meant treanor as the backup. And yes I would prefer Rayburn over Larish right now. I not only think Sheff will go down, I think we will get rid of him after he hits his milestone homer. Then Thames, Larish, or Rayburn could all DH. However, if Clevlen gets brought up and starts hitting, he will stay up.
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