Corey Knebel throws 97-mph off a funky windup. It’s an effective combination. In 31 games for low-A West Michigan last year, the 22-year-old Detroit Tigers prospect logged a 0.87 ERA, 0.774 WHIP and 11.9 K/9. Working as a closer, he saved 15 games. The righthander was drafted 39th overall last summer out of the University of Texas. Read the rest of this entry »
The South Korean media should love Luke Scott. The outspoken outfielder will be playing for SK Wyverns this season and there’s a good chance not all of his bombs will come via his bat. Controversy and Scott have gone together like hand in glove.
That is not an indictment of his character. In a politically-correct climate where many athletes coat their opinions with vanilla, Scott’s candidness is refreshing. You may not agree with his views, but they’re dead honest. The erstwhile Astro, Oriole and Ray doesn’t shoot from the hip so much as he shoots from the heart.
Talking with Scott last summer, I learned that a pair of events helped shape not only his career, but also how he approaches life. Read the rest of this entry »
Early last summer, I wrote an article for Baseball Digest magazine that began with a quote from Bobby Cox. The Hall of Fame manager said, “They’ve got their RBIs in their gloves.” He was referring to weak-hitting shortstops with elite defensive ability. A few paragraphs later, I brought up Jose Iglesias.
Whether Iglesias fits that profile is a matter of debate. The 24-year-old ended up far outperforming expectations by hitting .303/.349/.386 between Boston and Detroit. He also had a .356 BABiP. The jury is still out on his bat.
There aren’t any questions about his glove. Iglesias is a human highlight reel at the shortstop position. His one-motion-catch-and-throw of an infield roller last summer was probably the defensive play of the year. His basket catch in short left field, in the ALCS, wasn’t far behind. Simply put, he makes plays no one else — OK, maybe Andrelton Simmons — can. By the eye-test, Iglesias is nothing short of brilliant.
The numbers don’t disagree. Read the rest of this entry »
Rick Porcello was better in 2013 for a number of reasons. For one, the Detroit Tigers right-hander was a year older and wiser. Because he broke into the big leagues at a young age, it’s easy to forget he’s just 24. For four seasons, he had largely been learning on the job.
Another reason was the development of his breaking ball. The lack of an effective off-speed pitch had burdened the former first-round pick, especially against left-handed hitters. That changed this year when he put his slider in his back pocket and began featuring a much-improved curveball. The results were telling, as he lowered his ERA from 4.59 to 4.32, and his FIP from 3.91 to 3.53.
Porcello talked about the development of his curveball — including how it impacts his reliance on scouting reports — during the ALCS. Read the rest of this entry »
Three at bats by Miguel Cabrera against Junichi Tazawa went a long way in determining the outcome of the ALCS. Had the Red Sox set-up man not gotten the better of baseball’s best hitter, there is a good chance the Tigers would be facing the Cardinals in the World Series.
Cabrera is known for hitting fastballs a long way. Tazawa got him out by working away with fastballs.
In Game 3, with runners on the corners and one out in the eighth inning of 1-0 game, Tazawa struck out Cabrera on a 94-mph fastball on a 1-2 count. The Red Sox held on for a 1-0 win.
In Game 5, with runners on the corners with none out in the seventh inning of a 4-2 game, Tazawa got Cabrera to ground into a 4-6-3 double play on a 94-mph fastball on a 1-0 count. The Red Sox hung on to win 4-3.
In Game 6, with runners on first and second with two out in the seventh inning of a 2-1 game, Tazawa got Cabrera to ground out to shortstop on a 94-mph fastball on a 1-0 count. The Red Sox rallied from the one-run deficit to win 5-2.
Tazawa features a splitter, which he utilized 28 percent of the time in the regular season, but all seven pitches he threw to Cabrera were fastballs. That was the game plan, and not just for the 27-year-old reliever. The Red Sox attacked the hobbled slugger with hard stuff the entire series. Read the rest of this entry »
Many feel Tom Brookens will become the Detroit Tigers manager when Jim Leyland retires. How soon that might happen is anybody’s guess. The 68-year-old Leyland may choose to stick around for awhile. He could also call it a career once the Tigers’ post-season run is over.
Brookens has been speculated as Leyland’s successor for years. Currently the club’s third base coach, he managed in the Detroit system for five years before joining Leyland’s staff prior to the 2010 season. Playing under the legendary Sparky Anderson, Brookens was the Tigers third baseman from 1979-1988.
Another question looms large for the 60-year-old manager-in-waiting: What if Leyland decides to remain at the helm and another team expresses an interest in hiring him? It would be hard to leave his long-time home, but opportunities to manage in the big leagues are hard to pass up. Brookens said he would listen. Read the rest of this entry »
The impact advance scouting has had on the first three games of the American League Championship Series is hard to measure. We can make educated guesses based on what we’ve seen, but that’s all. We aren’t privy to what is happening behind the scenes.
We do know there is a lot of information being shared. The Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers may not utilize advance scouting exactly the same way, but come playoff time, they leave no stone unturned. From pitch selection to defensive positioning, many decisions are influenced, if not determined, by data.
Prior to the start of the series, key personnel from both teams shared their perspectives on the process. Weighing in from the Detroit side were Dave Dombrowski, Jim Leyland, Tom Brookens, Alex Avila and Austin Jackson. Contributing from the Boston clubhouse were Ben Cherington, John Farrell, Torey Lovullo, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Dempster. Dombrowski and Cherington also offered snapshot of their player development efforts and the use of analytics. Read the rest of this entry »
Ten strikeouts swinging. Three strikeouts looking. Six strikeouts on sliders. Four strikeouts on fastballs. Three strikeouts on changeups.
Max Scherzer was brilliant. He allowed just two hits over seven innings and walked off he mound with a 5-1 lead. His team’s win expectancy stood at 96 percent.
It wasn’t enough. The resilient Red Sox rallied to beat the Tigers 6-5 and even the ALCS at one game apiece. As Boston manager John Farrell put it, “Tonight was almost a tale of two different games inside one.”
The last two innings were a tale of woe for the Tigers bullpen. Read the rest of this entry »
Game One of the 2013 ALCS was a classic. The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 1-0 in a contest that featured more than its fair share of drama. It also featured plenty of strikeouts and a near no-hitter. The game ended after midnight, with 322 pitches having been thrown.
Jim Leyland said something interesting about the Red Sox offense on Friday. There was a grain of truth to his comment, yet it was off base. It said a lot about a team that is very good at getting on base.
Asked about Boston’s ability to drive up pitch counts, the Tigers manager said, “I really don’t think taking pitches and working the pitcher has much to do with it… It‘s not taking the pitches, it’s that they foul off good pitches.”
Red Sox hitters did foul off a lot of pitches this year. Most notably, they fouled off 4,065 two-strike pitches, the most in baseball. The median was just under 2,800. No team had fewer than the Royals, who fouled off just 1,693 two-strike pitches.
Those numbers don’t prove Leyland right. Read the rest of this entry »
Phil Coke and Tommy Hunter know a good song when they hear it. The same can be said of song titles and how they might pertain to baseball. Neither the Detroit Tigers southpaw nor the Baltimore Orioles righty is a huge fan of the Beatles or Rolling Stones — but that didn’t deter them from interpreting “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “19th Nervous Breakdown.” Read the rest of this entry »