Friday, April 11, 2008

One and done

I figured the Tigers would go 1-2 in Boston, which is what they did. That leaves the expectation gauge at -4. Ahead is a 3-game set in Chicago. It's Dontrelle Willis vs. Jose Contreras tonight followed by Justin Verlander against Gavin Floyd and Kenny Rogers vs. Mark Buehrle. Looking at those matchups, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Detroit wins 2 of 3. They should have an advantage tomorrow and the other two are toss ups. The Tigs need to start winning some toss ups. Actually, winning of any kind would be appreciated.

MLB.com reported that Detroit's pitchers tossed 212 pitches last night, 113 for strikes. Nate Robertson breezed early and struggled with command later. Tigers have yielded 47 BBs this year, second most in MLB, and .289 BA, which is third worst in MLB. A bad combo. The .830 OPS against them is worst. They're throwing 3.92 pitchers/plate appearance, which is fourth worst in bigs.

The starters need to get it together and get deeper into games, particularly to save this bullpen. Jeremy Bonderman is averaging 16.32 pitches per inning, the best among Detroit's starters. Robertson is the worst at 19.16. By comparison, Toronto's Roy Halladay is averaging 13.47 pitches per inning. KC's Zach Greinke is at 13.73. Minnesota's Boof Bonser at 13.85.

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