Month: February 2009

2009 Player Profile: Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera #24

  • Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 240
  • 2008 Stats: .292 – 37 HR – 127 RBI

CabreraHead.jpgMiguel Cabrera wasted little time in 2008 showing Tigers fans why he’s one of baseball’s premier hitters. His towering home run on Opening Day set the tone for a season in which he’d lead the league with 37 round-trippers.

After a cool start to ’08 — and a shift from third base to first — Cabrera quickly discovered his stroke and began feasting on A.L. pitching staffs, finishing with a .292 average.

The four-time All Star had particular success in 2008 against lefties, posting a .311 average and a .596 slugging percentage — though only nine of Cabrera’s homers came off a port-sider. This is just one anomaly in 25-year-old’s swing: a closer look at his hitting chart shows a decidedly pure pull hitter on ground balls and liners but more of a spray hitter on fly balls. In fact, most fly balls put in play Cabrera — roughly a quarter, including more than half his home runs — traveled to right- and right-center fields.

But perhaps the biggest mistake an opposing pitcher can make on Cabrera is to leave a ball out over the plate; and the higher the pitch, the better the chance he’ll crush it.

Look for more of the same in 2009.

2009 Player Profile: Placido Polanco

Placido Polanco #14

  • Height: 5′ 10″ | Weight: 195
  • 2008 Stats: .307 – 8 HR – 58 RBI

PolancoHead.jpgLike most of his teammates, Placido Polanco struggled at the outset of the 2008 season. The usually fast-starting second baseman – he has a .307 average for April spanning 2006-08 – was expected to pickup the slack at the top of the order left by the injured Curtis Granderson. But as the weather warmed, so did Polanco finding the stroke that delivered a .341 average in 2007. He hit .330 in May and a torrid .386 in June.

Widely considered one of the toughest outs in baseball, Polanco confounds pitchers with his knack for hitting the ball virtually anywhere it’s pitched. Even on pitches down and away, Polanco hit a solid .286 in ’08.

This year Tigers fans can expect from Polanco what they’ve enjoyed since he came to Detroit in 2005: consistent, durable performance in the field and at the plate. But with a strong crop of middle infield prospects in the minors, 2009 could be his final season in Detroit. Though, I for one am hoping it’s not.

2009 Player Profile: Curtis Granderson

Curtis Granderson #28

  • Height: 6′ 1″ | Weight: 185
  • 2008 Stats: .280 – 22 HR – 66 RBI

If anyone doubted Curtis Granderson’s value atop the Tigers lineup, the first few weeks of 2008 likely convinced them. GrandersonHead.jpgWithout their leadoff hitter – Granderson suffered a broken finger at the end of Spring Training – the Tigers’ offense sputtered and, in case you’d forgotten, the team started the season 0-7.

When Granderson returned to the team, he started strong, hitting .375 in April before a May slump brought his average down. In June, though, he hit .364 followed by a .324 month of July.

One area in which the Tigers wanted to see improvement from their centerfielder was in the number of strikeouts, and since 2006, Granderson has made a dramatic turnaround, slashing his strikeouts from 174 in ’06 to 111 last season. What’s more, in 2008 he boosted his success against lefties by nearly 100 points from 2007’s dreary .160 average.

Entering his fifth major-league season, he continues to show power to all fields with a stroke that has few holes. The bottom line: As Granderson goes, so goes the Tigers’ lineup. Expect that trend to continue this season.

2009 Player Profile: Fernando Rodney

Fernando Rodney #56

  • Height: 5′ 11″ | Weight: 220
  • 2008 Stats: 0-6, 4.91 ERA, 13 Saves

In a bottom-line business like major league baseball, fans tend to overlook stats such as 49 strikeouts in 40 innings or 13 saves from a late-inning reliever like Fernando Rodney. RodneyHead.jpgSix blown saves and an ERA a whisker under five are more glaring and more representative of Detroit’s bullpen woes in 2008. Yet despite that lackluster campaign, the Tigers expect big things from Rodney in ’09.

Though he spent April and May on the DL, the ’08 season wasn’t all bad for the senior-ranking Tiger in the bullpen; he assembled stretches of lights-out appearances, including June and July in which hitters produced a .183 average against him. Over that same timeframe he fanned 37 in 27.1 innings pitched. The key to success for Rodney is a breathtaking changeup that, when near the plate, is difficult for hitters to resist. Of course, a high-90s fastball makes the off-speed pitches that much more tantalizing.

With Todd Jones’ retirement, Brandon Lyon‘s arrival and Joel Zumaya’s (tentative) return, chances are that Rodney will begin 2009 as a setup man. If something goes wrong with Lyon or Zumaya and if Rodney can harness his pitches, develop consistency, and fortify his mental makeup, he could, in the end, be the Tigers’ answer at closer.

For a pitcher with Rodney’s track record, that’s an awful lot of ifs.

2009 Player Profile: Armando Galarraga

Armando Galarraga #58

  • Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 180
  • 2008 Stats: 13-7, 3.73

GalarragaHead.jpgOn April 15, 2008, the Tigers summoned Armando Galarraga from Toledo for what most presumed was a short-term stint for the rookie right-hander. He made his Tigers debut on April 16 in Cleveland – a period when the Tigers desperately needed wins – and tossed a gem: 6.2 innings pitched, one hit, two runs, no walks and six strikeouts. At that time, little did the Tigers know how significant Galarraga’s impact would be.

In 30 appearances (28 starts), he posted a 13-7 record with a 3.73 ERA in 178.2 IP — and became the de facto staff ace. For his effort, Galarraga ranked fifth in the American Rookie of the Year voting. His recipe for success in 2008 was simple: throw strikes early and often – nearly 70 percent of his first-pitch fastballs were strikes – and nibble at the outside corners. Another ingredient: dominate right-handed hitters; they batted a meager .174 off Galarraga – nearly 90 points less than lefty hitters.

If the Tigers’ pitching staff is to rebound collectively in 2009, it will depend on an encore performance by Galarraga. And if top-line starters Verlander and Bonderman return to form, the Tigers will boast a dynamic rotation that few A.L. Central teams can match.

2009 Player Profile: Edwin Jackson

Edwin Jackson #36

  • Height: 6′ 3″ | Weight: 210
  • 2008 Stats: 14-11, 4.42 ERA

EdwinJacksonHead.jpgWhen the Tigers traded Matt Joyce to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jackson, Detroit fans scratched their heads – and not only because Joyce appeared to have a future in the Tigers outfield. Jackson is an unknown quantity outside of the A.L. East and the Tigers have only faced the righthander four times since 2006 for a total of 16 innings (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 12 K). He became expendable in pitching-rich Tampa despite a pedestrian 2008 (14-11, 4.42) due mainly to the emergence of David Price, but from most accounts, the Tigers landed themselves a gem and a durable number-three man in the rotation.

The 25-year-old Jackson features a mid-90s fastball and a devastating slider – and batters hit just above .200 when facing the slider. In 2009, watch for Jackson to stick with his formula for success: working the lower half of the strike zone and the corners of the plate – up and away on lefties, high and tight on righties. And, if he can maintain his low rate of walks per nine innings (2.5), Jackson will pay rapid dividends for the Tigers.

2009 Player Profile: Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman #38

  • Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 220
  • 2008 Stats: 3-4, 4.29 ERA

It seems that every season baseball experts predict that it will be the year that Jeremy Bonderman finally emerges as an ace, discovers an effective third pitch, and challenges for the Cy Young Award.BondermanHead.jpg The 2008 season was no different but the lofty expectations quickly evaporated. Bonderman didn’t pitch after June 1 and had surgery in July to correct a pinched vein that returns blood from the arm to the heart. The good news is that Bonderman’s surgery was successful and he’s on track to return in 2009.

So, while the 26-year-old grapples with the nuances of an off-speed pitch, expect him to focus on what works: a nasty slider as his primary out pitch. In his 12 starts last season, Bonderman went to the slider more than half the time with two strikes – in contrast, he threw the changeup just 1% of the time in similar situations.

Coming off an arm injury, Bonderman may see expectations lowered for a change. But perhaps that’s just what he’ll need to flourish at last.