I’m sick of hearing about Jose Valverde‘s 49-for-49 save streak last season. We all know how that was constructed: with far too many saves that looked like Saturday afternoon’s harrowing win against the Royals. A lot has been written about Valverde’s intensity being dialed down a notch – or, apparently, disconnected altogether – when he’s in non-save situations. After the Tigers escaped with an 8-7 victory which should’ve been an 8-4 W, Valverde told reporters, “I wasn’t throwing my fastball for strikes. I don’t know what’s going on.” WHIP Posted by Recent Tigers Closers 2001: Matt Anderson. 1.32 WHIP, 22 saves 2002: Juan Acevedo. 1.22 WHIP, 28 saves 2004: Ugueth Urbina. 1.29 WHIP, 21 saves 2005: Fernando Rodney. 1.27 WHIP, 9 saves 2009 Rodney.…
Note: This article first appeared on ESPN.com’s SweetSpot blog today. When the Tigers traded Scott Sizemore to the A’s over Memorial Day Weekend, it brought an abrupt and mildly startling end to his tenure as Detroit’s second baseman of the future. The Tigers, after all, anointed him as the heir apparent to Placido Polanco almost immediately after they lost Game 163 to the Twins in 2009. Polanco was eligible for arbitration, which coincided with the Tigers’ momentary spending freeze, and soon he was back with the Phillies doing everything fans in Detroit had come accustomed to: steadiness in the field, reliability at the plate. But back to Sizemore. The Tigers sent him to the Arizona Fall League – “a graduate school” for top prospects,…
For a long time — even up until this spring training — I thought the Tigers had bought themselves enough time to get Joel Zumaya healthy by drafting Ryan Perry, signing Jose Valverde and then signing Joaquin Benoit. With today’s news that Zumaya is headed to the 60-day disabled list, with no clear answer on what’s causing the pain in his throwing elbow, I’ve come to grips with the fact his days in Detroit, if not baseball altogether, are reaching the end. Tigers head trainer Kevin Rand summed up Zumaya’s road back from his most-recent injury: “On the fracture side, everything is fine, but there’s something causing pain. He’s tender right over the screw (that was inserted during the surgery). “It’s frustrating for Joel.…
Former Tigers catcher Robert Fick earned his reputation as a bad seed thanks to some poor on-field decisions and in-flight activities. If you followed the Tigers during his five years (and five uniform numbers) in Detroit, you won’t be surprised by this Fick-related anecdote from former-Tigers flamethrower Matt Anderson: First Anderson drove from Louisville to Atlanta to say goodbye to the kids. Then he headed west to California to see his friend and former Tigers teammate, Robert Fick, who had possession of the two game gloves — a Mizuno and a Rawlings — that Anderson used during his last stint in pro ball. After continually badgering Fick to send him the gloves, to no avail, Anderson figured it would be easier to just pass…
On June 1, the Tigers weren’t exactly reeling but they could not have felt good about the way the month ended. They lost two games to the Mariners in Seattle, then came home to lose three of four to the A’s. After a 14-10 record in April, they stumbled to 12-14 in May. How would they fare in June? Much better, despite losses to division opponents on the both ends of the month. Detroit finished June with a 15-12 record and gained three games in the standings; on June 1 they were 4-1/2 back of the Twins, just 1-1/2 on June 30. In between, the Tigers surged thanks to that soft spot in the interleague schedule — Pittsburgh, Washington and Arizona — allowing them…
