"Must See JV" takes its show on the road, as Justin Verlander tries for the first time in his career to win 20 games in a season. He faces Carl Pavano and the struggling Twins, who have now lost 6 straight games, and have only scored 5 total runs in that stretch. Pavano will essentially be asked to pitch a shutout, as he faces off with the potential Cy Young winner.
As for last night's effort, Delmon Young continues to punish his former team. By punish, I mean having 3 softly hit balls go for singles, getting 3 RBIs in last night's 8-1 Tigers victory. Rick Porcello, who needed a bounce-back type of outing, struggled over the first three innings, missing his spots, allowing baserunners aplenty, but getting help in each of those three innings by way of the double play ball. Porcello only allowed a run (also helped with a blown call at first base, which would have scored the Twins second run; instead, ended the inning) and would settle down and pitch into the 7th for his first win of the month.
But for Porcello, struggling early against an offensively challenged team isn't a sign he might turn things around. He got more ground balls last night, which is a sign his sinker ball might be working again, but his location and command are still questionable. Naturally, run support would be the key last night, but it's not enough to convince me that he's even leaning back to his winning ways that we saw in the month of July.
Someone who might be back, as far as his control and energy might be one Phil Coke. Coke, who came in for Porcello last night, pitch an inning and 2/3 of perfect ball, striking out 3 more, and showing Tigers fans that he may still belong in the back end of that bullpen. Many fans loathed his time in the rotation, but this is the Phil Coke we can all appreciate. And if the Joaquin Benoit haters can forget that April ever happened, the last 3 innings of any given game will be very much set, assuming Jim Leyland see it this way.
Lastly, for today's Fox broadcast of the game, we will be entertained by Tigers play-by-play man Mario Impemba, and Twins analyst Bert Blyleven, who may or may not remind us that he's now a Hall of Fame pitcher. As far as these Fox combinations go, this one is tolerable as opposed to the Dick Stockton and Rod Allen experiment earlier this season. I hate feeling awkward for the commentary when I watch a game. We all know Rod and his penchant for certain outlandish statements, but it's broadcast dinosaur and potential dementia patient Dick Stockton who should never call a game anywhere again. His tendency to be forgetful to go with his broken delivery is painful to watch and listen to.
Enjoy the game today. Easy to say, of course... Justin is too good to miss.
Showing posts with label Rick Porcello. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Porcello. Show all posts
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Sweep!
After the Detroit Tigers walked off the field Saturday night with a convincing 10-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, thoughts of a repeat performance Sunday afternoon were on display when they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on Cleveland and newly acquired Ubaldo Jimenez. The Tigers pitcher who was given this early wealth of run support? Rick Porcello.
Porcello, who was unbeaten in July, isn't fooling anyone in August. After three scoreless innings, the third of which included an interesting pitch behind Asdrubal Cabrera, Porcello coughed up a 5-run top of the fourth inning, with four of those runs allowed coming with 2 outs. The command issues are still there, which is not a welcome sign as the Tigers march towards September and the stretch run. Just 3 2/3 innings pitched, which potentially taxes the bullpen. The Tigers would use 6 relievers today... Though some will suggest the Tigers don't need the bullpen tomorrow with Justin Verlander pitching... It's still not good heading into a 7-game road trip.
The fourth inning insurance run provided by newcomer Delmon young (who had 4 RBIs today) proved to be vital, as the Tigers would ultimately cling to a 1-run lead as the game entered the ninth inning. Enter Jose Valverde, who hasn't blown a save opportunity this season. Valverde, who lately has been making things tough on himself when he takes the mound, would walk the leadoff man Kosuke Fukudome, and on an 0-2 pitch, hit Jason Donald with a pitch. Valverde would almost blow it against someone who was TRYING to get an out, as Jack Hannahan finally sacrificed himself, allowing both lead runners to advance.
In what might be the play of the year, pinch hitter Matt LaPorta hits a relatively shallow, lazy liner to center fielder Austin Jackson. Jackson lines himself up, catches the ball, and throws an absolute DART, slightly up the third base line, and directly into the glove of Alex Avila, who was perfectly placed to catch that ball and block the attempt from Fukudome, who tagged up and tried to score. Ball beats Fukudome, tag is applied, Avila shows the umpire, DOUBLE PLAY, GAME OVER. A sellout crowd celebrated, as did the players, finishing off an incredible sweep of the Indians. With all that, the Tigers will take with them to Tampa a 4 1/2 game lead in the division, with the hopes of maintaining some of the momentum from this game on to the ensuing trip.
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Lost in that insane finish is the work of Rick Porcello. He's certainly not proving his worth at all this month, but as mentioned in previous posts, he's young and the organization is not going to give up on this young talent. However, mired in a pennant run, Jim Leyland is going to have to be careful with him, as he was today when he wasted very little time ripping him from the ball game. His next scheduled start is Friday night at Minnesota, a team who has grossly underachieved this year, a team who right now isn't going to let that stop them from trying to be a spoiler. I think Tigers fans desperately want Rick Porcello to be good, but most of those faithful aren't going to be too patient with what they are seeing now.
Porcello, who was unbeaten in July, isn't fooling anyone in August. After three scoreless innings, the third of which included an interesting pitch behind Asdrubal Cabrera, Porcello coughed up a 5-run top of the fourth inning, with four of those runs allowed coming with 2 outs. The command issues are still there, which is not a welcome sign as the Tigers march towards September and the stretch run. Just 3 2/3 innings pitched, which potentially taxes the bullpen. The Tigers would use 6 relievers today... Though some will suggest the Tigers don't need the bullpen tomorrow with Justin Verlander pitching... It's still not good heading into a 7-game road trip.
The fourth inning insurance run provided by newcomer Delmon young (who had 4 RBIs today) proved to be vital, as the Tigers would ultimately cling to a 1-run lead as the game entered the ninth inning. Enter Jose Valverde, who hasn't blown a save opportunity this season. Valverde, who lately has been making things tough on himself when he takes the mound, would walk the leadoff man Kosuke Fukudome, and on an 0-2 pitch, hit Jason Donald with a pitch. Valverde would almost blow it against someone who was TRYING to get an out, as Jack Hannahan finally sacrificed himself, allowing both lead runners to advance.
In what might be the play of the year, pinch hitter Matt LaPorta hits a relatively shallow, lazy liner to center fielder Austin Jackson. Jackson lines himself up, catches the ball, and throws an absolute DART, slightly up the third base line, and directly into the glove of Alex Avila, who was perfectly placed to catch that ball and block the attempt from Fukudome, who tagged up and tried to score. Ball beats Fukudome, tag is applied, Avila shows the umpire, DOUBLE PLAY, GAME OVER. A sellout crowd celebrated, as did the players, finishing off an incredible sweep of the Indians. With all that, the Tigers will take with them to Tampa a 4 1/2 game lead in the division, with the hopes of maintaining some of the momentum from this game on to the ensuing trip.
-----
Lost in that insane finish is the work of Rick Porcello. He's certainly not proving his worth at all this month, but as mentioned in previous posts, he's young and the organization is not going to give up on this young talent. However, mired in a pennant run, Jim Leyland is going to have to be careful with him, as he was today when he wasted very little time ripping him from the ball game. His next scheduled start is Friday night at Minnesota, a team who has grossly underachieved this year, a team who right now isn't going to let that stop them from trying to be a spoiler. I think Tigers fans desperately want Rick Porcello to be good, but most of those faithful aren't going to be too patient with what they are seeing now.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Not-So-Clutch Rick Porcello
So I see now many Tigers fans are now piling on Rick Porcello, calling him worthless, citing his now near 5 ERA is terrible, etc, etc.
Well, give up 8 ER in any given start and you'll probably see a jump in that ERA. But chalk it up to 1 bad game, the first he has had in his last six. People have already forgotten that he went 5-0 in July, with a 3.06 for the month. My brain tells me those are very good numbers.
A bigger issue to me other than a bad night or two, is the timing. I'm going to assume that no pitcher (not even Verlander) is going to pitch a perfect game every night out. Porcello left a lot of his pitches up, the sinker fastball just wasn't sinking, and a lot of balls got his very hard, and all over the place. Fine. But, in the end, it was a ballgame vs. your closest division competitor, a long time rival, your hated neighbor.
After Porcello's loss last night, the Tigers have dropped 13 straight games at Progressive Field, a futile mark that dates back to last May. It's ugly, and we all needed Rick to put out that fire, not make it bigger. It's never a good idea to give up on a talented, very young pitcher (still only 22), but at some point he needs to be a bigger, better pitcher in the clutch when his team needs him. The present (and future) rotation needs that presence now, especially in the middle of a pennant run. It can't just be Justin Verlander every 5th day, or even Max Scherzer, who in my opinion could also benefit the team from pitching in clutch situations. If Rick Porcello wants to move up to that next level, he'll need to figure out what made him so bad last night for the first time in over a month.
The Tigers have a chance to be really great with that rotation, but Porcello will need to remove the kid gloves first. I believe he can do it, but he needs to figure it out soon. Because this year, there are no points for second place.
Well, give up 8 ER in any given start and you'll probably see a jump in that ERA. But chalk it up to 1 bad game, the first he has had in his last six. People have already forgotten that he went 5-0 in July, with a 3.06 for the month. My brain tells me those are very good numbers.
A bigger issue to me other than a bad night or two, is the timing. I'm going to assume that no pitcher (not even Verlander) is going to pitch a perfect game every night out. Porcello left a lot of his pitches up, the sinker fastball just wasn't sinking, and a lot of balls got his very hard, and all over the place. Fine. But, in the end, it was a ballgame vs. your closest division competitor, a long time rival, your hated neighbor.
After Porcello's loss last night, the Tigers have dropped 13 straight games at Progressive Field, a futile mark that dates back to last May. It's ugly, and we all needed Rick to put out that fire, not make it bigger. It's never a good idea to give up on a talented, very young pitcher (still only 22), but at some point he needs to be a bigger, better pitcher in the clutch when his team needs him. The present (and future) rotation needs that presence now, especially in the middle of a pennant run. It can't just be Justin Verlander every 5th day, or even Max Scherzer, who in my opinion could also benefit the team from pitching in clutch situations. If Rick Porcello wants to move up to that next level, he'll need to figure out what made him so bad last night for the first time in over a month.
The Tigers have a chance to be really great with that rotation, but Porcello will need to remove the kid gloves first. I believe he can do it, but he needs to figure it out soon. Because this year, there are no points for second place.
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