Your 2009 Detroit Tigers: Carlos Guillen

(This story was originally posted over at Bless You Boys.)

Carlos Guillen signs a ball for a fan while on rehab in Lakeland, Florida via Lakeland Local

Carlos Guillen has given us something we haven’t had yet this offseason: a distraction from game 163 and a story for everyone to write about and obsess over. Jason Beck wrote for MLB.com about Guillen’s issues concerning his position with the Detroit Tigers and just a few days later Jim Leyland responded that if Guillen produces, he’ll get his wish. Jason Beck elaborated on the issue in an interview to 1130 AM WDFN in Detroit, saying Guillen had been upset since September. In light of this potential rift, I thought now would be a good time to look into Guillen’s 2009 numbers, reflecting on the type of player he’s been in the past and if we can expect an improvement in 2010.

2009 Notes

Guillen only played in 81 games in 2009, missing 82 due to his shoulder injury. He hit the 15-day DL on May 5th and missed the next 68 games. Initially the damage to his shoulder didn’t seem too serious; however 20 days later Guillen still wasn’t playing and had his shoulder reexamined. Guillen started his rehab assignment in Single A-Advanced Lakeland on July 13th and returned to action on July 24th at Comerica in the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Guillen wasn’t batting from the right side of the box out of rehab and in September it was ruled out for the season; a week later Leyland announced that Guillen wouldn’t start against lefties at all.

OFFENSE

April

Guillen had a poor start to his season. His 5 RBI this month put him on a horrible pace for the season with runners in scoring position. Four of his RBI came in the first seven games, managing only one RBI after April 13th. His OBP at .310 was uninspiring racking up 13 strikeouts and 5 double plays while walking eight times. His horrible slugging numbers came from just 17 hits, only getting to second base four times this month.

On April 12th against the Texas Rangers at Comerica, the Tigers were down 4-0 headed into the bottom of the 8th. The Rangers brought in C.J. Wilson to hold their lead but the Tigers went to work dismantling that score, quickly scoring two runs in four batters. After a Placido Polanco double and an error by Elvis Andrus allowing Curtis Granderson to reach, Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked to loaded the bases for Guillen. He hit a 2-2 grounder into left allowing Granderson and Polanco to score, tying the game to set up a Tigers comeback win 6-4.

In a high scoring affair against the Angels on April 22nd, the Tigers were down 8-6 headed into the top of the 7th and Guillen hit a single into center to load the bases for Gerald Laird. Scott Shields was yanked from the game after walking in a run off Laird, allowing Brandon Inge to single off Jose Arredondo plating Cabrera and Guillen on a poor throw from Erick Aybar. The Tigers rallied for five runs this inning and after an Inge solo shot in the 9th would finish the game in the lead 12-10.

May/June

By the time May rolled around, it was well known that Guillen had been struggling at the plate. Guillen was hitting .200/.267/.244 overall when he was placed on the 15-day DL on May 5th. While the last four games of April had been bad, the four games he played in May were even worse. In 16 at-bats he only had one hit while striking out twice and hitting into one double play. He did plate a run on May 2nd against the Cleveland Indians in Detroit to give the Tigers insurance in the bottom of the 8th for a 9-7 Tigers victory.

When Guillen hit the DL for right shoulder inflammation on May 5th, he wouldn’t be back to the Tigers until July 24th. On May 25th Jason Beck wrote a small story quoting Leyland as saying “I don’t think he’s doing good” while they awaited test results on Guillen’s ailing shoulder. On June 5th the results of an MRI confirmed that while Guillen didn’t need surgery he would have to undergo an aggressive rehab treatment. He began playing catch in Miami on June 25th to begin his rehab to work his way back to the Tigers.

July

Guillen was back with the Tigers on July 6th taking batting practice. He went down to Lakeland and AAA Toledo starting July 13th and was back with the Tigers on July 24th in time for the doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Placed in the DH spot to ease the workload on his his shoulder, he hit a respectable .310 in seven games while driving in eight runs. He was getting on base much better than he did in April and displayed a large jump in power by hitting two home runs in just nine hits in July. He did strike out eight times to three walks, posting a 2.66 K/BB ratio that can be explained by the small sample size as his season ratio was 1.49.

On July 24th in the doubleheader against the White Sox, Guillen was 3 for 7 with a home run and an RBI, striking out only once in an impressive first game back after missing 68 games. His true “come back moment” came the next day, also against the White Sox. The game went to extras tied 3-3 and following two singles by Clete Thomas and Cabrera, Guillen capitalized on Thomas’ speed to plate him with a walk-off single.

August

Guillen had a fine august, playing solely in the DH slot until August 12th when he substituted at 1B so Cabrera could get some rest. He played 26 games in August and drove in 15 runs, all of which came from August 11th to the 31st. He displayed more of the same from his July return in terms of OBP and slugging; his power was driven by two doubles, a triple and six home runs. He was 24 for 86 this month, posting a respectable .279 for someone coming off such a long hiatus. He regained some of his plate discipline, keeping his strikeouts to just 13 and walking 10 for a ratio of 1.30 which was just under his season-long tally.

As I mentioned above, Guillen batted poorly with runners in scoring position to start off the month as he plated none of them but kept his average up going 9 for 32. He made up for this early lack of RBI on August 15th in a 10-3 shellacking of the Royals at Comerica. He had four RBI in this game, scoring Clete Thomas to open up the scoring for the Tigers in the bottom of the 1st. He followed that up with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth to chase Luke Hochevar off the mound as the Tigers took a 6-2 lead. Guillen just wouldn’t let up on Royals pitching and drove in Granderson in the bottom of the sixth.

On August 24th when the Tigers visited the Angels in Los Angeles, they were up 3-0 heading to the top of the 6th when the bats roared to life for seven runs. Guillen hit a home run to deep left-center to plate Cabrera and Huff to finalize the Tigers’ onslaught putting them up for a 10-0 lead. The Tigers wouldn’t score again in the game after Justin Verlander blew up in the bottom of that inning, allowing four Angels runs before being chased by Erick Aybar and the Tigers’ bullpen allowed an additional three runs before the game ended for a final of 10-7.

September/October

On September 10th, Guillen said he was no longer working on switch hitting because his shoulder wasn’t feeling right when he tried to do it. Just over a week later Leyland said Guillen wouldn’t be starting against left-handed pitching as his numbers against them batting from the left side were just .167/.286/.167 in only six at-bats this season.

Guillen slumped down the stretch for the Tigers, going just 16 for 72 in his 24 games during this span. His OBP had a slight uptick and from September 20th to October 1st he reached base in nine straight games going .385/.550/.808. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep this production up when the season came down to the wire and in the last four games of the season went a paltry .077 with just a single in 13 at-bats. His slugging fell off compared to August behind four doubles, two triples and just three home runs. He plated 12 runners in this span but only one came in the last four games of the season.

On September 23rd he had four RBI in a single game for the second time this season, as the Tigers tagged the Indians at Jacobs Field for 11 runs and Guillen went 3 for 4. His first hit of the game did not result in an RBI, as he grounded the ball sharply to first but after a throwing error by Andrew Marte allowed Cabrera to score Guillen was safe at first. He did get the RBI for driving in Cabrera in his next at-bat when he took Justin Masterson yard to give the Tigers a 6-1 lead. Guillen continued the hit parade when he saw Mike Gosling in the top of the fifth for his third plate appearance of the night, drilling a 1-0 pitch to start the inning off to deep left-center. After hitting a double to score Thomas in the top of the sixth and chasing Gosling from the mound, Don Kelly took over for Guillen in left in the bottom half of the inning.

DEFENSE, VALUE AND THOUGHTS

Guillen played in 81 games this season, splitting time evenly between left field and the DH slot. In 41 games in left field, he only committed two errors and had a range factor just above the league average 2.18. However his UZR/150 was abysmal, placing 33rd of 47 major league left fielders in this category and 18th of 23 in the AL (min. 300 innings). Interesting note: if you look at the leaderboard on Fangraphs for left fielders you’ll see a familiar name at the top of the UZR/150 chart — former Tiger Josh Anderson, clocking in at 38.6. However his offensive value comes in close to an average big league left fielder, his .242/.339/.419 line for the season worth 1.2 runs above a replacement. Fangraphs pegs his fiscal value at just $500,000 for the season but this massive devaluation has more to do with missing 68 games.

If we look at Guillen’s 2007 season — the sort of season I expect from Guillen in 2010 — we see that the Tigers paid slightly above his value. Digging furhter, if we look at Gullien’s 2004-2008 numbers, we can see that he’s hit .308/.377/.493 in his time in Detroit. At 33, Guillen most likely has a couple seasons left in him of good production. The question is if the Tigers want just average fielding in the left corner with the massive center field at Comerica Park and Granderson typically shading to right. In light of Guillen’s media spotlight this week, I believe that he does deserve a chance in left field, albeit a very short one. From Leyland’s response to Guillen, I believe he’ll be kept on a short leash and if he starts the season off slumping the Tigers may take the opportunity to use Ryan Raburn in left field to see if his bat remains hot.

Up next: Bobby Seay. Unless someone else pipes up loudly, that is.

Your 2009 Detroit Tigers: Magglio Ordoñez

(This story was originally posted over at Bless You Boys.)

Magglio Ordoñez takes a swing during the May 29th game at Baltimore via Keith Allison

Magglio Ordoñez was, at times, the hottest topic debated among Tigers fans this season coming to a head when his 2010 contract option vested on September 15th. As far as I’ve been able to tell most Tigers fans have come to terms with Ordoñez being a part of the 2010 Tigers; the roar in June about his poor performance and impending option virtually gone by the time it actually vested. Ordoñez’ first half was uncharacteristic of him; his second half became the Ordoñez we all remember from the 2006 ALCS; watching that clip still makes my arm hair stand on end and bring a tear to my eye.

2009 Notes

The big story this season for Ordoñez was his first half slump and the 2010 contract option. Kurt Mensching over at Mack Avenue Tigers was one who was impressed with Ordoñez’ late increase in offense; the Detroit News’ Lynn Henning saw it as a potential disaster. Intertwined with the contract issue was his benching by Leyland and Ordoñez’ agent Scott Boras deciding to speak up when his client wouldn’t — causing Boras to backpedal so fast he may have snapped his knees in the process. Leyland didn’t much care for Boras’ armchair management and a short while later Ordoñez was back on the field regardless. Ordoñez played in career game number 1600 on June 24th in a win against the Chicago Cubs at Comerica Park. He cranked left-handed pitching all season, hitting .352/.413/.524 against them. Perhaps most important for passionate Ordoñez fans was his sudden haircut in late June showing the Ordoñez some fans remembered from his Chicago White Sox days.

OFFENSE

April

It’s no secret that Ordoñez’ season started off poorly. He could only muster a .241 average and an uncharacteristic .650 OPS, 244 points under his career average. His power was virtually absent, with only 19 hits and two home runs; the other 17 hits were singles while he struck out 15 times for his worst mark of the season. He did draw 11 walks during this span to keep his K/BB ratio at 1.36 and not far worse.

From April 9th to 17th, Ordoñez struck out eight times in seven games for his longest streak of the season. Things didn’t get better after this stretch as he grounded into a double play for three consecutive games on the 19th, 20th and 22nd. The final game of this brief streak actually went well for Ordoñez, drawing a bases-loaded walk against Scott Shields of the Angels in the top of the 7th to get the Tigers within one run and an eventual 12-10 win. He went 3 for 5 in that game with no strikeouts. His first home run of the season came in the top of the 9th on the 25th against the Royals, to scoring the final run for a 9-1 victory. His second came two days later against C.C. Sabathia of the Yankees in the bottom of the 6th to send the Tigers to a 4-0 lead, winding up with a 4-2 win.

May

The month of May fared better for Ordoñez, hitting better for average at .315 while his OPS enjoyed a 100-point uptick on the back of seven doubles. Absent was the yard power the Tigers have enjoyed from Ordoñez over the years, never getting beyond second for an extra-base hit this month. His hits brought out only one additional RBI in two more games compared to April and his K/BB ratio dropped a bit to 1.20, walking 10 times to striking out 12.

Starting May 5th and extending to June 13th, Ordoñez managed to get on base for 29 straight games covering 111 at-bats. From the 8th to the 30th this month, Ordoñez had a 16 game hitting streak. The highlight of the month came on May 15th at home against the Oakland Athletics as he went 3 for 3 with two RBI, a walk and two runs. In the bottom of the first, a sharp single through the shortstop Orlando Cabrera allowed Clete Thomas to score on the error. Ordoñez came around to score after Inge was hit by a pitch and Ryan Raburn went yard for a grand slam.

June

June was an eventful month for Ordoñez however, it was not in the fashion the Tigers would have liked. His bat fell off once again, hitting just .232 this month and slugging .297. One of his 5 RBI came on June 5th against the Angels, hitting a line drive off Ervin Santana to push in the Tigers’ only run in the bottom of the 9th for a 2-1 loss. On June 12th, Rick Porcello’s first big league hit and RBI came against Ian Snell and the Pittsburgh Pirates as Ordoñez came around to score on the grounder through the third base side.

Following a 4-3 loss at St. Louis on the 17th, Jim Leyland announced that Ordoñez would be benched “indefinitely”. Ordoñez had been homerless since April 25th, only batting in 22 runs in that same span. For the month of June he played in 13 games hitting .250 with a dismal .292 slugging percentage.

Leyland described benching Ordoñez as a tough decision. 32% of readers here at Bless You Boys felt that the Twins series before the All-Star break would be Ordoñez’ last in Detroit; commentary in that thread showed that many of us (myself included) thought Ordoñez’ days in Detroit were going to be limited at best. Ordoñez even cut his hair in a bid to regain his hitting prowess.

Once Ordoñez returned to play on June 23rd, the immediate benefit of the benching was difficult to see as he only hit .192/.222/.308 in the final seven games in June. Extend that time to the All-Star Break and his numbers still don’t improve much, going .204/.250/.347.

July

Ordoñez numbers saw some improvements in July. His average stayed steady, however he was getting on base slightly better than in June and his slugging improved greatly. His extra base production increased nicely, adding five doubles and two home runs to six singles for a 130 point uptick in slugging to .429. This was still not the Ordoñez most fans think about, but it showed an improvement in the power department. His K/BB ratio stayed the same from June at 1.50 while he only grounded into one double play.

On July 4th against the Twins at The Infernal Hellhole, Ordoñez hit a double in the top of the 2nd only to see nothing come of it. At the top of the 7th with one out, Ordoñez capitalized on singles from Thames and Raburn by going yard to left-center to take the lead 3-2. Unfortunately that was all the offense the Tigers could muster that day, stranding only three runners as the Tigers couldn’t figure out Liriano-Guerrier-Nathan in a 4-3 loss.

Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com wrote an article on July 21st raising the same questions from June many people had about Ordoñez, showing that even with the power improvement people were still skeptical of Ordoñez coming around again. Knobler’s article reads like a pre-obituary; the quotes gathered for the story seem to be expecting Ordoñez to fade into nothing.

You have to wonder if Ordoñez read the Knobler article on that Tuesday before playing the Seattle Mariners. Greg Olson allowed Polanco to double-RBI and issued walks to both Cabrera and Thames in the top of the first to load the bases. Ordoñez drove a 2-2 pitch to deep left for a grand slam, launching the Tigers to an early 5-1 lead. He drew a walk from Chris Jakubauskas, Olson’s replacement, in the bottom of the second and was scored on a Raburn triple to left.

August

To say Ordoñez simply improved in August is an understatement. His offensive numbers screamed north to .348/.425/.536 for a 116/119/107 point improvement from July. He had 24 hits with three doubles, three triples and two home runs to drive his slugging percentage up. His K/BB ratio dipped under 1.00 for the first time this season, striking out 9 times and walking 11 — once intentional, his first of the season.

On August 5th, Ordoñez opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 5th with a solo home run off of the Orioles’ Jeremy Guthrie at Comerica Park on the way to a 4-2 win. Against Brad Penny and the Boston Red Sox on August 10th, Ordoñez tripled down the right field line and scored Cabrera. He went 3 for 3 with a walk on August 19th against the Mariners, unfortunately scoring no runs in the process for a 3-1 Tigers loss. Ordoñez managed a grounder against David Price on August 29th getting Granderson out on a botched double play, reaching second on an error by Jason Bartlett. Later that game he drove in the only Tigers run, singling to center to score Adam Everett.

September/October

The production from Ordoñez in this span is astounding compared to the rest of his season. Even with his August, until this point he was hitting .275/.348/.390 on the season. In this 28 game stretch he only went hitless in six games and increased his numbers enough for a season total of .310/.376/.428. He singled 34 times, doubled seven and homered twice. Errors helped him reach three times while he grounded into the same amount of double plays. From September 15th to October 6th — when the Tigers only faced AL Central opponents — Ordoñez hit .400/.438/.583 to help the Tigers push for game 163 as the Twins got white hot, going 15-4 during the same interval.

On September 6th, Ordoñez singled a 1-2 pitch from Russ Springer to load the bases for Brandon Inge in the top of the 9th with the Tigers down 3-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays. While Raburn pinch ran for him, Inge hit a grand slam to sail the Tigers to their final score of 5-3. 20 days later at The Cell in Chicago, Ordoñez’ single to right off Tony Peña contributed to the Tigers’ top 7th rally to help score four runs for a 12-5 win.

Against the Twins on September 29th, a double off Brian Duensing scored Everett and Polanco to help the Tigers squeak out an important 6-5 win. The next day Ordoñez helped the Tigers win again, with a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the 5th against Carl Pavano — an acquisition by the Twins solely to confound the Tigers offense. If we’re talking about Ordoñez down the stretch, then we can’t ignore the dreaded game 163 on October 6th. With the Tigers down 4-3 at the top of the 8th, Ordoñez wasted no time sending the second pitch from Matt Guerrier into the left field seats to tie the game.

DEFENSE, VALUE AND THOUGHTS

Ordoñez’ fielding percentage was acceptable on the season, besting the league average by 5 points. His 1.75 range factor per 9 ranked 32 out of 34 right fielders (min. 500 innings) in the bigs this season, and last in the AL. This explains what most Tigers fans can remember at some point in the season: a slow drive or popup to right that dropped in for an easy base hit while we’re left watching Ordoñez almost wander toward the ball.

Ordoñez is 35 years old, it’s expected that he’ll start to slow down with age. However if you look at his defensive value numbers, he’s only worth -0.3 runs in 2009 indicating he is far more average than he has appeared to have been with our tunnel vision. His offensive value numbers are surprising, according to Fangraphs he’s worth 11.2 runs above average. Ordoñez was grossly overpaid compared to what his contract is valued at for his 2009 production; he made $18m when he was worth about $9.2m. This low value is due to his poor April through July, a significant bulk of the season.

I hope Ordoñez’ extremely hot August-October continues on next season, up toward his career offense of .312/.371/.513 nearly achieved this season. If he can find and hold into his power once again, he may be able to give the Tigers another season of power production. Ideally he would reproduce his career-best 2007 season; in reality I sincerely doubt he can. I would like to see a season similar to 2008, where he kept his offensive numbers well-balanced throughout that season and hit .317 for 103 RBI with 21 home runs.

Up next: Bobby Seay.

Your 2009 Detroit Tigers: Brandon Inge

(This story was originally posted over at Bless You Boys.)

Brandon Inge during batting practice August 25th via Tigers superfan Allison Hagen

Brandon Inge is, without a doubt, a fan favorite in Detroit. With the organization since 1999 (entering the bigs in 2001) Inge is the longest-serving member of the squad. Inge was one of the most popular Tigers during the “Who’s Your Tiger?” marketing campaign run by the Tigers for a few season. He also continuously scored well in FSD’s player of the game text message polls no matter what his day at the plate or in the field may have gone. Off the field Inge is a regular visitor to CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI where he regularly visits to talk with the kids there. TBS did a story about his efforts, especially how he helped touch the lives of two particular boys. Read on for the full review.

2009 Notes

Inge played in his 1000th career game on April 13th in a 10-6 loss against the Chicago White Sox. Following his strong first half with 21 home runs, he was nominated to the All-Star Game in the Final Vote for the AL. Unfortunately he must have emptied the power tank on his way to the Home Run Derby, where he posted a big fat donut. The discerning Tigers fan probably saw this coming anyway, as he was a solid 4 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than any other Derby contestant. On a Monday night in Anaheim this year, Inge wandered into a tattoo shop and had his son’s names boldly added down each of his forearms. The memory that will be burned into Tiger’s fans’ heads for some years to come will be his phantom HBP in game 163 against the Minnesota Twins, which if called, would have forced in a run to give Detroit the lead at the top of the 12th inning.

OFFENSE

April

Inge started off the season with an absolute smash. After making some adjustments to his batting stance in the off-season, he came out firing and as a result posted his highest average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage of the season. Anyone posting in GameThreads or following the Tigers closely at the time could tell you that Inge was a sigh of relief at the plate considering how his 2008 had gone. I remember mentioning to my co-workers that he was on pace for 162 home runs as he went yard in the first 3 games of the season. He sported a 1.114 OPS for April, which was just shy of Albert “IBB” Pujols’ OPS of 1.132 in the same span. He gained a great deal of plate discipline as his K/BB ratio plummeted to 1.07, just under half his 2008 ratio of 2.18. His biggest game of the month game on April 12th when the Rangers came to town. He led off the inning by hitting a 2-0, no out dinger to deep right. By the time he cycled back to the plate the Tigers had tied the game 4-4 and his sharp ground single to center allowed Cabrera and a pinch-running Anderson to score for the eventual final of 6-4.

May

May was “crash back to Earth” month for Inge. Both his OBP and SLG were 200 points off his April pace, and his batting average dropped over 80 points. This was the Inge that Tigers fans have known for years on offense. In 28 games this month, Inge posted a donut in 11 of them. He struck out a staggering 31 times to only 7 walks, cranking his K/BB ratio to a sky-high 4.42. His May was relatively unremarkable, except against a 13-1 slaughtering of the Royals on May 25th at Kauffman Stadium. Inge was 3 for 6 in that game, plating Ordoñez and Cabrera in the top of the third to open up the scoring on a single to left. He continued in the fifth to load the bases for Clete Thomas and eventually himself came around to score. His third hit was an otherwise unremarkable single to left.

June

June fared a bit better for the beloved 3B, with season-high RBI and an average that gained 50 points over his dismal May. Inge played long ball 6 times in June, helping crank his slugging percentage closer to where his season began. His K/BB ratio came back under control similar to his career numbers, showing some regaining of plate discipline on display early in the season. On June 7th against the Angels, the Tigers were quickly down 3-0 after the top of the first with Porcello on the mound. In the bottom of that inning, Inge was up with 2 outs and bases loaded. He lined the 0-1 pitch from Saunders to right allowing Polanco and Ordoñez to score, keeping the Tigers in the game for their eventual 9-6 win. In a rare Dontrelle Willis start 2 days later, Inge pulled a solo shot off Mark Buehrle and drew walks in back-to-back plate appearances en route to a 10th inning win.

July

If May was “crash back to Earth” then July has to be “drilling a hole to the center of the Earth” for Inge. Even with the All-Star break shortening his service by 5 games this month, his RBI count was the lowest of the season at just seven, stranding 15 runners in scoring position and another 12 standing at first for his longest RBI-less streak of the season at 13 games. His batting average fell 100 points and an on-base percentage 84 points. Even with these poor numbers, the slugging percentage clearly stands out here — 3 home runs and 1 double this month led to a 220 point drop in power.

The explanation of this poor performance was the patellar tendinitis Inge had played through all season finally catching up to him. This issue wasn’t exactly a state secret among Tigers fans, but hadn’t gotten much press until Inge’s numbers took this drastic dive. Lynn Henning (please, control your booing and hissing) quoted Leyland as being “worried about Inge…very concerned.” Inge on the other hand shrugged off the skipper’s concern. Chris Iott quoted Inge saying “if [head athletic trainer Kevin Rand] said, 15 days and you’re never going to feel it again, you’ll be as good as new, I’d [go on the DL].” However Rand had advised Inge that a short DL stay likely wouldn’t help, leading Inge to play through the pain in order to help the team. The result of that decision is questionable with his July numbers being what they were.

Many BYB faithful will remember staying up until 1am Eastern in the early morning of July 4th watching the 16 inning affair at The Infernal Hellhole in Minnesota. Inge didn’t do much of anything this game offensively, but he did manage to get hit by a pitch in back-to-back at bats. 2 of his 3 home runs this month came on July 12th at Comerica, in a 10-1 shellacking against the Indians.

August

Inge’s injuries certainly continued to plague him in August, mustering only 2 more RBI. His average up only 2 points, his on-base percentage dropped a further 58 points while his slugging climbed 4 points on the back of an extra home run compared to July. His K/BB ratio was the highest this month than the rest of the season, at 6.60 as he struck out 33 times and walked only 5 times (1 intentional, Eric Wedge apparently knew that Dusty Ryan was hitting even worse than Inge). Perhaps the biggest story with Inge in August was his sudden trip to the tattoo shop, partially visible in the photo above. Allison Hagen has more shots from the Angels game Inge first appeared with his new ink over on her Flickr page for the game if you want to get a better look. Leyland was quoted bemoaning Inge’s trouble at the plate but noting the jam he was in, “don’t know what the hell I’m going to play at third” if he were to try to give Inge some time off.

Even with the bad news going on for over a month with Inge, the shining point of his season came on August 14th against the Royals in Detroit. Zack Greinke had gone 7 innings allowing only 3 hits; Jarod Washburn had gone 8 innings also allowing only 3 hits. In the bottom of the ninth following a Marcus Thames strikeout, Inge pulled the 2-1 delivery from Roman Colon into deep left field for a walk-off victory and the only run in the game. 6 days later when the Mariners came to town, Inge helped drive in the bottom of the 9th rally. He sacrificed to deep center, allowing Guillen to score and on an error allowed Cabrera to reach third. The following at bat, Clete Thomas drove Cabrera in for his second walk-off hit of the year.

September/October

September offered some minor improvement for Inge, hitting better with RISP as his RBI count came close to what he did at the beginning of the year. His average and OBP nudged up while slugging fell off a bit as he only went yard twice. His slugging could have been worse but Inge doubled 5 times this month, after hitting 11 all season prior.

On September 6th, the Tigers visited Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Rays. Down 3-1 in the top of the 9th, Inge powered a 2-2 pitch from Russ Springer to deep left field for a grand slam to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead and an eventual win after Brandon Lyon had a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th. Inge also had a hand in the September 30th win over the Twins and Carl Pavano after a liner to left-center field for a double plated both Cabrera and Ordonez in the bottom of the second to tie the game 2-2. Santiago’s single to center plated both Guillen and Inge, good enough for the eventual 7-2 win. These 2 games aside, this span wasn’t remarkable for Inge. In the month of October Inge only had 2 hits in 19 at-bats. Inge did play an important part in game 163, as his line drive to left plated pinch-runner Don Kelley in the top of the 10th to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.

DEFENSE, VALUE AND THOUGHTS

Inge’s most rabid supporters have consistently claimed that his fielding prowess outweighs his offensive shortcomings. In 1387.0 innings of service this season, Inge only committed 20 errors for an error every 69.35 innings good for his lowest rate at 3B since 2004. Dave Cameron’s calculations put Inge’s defensive value at 8.5 runs above the league average 3B while his offense falls 7.9 runs short. Only 8 3B in the league had a better fielding value than Inge (min. 100 PA) while 45 did better offensively. Meanwhile Casey Blake, the 3B for the Dodgers, had a defensive value of 8.4 runs and an offensive value of 13.5 runs. So, could the Tigers do better offensively and keep the defense relatively steady? Absolutely. Blake even cost $1.9m less than Inge did this season. It’s too late with Blake, as he’s locked up until 2011 (2012 club option) and would demand north of $18m in free agency. Inge’s UZR per 150 games for 3B has been steadily falling since his phenomenal 2006 campaign. Only time will tell if the off-season will be kind to Inge’s knees, and he can recover some of that range that Inge fans missed this season.

It’s difficult to put a quantitative number onto a position that is qualitative by nature; excellent measurements for talent, prowess and field awareness simply don’t do a player justice sometimes. However if you’re a believer that defense wins divisions you will probably land on the side that Inge is worth what we’re paying him for what we’re getting out of him. However, those that believe Inge’s failing bat has much to do with the Tigers’ woes this season would probably like to see Inge return to his April form or even have him replaced. Kurt from Mack Avenue Tigers opined on this in my initial season review post when this same discussion came up. Kurt argues that Inge’s value is placed at $11m for this season, while he only made $6.3m. He gets a bump next year to $6.6m which if you buy into this measure of value means we’ll be getting Inge at a steal. I’ll admit, after writing this review I sit on the fence. The numbers from 2009 speak for themselves and I have to wonder what his future is beyond his contract that expires at the end of next season.

What do you think? Is Inge worth it at 3B, or should the Tigers pursue a better bat after 2010? Do you believe Inge’s season was as bad as the numbers make them out to be? Please leave your comments below about Inge or this review series. Up next: Magglio Ordonez.

So I’m not sure how, but my posts haven’t been added here. Most of them are now out of date and there’s not much point in just trying to add them in again.

Stay tuned if you like but I have a nice idea for a series of posts beginning in the off-season, which damn well better start in late October. I’ll make it known once I figure out what’s going on.

Catch the brawl again on Comcast On Demand

The Tigers have begun release games On Demand through Comcast approximately two hours after the game completes.

You can already catch tonight’s game on there but choosing Local, then FS Tigers.

Chris Lambert and disturbing the peace

Lambert went ahead and got his Dontrelle Willis on, posting an ERA north of 30 in his first summons from the bullpen. While Verlander didn’t hav his typical “filthy” night, Lambert combined with our offense to really pound the nail into the coffin.

Bringing Lambert up from AAA Toledo may have been a bad decision. The glorious SeayLion combined with Rodney was getting the job done in the pen, with Fu-Te Ni playing backup to this trio. Bringing in Lambert disturbed this relative peace in the bullpen.

However, that peace needs to be disturbed.

The problem is with relying on just four pitchers in the bullpen. Bewteen Porcello (his 8 inn. affair aside) and Washburn coming back to earth, the bullpen with four relievers is going to get punished every two to three days. We need other options like Perry and Lambert to help close the gap so we don’t destroy our key relievers ahead of a possible October appearance.

Alex Avila, Cameron Maybin and why Detroit's back is against a wall at catcher

Fellow Tigers blogger Ian Casselberry wondered aloud today in his Alex Avila post whether or not we’re seeing Avila being called up too early, a la Cameron Maybin in 2007. I want to take a look at Maybin’s time in Detroit’s farm system, his Detroit numbers and how he performed post-trade to the Marlins as part of the Cabrera/Willis deal.

Maybin’s first game came on August 17th, which after a loss to the Yankees saw the Tigers a half game back of Cleveland. We were in need of a corner fielder that could hit with Craig Monroe long since gone, Gary Sheffield still not sure where a ball was coming from and Jim Leyland unsure of Marcus Thames for reasons that continue to be a mystery. Maybin was hitting .316 in the minors, with a .409 OBP. The call, as I remember it at the time, was seen as perhaps too early but generally exciting to see a kid play with such enthusiasm to earn a spot on the roster. Maybin’s stay with Detroit didn’t go all that well, hitting only .235 and a painful .298 OBP in 24 games. Maybin’s fielding performance was fine, committing no errors and converting all 32 of his putouts.

The postscript on Maybin is much of the same performance he turned in with Detroit. In two seasons with Florida, he has largely languished in their minor league system. The Marlins are working on converting him to a center fielder and in 2008 he was with AA Carolina, posting a ho-hum .277 average and quite the drop off to .983 fielding. In 2009 he’s improved with AAA New Orleans, hitting .328 with .415 on base percentage. His fielding has gotten worse however, slipping to .979. He’s only played 22 games in the bigs this year, unable to bat at .202 and a marked fielding improvement converting 53 of 53 putouts.

The root of Avila’s callup is Laird’s inability to be an everyday catcher. With Treanor done and gone early in the season, the farm system was taxed perhaps too early in the search for a backup. Dusty Ryan has only played 11 games this year, he has not proven to Leyland that he can backup Gerald Laird. He’s hitting .160 and while defensively has been fine, his pitch calls have been questionable at times. Snap judgement says to look at Sardinha, however he’s having trouble hitting the broad side of a barn parked on the pitcher’s mound hitting just .154 for AAA Toledo this year. Looking down a level to AA Erie, we see Avila’s .264 BA and .365 OBP this year and a better story for backing up Laird.

So the questions stands, while we wait for Avila’s first big league start, have we called down too early for what could be a stud catcher a few seasons down the line? It’s difficult to say without some games under Avila’s belt. There is no doubt that Detroit’s back is against the wall at catcher, with Laird showing signs of fatigue and no decent backup in sight since the beginning of the season. After Treanor went down, I immediately became concerned about Laird’s full-time status going deep into the season. I’ve said for a long time that the one place on the field you can hide a poor bat is at catcher, and this will most likely be the case with Avila. He won’t be the answer to “where are the hits?!” which have become the war cry of fans over the last month in Detroit. However it’ll be difficult to do worse than Ryan or Sardinha, and Detroit is making due with what they have.