Memorial Day: Tigers at Red Sox
Happy Memorial Day from Fenway, where the weather is a lot more mild than it was back in the Midwest. Forecast high in the 70s under sunny skies with a nice breeze.
The Tigers will have holiday caps today, but they’re different than in years past. They look like the regular road caps except that the inner part of the Old English D is in camouflage colors. They actually look pretty neat.
Jim Leyland went with the righty-heavy lineup against lefty Felix Doubront. One exception is Andy Dirks, who stays in the lineup the way he’s hitting. However, he moves down and Ryan Raburn moves up, avoiding back-to-back left-handed hitters atop the order.
TIGERS
- Quintin Berry, CF
- Ryan Raburn, RF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Delmon Young, DH
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Gerald Laird, C
- Danny Worth, 2B
P: Doug Fister
RED SOX
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, RF
- David Ortiz, DH
- Kevin Youkilis, 1B
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Mike Sweeney, CF
- Will Middlebrooks, 3B
- Mike Aviles, SS
P: Felix Doubront
Sunday: Tigers at Twins
Waiting for my flight to Boston. In the meantime, here are your lineups for today’s series finale over in Minnesota. Delmon Young gets replaced by Don Kelly in the Tigers lineup, while Ryan Doumit returns for the Twins, who also give Brian Dozier the day off at short.
TIGERS
- Quintin Berry, CF
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Brennan Boesch, DH
- Alex Avila, C
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Don Kelly, RF
- Ryan Raburn, 2B
P: Rick Porcello
TWINS
- Denard Span, CF
- Ben Revere, RF
- Joe Mauer, C
- Josh Willingham, LF
- Justin Morneau, 1B
- Ryan Doumit, DH
- Trevor Plouffe, 3B
- Alexi Casilla, 2B
- Jamey Carroll, SS
P: P.J. Walters
Saturday: Tigers at Twins
Ramon Santiago gets the start at second base. He’s 5-for-15 lifetime off Carl Pavano. Ryan Raburn is 3-for-8 with a double and a triple, but he’ll get the day game after night game off.
TIGERS
- Quintin Berry, CF
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Delmon Young, DH
- Brennan Boesch, RF
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Alex Avila, C
- Ramon Santiago, 2B
P: Max Scherzer
TWINS
- Denard Span, CF
- Ben Revere, RF
- Joe Mauer, DH
- Josh Willingham, LF
- Justin Morneau, 1B
- Brian Dozier, SS
- Alexi Casilla, 2B
- Drew Butera, C
- Jamey Carroll, 3B
P: Carl Pavano
Friday: Tigers at Twins
I’m off this weekend, flying to Boston on Sunday ahead of the Memorial Day afternoon opener, but the Tigers lineup is out for tonight’s opener at Minnesota. Though Jim Leyland said Thursday he wasn’t sure if he’d be throwing Ryan Raburn into the starting lineup right away, the Tigers’ struggles to get much production at second base might have forced his hand. Raburn’s in the lineup, the only change being that he’s batting ninth.
TIGERS
- Quintin Berry, CF
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Delmon Young, DH
- Brennan Boesch, RF
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Alex Avila, C
- Ryan Raburn, 2B
P: Drew Smyly
Did Chris Perez take a shot at the Tigers?
Considering Chris Perez has already been in headlines for things he has said about the Indians not getting the respect they deserve, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he brought the Tigers into it after the Indians had just swept them. A reporter asked him after Thursday’s Cleveland win whether this sweep should get the Indians more national attention, and that’s where he fired his final pitch:
“I hope so. I don’t think we care. We’re not like flipping on ESPN to see if we’re leading off SportsCenter. We don’t care. They do their thing. They cover the Yankees and the Red Sox and how bad the Angels are. We’re doing our own thing. They’ll eventually turn. I saw a couple articles. We’re starting to get some love. It’s just we don’t have the star power. You look over there and you’ve got Cabrera and Fielder and Verlander and Valverde. But that doesn’t win baseball games. Good teams win baseball games.“
On the one hand, it’s a pretty good line. But when you look at where the Tigers are right now compared with the expectations built up, you’ve gotta believe he isn’t the only one thinking this. The fact that it came from Chris Perez makes it a headline.
Verlander: It’s not early anymore
Justin Verlander struck out the top of the Indians lineup in order on 11 pitches in his eighth and final inning Thursday afternoon, firing two 100-mph fastballs, another at 101 and one at 102. He then fired some pretty good statements about the state of the team, probably the best to come from a player so far:
- On whether the Tigers’ struggles are mystifying: “It’s not mystifying, no. That’s the game of baseball. It’s just disappointing the way we’ve been playing as a team. Obviously I think we all expected better. You can only say it’s still early for so long. We have to get this thing turned around.”
- On what it’ll take: “I think we’ve just got to find our groove, and we’ve got to find it quickly. We’re a good team. We know that. And I think because we know we’re good, maybe it’s a little easy to sit back and say OK, it’s early. We’ll find it. We’ll find it. At some point it’s not early anymore, and you’re going to have to make adjustments to find it as a team. It’s just the game of baseball. That’s why it’s played on the field and not on paper.”
- When does that point comes: “I would say, for me, now.”
- What kind of adjustments: “I think we have to be more consistent as a starting staff. Really, you can look at every aspect of our team and say we have room for improvement. I think the starting staff can be more consistent. The bullpen can be more consistent. Offense, defense, everybody. This is a team, and right now this team isn’t getting it done. Will we? I think so. I’m a firm believer in that. But we have to get it going. I think once we get some confidence and a couple things start going our way — tonight’s a perfect example of things just not going your way, two bloops score the winning run. And not just bloops in the gap, they were the little dying quails right over the infielders’ head. I mean, when it rains, it pours. That’s just kind of the way it is in this game.”
- On the emotions surrounding the ejections the last couple games: “I think there’s a little tension. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think we’re all feeling that way. Emotions run hot. God, this is eerily similar to last year, isn’t it?”
- Does last year’s comeback become a confidence boost or a crutch: “I don’t think it’ll become a crutch, but I think it’s nice to know that we can. There was never a doubt that we can. Obviously we would’ve liked to start the first 40-whatever games hot and be 30-10 right now, but that’s not the case. But we know it’s there. Just gotta find it.”
- Do expectations make it tough: “You guys make the xpecations, not us. We were confident last year. We knew we were good last year. We had expectations internally last year. It may not have been the mind-blowing-everybody’s-writing-us-to-go-to-the-World-Series, but we believe that in here. So I don’t see how anything’s different in this clubhouse than it was last year.”
- Was he trying to send a message in the eighth: “No, not send a message. I was just trying to light a spark.”
- Did he notice the 102 mph fastball: “Yeah, I saw it. I heard the fans, so I looked.”
- Does a team meeting benefit a struggling club: “I don’t think that’s always done by the players. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. But I think that we and Skip have a good feel for when it needs to be done. It’s not like we’re not trying. It’s just we’re not getting it done right now. What’s the point in getting everybody [ticked] off if we’re already [ticked] off?”
- Does this team need a meeting right now: “I don’t think so.”
Wednesday: Tigers at Indians
Indians have their Weather Day promotion today. It’s the third one the Tigers have seen this year, including their own a few weeks ago. It’ll be sunny and warm today at Progressive Field, but it’s overcast on the Tigers side. They wasted a good performance from Doug Fister last night, and they probably can’t afford to do the same with Justin Verlander on the mound for a noon getaway game.
TIGERS
- Quintin Berry, CF
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Delmon Young, DH
- Brennan Boesch, RF
- Alex Avila, C
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Danny Worth, 2B
P: Justin Verlander
INDIANS
- Shin-Soo Choo, RF
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Carlos Santana, DH
- Michael Brantley, CF
- Jose Lopez, 3B
- Casey Kotchman, 1B
- Shelley Duncan, LF
- Lou Marson, C
P: Justin Masterson
Wednesday: Tigers at Indians
As expected, Quintin Berry gets the leadoff spot.
TIGERS
- Quintin Berry, CF
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Delmon Young, DH
- Brennan Boesch, RF
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Ramon Santiago, 2B
- Gerald Laird, C
P: Doug Fister
RED SOX
- Shin-Soo Choo, RF
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Travis Hafner, DH
- Carlos Santana, C
- Michael Brantley, CF
- Johnny Damon, LF
- Casey Kotchman, 1B
- Jose Lopez, 3B
P: Zach McAllister
Berry up, Balester DFA’ed, A-Jax in limbo
Austin Jackson, who was tentatively written into the Tigers lineup Tuesday afternoon, can’t swing at game intensity without feeling pain around his abdominal strain yet.
Don Kelly, though playing well in center field, isn’t really a center fielder.
The Tigers pitching staff is back to full strength with closer Jose Valverde back healthy.
Detroit has been going a position player short to have seven available relievers while Valverde was sidelined.
Collin Balester hadn’t pitched in a game since last Thursday. And when the Tigers had fallen behind Tuesday, they went to Duane Below and Luke Putkonen instead.
Put the pieces together, and you have a roster move.
As long as the Tigers have the room to add a position player, they figured they’d bring up a center fielder to fill in for Jackson for however long he’s out. Thus, they purchased the contract of speedster Quintin Berry, who made an impression in spring training and has stolen 19 bases already at Triple-A Toledo.
How long is Jackson out, you ask? Well, he’s pretty much out for Wednesday night. After that, it’s uncertain, but he’s clearly going to have to make some progress to get back into game action in the next few days.
“We can take this opportunity to try to buy a little more time, but not a whole lot more, to be honest with you,” Jim Leyland said of the Berry move. “We thought we could buy a couple more days with Austin, but right now, as we speak, it doesn’t look particularly good.”
How much time might come down to Ryan Raburn’s return. Leyland said earlier Tuesday that Raburn will be back on Friday, the first day he’s eligible to return from MLB’s Bereavement List. To do that, the Tigers will have to open up a roster spot. They could send back Danny Worth to Triple-A Toledo. But if Jackson isn’t ready by then, they could put him on the 15-day disabled list, backdate the move eight days to his original injury last Wednesday, and then potentially just lose him for another week.
The extra pitcher to go is Collin Balester, who actually opened the season on the team but has largely struggled to find a role in the long end of the bullpen. He went 10 days between pitching in late April and early May, then gave up six runs in four May outings.
Tuesday: Jackson scratched from lineup
The Tigers posted a lineup just before batting practice with Austin Jackson back in the leadoff spot in center field. He was going to take full batting practice, run the bases and shag fly balls as a final test. Shortly after that lineup went up, Jackson was scratched and a new lineup was posted. The Tigers are hitting as I type this, and Jackson isn’t out there, so this presumably isn’t just a precaution.
TIGERS
- Ramon Santiago, 2B
- Andy Dirks, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 3B
- Prince Fielder, 1B
- Delmon Young, DH
- Brennan Boesch, RF
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Alex Avila, C
- Don Kelly, CF
P: Rick Porcello
INDIANS
- Shin-Soo Choo, RF
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Travis Hafner, DH
- Carlos Santana, C
- Michael Brantley, CF
- Johnny Damon, LF
- Casey Kotchman, 1B
- Jose Lopez, 3B
P: Ubaldo Jimenez
Jason Beck
