Workout day

I usually don’t blog about the reporting process. In fact, I rarely ever do it unless it’s really interesting, because I figure it’s usually boring for everybody else. But I don’t have much else to write about, which brings me to my topic.

The workout day before a playoff series seems like a day spent covering very little. You talk to the players for a few minutes, you cover a couple press conferences, players go take batting practice, and then maybe you talk for a few more minutes. I’ve covered workouts before, but they were always with other teams instead of the one I cover all season. I’m wondering if this is what covering an NFL midweek practice is like.

Anyway, at least I get to tie up loose ends, such as …

• As I wrote in my notes, Marcus Thames is feeling better, eating well and gaining his strength back. Leyland wouldn’t commit to whether he’ll play, but I’d say there’s a good chance. Omar Infante could have a good game in his place, but he’s not what you want in a DH.
• How Leyland handles the seventh and eighth innings with a lead will be interesting. It’s going to be hard to pitch Zumaya two innings each and then lose him for the next game. That puts a premium on Fernando Rodney to rebound from his rough outing Sunday. When you look at his season, there’s no pattern to the struggles. Sometimes he battles his control for two or three outings in a row. Sometimes he rebounds from a bad night and shuts everybody down for the next week after that.
• Randy Johnson is expected to be ready to go for Game 3 Friday. It’s tough to say the Tigers need to take a game at Yankee Stadium, but, well, you know.
• The Tigers finished out the regular season with the best ERA in the Majors, but it was close. Detroit closed out at 3.84, the Padres at 3.87, and the Twins at 3.95. Tigers starters led the Majors with a 4.00 ERA, while the bullpen finished fourth at 3.55 behind the Twins, Mets and Padres.
• Carlos Guillen finished ninth in the AL with a .320 average, became the first Tiger since 2000 to score 100 runs in a season, and fell a home run shy of a 20-20 year. Ivan Rodriguez finished batting .300, his second .300 season in three years as a Tiger.