Update on Hollimon

That's good news. I saw a lot of him last week. He didn't do anything to draw attention, either positive or negative, so that tells me he was holding his own out there. We may need him before all is said and done.

--Rich

Awesome News!! I had the chance to see him play in West Michigan two years ago, and I was impressed. I hope his rehab goes quickly and smoothly.

- Chuckles

http://thesurge-whitecapsbaseball.blogspot.com/

Other than Bondo's outing, Lopez and Seay was okay again not a lot to get excited about in this game. (oh ya Curtis was Curtis and was good). I know that Leyland says that he want's two lefties in the pen however I have to wonder what the heck is up with Byrdak and wondering if he deserves that spot. It doesn't seem to me that Byrdak is earning that spot and other guys like Lopez have earned it this spring. I don't know what does everyone think.

And where or where has any hitting gone??? Only five hits today. That isn't going to cut it, even in spring training.

I think Byrdak came to spring training having already made the team, so he should be working on his stuff. I hope that's the case.

The Nats aren't total chumps, and they played a good game today. Plus when Redding did get the ball up, we seemed to hit a liner at somebody.

I know the guys get bored near the end of camp, but it's not near the end yet.

--Rich

jason,
i have a question. do you know the relevance or is there any stats behind how well a team performs in spring as to how well the team performs in the regular season? i'm just curious, as the tigers haven't had a 'stellar' spring... not terrible, but not amazing. 11-9-2 so far. still over .500 for spring.

also, now that 9 more have been sheered from the roster, are the batters/pitchers going to take more at bats and work for the most part with the opening day lineup on a day to day basis?

mike

Hey guys,

Long time no post for me-- I'm a dad now two months earlier than expected and I've been a bit preoccupied at the hospital the past two weeks. My daughter is doing much better now-- its been a rough two weeks-- but I can now focus a little bit back on baseball.

What the heck happened to the bullpen? I've read a bit and without Zumaya and Rodney and with others struggling, I'm officially concerned. Cruceta is still in the Caribbean? Who are guys pulling for? I'll list out below what I know and would love to hear folks' opinions on final roster decisions:

Starting 8 position players (no list needed)

Bench:

- Thames

- Santiago

- Inge (unless traded?)

- Raburn (backup catcher?)

What about Guzman?

Starting 5 (again, no list is needed)

Bullpen:

- Rogers

- Seay

- Byrdak

- Grilli

- Miner

- Bautista (think he's a lock)

- One of the following: Bazardo, Beltran (who's he?), and Lopez

Let's hear the opinions-- and I'm not talking, the Tigers should trade Byrdak and Inge for Joe Nathan...

Here's a couple of thoughts:

- They could package Inge with Guzman and Lopez. I don't know what that gets you but it solves most of the issues above... thoughts?

First off, Brent, congratulations. Glad to hear things are better. Was she at Fairfax? I used to work there and they have one heck of a NICU.

Barring trades, your bench looks like the deal. Raburn is being tagged as the emergency catcher and indeed, he caught one inning last week. Funny thing there, Inge started at catcher and Raburn in left, then they swapped positions. Raburn then returned to left and Inge was replaced, although he could have gone back behind the plate. No rule against that to my knowledge. Guzman had a very disappointing AB against a pitcher who couldn't find the strike zone. He swung at everything and killed a game winning rally. Perhaps he was under instruction to hack away, I don't know. It is spring training, after all.

I agree with your bullpen. Jones rather than Rogers, of course (a lot of people swap their names for some reason) and I count out Beltran. That leaves Bazardo and Lopez. I like Bazardo, but I have a feeling they may want him starting in Toledo and Lopez has relief experience. Now maybe Cruceta finally does get his visa at some point but until then, he's in the Zumaya category of a guy we hope for but don't have.

Any trade with Inge will probably have to be a package of some kind. I'd just as soon keep him myself.

--Rich