Tigers look poised to finally run away from the pack
Posted on May 2nd, 2008 – 11:09 AMBy Joe Christensen
The best part about April for the Twins was that no AL Central foe ran away from them in the standings. At 13-14, they are just 1 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago. Over the past three years, that same start would have felt a lot worse.
April 2007: Cleveland 14-8, Twins 14-11
April 2006: Chicago 17-7, Detroit 16-9, Twins 9-15 (en route to the division title)
April 2005: Chicago 17-7, Twins 15-8
But look out for the Tigers. After a 2-10 start, they have won 12 of their past 17, averaging 6.9 runs per game in that span. They just finished a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium.
With Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney on the DL, the bullpen has been a major question. But the Tigers introduced a new force this week, in RHP Francisco Cruceta.
He received a 50-game suspension last year for a positive steroid test, and this led to a visa delay that kept him home in the Dominican Republic during spring training. So the Tigers were anxiously awaiting his arrival. In three games for Class AAA Toledo, he notched 15 strikeouts in seven innings — that caught my attention.
To make room on the roster this week, the Tigers traded reliever Jason Grilli, a fixture during the Jim Leyland era, to Colorado.
I watched Cruceta face the Yankees last night, to see if he could live up to the hype. Leyland inserted him with an 8-4 lead in the ninth inning. Cruceta issued a five-pitch walk to Bobby Abreu and fell behind 3-0 to Shelley Duncan, forcing Leyland to start warming up closer Todd Jones.
But Cruceta regained his composure and began pumping strikes with his 94-mph fastball. He has a hard slider that breaks straight downward, and you can see how he got all those strikeouts for Toledo. He retired Duncan, Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera to end the game, and flashed a big smile as his teammates gathered to congratulate him.
Knowing how hot Detroit’s offense is, and knowing their pitching is getting settled, you get the feeling the Tigers could be smiling for a good, long time.
118 Responses to "Tigers look poised to finally run away from the pack"
I’m really starting to hate the Detroit Yankees more and more. If the Twins pitching can’t keep those Tiger hitters off balance by mixing up there pitches they will tee of on them just like they did the Yankees.
This Galarraga kid looks to be pitching well. One hit Cleveland through 6.2 and hasn’t allowed more than 3 hits in a game. Kubel has a HR off of him last year when he was with Texas. Punto and Cuddy, and Garrett Jones also have hits. Would be great to see the Twins rough him up.
ya LNP.. i guess i wasnt playing with “twin” fans….
And Leyland can wear Cruceta out, just like he did with Rodney and Zumaya.
“Detroit Yankees”
Yeah, except they haven’t won a title since 1984.
I don’t know, Joe C., are you predicting a Tiger’s sweep this weekend? I think the Twins are in better shape after beating the Whities twice, but I am still looking for that shakeup of our starting lineup…
Nice timing on that piece by LaVelle (which ran Wed.) about how Mauer’s change back to his old swing is getting results. Way to jinx his hitting streak, LaVelle. Of course the truth of the matter is that hitting streak was pretty much a non-factor anyway since the guy still only has like one extra base hit and 1 RBI over that whole span….
Any thoughts about tonight’s lineup? A return of Tolbert, perhaps? (Joe C. noted in his series preview that Tolbert has been struggling recently, but by that, I hope he really meant ‘Gardy’s been making him watch Punto from the pine recently’)
What about a top three of…
Gomez
Mauer
Cuddyer
?
couldn’t hurt, could it?
I hope I’m wrong, but I have a bad feeling about Hernandez facing those red-hot Tigers’ bats.
Galarraga has only allowed one hit to a righty this year in 18 IP. Vlad got him to break up a no hitter he had going. Leyland says he has the best stuff on the team but when he loses it, it goes quick
Maybe Tolbert and Punto will play the middle infield positions to get some lefty’s going.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I have a bad feeling about Hernandez facing those red-hot Tigers’ bats.”
You’re not wrong. Hernandez is going to get rocked. Get used to it. Nobody wanted to believe it when the guy was 3-0 but he’s clearly got nothing left in the tank.
…are you predicting a Tiger’s sweep this weekend?
The Twins played their two games in Detroit very close, and it took an uncharacteristic bullpen meltdown for Detroit to get the wins (though that lineup is a beast regardless of who’s on the mound)
Coming off the Chicago series, the pitching staff should feel a bit refreshed and upbeat (two great starts by Boof and Blackburn), and the bullpen should be well rested.
It really comes down to the lineup. And I agree that it needs to get shaken up. Mauer #2, Cuddy #3, Young #5, and Tolbert in at SS.
*Correction*
That should be “Kubel #5″. Pitchers are going around Morneau because Young hasn’t been doing anything. Young needs to stay where he’s at to learn some patience
I assume the lineup will look like this :
1. Gomez
2. Harris
3. Mauer
4. Morneau
5. Cuddyer
6. Kubel
7. Young
8. Lamb
9. Everett
I’m pretty sure the lineup will look the same as it did on Wed except Everett will be at SS. I’m hoping that tonight we will finally see the defensive gem we were promised when Everett was signed.
Agree with Pete and BC, except I think with Tolbert in for Harris… maybe something like:
1. Gomez
2. Kubel/Mauer
3. Mauer/Cuddy
4. Morneau
5. Cuddyer/Kubel
6. Young
7. Lamb
8. Tolbert
9. Everett
I would plug Joe into the 2 spot, but think Gardy will keep him at 3.
I want to see the Twins do good this weekend… now will the team live up to all of our hopes?
If they don’t… remember they are going up against a World Series contender, and we are a rebuilding team… so if they sweep us the world won’t end.
If they shut the Twins out at all and make it 1 shutout a week under Vavra however his world as a Hitting coach should end. The team is still swinging at the first pitch far too much, and it’s not aggressive when it’s proven not to work! This team is 13-14, and that’s amazing to me, but what’s worse is that if they had a real hitting coach working with these hitters they could be 18-9
I was concerned about a possible Tigers sweep this weekend until I read this entry.
I’m now confident the “Christensen Effect” will bite the Tigers in their collective butts.
I’m trusting this entry will see the same results that “Gomez Overmatched” (followed immediately by Gomez leadoff HR) and “Twins Shaky Offense” (followed immediately by 12 run game) had.
JoeC = the Twins’ secret weapon in 2008. 
Adam Everett back tonight, huh?
Oh goodie…I’ve been waiting for this triumphant return for weeks…
Please tell me they will stick Mike Lamb in there too, then, to offset Everett’s complete lack of a stick….wait…
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
If Gomez get on base his first at-bat and the Twins can get something going early, it might be enough to shake up Galarraga. It certainly worked against the Sox.
Nice note in Sid’s column today about my boy, Lew Ford….Sid’s numbers were not even updated…it’s even worse, Ford is hitting .176 for the Hanshin Tigers…oh well, dude still made a Major League Roster, something I will never do…
Imagine if Lamb and Young were hitting like they were supposed to, our offense would be pretty darn good. I think it’s just a matter of time until they get their legs under them, perhaps this weekend.
Brewers cut Turnbow today, think it might be worth taking a flyer out on him?
The problem with the Twins current SS situation is that Everett/Punto are the same guy and Tolbert has cooled off after being sat for a day due to a “bruised foot”
I’m upset not because I think Tolbert’s the next great thing…but rather because he has a far more likely chance of being the Twins SS next year than either Everett or Punto.
If he’s healthy, he should be in the lineup. At this point there’s really not much worse he could do for this offense unless he found a way to actually SUBTRACT runs from the score.
Robert says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Brewers cut Turnbow today, think it might be worth taking a flyer out on him?
he was linked to the juice
The “silence of the Lambs bat” will not last forever i think he’ll go Hannibal Lecter on the rookie tonight. I like Carlos lineup it’s been awhile since we’ve seen Tolbert and we need all the offense we can get against this team.
T,
Tolbert has virtually no chance to being the starting SS for the Twins. He is being groomed to replace Punto as the Utility IF. Gardy even stated as much during ST.
The “silence of the Lambs bat”
This is very funny
Robert did you see that game against the cubs? Man i actually felt bad for that mgr and i would have walked out and smacked him the face.
I’m willing to give Everett another look. If his arm is healthy, his defense should counter the limited range of Lamb at 3B. Of course, that assumes that Lamb is going to eventually start hitting enough to warrant having his limited range in the line up.
I’m not “anti-Tolbert”… but until someone in the Central does break away from the pack, I’m not willing to start “playing for 2009″ and I’m not convinced yet that he’s the best SS option to win games over the course of this season.
But then, I’m a bit more of a patient kinda guy than most people around here.
Marty Cordova:
he was linked to the juice
I guess that explains a lot.
BC, I didn’t see that game, I just remember Turnbow throwing close to 100 mph but I guess if he was on roids then it’s a moot point
Punto will be in the line-up tonight because he got a hot off Andres Gallaraga last year. That’s how Gardy fills out the line-up card.
he got a hot off Andres Gallaraga
I got what you meant but took me a second
Robert he got rocked for 6 runs in 2/3 of an inning and the game was a blowout so the mgr just wanted him to get three outs but he couldn’t it was funny actually.
Sweetone i remember hearing just the opposite from TK in spring training regarding Tolbert they think he can be an everyday player.
who would we rather see in 2009 in the middle of our infield Matt Tolbert or Luke Hughes?
Matt Tolbert
I agree with Sweetone. If we are really going to be this great team in 2009-10 and Matt Tolbert is our starting shortstop…that is not good. He scares the crap out of me every time he fields the ball. He hasn’t done anything too bad yet but he not smooth at all out there.
we should be happy with how the pitching has done, better than i thought it would be. a couple bad games but that goes both ways we had a few big run games. unless the run production doesn’t improve we can’t compete with the tigers and native americans. joe v. will be here all year so we live with it.
one common thought i disagree with is that punto won’t be here next year imo he’ll be in a twins uniform next yr, he’s gardy’s guy and gardy lives vicariously through him he’ll be around, said with a shrug and a sigh!!
Let’s get Lamb some fava beans and a nice Chianti….
gobbledygookguy I heard that Punto reminds Gardy of Gardy when he played
gardy’s living his dream through the little guy.
do you think gardy ever slid into first head first? i’d like to see him do it now! sure wished i lived closer so i could get my gardy bobblehead sunday!
ggg,
I think Punto goes the way of Lewwww Ford.
So sweet and jared do you think it’s easier to take a player who can hit and try to imprrove his defense or take a player who can play great defense and teach him to hit? I agree that Tolbert is not the defensive SS he needs to be but i do believe he will get better over time. Let the kid play. Free Matt Tolbert.
Punto will be here until Toby Gardenhire reaches the Twins.
Then the elder son will be kicked out of the house to fend for himself.
Its Natures way.
i can’t believe people still read what Sid writes …geeeeez
we just need GOGO to get us started up keep baserunners on to rattle the tigers pitchers so we dont get swept
It hits the ball over the fence or it gets the hose.
what do you think it’s like around the roger clemens dining room table over dinner these days?
gobbledygookguy says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
what do you think it’s like around the roger clemens dining room table over dinner these days?
Wheeeew. It puts the lotion on it’s skin
I’m guessing Mrs. Clemens already had a pretty good idea Roger is no saint. I think she’s one of these women that will stick by him no matter what.
Yeah, I can’t believe how far Clemen’s reputation has fallen in the last few months.
BC I agree with you. I think it is easier to teach a guy to field. I think he will become a better fielder too. But we are not out of it and he just can’t play every day at short right now. I could see third however if Lamb continues to flock it up.
If anyone has a daughter who can sing Titties and Beer give me a ring. It’s my favorite country song.
what do you think it’s like around the roger clemens dining room table over dinner these days?
They call him the “Rocket”
maybe roger can buy her a big diamond like kobe did!
I don’t trust people that dance the Cha Cha with an 8 foot Python
Gomez cf
Harris 2b
Kubel dh
Morneau 1b
Cuddyer rf
Mauer c
Young lf
Lamb 3b
Tolbert ss
this is what id like to see, not what i will see …im sure but???
jared
I heard the opposite. There are a lot of great fielders in the minors that can’t hit well enough to survive in the bigs.
Just reread your post. My bad.
Jared - I too hope Lamb doesnt “flock” up!!!
I guess the problem is at what point do you go from trying to contend to realizing the season is lost. I want the Twins to win as much as anyone but I’m not getting my hopes too high.
BC I agree
did i read somebody’s fantasy about a player learning how to hit in the twins organization?
I saw Luke Hughes play last night, i was impressed.
shawn would you explain?
gobble,
Risking a hernia, I tried to remember a player who learned to hit in the Twins organization.
I got one!!
Torii Hunter!
You want another one?
Oh Crap!
he just looked really good at the plate. went 4-5 with a HR, 3B…. was the best player on the field… although that might not be saying much
sad thing is, i came too late to see the 3b and left too early to see the HR…. he still looked great at the plate. I wonder how his glove is at 3b, cause we could sure use a good one in the system.
gobbledygookguy says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
did i read somebody’s fantasy about a player learning how to hit in the twins organization?
Lol still rolling on that one.
I think Hughes will be a SS or 2B with the Twins. He is small for a 3B. Reminds me of the guy in Colorado that is about the same age.
I think they should move Hughes to AAA, see how he does.
gobble,
Got another one who at least reached above average.
Jason Bartlett
CharlieMurphy says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
who would we rather see in 2009 in the middle of our infield Matt Tolbert or Luke Hughes?
Neither. Hughes is in AA. Tolbert is an unproved utility player. Casilla has to finally learn or it’ll be another stopgap year.
How is Plouffe doing?
CharlieMurphy,
Does Luke Hughes remind you of Troy Tulowitzki?
Wow!
I hope I can see the resemblance someday.
Plouffe didn’t look to have alot of range last night… but the field was wet.
Shawn,
It wasn’t the field - or the night - or the wet.
thats what i was afraid of
sid we got bartlett from the padres only in the minors a yr or so.
however see how well he’s doing now without joe v. teaching him:
ave .226; obp .258; slg .247.
that makes punto look good! well maybe not.
and look at lew ford not under joe v’s wing can’t hit anymore, even in japan!
So I see Luke Hughes is from Australia. Does anyone know who the last australian was that played for the Twins?
sid and gobble…
Here is another:
How about Morneau? Would we agree that his 30+ HRs per year in the majors is better than his 16 or so in the minors?
Cuddy and Mauer are the only Twins draft picks to actually produce as hitters the past few years. I don’t know how much credit to give the Twins on Mauer.
and Morneau
BC — I’ve got it — it’s Luc Longley, naw, it’s Shane Heal, naw that’s not it either.
sid
Yes he reminds me of Tulowitzki. He had a great year for the Rockies last year when he was 23. Hughes will be 24 in August so he is just starting to become the player that he could be. He has some players blocking him at AAA this year which may keep him down next year. I have heard a lot of great things about him and hope that he can be a good player for us in the future.
C’mon think 2005 and here’s an interesting stat he still has a 13 game hitting streak as a Major league player.
Balfour I think.
can you have a worse name as a pitcher than ball four
bc twin good guess but this guy cam after balfour
wasn’t it the 3r baseman…Williams or something like that. He ot hurt right after coming up and hitting the ball well.
Glenn Williams
wasn’t it the 3rd baseman…Williams or something like that. He ot hurt right after coming up and hitting the ball well.
Yahoo Serious?
charliemurhpy… that’s funny. yes, balfour was a bad/funny name for a pitcher. Not as clever, but still funny are the couple of pitchers named “walker”
I enjoy JJ Putz too
Jimmy Gobble is always enjoyable to heckle from the stands too
Winner yes it was Glen Williams and he hasn’t played since. I’m guessing the Twins cut him but i checked baseballreference.com and they don’t show any minor league stats for this year for any team.
CharlieMurphy,
The main thing that differentiates Tulowitzki from everyone else is a plus-plus (I may have left out some plusses)throwing arm.
If Hughes’ arm resembles Tulo’s in any way, the Twins have done a great job of keeping that a secret.
BC,
I think he may have retired.
When we called him up in 2005 he had been an in minors for 11 years and that was his first ML experience.
Also he was from Australia, so he may have gone home.
He would turn 31 this summer.
According to MiLB.com, there is currently no Glen Williams on any minor league team.
Glen Williams played for Rochester last year, he must have been cut this year.
Charlie Murphy- Melky, CO CO, Buddy Bell, Dick Butkus,
Your right well at least he got a taste of major league ball which is more than 90% of all minor leaguers can say.
Milton Bradley
Fukudome
Tulowitski had a good rookie year and is currently on the DL but he’s been struggling bad during hsi sophmore year sort of reminds me of you Marty.
oooh no not me BC
Loved ya Marty but you never lived up to your initial promise. Didn’t you homer in like 5 straight games once?
oooooh yes that’s me BC. Some days I like to think back on what was. I am currently Roy Smalley’ hair stylist and what does everyone think of my new style for Roy
here is my signature work
Marty Cordova’s softmore year was his best year actually.
Robert,
not necessarily cut maybe just not re-signed.
With as much minor league experience that he has he becomes a free agent every year.
Tulo also struggled last April, but recovered to hit 24 HR and drive in 99RBI’s, I believe. Won’t be getting that this year though
the Tigers are a flawed team. I had them finishing 3rd in my preseason predictions. Still stand by that.
Now they are talking about bringing Bonds in to platoon with Sheffield…
look at the game today
‘nough said.
The tigers are like the whitesox were before ozzie! Not that Leyland isn’t a great manager but he doesn’t have the starting pitching to compete with Cleveland for 162.
Twins should bring in turnbow maybe they can fix him
Well, JoeC, the Tigers may well end up running away from the pack… but they’re going to have to remain poised to do so for at least one more day.
Suggestions for future topics:
* Joe Mauer will never hit another home run
* Justin Morneau will go into a trmendous slump
* Carlos Gomez should be sent to the minors (reprise)
You get the point. Keep writing stories like these and the opposite will come true.
May I add one more suggestion to cmathewson’s “suggestions for future topics”?
“Why sane will NEVER become a multi-trillionaire.”
Thank you for your consideration.
Oh, and “why sane will never date Angelina Jolie”.
Worth a shot.
