The Sports Pages: Charlie Furbush Tosses One-Hitter, Plus the Links

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records man’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.” – Earl Warren

The Toledo Mud Hens split a doubleheader with Indianapolis last night, winning the first game 6-0 behind a one-hit shutout by southpaw starter Charlie Furbush. David Tokarz of Bless You Boys provides the recap, noting that Furbush fanned nine in the seven-inning complete game.

For those unaware, minor league doubleheaders consist of two seven-inning games instead of nine-inning games as they would play in the big leagues. Still, a one-hitter is a one-hitter and Furbush’s outing shows why he remains high on the Tigers organizational depth chart. He probably wouldn’t be the first in-line for a recall when a starter is needed (I have Andy Oliver pegged there), but he might be the next option and depending on the situation, factoring in days of rest if an emergency spot-start is needed, the Tigers wouldn’t hesitate to give him a shot first.

Elsewhere in the Tigerspshere, Curt Rallo of MiLB.com has a bit of insight into the cold (and rainy) start to the first full season of pro ball for West Michigan third baseman Nick Castellanos. Castellanos talks about his transition from the warm Florida weather to the bitter temperatures in the MidWest, his move the third base from his natural shortstop position, and his relationship with former White Sox and Marlins pitcher Alex Fernandez.

If you haven’t seen it, the big news from Aerys Sports (formerly G9) is that Tigers Amateur Analysis has joined the network. You can find Erin’s daily postings over there now, so be sure to update your blogrolls.

John Lowe of the Free Press decided to take an optimistic look at the new role Ryan Raburn is playing these days. Could the move to second base bring a championship to Motown? Seems hard to imagine, but Lowe makes the case for it.

Joe White of iSportsWeb examines what to do with Austin Jackson and his slump. White’s piece is pretty level-headed for the most part, but he seems to attack Rod Allen a bit, although I’m not sure why.

"If Jackson’s issue is one of timing his front foot, then I ask: is it really that hard? Yes Rod, I know you say it is but this guy plays baseball for a living. Is timing really his issue or is it that he just isn’t a quality big league hitter?"

Allen isn’t a layperson in this discussion. Not only was he, himself, a major league outfielder both in the US and in Japan, but he also served a hitting instructor with the Arizona Diamondbacks before taking the color analyst job with FSD. If Allen says timing is the issue with AJax, I’m inclined to hear him out, especially given that Allen also “played baseball for a living.” He might have some insight that people like White and myself do not.

Rogo was downright angry with the Tigers the other night. But it wasn’t entirely because Don Kelly was batting third against Seattle. No, he was mad that Detroit missed a golden opportunity to recall Furbush in time to make a start against Seattle right hander Doug Fister. As he noted at DNR, that would have been epic.

One more on the prospect front. Matt Wallace of BYB offered a piece yesterday about a handful of minor leaguers playing young for their leagues. The Tigers have a history of aggressively promoting (or rushing, depending on your take of the situation) top prospects and Wallace looks at how each of those guys are faring so far. The results aren’t pretty, but let’s take a deep breath here; most of these guys only have a handful of games under their belts so far.

That’s all I got this time kiddies, enjoy the links!

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