What was wrong with Rick Porcello? Early in the year it was likely a combination of factors. This very corner of the interwebs speculated on Porcello’s abandonment of a curveball and flip-flopping on the ratio of two-seam to four-seam fastballs.
Word came out following today’s game that Porcello worked on more than his original arsenal during his time in Toledo.
The Toronto Blue Jays were kept off balance and Porcello was able to escape mistake pitches unscathed in part because of the effectiveness of his new cutter-slider. It was so good that Alex Avila had to be careful how he called the [...]

New is coming in fast and furious from Motown today. The Tigers have indeed promoted OF Casper Wells from Toledo as expected and in order to clear a roster spot, they have designated for assignment the contract of RHP Enrique Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was mentioned in my previous post as a possibility to be moved out and in my opinion, this was a natural choice. Gonzalez was working as a starter in Toledo before being recalled earlier this year to serve as a long reliever for the Tigers. He’s been good at times, but has had trouble with command. He’s also nothing [...]

The Tigers won a series with their victory yesterday over the Chicago White Sox. They hadn’t won a series since July 9-11 against the Twins. That’s pre-all-star break for those of you without a calendar in front of you. They beat the Sox in a road series. The Tigers hadn’t won a series on the road since sweeping two games in Oakland on May 19-20. They hadn’t beaten the White Sox in a series since July 24-26 of 2009. They hadn’t beaten the Sox in a series at US Cellular Field since taking three of five there June 8-11, 2009.
Suffice to say, this one [...]

The Tigers gave Jeff Frazier an extended look but the team announced after Sunday’s game that he would return to AAA Toledo.
Daniel Schlereth gets the call up to bolster a tired bullpen that was heavily used over the weekend. The back end of the bullpen was put in a tight spot with the unavailability of Jose Valverde because of an abdominal strain.
Now Brandon Inge and Carlos Guillen have returned to action the Tigers can shorten the bench in order to provide some relief for the bullpen.

Tigers 13, White Sox 8 (box)
The Tigers got on the board first with a two-run single in the third from Carlos Guillen that had just enough to get by Gordan Beckham. Guillen got the two-out chance because the White Sox chose to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera for the second time in the game.
The Sox got a run back in the bottom half of the frame when Beckham scored on a sacrifice fly from Alexei Ramirez.
The long ball helped extend the Tigers lead starting with the solo shot from Ryan Raburn in the fourth inning and Jhonny [...]

Detroit 3, Chicago 2 (box)
Rick Porcello took the mound for the Tigers today, but recent history wasn’t on his side. In three previous starts this year, Rick was 0-3 with an 11.66 ERA. On the other side, Edwin Jackson came in to the game with a 2-0 record and a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the Tigers this season. Neither pitcher would factor into the decision tonight, however.
When Porcello’s at his best, he’s getting ground balls, and that’s what happened tonight. He recorded thirteen ground ball outs, and just four fly ball outs. I think we would [...]

Detroit 9, Los Angeles of Anaheim 4 (box)
There’s no need to adjust your computer monitor; the post heading is not a misprint. The Tigers won a game with a complete team effort. The offense took off to the tune of nine runs, and the pitching held the Angels to just two earned runs. It was exactly the way you win ballgames, so it was exactly the type of game the Tigers have been sorely missing for most of the season’s second half.
As a group, the Tigers’ batters were 7-16 with runners in scoring position. They must read the blog; [...]

Following a press conference to announce Mike Madano as the newest Detroit Red Wing, owner Mike Ilitch took the opportunity to inform the media that Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski would return to the team next year.
The announcement probably won’t be terribly popular around the state of Michigan as the Tigers continue in free-fall mode as the DL looks more formidable than the nightly batting order. The future of Jim Leyland is now starting to be discussed on a national level and fans continue their disparaging analysis of Dave Dombrowski with the benefit of hindsight.
Yes, it seems that Mr. I [...]