There’s an interesting piece over at Baseball America today that ranks the top three in each league at a host of wonderful categories. There are some head-scratching picks, as there are in any list, but nothing too egregious.
I’d recommend reading the whole thing, I mean it’s just a list. BA offers no explanation of why each player was ranked where they were. I’ll give you Tigers-centric the highlights after the jump.

Detroit 5, New York 9 (box)
Jeremy Bonderman wasted very little time in showing us that he, not Justin Verlander, is still the king of terrible first innings. A night after Verlander took 35 pitches to allow two runs in the first, Bonderman gave up three to New York, setting the tone for a second straight Tigers loss.
Bonderman took it upon himself to seek retribution for Brett Gardner’s take-out slide that sent Carlos Guillen to the disabled list by hitting Gardner in the leg with the first pitch of the game. Immediately, home plate umpire Eric Cooper [...]

A few more thoughts from last night’s Tigers win over the Yankees:
Curtis Granderson played like a man on a mission against his former team. The Yankees managed only six hits all night, but Granderson had three of them, including a double and two singles. He also walked once. One of those three hits came against left hander Phil Coke, making it even more impressive considering Grandy’s struggles versus southpaws.
Also interesting was that none of his plate appearances came against a former teammate. Granderson was 2-for-2 with a walk against Max Scherzer, 1-for-1 versus Coke, and 1-for-1 versus [...]

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 [...]

Unless you have no access to anything other than this very site you are already well aware that Tampa’s Matt Garza tossed a no-hitter against Detroit last night. Garza threw 120 pitches in his gem, 101 of them were fastballs. Aren’t the Tigers supposed to be a good fastball hitting team?…
Max Scherzer had an outing to remember as well, as he didn’t allow a hit through 5.2 innings either, until Matt Joyce delivered a grand slam to break the game wide open. The Rays managed just three hits all night, but two of them left the yard (or [...]

Texas 8, Detroit 0 (box)
The Rangers collected three runs before an out was recorded in the second inning. The Tigers didn’t manage their first hit until the fourth. Texas piled on late, but even at 3-0 Rangers, this game was already over.
Armando Galarraga was knocked around early, seemingly every ball was hit hard, even the outs were caught near the wall. At one point, he did settle in and retire 10 in a row, but the damage was already done. Gags’ final line doesn’t look all that bad, but the offense never showed up to help. 7.1 IP, 9 [...]

In the wake of a devastating 14-6 loss to the New York Mets last night, a game in which catcher Gerald Laird was written into the 2-hole in the order, Tigers manager Jim Leyland is now contemplating further efforts to make a mockery of baseball.
Laird thwarted his manager’s attempts with an RBI single last night, finishing his day at 1-for-5 and raising his batting average to .181. Leyland, who has long been known for using Triple-A hitters in the three-spot, has apparently not been satisfied in destroying the sanctity of the lineup, and has aimed his assault on the second hitter.
As Jeremy Bonderman is scheduled to pitch [...]

In the wake of yet another lackluster effort from the offense, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland vented his frustrations. “We’ve got to swing the bats better,” said Leyland, “this is the big leagues. You’ve got to perform. That’s just the way it is.”
Leyland’s post game comments strayed from his usual even-keeled tone as he teetered on the edge of outrage. He finally stated the feelings every Tigers fan has had when this team gets beaten by pitchers they should hit.
“But one thing I don’t buy is everybody doesn’t pitch their best game of the year against you.” He went on, ”That’s three [...]