Berry Interesting

By Sean Gagnier

He may have been just five of his last 27, but on Sunday Quintin Berry made the most of his time in the Tigers lineup, going five-for-five and swiping his ninth base of the season. That kind of performance is the reason that the Tigers must keep Berry playing as much as possible.

While he doesn't have home run power, he can do just about everything else. Comerica Park could have been built for the Austin Jackson and Berry, it is spacious in the right places and if they can get a ball in the gaps they could run forever.

Baseball, unlike any other sport, has a true home field advantage. In basketball, football and hockey each venue has to have the same dimensions for the playing surface, so home field advantage is limited to the fans in the stands. But in baseball each playing surface is different from the last and lends itself to a different style of play; Berry's style of play is what Comerica Park was built for.

With his five-for-five performance on Sunday, Berry was able to bump his batting average from .288 to .333. Berry brings a different style of game to the otherwise home run reliant Tigers; speed. One of his hits on Sunday was a bunt base hit that was unable to be fielded by the pitcher. No other Tiger has that ability to be able to change the makeup of a game so quickly.

Berry is able to take a one out, no-one on base situation and get a squib base hit in the infield and then steal second on the next pitch. On two pitches he has changed the game completely, putting a runner in scoring position and pressure on the pitcher and defense. That is the thing that Detroit has been missing of late, the ability to stress pitchers.

Even though opposing pitchers and defenses know that Berry has the green light and is looking to steal every time he gets on base, they have yet to throw him out. Sunday marked Berry's ninth steal in as many attempts, and more often than not, everyone in the stadium knew he was running and there was still nothing anyone could do about it.

If the Tigers want to keep winning, they need Berry to keep producing and keep stressing pitchers.

Tigers Demote Ryan Raburn; Who Do They Call Up?

 By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It finally happened, the Tigers were out of options to deal with the struggling Ryan Raburn and opted to send him down to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens after Tuesday's game with the Boston Red Sox. Raburn had a very respectable spring training, but once the season started so did Raburn's troubles. When he was demoted on Tuesday he was hitting just .146.

While it has been his style to struggle in the early portion of the season before flipping a switch and playing like an all star after the break, but this season's swoon, coupled with the team's struggles, caused Detroit to pull the leash on their second baseman.

Following the Tigers loss to the Red Sox on Monday, Jim Leyland said that he thought that he may have given Raburn too much leash so far this season and that he would have a much shorter one from then on. Well, it must have been very short.

There was no corresponding roster move made in Toledo after Raburn was optioned down tonight; one is expected to come on Wednesday. Raburn's struggles have been historic for him; the only time his on-base percentage was lower was in 2004 when he played just 12 games with the Tigers and had only 29 at-bat's. Currently, his OBP is sitting at .209 with a on-base percentage plus slugging of .420, which is terrible in the major leagues.

There was speculation abound Tuesday night as to who would be called up to replace Raburn in the Detroit lineup; first instinct was that the Tigers would call on another second baseman in Eric Patterson. But that was quickly shut down when Tigers beat writer Jason Beck tweeted that the player to be called up would not be a second baseman, per Jim Leyland.

That being said, speculation shifted elsewhere that the Tigers would go and bring up a reliever. Only problem with that is that the Tigers already have seven relievers in the bullpen and five starters. By carrying 12 pitchers on staff, Detroit limits itself on the bench.

The Tigers should bring up Mud Hens designated hitter Brad Eldred to replace Ryan Raburn. By recalling Eldred, Detroit would maintain a more normal bench and would add a big bat that they could bring into a game in the late innings. As it stands, if the Tigers need to go to the bench in the late innings they can turn to Danny Worth, Gerald Laird or Don Kelly. Not exactly murder's row is it?

By adding Eldred the Tigers would be able to have pop off the bench that they dont currently possess and because he can't play a position in the field they would have no problem sending him back down to Toledo when Austin Jackson comes off the disabled list.

What Can Berry Do For You?

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Austin Jackson was having a renaissance season, he was hitting and drawing walks as well as playing the elite center field that Tigers fans have come to expect. But a funky swing in an at-bat in Chicago tweaked something in Jackson's back and it just wasn't right. He rested it for a number of days and when he felt it could be ready to go he stepped into the batting cage for some batting practice in Cleveland. However, Jackson's back disagreed with his time table for returning to the lineup and after re-aggravating it in BP the Tigers placed him on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to a week earlier, and called up Quintin Berry from the Toledo Mud Hens.

So who exactly is Berry and what can he do for the Tigers? First things first, he can play a tremendous center field. He has the range, plus some, of Jackson and so far with the Tigers he has shown that he has a decent arm from center field as well. While he might not have the arm that Jackson does in the field, he won't need to use it with the speed that he possesses.

Tigers fans have come to see Jackson as the only source of speed on their roster, and for the most part they are right, but the addition of Berry to the lineup gives the Tigers something they haven't had in a long time; blistering speed. Berry isn't just fast, he's Usain Bolt fast. With the kind of raw speed that Berry has, he can steal a base despite the entire stadium knowing that he is going to try for the steal.

That kind of speed can change games. Just think about the last time the Tigers played the Angels; every time one of their runners reached base they at least threatened to steal second, or even third, base. And because of that threat Tigers pitching threw over to the bag multiple times and the pitcher was unable to focus on the batter because he was thinking about the runner on base.

One thing that this Detroit team lacks is speed. Jackson was the Tigers only speed and possible base stealer, and opposing teams knew that. Once Jackson was off the bases there was no urgency paid to the runners and the pitcher was able to focus wholly on the batter. With the addition of Berry opponents will have to implement all the tools at their disposal to keep him from stealing; throws to the bag, look overs, pitch-out's, snap throws by the catcher.

But when the dugout and pitching battery are strategizing about the runner who has already reached base, that is a mental victory for the Tigers. Berry has stolen 55 bags in a season while in the minors, he is the real deal. When Jackson returns to the lineup, Berry should stay with him if the Tigers truly want to make a run.

Beyond stealing bases Berry makes the opponents rush every play that he is involved in. For instance, in Cleveland there were two plays where Berry's speed helped the Tigers despite neither of them being the theft of second base. Berry laid down a bunt, presumably to try to catch the Indians off balance, but due to his speed he pulled the second baseman out of position and turned an ordinary bunt into a bunt double and his first major league hit.

Another instance was when Berry rolled over a ball and the pitcher charged off the mound to grab it and throw him out at first. This is an ordinary play, but because the pitcher knew in the back of his head how fast Berry was he rushed the throw and pulled his first baseman off the bag.

While his bat hasn't shown up yet with Detroit, the sample size is still small and he should be given more of a chance. But if he does begin to get hot at the plate when Jackson is ready to return the Tigers need to keep him in the every day lineup. Berry could be shifted over to left field and Jackson would be able to reclaim his position in center field. Andy Dirks, who is currently manning left field, could be moved to the DH position.

The odd man out in that situation would be Delmon Young, who prior to his arrest in New York was the Tigers every day left fielder. Since his incident he has been the DH in almost every game that he has played. Seemingly Detroit would like to keep his bat in the lineup without sacrificing defense in left field. However, his bat hasn't really showed up and something needs to be done to spark this team and keep them hot.

Berry is that spark and that spark should be tindered and cared for until it goes out. Detroit needs to ride their lightning bolt as long as they can.

Justin Verlander Goes Nine, Picks Up First Win

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

Justin Verlander took a Tigers lead into the ninth inning for the second consecutive start, only this time he would win the game. On Monday night the Detroit Tigers ace headed into the ninth with a 3-1 lead and a manageable pitch count. Although he made things interesting, allowing one run and leaving the bases loaded with two outs, Verlander came out of the inning with his first win and complete game of the season.

In his nine innings of work Verlander surrendered seven hits to the Kansas City Royals while walking just two. Almost as impressive as his complete game was the fact that Verlander struck out nine Royals on the day, including Alex Gordon to end the game.

The win was right out of the script of a Verlander start, he began the game throwing in the mid-90's and by the end of the game he was tossing 101 mph fastballs to the plate. On his last delivery to the plate, his 131st pitch, Verlander's fastball beat Gordon by blowing by him at 101 mph.

While it is hard to say no when the reigning American League MVP and Cy Young winner is chomping at the bit to get back out on the mound to close out his game, the question has come up whether Manager Jim Leyland should allow Verlander to extend his games into the final frame.

In his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, Verlander headed into the ninth with a lead. It didn't stay that way, the Rays came all the way back and beat the Tigers that day. So when Verlander convinced Leyland to let him toss the ninth on Monday, visions of the previous game had to be flashing through his mind.

With two on and two out and the score at 3-2 Leyland meandered his way out to the mound to talk to his pitcher, and according to Verlander all he said was, "you're going to get me fired."

But in the dugout in the eighth inning when Verlander approached Leyland about going back out for the ninth, he said that Leyland told him, "it's your game. You're either going to win it or lose it. I'm not taking you out."

If that isn't confidence in your pitcher nothing is. So with the bases loaded, two-outs and a one run lead, Verlander channeled that confidence and blew the final strike past Gordon at 101 mph to secure his first win of the year.

Verlander was afforded his lead on a leadoff home run by Austin Jackson and a two-run homer by Brandon Inge, who was starting at 2B, in the fifth. Those three runs would be all Verlander would need.

He allowed a Gordon double in the first and after a sacrifice bunt and a Billy Butler single the Royals were able to erase the Tigers early lead. After the Inge home run the Royals could only muster one more run in the ninth when Butler lead off the frame with a single and his pinch runner, Jason Bourgeois, was able to come around and score.

At the beginning of the season Verlander said he wanted to emulate Roy Halladay and complete more games this season - so far it looks as though his body is up to it, but it is up to his skipper to get his mind ready to stay focused for the full nine frames. Once he gets the hang of throwing nine full innings, look out, he might be more dominating than last season.

Tigers Cabrera Catches White Sox Batter's Box Mistake

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

While it may not have been on purpose, it was, after all, opening day for the U.S. Cellular Field grounds crew, Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera proved that he has more baseball smarts than many gave him credit for. When he stepped into the batters box in the first inning of the Tigers game with the White Sox on Friday he, wasn't actually, in the box.

Cabrera's back foot was more than six inches out of the back of the batters box. While he does tend to hang out at the extreme back of the box, and rub out the back line, Cabrera knows where he can and can't stand. And he was right. After digging in, he notified the umpire that he believed the box was not the correct size.

The batters box had been shifted up about six inches, a brilliant move if you don't get caught. The move would force sluggers such as Cabrera that feed on fastballs to sit closer to the middle of the plate. That shift would give them less time to decide on a pitch and pull the trigger.

Other batters, such as Chicago's Alexi Ramirez are thrown a steady diet of breaking pitches and like to dig in at the front of the box. A shift of the box up would allow them to get their bat on the ball before the pitch began to break when it reaches the plate.

Major League Baseball rules state that the "batters box shall extend for three feet forward of home plate and three feet behind home plate." With three feet on each side of the plate batters are free to move forward and back to find the right feel for their batting style.

Cabrera is a veteran and he knows when something is wrong, and when his back foot was beyond the chalk in the first inning, he let someone know about it. After convincing home plate umpire Adrian Johnson of the mistake the U.S. Cellular Field grounds crew were called out to rechalk the batters box with the umpires observing the process.

White Sox starter Jake Peavy had struck out the Tigers one and two hitters in Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch prior to Cabrera alerting the umpires to the mistake. One may think that this mistake could have caused Jackson and Boesch to be late on their swings, which they were, and could have helped Peavy record those first two outs.

While that looks to be the case, it more than likely was a simple mistake by a grounds crew chalking the field for the first time this season and not any conspiracy. But next time you see a batter dig into the box, take more time to check out his feet and make sure the chalk is where it's supposed to be.

Austin Jackson Getting Hot For Tigers After Big Weekend

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Austin Jackson has never been knocked for lack of range in center field, it seems as if any ball that is hit into the outfield will have Jackson under it before it hits the ground. But after a stellar rookie season, he struggled with the bat last year and his strikeout totals ballooned. The Tigers hoped that it was simply a sophomore slump and not signs of his true ability - and it looks like that is the case.

In the offseason Jackson worked with Detroit hitting coach Llyod McClendon to change his hitting stance to attempt to cut down on his strikeouts and improve his average. The new stance and swing eliminated Jackson's leg lift as the ball closed in on the plate and emphasized choking up on the bat in two-strike counts.

Jackson has taken to these changes well, and his average reflects that. On Sunday, Jackson went 4-for-6 and on the season is hitting .571. Although the season in still very young, that number is impressive but almost as impressive is that Jackson has struck out just three times while drawing two walks.

What isn't shown in those numbers are the times when he works a pitcher for five or more pitches before ultimately heading back to the dugout, while he may not reach base his new found patience and approach at the plate is allowing him to fatigue pitchers for the big boppers behind him in the order.

In what should have been a headline day for Justin Verlander, Jackson stole the front page by hitting a walk-off RBI single to win Opening Day for the Tigers over the Boston Red Sox. While not as majestic as a walk-off home run his teammates celebrated Jackson's first career walk-off as if he had put the ball over the fence.

The leadoff man is the engine that powers a ball club. And Jackson is proving that he can be quite a powerful engine thus-far in the 2012 campaign. He continues to prowl center field with the best of them, despite never leaving his feet to make a catch. And if his bat continues to be hot this season he could be in line for the first of many Gold Glove awards.

By eliminating the leg lift from his hitting stance Jackson is able to focus more on the ball as it gets closer to him and decide what to do with it. When he would leg kick, it would almost force him, through shear momentum to swing at the pitch.

With this new found control at the plate, Jackson is now able to make better decisions on pitches. Should he swing at it, should he attempt to foul it off or let it go by altogether. The improvements made by McClendon with Jackson will allow him to develop into the ballplayer that the Tigers believe he truly can become.