| Christopher Reina. 31st March, 2008 - 5:41 pm
 'Striking Out' is a new edition to RealGM's baseball pages this season which will touch on three of the most pressing issues (good, bad, and ugly) for all 30 major league teams.
1. Batting Sheffield Third Suits Detroit
The Tigers lost the first game of the Miguel Cabrera-era, but it is already clear that the decision to hit Gary Sheffield third will pay dividends for the entire roster this season. Sheffield had four walks as the Royals avoided the inside half of the plate against him.
Magglio Ordonez came to the plate with men on base for four out of five plate appearances, and Cabrera had runners on base for two of his five P.A.'s.
Cabrera's homerun was a solo job in the 5th against a Gil Meche hanging curve offering with a 2-1 count.
2. Defense Will Be Shaky
Cabrera made a throwing error in the first inning, which could have been avoided by a more seasoned first baseman than Carlos Guillen.
Brandon Inge was in center and will prove useful until Curtis Granderson is healthy, but a second inning flyout in right-center was an adventure between him and Ordonez.
Mark Teahen hit a 7th inning ball to left-center that a better centerfielder could have caught, although he ended up not scoring. In the 11th inning, Inge threw Teahen out at home on a John Buck single.
3. Bullpen Problems Don't Manifest In Game One
The Tigers will typically score more than four runs, and you can't fault the bullpen for this loss. Justin Verlander was well on his way before yielding a two-run homer to Alex Gordon in the 6th inning.
Jason Grilli, Bobby Seay, and Aquilino Lopez were unable to prevent the two runners inherited from Verlander from scoring, but they limited the damage, along with Todd Jones.
Denny Bautista threw 38 pitches in the mid to high 90's over two innings and was a Tony Pena bloop hit away from getting out of the 11th scot-free.
The Tigers will need to tough it out until Joel Zumaya and/or Francisco Rodney are healthy, but the performance of the 'pen in game one is a promising sign.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the Reina Value. |
