Smyly’s First Starts

Drew Smyly has always been a good starter and he surprised many too. He breezed through single A and double A last year and did very well in spring, and he continued to do that. He is a good pitcher with nice mechanics and good stuff and even though he will only go 5 or 6 innings and start 25 or so games. He will make a positive impact but now he looks like he could do very well his first few months in the majors and be even more. He may letdown at the end of the year and isn’t a sure thing get but he’s still pretty good, and he’s a lefty which helps the Tigers rotation big time. He may be a great number four his whole career an behind Turner is the Tigers best pitching prospect. He should continue out a good month of April as a start and has impressed in the toughest of situations, like escaping a bases loaded, no out jam against the good offense the Rays have. He should do well against division opponents this year too. I like Smyly’s pitching a lot and think he will be solid at the least this year as an exciting lefty.
NOTE: Adam Wilk looks better you and should do well in replacing Fister during his injury and when Fister comes back, Wilk should go to the bullpen and Schlereth down for a while to work on some mechanics and get his pitching right

A’s Acquire Scott Sizemore From Tigers for David Purcey

• The A’s got another second baseman and a decent one too.  I think he can start hitting in the MLB and in Oakland, you just have to stick with him.  With some more time he will get to hitting, he’s only played in a small parts of two seasons and his minor league numbers are more reliable to what he is.  He is a pretty good defender at second but needs work at third.  He will get better and by the end of the year he should be in the MLB again doing ok and showing some pop.  The A’s are now absolutly set at second and third and now they will get a lot out of Sizemore, who can still fully live up to his abilities and I think he will.
• The Tigers got David Purcey who will do some work out of the bullpen for now and I like him but he might now be as good as his last 10 games suggest but he still has ability and could even do better than he’s doing now and become a big part of the team.  He should keep a lower ERA for now, especially pitching at Comerica.  He may be built for the park and have success all year and beyond but he might struggle a little bit too.  Just expect him to be one of the Tigers better relievers for now and eventually develop into more.  I expect Will Rhymes to come up soon and start hitting the way he did last year, he should have a better career than Sizemore too.
• Ryan Perry has been sent down, which is okay because he needs some work but as soon as they can he needs to be back up with the club, Adam Wilk might not last or someone else and once he gets it going again he can start to dominate.  I expect Oliver to stick a lot longer this time too.  Danny Worth was called up and he should provide a little offense and a ton of glove until Rhymes can come back up.  Raburn is now the starting second baseman which means for now Boesch and Wells should play more and all three ould start to do a lot better.

Tigers Make Some Moves

• Andy Oliver was called up to start on Saturday.  He should improve on last year’s performance but he still might not be quite there yet and could have some struggles on Saturday but if they stick with him he will get better and put up some great starts.  He’s got good talent and he will use it.  Furbush should also get a chance, I think he can capitalize and have some big games.
• Adam Wilk was called up and he should have some bright spots but I don’t think it will be quite smooth sailing for him because right now he’s still very hittable but if he can mix it up he can do a good job and provide decent relief.  Right now he’s just questionable but he will get better
• Robbie Weinhardt was DFA’d. that’s a bad move.  He’s going to slowly get better and I think he has a good shot of being a good reliever.  He could do better than Wilk later this year too.  If they keep him they should bring him back up at one point.
• Phil Coke is on the DL, that’s a huge loss  but they will survive and when he comes back he will bring a good boost and pick up where he left off.
• I think they made the right move in calling up Oliver in Coke’s absence and Wilk for Weinhardt should work okay for now.

Top 10 Pitchers In Tigers Minors Right Now

Ranked in order of talent and how good they should do this year and guys like Crosby are better but are yet to start doing really well and when they do they will run up this list

1. Andrew Oliver
2. Charlie Furbush
3. Jacob Turner
4. Lester Oliveros
5. Duane Below
6. LJ Gagnier
7. Ramon Lebron
8. Kevin Faulk
9. Adam Wilk
10. Matt Hoffman

Watch out for some bigger names soon, they should start to get hotter, this is just a power ranking of the top 10 pitchers based on performance so far in 2011.

Tigers Cuts

Tomorrow I will focus on who made the final roster spots…

ADAM WILK: I think he’s a bit overrated and he might not have the best season if he pitches for the Tigers this year but he will do decent.  His stuff can be beat a little to easily right now so he needs to season himself and he would hurt the club a little more than anyone else right now.  He could come up later this season and have a good season.  He will do his job well but I don’t think he’s cut out for the majors yet and he was a good cut
ANDY DIRKS: FOr right now he’s not better than the other outfielder but when the opportunity comes up he will mash at first and then steadily do good for a while.  He will make a good bench player at some point this year.  His tools are pretty good and he can put up numbers that are play but for right now they needed to cut him for a bit of season
DANNY WORTH: He could have some good moments when hitting but nothing special and what he did at the plate this spring isn’t real.  His defense will be awesome but he’s a boarderline major leaguer so he will do pretty average when up this year and will make for a good guy to have around later.
RANK OF THE GUYS CUT WHO WILL DO BEST

1. Andy Dirks
2. Danny Worth
3. Adam Wilk