Game Notes- Tigers vs. Mariners- 06/11/11

• Mariners- Bats will bring them out of the race
• Tigers- Definatly looks like a first place team
• A. Jackson- Wills tep up all around very soon, be prepared for a lot of XBH and 3Bs
• Peralta- Will continue hoot streak for a while, deserving all-star
• Figgins- Probably will do a little better, but not great, declining
• Ichiro- Looks fine, still strong in RF
• Kelly- Not a great hitter but will get better in time
• Boesch- Is a great lefty bat, will stay around .280
• Puegero and Halman- Look promising, Puegero a lot more promising, Halman a chance at 20-20 someday, maybe
• Peralta- Big power at time, looking at 25 R season possibly

On Pineda

Looks pretty good can be great soon and is a future all-star.  Has some of the best stuff in the AL.  Very impressive big season and career ahead of him 

On Scherzer

Will break out of his slump very soon and expect some dominant starts in the near future.  Still has some wildness in him but will go away quickly.  Will get outs,  Looks like future all-star out there

On Smoak

Average will come and everything else will follow but power and RBIS will keep on coming and is best hitter behind Ichiro in line-up right now.

Game Notes 5/29/11 Red Sox vs. Tigers- Game 2

• Andy Dirks is a good ballplayer
• Jacoby Ellsbury won’t be stopped for now
• David Ortiz still has huge pop
• Brennan Boesch is decent at a run and catch
• Tigers are decent at turning two
• Austin Jackson will break out of slump just not quite yet though
• Tigers can hit at the top and start big rallies
• Boesch nails the ball, is great at hitting line drives done the line and the power will come to him
• Victor Martinez can get a hit at any time and will come through when you need something
• Cabrera is a nice line drive hitter and will rack up huge hits
• Drew Sutton has an okay swing that could lead to some success
• Dirks has good defense in left, at Comerica especially

VERLANDER

• Could be best behind Felix in AL by the end of the year
• Gets outs at anytime in every way
• Amazing
• One Problem: Too many pitches but velocity late make him even better

BECKETT

• Probably won’t keep up his current performance
• Hittable early but settles in and is an all-star type pitcher late

Game Notes: Tigers vs Royals 5-14-11

• It’s only a matter of time before Eric Hosmer starts slamming the ball
• Brad Penny is for real and back for a good season
• The Royals are slowly falling
• Alcides Escobar is the best shortstop in the AL on defense
• The Tigers are the best and most talented team in the AL Central
• The Tigers have great defense and will keep it up
• Austin Jackson won’t do much worse than last year
• The top of the order is going to really good along with the middle of the order for right now for the Tigers
• Jhonny Peralta will hit better as a Tiger than he has as an Indian
• Jeff Francis will start to get bombed soon
• Jose Valverde will be at the level he’s at now for a while
• Victor Martinez is great and will always hit for the Tigers

Game Notes CHW at DET 4/23/11

These are notes on the team and players from this game, they have to do with scouting and how they might fair in the future
TEAM
TIGERS- Everything is up and running and they are dangerous, offense is great and will catch fire
WHITE SOX- Will start off slower and rebound like last season, but not as good
PLAYERS
Rhymes- Great defense, good getting to pop-ups
Inge & Ordonez- Will heat up in their own ways
A. Jackson- Slowly getting back to normal, Will get tons of IF hits and a great bunter, best on the Tigers at bunting
Avila- Will stay on fire for a while, power and XBH are big and could improve a ton on 2011, Nice, fluid swing that will lead to success
Pierre- Will never be a good defender
Morel- Looks like he will be okay
Quentin- Looks like another okay season with a lower average though
A. Ramirez- He looks like he will quickly get back on track
M. Cabrera- Better than 2010, in my opinion
Boesch- Power will come but he will stay hot and do very well all season.  Will make up for no V-Mart for now
A. Alberqurque- He just needs to tone it down at times but has the makings of a great, strikeout reliever, could be big for the Tigers this season
Ohman- Will have his typical season
Raburn- He can do a lot this year and he will
STARTERS
PENNY
-I like him, he will get outs and do his job and have some real good games
-Will pitch to contact
-Will catch fire again this season
-Looks promising for this season
JACKSON
-Good, but very streaky, he’s almost there
-He will still have a lot of struggles, for now
-Best stuff currently in the Sox rotation
-Could put it all together at any time
My Take on the Tigers chaces so far: I like the Tigers in this division. White Sox are just not good enough and the Tigs can beat them. The Twins pitching and injuries will slow them and I can’t see them catching back up.

Tigers vs Royals Sereis Recap

ROYALS: I know they are a better team this year but right now they are on a hot streak and they should ride it for the next few series but they could come back down to earth at any time.  Their offense looks like it can be tamed at times but can also mash.  I can tell that they are heading in the right direction and they can win games now.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they won 75 games this season.  Hochaver isn’t that good and Chen will be spotty and Davies won’t ever be good, so they need to work on a few things.
TIGERS: They will snap out of it but with the Rangers coming it will be harder.  I see the Tigers getting back to winning soon though.  They can hit but they need the starters to get a lot better and do it quick.  Porcello needs to do better, not be an all-star but do better and he can do it.  Their bullpen also needs to do better but I think it will pretty quickly.  They will win they just need to play better which they will do within they next week or so.  Scherzer and Coke look like they need two or three more starts and then they will start doing really good.  Austin Jackson may just need this month to get warmed up and he will get better soon.  I like the whole line-up and bench and I think the Tigers will be contending for the top of this division real soon.

Game Preview: Royals(5-3) at Tigers(3-5)

ANALYSIS: The Royals are playing well and they will for a little bit longer but the Tigers can play better and their offense can easily out slug the Royals.  I can see both teams playing a good game, but the one that should play better is the Tigers.  The Royals bullpen could be big in this game too.  The Tigers will play very well all-around too but they need their bullpen to do better.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: Luke Hochevar(0-1)-PREDICTED LINE: 5 IP 5 ER 7 H 3 BB 2 K vs. Rick Porcello(0-1)-PREDICTED LINE: 6.2 IP 3 ER 8 H 3 BB 7 K- Porcello could have a big start and do really good today but he will still have some struggles.  eprobably won’t do that good today, but he could last a while and not give up a ton of runs but you should expect a lot of baserunners and walks.  Porcello could pitch a ton of good innings today too.  He won’t do terrible if he does have a bad outing it won’t be terrible.  EDGE: Porcello
DETROIT HITTERS: The whole entire order should do great and keep getting hits off of him.    The middle of the order and the top should do pretty good and guys like Miguel Cabrera, Alex Avila, Ryan Raburn, and Austin Jackson.  Hochevar could get killed by this line-up plus they could even do some damage off the bullpen.
KANSAS CITY HITTERS: They will have their moments today.  Billy Butler is the big guy to watch.  I also have a feeling that Kila Ka’aihue could do something big in an at-bat but he will also strikeout and get out like he did yesterday.  The line-up is okay today and it will do something but not anything to big.
KEYS: TIGERS: They need a good outing from Porcello and to get the offense going again ROYALS: Take advantage of Porcello any time they can
PREDICTED FINAL SCORE: Royals 4 Tigers 9

Game Preveiw: Tigers(2-4) vs Royals(4-2)

ANALYSIS: The Tigers return home after a disapointing road trip and look have the same success they had at home last year.  I think they will, starting today.  The Royals are playing good right niot though a do have a chnce to win it.  The Tigers are the better team and look for them to prove it, espacially with the line-up they have put out against a pitcher who isn’t really good.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: Kyle Davies(0-0)-PREDICTED LINE: 5 IP 6 ER 11 H 4 K 2 BB vs. Max Scherzer-PREDICTED LINE: 6.2 IP 2 ER 7 H 9 K 2BB- Scherzer has had a bad start and some people are concerned because he didn’t do well in the spring either, but there is no reason for that, he is rising into a superstar and he show quickly rebound, starting today.  He might get knocked around a tiny bit early but watch him dominate late.  Davies isn’t that good and look for him to be hittable but he could lasta few innings before anyuthing can get out of hand.  EDGE: Scherzer
DETROIT OFFENSE: Look for the middle of the order to do very good and the Toigers to knock any Royals pitcher around.  I expect them to have an awesome series as far as there offense.  Watch Avila to continue on his hot streak and Boesch to maybe get a hold of a few today.  The middle of the order and the top should do the big damage though
KANSAS CITY OFFENSE: Jeff Francouer and Kila Ka’aihiue could be the biggest hitters in this game but the offense shouldn’t get much more than a hit here or there with a run or two scattered in that.  They won’t to good at all against Scherzer and won’t do well against the bullpen.  Billy Butler could be another guy who could do okay but will only ghet a hit.
KEYS: The Tigers just need to play well and score a few runs.  The Royals need a decent outing from Davies or they will probably lose
FINAL SCORE(PREDICTION): Tigers 8 Royals 3

Tigers Game Analysis from the Orioles Series

• Justin Verlander should finally have a great or decent April
• Alex Avila will have some very good series this year and will improve from last season but won’t keep at this pace all season
• Derrek Lee will have somewhat of a bounce back season
• Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez will be great back-to-back all season long, especially in this clutch
• The Orioles are defiantly better but defiantly have flaws
• Austin Jackson is going to be the best center fielder in the AL on defense and he will even hit better this season
• Brad Penny looks like he will do just fine
• The Tigers can beat teams that are on a winning streak
• The Tigers are better than their record
• The Orioles can beat good teams
• Both teams will be pretty good at comebacks
• Mark Reynolds strikeout problem won’t get too much better
• The Tigers bullpen needs a little time but they are pretty good
• Both teams are better than they were last season

Game Preview: Tigers(1-3) at Orioles(4-0)

ANALYSIS: The O’s are looking for a 5-0 start, which would tie the franchise record for most wins to start off a season without losing.  The Tigers are looking to not fall to 1-4.  I think the Tigers have an edge in this game but it should be a closer game them some think.  Both clubs should play very well, the O’s could start off strong but the Tigers should storm off to a big start too.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: Brad Bergesen vs. Justin Velrander- Verlander struggles in April but I see him having a few good starts this month and this should be one of them and he could strike out some hitters.  Don’t expect him to be unstoppable today though.  Bergesen could surprise and match Verlander game and he should have a decent game no matter what but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tigers score some runs off him, especially early.
DETROIT HITTERS: They should get hits and runs and get on base.  They could have a few bad innings but look for them to start early and add some runs on.  They have had some success versus Bergesen and that could continue.  Look for Miguel Cabrera, Will Rhymes and Magglio Ordonez to have at least very good nights.  Victor Martinez could get hot starting tonight too.  The offense should do good tonight.
BALTIMORE HITTERS: Even though they have a good line-up, they should show some struggle against Verlander.  They will get some hits but may not take advantage of them, but they should get at least a run or two.  The middle of their line-up will do the damage if they do any damage.  Vladimir Guerrero will be the leader of the offense tonight.  It won’t be a really good night for the O’s hitters today.
KEYS: The Tigers need the hitting to step up a notch so they can win tonight and get hot and they need a big night from the middle of the order and contributions from the top and bottom.  The O’s just need to be patient and take advantage of all their opportunities.
FINAL SCORE(Prediction): Tigers 5  Orioles 3

Mariners Top Prospects- 2011

1. 2B Dustin Ackley  GRADE- A
2. SP Michael Pineda- A
3. SS Nick Franklin- A-
4. SP Taijuan Walker- B+
5. OF Johermyn Chavez- B+
6. 3B Alex Liddi- B+
7. SP Maurico Robles- B
8. OF Guillermo Pimental- B
9. SP Dan Cortes- B
10. 2B Kyle Seager- B
11. 3B Roman Morla- B-
12. OF Rich Poythress- C+
13. OF James Jones- C+
14. SP Blake Beaven- C+
15. SS Marcus Littlewood- C
16. RP Josh Lueke- C
17. RP Stephen Proyer- C
18. OF Nate Tenbrink- C
19. SS Carlos Triunfel- C-
20. OF Greg Halman- C-

TOP THREE: Pineda, Ackley and Franklin will all be all-stars one day.  Franklin being a good hitter with loads of power, Ackley being a great all-around hitter and Pineda is an ace.

TEAM GRADE: C+