A Slightly Valuable Graph about Miguel Cabrera
By telling you Miguel Cabrera is a good hitter, I’m telling you nothing you don’t already know. But I was curious about his progression as a hitter and started playing around with the numbers, which led me to the creation of this graph. It seemed silly to waste it, so here you are. This is a graph tracking Cabrera’s career OBP and SLG at the end of each game. This isn’t surprising, but in the last three years he’s gotten better. That coincides with his prime and the obvious uptick in his notoriety in the game.
Cabrera is a good hitter. Not every post can be groundbreaking. This one is just a graph.
How Was The Game? (May 15, 2013)
A near miss.
Astros 7, Tigers 5
The Tigers entered today’s game going for the series and season sweep of the Houston Astros and came up just short. The Tigers got out in front early, but allowed the Astros back into the game and would have to settle for 6 wins against the Astros in 7 tries. The Tigers are now 22-16 as they prepare for a four game series against the Rangers this weekend in Arlington. Max Scherzer (5-0, 54.1 IP, 3.98 ERA, 2.43 FIP, 1.9 WAR) was good except for the fourth inning in which he allowed 4 runs, finishing with 7 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Avisail Garcia made his mark on the young season by powering his first major league homerun in the 2nd inning to deep left centerfield that put the Tigers on top, but Alburquerque walked the leadoff man in the 9th and Coke allowed him and another to score to put the Tigers behind 7-5. In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers loaded the bases for Miguel Cabrera who crushed a ball to the wall in deep RCF, but Barnes ran it down and made a leaping catch to end the game. The Tigers will begin the Rangers’ series in style tomorrow with Justin Verlander (4-3, 51.1 IP, 1.93 ERA, 2.10 FIP, 2.1 WAR) lining up against Yu Darvish for one of the premier pitching matchups of the young season.
The Moment: Garcia hits his first ML homerun in the 2nd
Doug Fister and Something We’ve Never Seen Before
Doug Fister is doing something kind of amazing so far this season. He’s hitting more batters than he is walking. Through 8 starts and 50 innings, Fister has hit 10 batters and walked 8 for a HBP-BB = 2. This is remarkable just because it’s a crazy thing, but it’s also remarkable because it has never happened before. (Editor’s Note: As of 9/2, Fister has hit 16 and walked 37 in 179.2 IP, he currently ranks 3rd all time and is 5 behind the leader. As of August 7th, this is the BB% to HBP% of every season in MLB history. Fister is in red).
Granted, Fister is only about a quarter of the way through his season and this can’t possibly keep up, but it’s worth noting how crazy this is. Over the course of an entire season, for qualified pitchers, no one has ever hit more batters than they have walked. The MLB record holder is Carlos Silva in 2005 who hit 3 batters and walked 9 in 188.1 innings. That walk rate itself is just fun to look at, but it’s beside the point. No one has ever complete a full season in which they have hit more batters than they have walked and the closest anyone has ever come is a differential of 6.
Now certainly, you will call attention to a small sample size and that over 50 innings pretty much anything can happen. And that’s true, but it doesn’t escape the fact that in 2013, no one else is hitting more batters than they are walking. Not Wainwright, not Colon, not Haren. None of the great control artists of our time are doing this even in the same small sample as Fister. I’m sure there are instances of pitchers doing this over similarly small stretches in history, but they would be very hard to find.
Think of it this way, from 1900-2013, the average pitcher hits 5 batters a season and walks 68. Even in the smallest of samples, it’s pretty extraordinary to find a period in which a pitcher is hitting more than he is walking, and these statistics include eras in which walks were much less common. Even in data that includes the 2013, which will bias the data away from these results, I calculate a chance that a pitcher would finish a season with more HBP than BB between 0.5 and 2 percent if this process played out at random. Here is a graph of HBP-BB with 2013 included, which will include pitchers like Wainwright this year who just haven’t walked many batters because they are good and it’s only been six weeks:
For now, Fister is on pace for a record all his own.
How Was The Game? (May 14, 2013)
Not surprising.
Tigers 6, Astros 2
With a 6-2 win today, the Tigers improved to 22-15 and a robust 6-0 against the Houston Astros. Outside of a rough 2nd inning, Doug Fister (5-1, 50 IP, 3.06 ERA, 2.75 FIP, 1.5 WAR) performed well, posting a final line of 7 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, and 7 strikeouts against the swinging ‘Stros. The offense was very quiet early, but came alive with three runs on four straight hits in the 5th to take the lead for good before adding on in the late innings. One can’t get too excited about defeating the Astros, but one also can’t expect your team to do anything more than beat the Astros, as there is not a category of outcomes better than winning. With Fister’s solid performance, there are now 21 major league teams that do not have one starting pitching who has a higher WAR than the Tigers’ 4th best starter this season. The four Tigers starters are 1st, 5th, 6th, and 13th best baseball at about 10pm on May 14th. If you’re wondering how the Tigers are doing it, this should probably tell you most of the story (team stats entering today):
The Tigers will attempt to complete their second sweep of the Astros in as many weeks Wednesday behind Max Scherzer (5-0, 47.1 IP, 3.61 ERA, 1.89 FIP, 2.0 WAR).
The Moment: Dirks doubles in the go-ahead run in the 5th by bouncing the ball over the RCF wall.
How Was The Game? (May 13, 2013)
It’s always fun to play the Astros.
Tigers 7, Astros 2
The Tigers performed against the Astros as a team should. Behind a strong start by Anibal Sanchez (4-3, 52.2 IP, 2.05 ERA, 1.42 FIP, 2.6 WAR) in which he went 7 innings, allowed 2 runs, struck out 8 and walked 1. In addition to Sanchez’s strong outing, Andy Dirks’ 4th inning grand slam backed Victor Martinez’s 2 run homer in the same inning to give the Tigers plenty of offense with which to work. The Tigers didn’t miss Jackson with Dirks providing three hits from the leadoff spot and Sanchez maintained his position atop the pitcher WAR leaderboard – actually by a lot. After today’s start, Sanchez now owns a 11.28 K/9 and 2.05 BB/9 in 8 starts, which if you’re new to baseball, is very good. Both numbers, in addition to the ERA and FIP, are on pace to be career bests. Should Sanchez keep anything close to this pace up for the rest of the season, this will certainly be Sanchez’s career year. One of the things that is contributing to Sanchez’s success this year is his increased reliance on his changeup as opposed to in the past (as illustrated below by yearly averages):
It’s too early to say for sure, but it looks like trading a few sliders for some changeups is helping Sanchez perform above his career norms early in 2013. He’s also allowing fewer homeruns per flyball (2.6%) than his career average (8.2%) which could be good fortune or the result of the new approach. The Tigers will look to take the series tomorrow night with Doug Fister (4-1, 43 IP, 3.14 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 1.2 WAR) toeing the rubber.
The Moment: Dirks hits a no doubt grand slam – the first of his career – in the 4th.
Jackson Heads to the DL, Garcia Called Up
Today the Tigers put CF Austin Jackson on the DL with a pulled hamstring retroactive to May12 and recalled OF Avisail Garcia from AAA Toledo. Jackson’s injury doesn’t appear to be terribly serious, so he should only miss a couple of weeks and Garcia should be able to fill in admirably.
So far this year, Garcia has 6 games at Lakeland during an injury rehab (.417/.500/.708) and 8 games at Toledo (.432/.447/.541) and has hit well at both spots. The sample is small, but it’s good to see a player with great raw tools performing well on the field even if it is only over 14 games. In 51 PA with the Tigers last season, his .319/.373/.319 line indicated he was able to make contact against big league pitching, but he wasn’t yet able to drive the baseball for extra bases. His minor league power numbers have been climbing over the last year, so look for some of that to show up at the big league level.
Garcia is still just 21 years old and still requires some seasoning, but he is a great athlete with an excellent throwing arm who should at least be able to spell Jackson for now without costing the team too much over the short run. The Tigers might even get lucky and discover he’s ready for prime time, in which case, the Tigers’ lineup will get even scarier for opposing pitchers. To me, he’s a .270 type 15/15 guy who can give you plus defense in a corner.
How Was The Game? (May 12, 2013)
Great, until Valverde time.
Indians 4, Tigers 3
On Mother’s Day, the Tigers lost the rubber match of the three game series against the Indians despite a strong effort from Rick Porcello (1-2, 32.1 IP, 6.68 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 0.2 WAR) who allowed 2 runs in 6 innings of work while limiting the Indians to 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. This marks his third consecutive quality start and during those three starts he has averaged 8.4 K/9, which is very good for a groundball pitcher. The offense was provided mostly by backup catcher Brayan Pena, who had three hits including a 2 run homerun, but also via an Infante sacrifice fly. Valverde entered the game in the 9th win a one run lead and gave it away with two walks and a single, forcing the Tigers to deliver in the bottom of the 9th which they were unable to do, sending the game to the 10th inning where they gave up a run and couldn’t match it. The loss drops the Tigers to 20-15 and just their 4th series loss in 12 tries this year. They will welcome the Astros to Comerica Park for three starting tomorrow behind Anibal Sanchez (3-3, 45.2 IP, 1.97 ERA, 1.48 FIP, 2.2 WAR), the league’s best starting pitcher by WAR so far this season despite having one fewer start than his competitors Wainwright, Buchholz, and Verlander.
The Moment: Pena’s homerun just clear the right centerfield wall.
How Was The Game? (May 11, 2013)
Out of sorts early.
Indians 7, Tigers 5
Justin Verlander (4-3, 51.1 IP, 1.93 ERA, 2.08 FIP, 2.1 WAR) was not on his game early against the Indians and found himself 60 pitches deep after two innings and trailing 3-0. He had trouble locating his fastball and worked his way into an offspeed heavy approach that limited the damage, but his early struggles delivered a final line that was just 5 innings, 4 runs (3 earned), 5 walks, and 7 strikeouts. He left trailing 4-1, which was closer than it felt, but it was close enough to allow for a rally. The bullpen ballooned the deficit to 6-1 before a big 4 run 7th narrowed the gap. Alburquerque surrendered a run in the 8th to make it 7-5 and Tuiasosopo came to the plate as the go-ahead run in the 8th but hit into an inning ending double play. In the 9th, the Tigers put two on with one out and Jackson hit into a fielder’s choice followed by a Hunter RBI single to bring Cabrera to the dish with the tying run at 2nd. Unfortunately, he grounded out to end the game. With the loss, the Tigers drop to 20-14 on the season and will try to take the series tomorrow behind Rick Porcello (1-2, 26.1 IP, 7.52 ERA, 4.89 FIP, 0.1 WAR).
The Moment: Infante triples in two to make it 6-4 in the 7th
How Was The Game? (May 10, 2013)
A demonstration of offense.
Tigers 10, Indians 4
In the first meeting of the season between the Tigers and the Indians, the Tigers unleashed an offensive assault that would make the hard-hitting Tribe proud. Fielder, Cabrera, and Dirks homered as part of nine Tigers extra base hits and 15 total. The Tribe, for their part, did get 4 runs off Max Scherzer (5-0, 47.1 IP, 3.61 ERA, 1.85 FIP, 2.0 WAR) in 8 innings, but he held them to 5 hits and struck out 7 while walking none. Scherzer’s pitch count was low enough that Leyland could have sent him out there for a shot at his first career complete game, but instead had to settle for his 13th career outing of 8 innings or more. Any of the big homeruns might stand out, but Torii Hunter delivered a baserunning miscue in the second inning that cost the Tigers a run. With two outs, he singled to right field and Avila scored ahead of Infante who was right behind him. However, Hunter rounded the bag carelessly and was tagged out by the cutoff man, Mark Reynolds, before Infante could score. That isn’t the kind of mistake you usually see from a veteran like Hunter. The victory gives the Tigers their 20th win on the season and they will look to take the series tomorrow night behind Justin Verlander (4-2, 46.1 IP, 1.55 ERA, 1.94 FIP, 2.0 WAR).
The Moment: Prince Fielder’s 3rd inning homerun travels ~460 feet to right center.
How Was The Game? (May 9, 2013)
Came up short.
Nationals 5, Tigers 4
Doug Fister (4-1, 43 IP, 3.14 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 1.2 WAR) must be a creature of habit. He was out of sorts today in a big way after the extra day off, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits in just 3 inning of work. But the Tigers didn’t go quietly as the bullpen allowed the Nationals to go no further, getting zeros from Downs, Putkonen, Smyly, and Valverde as they waited for the offense to come. They got a single run in the 2nd on a Fister single, but the big hit came from Tuisasosopo as he delivered a pinch hit 3 run homerun in the 6th inning to get the Tigers within a run. They wouldn’t be able to push the equalizer across in the final three, but they made it close. The loss drops the Tigers to 19-13 on the season and they will head home to face the Indians this weekend with Max Scherzer (4-0, 39.1 IP, 3.43 ERA, 1.99 FIP, 1.6 WAR) set to take the hill in the opener tomorrow night at Comerica Park.
The Moment: Tuiasosopo delivers the Tigers’ first pinch hit homerun of the year in the 6th.
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