Newsflash: Passion is there, but Tigs Still Struggling

First of all, everyone take a DEEP BREATH.  Now hold it.  Because thats what we all should be doing over the next 12 games, when we can finally truly evaluate this team after there 3 straight wins against the Mariners.  3 wins in a row is pretty (*coughs* Seattle is Terrible *coughs*), though tonight we all were quickly brought back to earth with an ugly loss at Minnesota (a good team).

Gallaraga had his “back down to earth” game, where he walked 5 and gave up 5 earned.  It all came down to a bad inning, the 2nd namely, where he gave up 3 bad runs.  He pitched alot better during the next 4 innings, as he went on to give up a total of 5 runs over 6 innings pitched.

After the bats literally disappeared throughout the first 6 innings, it looked like the Tigs would tie it up, they scored 4, though got a costly out when Marcus Thames belted it and scrambled for a double, only to overrun the bag, then proceeded to overrun 3rd base and get out when the shortstop dropped the ball trying to tag him on his way to 3rd…Crazy play, and a costly one.  The tigers then ended the inning, and were down 5-4 heading into the 8th.  Then, the oh so loved bullpen came in, and it was time for our 30 million dollar bullpen man Mr. Dontrelle Willis to come in… what did he do? He sucked and nearly put this game out of reach on his own.  Here’s his stats for the game:

1 IP   1 R  1 H  1 ER  2 BB 0 SO

Translation: He has yet to pitch a strikeout this year, and was terrible again Friday night.  To quote one of my favorite bloggers and blogs, MikeMcCleary writes on BlessYouBoys “The number of strikeouts by Willis, opposed to the 11 walks. In other words, he has more balks than strikeouts. Oy vey.”

So to summarize the bullpen came in and promptly gave up 4 runs over the next 3 innings, and the tigs lost 9-4.

Now to take a look at the pros and cons of this game:

Pro: Jim Leyland showed anger, getting kicked out of the game after arguing a call (that was NOT a strike against Guillen), something that had me and many fans questioning his passion for the team.

Con: The bullpen. Can anyone remember a time when the bullpen came in with a man on base where they DIDN’T end up scoring?  Its getting ridiculus.  Good news is Zumaya and Rodney threw this weekend… see below for more details.  *Note: Bobby Seay needs to get out Lefties… thats his damn job*

Pro: The team didn’t seem to look completely lackluster.  They showed passion during the rally.  Though this also leads me to my con.

Con: I’m fine with them showing passion but sometimes they look TOO loose in the dugout, smiling and joking around seems inappropriate to me when your doing as terrible as they have been, and especially during close games (which it was at one point in the game).

Con:  Dontrelle WIllis. See stats above. Nuff said.

BIG CON: They lost the damn game. Good teams find ways to win these games, teams like the 2006 Tigers.  I still don’t feel like this team can comeback and win games.  I just don’t feel that confidence.  Who is their Mr. Clutch? (Anybody else miss Craig Monroe?)

I”m gonna try to end this post on a good note.  Zumaya and Rodney threw a bullpen session today, and guess what? Zumaya hit speeds of 96 and 98.  Rodney hit speeds of 94 and 95… WOW is all I have to say to that.  I honestly doubted that Zumaya would break 95 even fully recovered. This is great news for Tigs fans and hopefully these guys can get out there soon so that I don’t have to deal with seeing Bobby Seay (sorry I know i’m picking on him alot) and Zach Miner any more ( I know he didn’t play today but he still makes me sick to my stomach).

So far on my 12 game evaluation , post Seattle, the Tigs are 0-1.  Lets hope they change this around quick.

Fire Leyland? Maybe…

Where to start…

How many people thought that we’d be looking 0-7 right in the face and no hope in sight.  Im getting sick of our starting pitching being terrible and giving up 5+ runs… I’m getting sick of watching our bullpen coming out pre-7th inning.  I’m sick of watching our HUGE multimillion dollar man struggle to hit, and is currently looking at being below .100

I’ve found someone to blame.  And yes, I know its early in the season, but if the Tigers continue this terrible run, the man that the finger needs to be pointing the finger at is Jim Leyland.  The man seems to be almost in awe of his own team. I hate to say it but he can’t seem to grasp that he needs to say something or do something to get this team fired up and winning some games.  To quote him last week:

“I’m not mad at anyone out there. Personally, I’m embarrassed. I don’t sugarcoat anything, but I’m not gonna rip the team, either. I don’t think that’s an issue right now.

“There are too many professionals who know what’s going on. I think they understand that.

“I’m personally embarrassed, and I would hope they are, too. They know we’ve been (awful). I can put on a big show, or the players can have a meeting, and it would read good in the paper. But it’s all eyewash.”

Look, I know its the coaches job to keep his cool and be calm, but this is getting ridiculus.  This is time when he should be bitching them out… and letting them know that they are better then that.  Leyland is not stupid, I think he’s a good coach, but I’m beginning to think that he feels that just by sitting on his hands this team will get better.  At what point do you say “WAKE UP GUYS!” And to quote him these Tigers are “professionals”… well so is Jason Grilli, but I don’t see him suddenly waking up and becoming a good pitcher (look at his stats).  How this man still has a job and isn’t selling hot dogs is beyond me.

Speaking of hot dogs, whats the deal with Cabrera?  Since opening day hes done literally nothing.  And worst of all, he doesn’t look like hes lost any of that weight that they were claiming he lost in the offseason.  Its getting ridiculus… I just hope he doesn’t spend his millions on jason’s hot dogs.

Our starting pitching has been a joke.  Every team approaches us as a hittable team.  And the fielding errors are getting way to numerous.  Guillen needs to learn the position, and the fielding coach should’ve been working with him closer in the off-season, thats glaringly apparent.  Cabrera sometimes struggles to make plays that Brandon Inge consistently used to make.  Its getting ridiculus though.

I’ll lay it out like this.  I know the Tigers are down, but doing nothing about it gets us nowhere.  Leyland, fire up your boys and treat them like the shit they’ve been playing.  Otherwise, we’ll be staring at a 0-8 and another terrible loss for not only these players, but these fans…