Kuzul

He wasn’t the top gunslinger on his team anymore, but Jeremy Bonderman still commanded attention. The role of ace was now being played by this 24-year-old kid named Justin Verlander, who after one year and some change was making the town go daft with his howitzer of an arm. In less than two months, Verlander would throw a no-hitter.

But on this afternoon, in the clubhouse after his latest start, Bonderman was holding court. He sat, shirtless, in front of his locker, nursing a beer, while we in the press asked the usual questions—all variations of “So what happened out there?” as if we hadn’t just witnessed the game ourselves. It was April 18, 2007.

The Tigers had just lost a 10-inning bummer against the Kansas City Royals. But Bonderman had pitched well. He threw seven innings of three-hit ball. He gave up just one run. His right shoulder was wrapped in the typical turban of ice—the symbol of battle of the starting pitcher—as he drank beer and talked about the game just finished.

It was noted by this bottom-feeding blogger that just five days prior, Bonderman had gone up against Roy Halladay, who at the time was a Cy Young-worthy righty pitching in Toronto. That game had been an early-season match of interest, as it pitted Bonderman, also just 24 years old, against the almost-30 Halladay—two power arms.

Halladay had a gunslinger name himself. It even sounded like a character out of a Hollywood Western. Sheriff Halladay, or some such thing.

Bonderman went head on against Halladay and matched him, pitch for pitch. After nine innings, both right-handers were still the pitchers of record. Each had given up just one run on six measly hits.

Halladay, in typical ace fashion, came out and pitched the 10th inning. It was a clean frame.

Bonderman was lifted for Fernando Rodney, who coughed up the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

Halladay got the win to improve to 2-0. Bonderman got that fickle “no decision,” which can either be terribly unfair or a blessing.

So that was the back story when I interrupted the rehashing of the game just played in April 2007 to ask Bonderman if he relished matchups like the one we saw five days earlier in Toronto.

His eyes lit up—though maybe it was only because he was actually being asked about something different, as opposed to having to explain something that we all had just watched.

“Oh definitely,” Bonderman said, sipping his beer. “Those are the games you get up for as a pitcher. He’s one of the best. So yeah, it was fun. But we lost.”

The “we” was a misnomer. Bonderman didn’t get tagged with the L, which would have been one of those in the “terribly unfair” category. He pitched his rear end off against Halladay, but Bonderman can’t swing the bats, so there you go.

The slight smirk on Bonderman’s face as he spoke about the pitching duel he engaged in against Halladay was telling. It was an answer that the 30-year-old Verlander would give today, complete with the smirk. Aces like to go up against other aces. It’s a pride thing.

Bonderman may not have technically been the Tigers’ ace in 2007, but he was still an upper-echelon pitcher in those days, possessing a nasty slider. Tigers’ announcer Rod Allen took to calling Bonderman “Mr. Snappy,” for how the slider snapped from his hand and bedeviled hitters.

Sadly, “those days” wouldn’t last too much longer.

Just three years later, Bonderman was a struggling black sheep in the rotation, spinning the ball up to the plate to the tune of a 5.53 ERA in 29 starts for a 2010 Tigers team that disappointed in the second half, fading from the playoff race slowly but surely.

He was 27 years old and washed up—or so it seemed.

In 2008, Bonderman suffered a blood clot in his pitching shoulder. In the list of all the things that can go wrong with a pitcher’s delicate throwing mechanism, a blood clot isn’t among the most prevalent. But it was there, shelving him after 12 starts.

Bonderman had been out of commission about one full year—June 1, 2008 to June 8, 2009 between starts—when he took the mound in Chicago. The start didn’t go well. He lasted just four innings, giving up six runs and being smacked around like Rocky Balboa’s fists abusing a side of beef.

The Tigers shut Bonderman down after seven more appearances in 2009. His total innings pitched was 10.1—and in those 10.1 innings he gave up 10 runs for a nasty ERA of 8.71.

Bonderman gave it another try in 2010 and, though there were some flashes of the Bonderman from 2003-07, it was painfully obvious that his days as a regular starter were likely over—emphasis on painfully.

Bonderman, frustrated beyond belief, spoke of retirement during that 2010-11 season. His contract was expiring, and it didn’t take a clairvoyant to see that the Tigers weren’t going to offer him another.

Bonderman didn’t officially retire, but he dropped off the map. Quietly, as expected, the Tigers let his contract run out and moved on in an effort to retool their starting rotation. They signed veteran right-hander Brad Penny to take Bonderman’s place.

After the 2011-12 season, Bonderman made a blip on the radar. Word got out that he was thinking about giving the pitching another try. The Tigers were a playoff team, so they were excluded from the list of those clubs who might be interested.

Bonderman spent 2012 trying to get himself into shape for another run at the big leagues. The pain was gone, so it was a matter of stamina and whether he could still command his pitches.

He called the Tigers last winter to gauge interest. He was politely put on hold, so to speak. The Seattle Mariners, sort of Bonderman’s hometown team (he’s a Washington native), acquiesced to a minor league contract. They called him up to the big leagues in May of this year.

The first few starts were OK—an ERA around 4.00—but then the wheels fell off in the next two starts, and the Mariners released Bonderman in July. This time, the Tigers took a flyer on him. They signed Bonderman in mid-July and sent him to Toledo. Maybe he could provide some bullpen depth, the team reasoned.

Last Sunday, following the Tigers’ win over Chicago—the team’s eighth straight victory—they announced they were bringing Bonderman back to the majors. A hard-luck rookie named Evan Reed would be trading places with Bonderman at Toledo.

Bonderman was back where it all started when he became a Tiger as a throw-in in 2002, in a three-way trade that brought Carlos Pena to Detroit. Bonderman was 19 years old and property of the Oakland A’s (a first-round pick in 2001) before the trade.

Wednesday night, Bonderman was officially back, as he took the mound in a Tigers uniform for the first time in nearly three years. He was merely the best relief pitcher that night, tossing three shutout innings (11th thru 13th) at the Cleveland Indians and needing just 27 pitches to do so.

The Tigers won in 14 innings. Bonderman was rewarded for his efforts—his slider was snapping again—by getting the win in relief.

After the game, the cameras rolled as a reporter asked Bonderman if it had felt like three years had passed since his last game as a Tiger.

The smirk was back.

“For sure,” he said, then chuckled. No doubt that the rehabilitation alone felt like an eternity.

Welcome back, Mr. Snappy.

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They are riverboat gamblers dressed in Armani. They are playing with company money, corporate assets. Their cell phones burn hotter than a California brush fire.

Some are craftier than others. Some are more aggressive than others. Some go for the big payoff—risk takers supreme. Others are content to settle for the smaller, safer bet.

Here’s an example.

It’s around Valentine’s Day (ironically) in 1989. The Pistons’ wheeler and dealer has been burning up the phone lines. He has a mercurial, tempestuous, volatile player on his hands. The player cannot any longer get along with his coach. That comes from the player himself.

The riverboat gambler tries to broker a meeting between player and coach. The player rebuffs the efforts.

“I told Adrian, ‘Coach Daly will talk to you anytime you want.’ But Adrian didn’t want to talk.”

The speaker was Jack McCloskey. And he was recalling the circumstances surrounding his gutsiest trade ever. That’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.

McCloskey traded Adrian Dantley to Dallas for Mark Aguirre, straight up. Dantley—as McCloskey recounted to me via phone several years ago—was an unhappy camper in early 1989, despite the Pistons tearing up the league, seeking that elusive championship. And frankly, the Pistons weren’t too pleased with Adrian.

The Pistons made the Finals in 1988, but lost in seven hellacious games to the Lakers. They had come close—oh, so close—to winning their first title in franchise history.

There had been grumblings that Dantley, perhaps the best post-up small forward in league history, was a ball and chain around the Pistons’ offense. The term black hole was even used—as in when the basketball was delivered to Dantley, it was never to be seen by a teammate again.

The Pistons had some athletes who could get up and down the floor, led by the smiling assassin Isiah Thomas. But when Dantley got the ball—usually on the wing—the offense came to a screeching halt. After two-plus seasons of this, certain folks got annoyed. Certain folks in very high places.

So it was that even with the backdrop of a team playing .750 basketball, Dantley was frustrated. He felt the tension, and he (rightly) felt that it was directed toward him.

McCloskey pleaded with Dantley to talk to his coach, Chuck Daly. Dantley refused.

“I had no choice,” McCloskey told me that evening in 2009. “I had to trade Adrian.”

The trade deadline was coming up. And even if McCloskey—so aptly nicknamed “Trader Jack”—felt that he “had no choice” but to trade Dantley, I still say it was his gutsiest trade. Maybe the gutsiest in Detroit sports history.

The trade, for another player who had issues with his coach—Aguirre—could have had a negative affect on team chemistry. For despite Dantley’s foibles, the Pistons were used to them. And they knew the reputation that Aguirre had in Dallas and his Reggie Jackson-Billy Martin relationship with coach Dick Motta, who himself would never win Mr. Congeniality. With Dantley vs. Aguirre, it was kind of like the devil you know versus the one you don’t.

McCloskey made the trade. Dantley, who to this day thinks the deal was engineered by Thomas (Aguirre’s close friend), brooded. Aguirre was taken to dinner by a contingent of Pistons and the law was laid down. The Pistons won their championship four months later. But it could have gone oh so wrong.

Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers’ riverboat gambler of today, emerged after Tuesday night’s game, beaming. He headed for manager Jim Leyland’s office as the media in the clubhouse murmured. It was less than 24 hours before Wednesday’s non-waiver trade deadline.

Moments later, Dombrowski spoke to the press and revealed why he had the look of a man who had just beaten the house.

Sometime during Tuesday’s game, Dombrowski was burning up his phone line, talking trade with the Boston Red Sox fellow AL first place tenants.

The Tigers, concerned about the fate of shortstop Jhonny Peralta’s status (his connections with the Biogenesis lab may result in a 50-game suspension), decided that they had no viable options internally for Jhonny should MLB remove him via suspension.

So Dombrowski, wearing his Armani suit and pink tie, playing at the table with the boss’ assets—namely, minor league prospects—worked out a three-way deal with Boston and the Chicago White Sox.

Boston would get outfielder Avisial Garcia, who the Tigers are very high on, and sometimes big league reliever Brayan Villarreal. The Red Sox would then ship Garcia to the White Sox for starting pitcher Jake Peavy.

And the Tigers were getting shortstop Jose Iglesias from Boston, whose glove has been compared to Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel’s, no less.

Dombrowski was beaming because he not only patched up shortstop for this season, should Peralta be suspended, but he covered the position for years to come. Iglesias is 23 years old and isn’t eligible for free agency until 2019, which to me still looks like a year out of an H.G. Wells novel.

Dombrowski is the ultimate poker player. Earlier that day, he solemnly told the press that, after his Monday trade for reliever Jose Veras, the Tigers were likely done trading. That Peralta’s status wasn’t dire enough to create urgency for another deal before 4:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

He said these things even after he had been in talks with the Red Sox that morning.

A good gambler never shows his cards until it’s time.

We have seen the best and worst of general managers in Detroit.

We have seen Russ Thomas, who was a tightwad and a curmudgeon straight out of a Dickens novel, holding onto Lions owner Bill Ford’s money like it was his own.

We have seen Ned Harkness, whose personal grudges and misplaced college attitude destroyed the Red Wings for a decade and a half.

We have seen Matt Millen, and that’s all that needs to be said here.

But we have also seen Jimmy Devellano, whose moves didn’t always work with the Red Wings, but no one could accuse Jimmy D of being passive or uncreative.

We have seen the aforementioned McCloskey, who took a 16-win team and in less than five years, had them competing seriously in the NBA playoffs, eventually winning two championships in a row in 1989-90.

We now see Kenny Holland, who proved that his hockey GM chops weren’t propped up by owner Mike Ilitch’s pocketbook. After the NHL instituted a hard salary cap in 2005, Holland continued to show why he is among the best in the business, even when not able to work with a blank check.

And the Tigers have Dombrowski, who is as good as they come in baseball. His moves don’t always work, either, but they do most of the time and he is another that no one can accuse of being passive. He knows the clock is ticking on his octogenarian owner, who wants a World Series title so badly he can taste it.

Did Dombrowski’s cat-who-swallowed-the-canary smile on Tuesday night say it all?

We’ll find out in about two-and-a-half months, won’t we?

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It wasn’t exactly Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock, but on January 8, 2004, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski pulled off a trade that was as lopsided as it gets. DD must have approached the Seattle Mariners with a gun and a mask.

On that day, Dombrowski traded infielder Ramon Santiago for Carlos Guillen.

You heard me.

Ramon Santiago for Carlos Guillen, straight up.

To add insult to injury, Dombrowski ended up with Santiago, too, a couple years later, when “Santy” signed with the Tigers as a free agent in January 2006.

Guillen, meanwhile, was arguably the heart and soul of a Tigers team that made the World Series in 2006 and contended pretty much every year after—and is still contending some two years after Guillen last played.

And Santiago?

The diminutive infielder can’t hit his way out of a paper bag these days. He’s a switch-hitter, but maybe it’s more bait and switch. Unless there’s an injury, Santiago gets on the field about as often as a starting pitcher. He’s been the 24th or 25th man in Detroit for years.

It wasn’t always that way.

There was a time when the Tigers trotted Santiago out on most days, counting on him as a daily player, which is kind of like running your car everyday on one of those tiny spare tires.

The year was 2003. Santiago appeared in 141 games, splitting time between second base and shortstop. He hit a robust .225.

That year, Santiago fit right in. The Tigers lost 119 games in 2003. They were the 1962 Mets, redux.

It was that winter, following that nightmare season, when Dombrowski somehow convinced the Mariners to take Santiago off his hands for Guillen, even up. Guillen was a six-year veteran whose batting average improved for four straight years—.158 to .257 to .259 to .261 to .276. He was 28 years old, just entering his prime.

The Mariners bit. Guillen came to Detroit and batted .318, .320, .320 and .296 in his first four years as a Tiger. In 2007, Guillen had 102 RBI and was, at the time, one of the best shortstops in baseball.

And Santiago?

The term “utility player” can be deadly accurate or it can minimize the impact a player has on his team. It’s like “character actor” in Hollywood.

Santiago plays second, third and shortstop. He won’t hurt you at any of those positions, defensively. He won’t help you much with the bat, either. Since being reacquired by the Tigers in 2006, Santiago hasn’t had more than 320 at-bats in any given season. But he’s been like an old, comfortable shoe.

Santiago is also the most senior Tiger, gaining that status after Brandon Inge was cashiered last year.

Ramon Santiago made his big league debut on May 17, 2002 for a Tigers team that was so dysfunctional, it’s a wonder they never ended up on The Jerry Springer Show.

The manager was an overwhelmed Luis Pujols, who took over after Phil Garner and GM Randy Smith were fired by Dombrowski in the season’s first week.

Pujols was as respected as a substitute teacher. The Tigers were an out of control bunch, losing games and fighting amongst themselves. It was, without question, the low point of Dombrowski’s 12-year reign as team president.

So it turned out that the Tigers had no one better to man the middle of the infield in 2003 than Santiago, who was 24 and probably in over his head as an everyday player. But he gave it a shot, played his hardest, hit his .225 and kept his mouth shut, even when there was certainly a lot to talk about.

In Seattle, Santiago barely got off the bench. He played a grand total of 27 games in 2004-05. He went 8-for-47.

The Tigers, remembering Santiago for his professionalism in a dark era, came calling when they needed a backup infielder in 2006. Santiago signed as a free agent and has been a Tiger ever since, making this his 10th season as a Tiger out of his 12 in the big leagues.

Manager Jim Leyland has gone on record time and again, praising Santiago for his work ethic, his character and his quiet dignity.

Even in these days of widespread rancor on the Internet and on sports talk radio, where sentiment means jack squat, Santiago has mostly been able to escape the fans’ wrath. Having lightning rods around such as Inge, Jose Valverde, Phil Coke and Ryan Raburn in the past few years have helped Santiago stay under the radar.

This year has been trying, however, for Ramon Santiago.

His batting average has been low even by Santiago standards. He literally has been hitting his weight—which is around 160, being generous.

Injuries have thrust “Santy” back into the spotlight.

First, it was second baseman Omar Infante, who went down before the All-Star break with a deep shin contusion after being upended on a controversial slide by Toronto’s Colby Rasmus.

Santiago stepped in, sharing time with minor league call-up Hernan Perez at second base. As usual, Santy didn’t hit much, but his glove was appreciated.

Then third baseman Miguel Cabrera was lost for most of this past week with a sore hip flexor. Santiago started at third base on Friday night instead of usual replacement Don Kelly, presumably so Leyland could have an extra right-handed bat against Phillies lefty Cole Hamels.

Santiago responded with a double in the fifth inning that was part of a two-run rally that enabled the Tigers to beat back the Phillies, 2-1. The interim third baseman made some defensive gems of plays as well.

Leyland, paid the big bucks to be oh-so-wise, gave a very unscientific explanation for his decision to use Santiago at third base on Friday night.

“I thought, ‘Why not give Santy a shot? Kelly has played quite a few games in a row,’” the manager told the scribes and the microphone thrusters after the game, per the Detroit Free Press.

Sometimes, managing is nothing more than playing a hunch.

Santiago, who’s normally about as quotable as a clam with lockjaw, spoke briefly Friday night about his 2013 struggles.

“It’s been tough on me mentally,” Santiago said, per DetroitNews.com, after his rare moment in the glare of TV lights,  “but I’m always a positive guy.”

“It’s good to be talking about Santiago after a game,” Leyland said after the tight win over Philly.

Talking about Santiago has never been a priority in Detroit, despite his being a Tiger for all but two years since 2002.

He’s not even really known for being the guy who was once traded for Carlos Guillen. Tigers fans should at least give him that.

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Max Scherzer‘s impressive reign of terror over opposing lineups finally came to an end Saturday as the Texas Rangers handed him his first loss of the season.

The Detroit Tigers ace lasted six innings, allowing eight hits, four earned runs and two walks while striking out six in the 7-1 loss to the Rangers. 

As ESPN Stats & Info points out, Scherzer had an opportunity to become the first pitcher in MLB history to achieve a 14-0 record before the All-Star break:

Scherzer opened up the season with a nearly unprecedented run of victories, tallying an incredible 13-0 record to start the year. According to CBS Sports, he is just the fourth pitcher to start 13-0 or better since 1920. Roger Clemens was the last to accomplish the feat when he started 14-0 in 1986. 

Scherzer got off to a good start against the Rangers, making it through the first three innings without allowing a run. However, Texas would finally get to him in the fourth frame. 

A.J. Pierzynski got things started when he drove Nelson Cruz home with a sacrifice fly. Mitch Moreland’s two-run homer in the same inning would drive the lead up to 3-0 for the Rangers. 

The Tigers would provide their star pitcher with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning as Hernan Perez drove in Jhonny Peralta off a single to center field. However, Pierzynski would strike again in the fifth inning, hitting a double to bring Leonys Martin home to extend the lead to 4-1. 

Mad Max would ultimately leave the game after pitching six innings with a pitch count of 122.

Scherzer needed the Tigers lineup to rally in the final four innings to keep his streak alive. Derek Holland, Joakim Soria and Neal Cotts teamed up on the mound to make sure that wouldn’t happen. 

The Rangers would ultimately drive the lead up to 7-1 with an Adrian Beltre homer in the ninth.

Disappointing as the loss may be, Scherzer still has plenty left to accomplish this season. He’s currently tied for the major league lead at 13 wins with Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Moore, who stands at 13-3 on the season.

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Make it an even dozen for Max Scherzer, and some history on the side.

The Detroit Tigers right-hander picked up another win on Friday night, pitching seven innings and allowing three earned runs in a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. That makes Scherzer a perfect 12-0 on the season.

Now, us nerds know that a pitcher’s win-loss record is hardly the best indicator of how well (or not well) he’s pitched. But Scherzer’s 12-0 start to the season still has a certain “Hey, cool!” factor to it, as it’s not every day you see a pitcher start a season with a record like that.

Or every quarter-century, for that matter. Before Scherzer, the last pitcher to start a season 12-0 was Roger Clemens in 1986.

And according to Baseball-Reference.com, there have been only four other cases since 1916 of pitchers beginning the season with a record of 12-0 or better as a starter: Eddie Cicotte in 1919*, Johnny Allen in 1937, Dave McNally in 1969 and Ron Guidry in 1978.

Scherzer’s in a pretty exclusive club with his 12-0 record, but we naturally have to inquire about the path that led him there. Compared to the other guys, was it harder or easier for Scherzer to get to 12-0?

Let’s discuss.

*Cicotte did pick up a loss early in the 1919 season, but it was as a reliever. As a starter, he went unbeaten until the middle of June.

How Many Starts Did it Take?

We’re going to be kicking around a few notions in this piece, and here’s Notion No. 1: A longer road to 12-0 is a more perilous road to 12-0.

Makes sense, right? The more starts a pitcher has to make to get to 12-0, the more likely it is that he’s going to run into trouble and have his unbeaten streak snapped.

Take Scherzer, for example. His record is 12-0, but he’s made 16 starts on the season. Four of those no-decisions could have ended up as L’s had things gone differently. 

So the difficulty of his road to 12-0 is already looking pretty good. It looks even better in light of the other five guys in the club.

Of the five other guys, only three got to 12-0 in fewer starts than Scherzer. Another guy (Allen) got there in just as many starts as he did.

Only McNally took longer than Scherzer and Allen to get to 12-0, and he took a dog’s age to get there. He was darn lucky along the way, too, as five of his nine no-decisions saw him pitch fewer than five innings. He pitched fewer than four innings in four of those.

It’s hard to imagine anyone ever taking more than 21 starts to get to 12-0, so McNally is probably going to wear the “Most Perilous Road to 12-0” hat forever and ever. But in light of the other guys in the 12-0 club, Scherzer hardly had it easy getting there.

That’s also true if we take home ballparks into consideration.

Liking That Home Cooking?

Here’s Notion No. 2: A pitcher who has a hitter-friendly home ballpark is going to have a harder time getting to 12-0.

This should also make sense. Pitchers are going to start at their home ballpark more often than anywhere else, and they stand a greater chance of racking up losses if their home park is friendlier to hitters than it is to pitchers.

Fortunately for us, Baseball-Reference.com keeps track of “Pitching Park Factors” for every ballpark throughout history. A PPF of 100 is neutral, while anything under that favors pitchers and anything over that favors hitters.

Here’s a look at how many home starts our six guys made on their way to 12-0, how many wins they racked up at home and the PPF for their home ballpark that year.

Cicotte, Allen, McNally and Guidry all made their homes at ballparks that were friendly to pitchers. Clemens made his home at a park that was neutral.

But Scherzer, on the other hand…

I’m guessing that some out there might still think of Comerica Park as a pitchers’ park because of how it played earlier in its history. But that ship sailed when the fences were moved in about a decade ago, and the last few years have season the Tigers’ digs become a hitting haven. Hence the 105 PPF.

If that’s not enough to convince you, Comerica is the third-best offensive park in the majors in 2013 by ESPN.com’s reckoning.

Scherzer has basically made the bulk of his starts in a bandbox, and it hasn’t been easy for him. He may be a perfect 8-0 at home, but he has a 4.01 ERA at Comerica this season compared to a sub-2.00 ERA on the road.

But if Scherzer has all those wins at home and a high ERA at home, then that means…

Yup, he’s getting a lot of run support. And not just at home, either.

How’s Your Run Support?

And now for Notion No. 3: A pitcher who gets less run support is going to have a harder time getting to 12-0.

It’s my duty as a nerd to take this moment to wag my finger at the idea of the win itself, as it’s downright silly to credit one guy with an overall team accomplishment. Pitchers can do a lot to help their teams win, yes, but they’re only “winners” if their guys come through with some runs.

But I digress. Let’s go to the table for this section, which shows the number of runs per start our pitchers got during their journeys to 12-0 compared to how many runs their teams were averaging.

I should note that the run support figures are not per 27 outs, a la Baseball-Reference.com’s usual standard. Just per game, which is ordinarily not the best way to go about such things. But the records for Cicotte and Allen aren’t complete enough to calculate run support per 27 outs, so sue me.

At any rate, the numbers in the table shouldn’t surprise you. The only starter to begin 12-0 who wasn’t getting run support better than his team’s usual output was Cicotte in 1919. He had an ERA in the low 1.00s at the time he got his 12th victory as a starter, and he absolutely needed it.

As for Scherzer, it says a lot that the Tigers scored six runs for him on Friday night and his average run support went down. He indeed has been getting a ton of support from Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and the rest of the boys this year.

But while Scherzer’s usual run support looks high on its own, it pales in comparison when placed against the kind of run support Allen and Clemens were getting on their roads to 12-0. Both the 1937 Indians and 1986 Red Sox were strong offensive clubs, but they basically turned into the 1927 Yankees when Allen and Clemens were on the mound.

Has Scherzer had it easy compared to all other pitchers in 2013? Yes.

Has he had it easy compared to the other guys since 1916 to start 12-0? Not quite.

This is also true in terms of the competition he’s faced. 

Picking on People Your Own Size?

Now for Notion No. 4: The more tough offensive teams a pitcher faces, the harder it’s going to be for him to get to 12-0.

Indeed, but this is where things get tricky. In a long enough streak of starts, a pitcher is going to face the same team multiple times. Each time he does, odds are the team isn’t going to be performing the same as it was the last time he saw it.

So I had to cheat a little bit to come up with the following numbers. I used season-long runs-per-game averages for each pitcher’s opponents during his streak, and I also used the season-long runs-per-game average for the whole league. Not perfect, but it’ll have to do.

*Note: “League” here is American League, not all of Major League Baseball. All six of these guys were/are AL pitchers, and Scherzer hasn’t made a start against a National League club yet.

I’ll stop once again to acknowledge the strings attached to this data, but none of our six guys really had it “difficult” in terms of facing only the hard-hitting teams in the league time after time. That’s not the least bit surprising, as we probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking about them if they had been.

But relative to the other guys, you can see that Scherzer has had it tough this year. With the exception of his own team, he’s had to face each of the top run-scoring teams in the American League: Boston, Baltimore and Oakland. But amazingly, he hasn’t yet faced the second-worst run-scoring team in the league: the Chicago White Sox.

You can also see that Scherzer has only racked up six wins against below average-offensive clubs—those being teams with R/G outputs below league average. Somehow, he failed to collect wins in starts against Seattle and Houston. The Mariners are the worst-scoring team in the AL, and the Astros are the fourth-worst-scoring team in the AL.

So Scherzer has faced some decent competition, and he hasn’t racked up the bulk of his wins against subpar offensive teams. Add that to his relatively long journey to 12-0, his tough home ballpark and his relatively modest run support, and his road to 12-0 is looking like a tough one.

But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch.

Any Cheap Wins in There?

Lastly, here’s Notion No. 5: A pitcher who actually has to earn his wins is going to have a harder time getting to 12-0.

For example, a pitcher who wins 12 starts in which he went eight innings and allowed no more than two earned runs in each one clearly had a better stretch than a pitcher who had a couple five-inning stinkers that turned into wins, right?

Of course. And fortunately for us, there is such a thing as a cheap win, and it’s a simple concept. Any win earned in an outing that wasn’t a quality start—at least six innings, no more than three earned runs—is a cheap win.

Here’s a look at how many cheap wins our six guys racked up on their roads to 12-0.

There’s your catch. Three of Scherzer’s 12 wins have been of the cheap variety, and that’s one more than any of the other five guys earned on their way to 12-0.

Scherzer’s first cheap win came in his first start when he lasted only five innings and gave up four earned runs against the Yankees. The next came on April 24 against the Royals, in which he gave up five earned runs in five innings. The third happened on May 10 when he gave up four earned in eight innings against the Indians.

Had Scherzer not gotten his usual run support in those games, he’s not 12-0 right now, and you and I are doing other things with our time.

This is not to bring this conversation to a screeching halt by saying that Scherzer’s road to 12-0 has been decidedly easy. It hasn’t been, and him getting there is still a darn cool achievement.

This is just as good a sign as any that he’s lucky to be where he is. As impressive as it looks on paper, Scherzer’s win-loss record doesn’t tell the whole story.

Note: All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

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The Detroit Tigers have quite a few glaring weaknesses for a team that leads its division by 4.5 games, namely struggling closer Jose Valverde and an anemic offense that only shows up for six innings a night.

Manager Jim Leyland has come under scrutiny in recent weeks because of these woes plaguing a team that should be competing for the best record in baseball behind Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Prince Fielder and co.

Leyland has two issues on his hands right now and it’s tough to figure out which he should try to address first. Let’s break down both issues and try to make sense of the mess in Detroit.

The Struggling Offense

Let’s start with the issue of an offense that apparently can’t hit relief pitchers.

The Tigers have the best 3-4 punch in the MLB behind Cabrera and Fielder, and the offense appears to be just fine when you look at its league-leading batting average and its ranking of fifth in runs scored.

But that’s just the top layer.

The Tigers might be able to blow opponents out of the water in some of their games, but what about in close games? What about games that come down to the final inning? What about games that are as close as you’d expect a playoff game to be?

Well, that’s a whole new story.

As MLive.com reports, the Tigers are the best team in baseball for the first six innings, but can’t do much of anything when relief pitchers come in for the last three innings:

The Tigers lead the majors in batting average (.308), runs scored (263) and OPS (.850) in the first six innings. They are 29th in batting average (.222) and runs scored (61), and 28th in OPS (.620) in the seventh inning and beyond.

If any team can win a nine inning game with only six innings of batting it’s the Tigers, and they’ve proved that so far. However, it certainly won’t be enough come playoff time.

What’s Wrong with Jose Valverde?

Less than two years after going 49-for-49 in save attempts, Valverde has become one of the shakiest closers in the game. What’s worse is that he’s been giving Leyland headaches simply from all the questions coming at the Tigers’ skipper.

Leyland proved that the questions are getting to him, dropping some very colorful quotes (via MLive.com):

I’m not going to talk about silly (expletive). We’re going to do the best we can. We’re going to use Jose Valverde until we decide Jose Valverde can or can’t do it or we’ve got somebody else better. That’s what we’re doing. That’s like everybody else does. That’s what you do. That’s what we’ve got, in our opinion, right now. …

We’ve got a good team and a lot of guys have been doing good. Some guys haven’t been doing as good. Papa Grande’s been good on some occasions. He’s let a couple get away. I haven’t managed great in every situation. Everybody hasn’t hit great in every situation. Somebody made an error once in a while. That’s all baseball. That’s all baseball.

Leyland didn’t stop there, though. Per USA Today, he kept ranting to reporters who were only too happy to scoop these quotes up:

Who the (expletive) should I close with? Who do you want me to close with? Who the (expletive) do you want to be the closer? … I don’t know what the (expletive) these people want. They just throw stuff out there. People just talk, they don’t think about it.

Well those answers weren’t good enough for fans on Twitter, as they went off on Leyland and what they saw as his inability to change closers, while others continue to crack jokes at the expense of their once beloved closer.

Dear Jim Leyland, Please stop trying to fool us. José Valverde is not the “best man for the job.” He is done. Let Benoit do it. Sincerely Me

— Alexandra Simon (@catswithbats) June 14, 2013

Jim Leyland need to stop (expletive) crying and replace Valverde with Benoit! Leyland, man up and do your job!

— Lawrence Wider (@gadgetnerd24) June 14, 2013

If anyone could blow a save on his off day, it would be Jose Valverde

— Miguel Cabrera (@DrunkMiggy) June 14, 2013

The other day I heard about a guy who put a fat head of Jose Valverde on his garage door… It can’t close anymore. 😂

— Jake Money (@moneys7714) June 14, 2013

The fans clearly want to abandon ship after Valverde has surrendered seven earned runs in his last six games, calling for Joaquin Benoit to be named closer after posting a 1.93 ERA and 1.04 WHIP this year.

However, Valverde had been exceptional before June, posting a microscopic ERA of 0.75. He has really only struggled for six games, as USA Today reports.

Yet the recent numbers reveal an ugly story and explain why the Tigers are turning to their unlimited call plan, speed-dialing teams for a closer. Valverde yielded a .077 batting average (3-for-39) with no homers in his first 12 appearances this year but is allowing a .370 batting average (10-for-27) with five homers in the six games since.

The fans want a new closer and Leyland doesn’t, but it will all come down to Valverde‘s efforts in the coming weeks.

The Bottom Line

The Tigers have two problems staring them in the face, but it’s obvious that the team’s offensive woes are far worse than Valverde‘s struggles on the mound.

Without offense, you can never get into a position to win games, and you can’t maintain leads. While the team hits well for six innings, it tails off after that.

The biggest reason why the team’s bullpen is 4-12 in spite of having a solid ERA and WHIP is because the Tigers never score when the relievers are in. The bullpens surrenders a few runs every once in a while, but because the team can never score those times almost always turn into losses. Meanwhile, the lineup has only managed to win tied games or come from behind with the bullpen in the game four times all year.

The other clear reason why the offense is the biggest issue is because Valverde had been on fire up until two weeks ago. Also, he is only struggling because opposing batters are hitting him hard, as USA Today reports that his WHIP is very low compared to the rest of his career.

Valverde, along with the Tigers coaching staff, will argue that he’s pitching better than he did last season. His walks are down, his strikeouts are up, and if he maintains his 1.04 WHIP (walks and hits per nine innings), it would rank as the second-best ratio of his career.

If Valverde can regain his confidence he will likely return to his old self, and even if he doesn’t, the team can move Benoit to closer.

The offense, however, cannot be replaced for the last three innings. If the Tigers continue to struggle in the last three innings of games, they will likely be ousted from the playoffs before they can make a run, and that is what really matters in Detroit these days.

Follow @JoshSchoch

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Player: Torii Hunter Jr. 

Drafted by: Detroit Tigers (No. 1,056 overall)

Position: CF

DOB: 6/7/1995 (Age: 17)

Height/Weight: 6’1″/175 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

School: Prosper (Texas) HS

College Commitment: Notre Dame

Background

It is strange to think that Torii Hunter has a son eligible for the draft, but that is just another way to make you feel a little bit older. The younger Hunter is one of the best raw athletes in this draft, with a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. 

Hunter Jr. also plans to play baseball in college, which will help him get drafted when his name comes up again in three years. He will hear his name called at some point in this year’s draft, but it won’t be soon enough to get him out of college, as he broke his leg back in January, and scouts haven’t seen him play since last year. 

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 80-point scouting scale, with the current score first and projected score second.

Hitting: 35/50

Raw is the word you will often hear associated with Hunter; his refinement and ability at the plate need a ton of work, but he is such a great athlete, with some bat speed and plenty of projection, that you can see an average big league hitter. 

Power: 30/50

Slight frame but has plenty of power in his arms and gets good drive through his legs; needs to add muscle to catch up to velocity; could easily have average big league power with some grooming. 

Plate Discipline: 30/50

Some instincts and feel for the zone but lacks awareness to lay off pitches out of the strike zone; off-speed stuff is problematic for him; shows the skill to hit a fastball; could post decent walk totals and work counts in time thanks to plate coverage. 

Speed: 70/65

True plus-plus runner; elite wide receiver speed and projects to stay at the position in college; might lose a step or two in the future when his frame fills out, but athleticism will keep it at least plus, if not a little better. 

Defense: 45/60

Love his upside in center field; plus-plus speed makes it easy for him to cover plenty of ground and make up for inconsistent routes; has enough arm strength to play right field, if needed; shows enough tools to project as plus defender. 

Arm: 55/55

Good arm strength; could play in right field but would be much better in center field; doesn’t need to put a lot of air under the ball; will need the cutoff man on throws to home plate but can hit the glove everywhere else. 

MLB Player Comparison: Drew Stubbs

Projection: Above-average defensive center fielder with solid offensive skills. 

MLB ETA: 2019

Chances of Signing: 0%

As much fun as it would be to think about having another Torii Hunter in baseball, it is not going to happen right now, if ever. First, his broken leg has made it impossible for him to give scouts anything to look at this year, making him a Day 3 selection. 

Second, and more importantly, Hunter has always been a football player first and foremost. If it doesn’t work out for him at Notre Dame, he has baseball to fall back on. That will make him more raw than most players with three years of college experience, but his natural athletic ability will win over a lot of people. 

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Player: A.J. Puk

Drafted by: Detroit Tigers (No. 1,056 overall)

Position: LHP

DOB: 4/25/1995 (Age: 18)

Height/Weight: 6’6″/205 lbs

Bats/Throws: L/L

School: Washington HS (Iowa)

College Commitment: Florida

Background

A.J. Puk is one of the better two-way prospects in this draft class, though his future clearly lies on the mound. With the bat in his hands, he can show some power, but his overall skill set in that regard is lacking. 

As a pitcher, Puk is a top-100 player in this class. He is a tall lefty who can generate plus velocity on his fastball and gets good plane on the pitch. His commitment to the University of Florida, one of the best programs in the country, could make him a difficult sign.

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is average, with the current score first and projected score second.

Body/Mechanics:

Very projectable 6’6″ frame; a little too trim right now but will fill out naturally in the next few years; excellent angle on fastball makes him a strong candidate to be taken early on the second day; long limbs do make it harder to repeat delivery, though there is nothing alarming about his mechanics that would lead to arm or shoulder problems; gets out front very well, good stride to the plate and good arm speed on fastball. 

Fastball: 50/60

Fastball has taken a hit this season, though Midwest weather isn’t exactly pitcher-friendly early in high school year; has been clocked up to 92 to 93 with heater in the past; three-quarters arm angle and plane give pitch good sinking life; should end up being a plus offering when frame fills out and velocity ticks up. 

Curveball: 30/40

Breaking ball is not an effective weapon, nor does it project to be in the future; still learning to harness pitch and inability to repeat delivery gives it inconsistent shape; arm angle could make it difficult to get good consistent break on the pitch. 

Changeup: 40/50

Solid offering that will get better as his body fills out and mechanics get more consistent; changeup has solid fade down in the zone; will be second-best pitch in professional baseball; enough separation from fastball and good arm speed to keep hitters off balance. 

Control: 35/55

Loses release point too often; struggles to throw strikes consistently but stays around the zone enough to succeed right now; will have to adjust to his body in the future, though that is often the case with taller pitchers. 

Command: 30/50

An optimistic guess, but Puk shows enough stuff and has a good delivery that he can learn to command at least two of his pitches; won’t have elite command but should be good enough to have an effective career; command could play better in short relief role. 

MLB Player Comparison: Left-handed Justin Masterson

Projection: Back-end starter in first-division rotation. 

MLB ETA: 2018

Chances of Signing: 70%

Despite being committed to Florida, one of the premier teams in the country, Puk seems likely to take his talents to the next level when he gets drafted. His upside, especially as a left-handed pitcher, makes him too valuable for teams to let get away. 

Think of Puk as being a bit of a poor man’s Trey Ball. He isn’t quite the athlete that the Indiana lefty is, but he has projection left and is already showing excellent velocity from the left side. 

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There was a time, not all that long ago, when Max Scherzer was about as predictable as the weather.

If you were Tigers manager Jim Leyland, you trotted Max out every fifth day and closed your eyes.

There’s nothing that will turn a manager’s hair gray faster than not knowing what he’s going to get from his starting pitchers from one outing to the next. Leyland didn’t know what he was going to get from Scherzer inning to inning—sometimes, from batter to batter.

Scherzer’s right arm was full of what baseball people like to say is “good stuff,” only he didn’t know how to harness it. His arm was as volatile as nitroglycerin.

The Tigers acquired Scherzer from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the three-team trade that sent Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees after the 2009 season. The Tigers needed Scherzer as another starter to replace the departed Edwin Jackson.

Scherzer was 25 at the time, and the book on him at Arizona was that he had that good stuff but was rawer than an oyster bar.

Max could strike guys out, but he could also turn the basepaths into a merry-go-round with this control issues. He could have a short and sweet 1-2-3 inning or a 40-pitch frame with more foot traffic than Grand Central Station.

The Tigers soon discovered that the scouting report on Scherzer was dead solid perfect—he was the human roller coaster.

It was Cy Young one day, and Sigh Young five days later.

Scherzer was installed in the Tigers rotation in 2010, and not having seen him pitch before, I thought the young man was trying to throw his arm to home plate, along with the baseball.

Scherzer, at the time, had what is known as a “violent” delivery. His windup was designed to gain power from his legs, which he then used to whip-snap the baseball from his right hand like it had cut him off in traffic.

It was anyone’s guess as to where the baseball was going at that point.

It wasn’t that Scherzer was ridiculously wild. In his only full season with the Diamondbacks, he averaged about 3.5 walks per nine innings.

He just threw a lot of pitches. Like, a ton of them. He was about as efficient as the government.

The Tigers presumably knew what they were getting in Scherzer, which was a big arm who could be a fixture in their rotation, as long as he could be refined. They hoped that he could, one day, be a nice complement to their ace, Justin Verlander.

The growing pains weren’t easy.

Scherzer won 12 games for the Tigers in 2010, against 11 losses. His ERA was a very manageable 3.50 in 31 starts.

But he was one of those guys whose season-ending numbers belied what you saw on a daily basis—and that was a laborious pitcher who averaged just six innings per start and who would frequently have to muddle through innings that were so long, they needed an intermission.

Scherzer kept striking guys out along the way—nearly one per inning in 2010. The strikeouts were nice but they also added to his pitch counts. He didn’t toss a complete game all season.

In 2011, Scherzer started 33 games, and didn’t quite average six innings per start. His ERA ballooned to 4.43—nearly a full run per game higher than the previous year.  But he won 15 games and lost only nine as the Tigers offense was a higher octane brew than in 2010.

In the ALCS against the Texas Rangers, Scherzer had a meltdown in the decisive Game 6 in Texas. The Tigers needed a win to force Game 7.

The start in Game 6 illustrated all that there was to be annoyed with Max Scherzer.

He lasted just two and one-third innings, surrendering five hits and six runs. He walked four, displaying the Maddening Max that had bedeviled the Tigers all season long. If the measuring stick of a starting pitcher is that he gives his team a chance to win, Scherzer failed miserably when the Tigers needed him the most.

The violent throwing motion and the laborious innings were enough, in tandem, to make fans think that Scherzer would never truly be a top-flight pitcher. His elevated ERA in 2011 added to the feeling.

Meanwhile, Verlander was capturing the AL Cy Young and the league MVP awards with his brilliant 2011 season. He needed his Robin to his Batman.

Right-hander Doug Fister, acquired via trade from the Seattle Mariners in July 2011, showed some flashes of being Verlander’s second banana. But Scherzer, by far, had the most alluring arm. He had the nitroglycerin.

Scherzer arrived in Lakeland in 2012 with two Tigers seasons under his belt. In both, he showed flashes of brilliance and flashes in the pan. Consistency had eluded him.

It got worse before it got better.

After eight starts last year, Scherzer was 2-3 with a 6.26 ERA. In the eight starts, he managed to pitch just 41.2 innings. He was averaging almost four walks per nine innings. He issued seven walks in an April start in New York.

Maddening Max!

Then it all came together.

After those first eight starts, Scherzer pitched 146 innings with an ERA of about 3.00, compiling a 14-4 record during that stretch. His stuff was still mesmerizing, but more harnessed. He was more Mad Max now. He was Verlander light—and that’s not meant to be a knock. But Scherzer still hasn’t thrown a complete game in the majors.

Scherzer is 8-0 this season with an ERA of 3.24 and he’s pitching as good as his record looks. He has 100 strikeouts against just 20 walks in 83.1 innings. He is perhaps the Tigers’ true ace right now, as Verlander continues to work through some issues that have knocked him down a notch.

Scherzer’s windup is still powerful, but the arm motion isn’t quite as violent. There’s more fluidity now. The strikeouts keep piling up, but the walks are down. His manager pretty much knows what to expect from Mad Max every fifth day.

If Scherzer was on any team that didn’t have Verlander on it, Max would be that team’s ace, by far.

He might be that, anyway, with the Tigers.

Isn’t that mad?

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On Friday, Basebook Baseball Magazine writer Paul Goode wrote a solid post that begged the question: Has Miguel Cabrera surpassed Albert Pujols as the premier all-round hitter in baseball?

While reading Goode’s feature, I could not help but notice one of Cabrera’s gaudy stats. Through 46 games, Cabrera is batting .388 with 14 homers and a whopping 1.154 OPS.

More striking is Cabrera’s 57 RBI. Per ESPN, Cabrera is on pace for 201 RBI this year.

Already an MVP, batting champion and a Triple Crown winner, Cabrera is on track to have one of the best individual seasons in MLB history. Should Cabrera stay healthy and avoid a few dry spells in the batter’s box, he has a shot (albeit small) to bust Hack Wilson’s major league record for the most RBI in a single season.

According to Baseball Almanac, Wilson posted 191 RBI in 1930. Trailing Wilson is Lou Gehrig, who earned 184 RBI in 1931. Hank Greenberg is third in baseball history with 183 RBI. Greenberg sits eight RBI ahead of Jimmie Foxx (175 RBI).

Wilson’s record has been deemed by many to be one of the most untouchable records in MLB history, alongside Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak. This philosophy rings especially true in the post-steroid era.

Fans who think nobody will ever come close to Wilson’s gaudy RBI record have a valid point. The closest any modern player has come to Wilson’s feat is Manny Ramirez. He earned 165 RBI with the Cleveland Indians in 1999. Alex Rodriguez mustered 156 RBI with the New York Yankees in 2007, also per Baseball Almanac.

But consider this about Cabrera. Last season, the 30-year-old slugger had 139 RBI for the Tigers in 161 games. Yet Cabrera did not get RBI 57 until June 25 versus the Texas Rangers.

Cabrera is nearly a month ahead of schedule this season.

If injury is a concern, Cabrera has been as sturdy as baseball players come. Looking at Cabrera’s career stats, he has not played less than 150 games in a season since his rookie year (2003). From 2004-12, Cabrera has averaged 158 games played on a 162-game schedule.

Of course, all ballplayers endure slowdowns and slumps. Cabrera is no exception (although his slumps pale in comparison to other MLB players).

But should Cabrera maintain his rabid video-game pace, he may come eerily close to breaking Wilson’s seemingly untouchable RBI record.

And if Cabrera does, scientists may have to consider testing him to see if this superstar really is human.  

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