Kuzul

Justin Verlander Baffles Everyone in Fifth Inning Against A’s

To my knowledge, the Oxford English Dictionary does not have a definition for the term “brain fart.” I guess it’s just not on the same level as words like “LOL” or “OMG.”

Lucky for us, Urban Dictionary does have a definition for brain fart:

A spontaneous stupid (Stupid the noun, not stupid the adjective) usually accompanied by loss of train of thought and saying something fantastically stupid without realising it.

Perfect. Now that we have that out of the way, we can talk about Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander, who had one of the worst brain farts in baseball history last night against the Oakland Athletics.

With the Tigers trailing 3-1 in the fifth inning, David DeJesus stepped to the plate for the A’s with a runner on first. Four pitches into the at-bat, Verlander got the notion that he would throw over to first.

However, he appeared to get his feet tangled up, and he threw home instead. The ball nearly hit DeJesus, who appeared to be more than a little annoyed.

For a few brief moments, nobody seemed to have a clue what just happened. The umpires eventually ruled it a balk.

According to MLB.com, Verlander thinks the play may be a baseball first.

It might be the first time that has happened, in general. I thought nothing could happen at the plate. It was a weird circumstance. It was funny talking to the umpires. They gave me a hard time about it, too.

Verlander eventually escaped the fifth without allowing any runs, but he and the Tigers did go on to lose the game, 6-2, with the Tigers righty taking his second loss of the season.

That last part is a bummer, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this video clip. Count on it.

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Stephen Strasburg and Adam Wainwright would have been two of my answers to this column’s question before they were both sidelined with elbow injuries that will keep them off the diamond for most, if not all, of this season.

A team’s rotation is pretty fluid throughout the course of a year. In a 162-game season, teams will be plagued with injuries and most of these injuries will find pitchers sitting on the DL picking their noses with their good arms while their team pushes forward in an effort to make the postseason. Strasburg will do that this year as his teammate and fellow hurler Jordan Zimmerman did last year. 

Who will catch the injury bug is impossible to predict. I thought that Justin Verlander would have thrown his arm out of the socket by now considering how many innings and pitches he throws. He is overused in my opinion yet he still keeps trucking along at an amazing pace, throwing upper 90 fastballs and chalking up W’s for the Tigers.

I was counting on Adam Wainwright to anchor my fantasy team this year until his arm called it quits and forced me to draft John “lackluster” Lackey and Brian Matusz in an attempt to compensate for the loss. Matusz is now injured as well, nursing a hang nail or something.

Needless to say I am getting my grapes stomped thus far in fantasy but I’m not here to whine about that. I’m here to let you know who is going to garner the most wins per team this season and why.

You may disagree with me, as a lot of you so often do, or you may agree 100 percent with me as nobody ever does, but either way I won’t know if you don’t leave a comment. So please let me know your thoughts on this matter in the comment section. Thanks and enjoy. First up is the AL East. 

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In recent memory, we’ve always heard about how the AL East is Major League Baseball’s toughest division, with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays beating up on each other, along with the rest of the American League.

Some people make a case for the NL East, where the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves have a stronghold, combined with an over-acheiving Florida Marlins squad and an even more under-acheiving New York Mets team.

It’s easy to say one division is better than the other based on records alone, so I had an idea: What if we take the best player at each position, from each division and create separate “All-Star” teams?  Which division would have the most talented squad?

That’s exactly what we are going to do in hopes we can finally come to a realization of which division is MLB’s best.  You might be surprised at how good (or bad) some of the teams end up being.

The selection process is simple: It will be the best player at each position today. It won’t be based on future potential, and it won’t be based on a player having a monster season five years ago. 

This will be a seven part series over the next two weeks: one part for each of baseball’s six divisions, followed by a summary piece that will hopefully allow us to figure out and debate which division really is MLB’s best.

We begin with the AL Central.

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A good starting rotation can cure many ills, and with the AL Central up for grabs like it normally is, whoever assembles the strongest rotation could easily take the division come September. There is some real pitching talent in the division, but we’ve also lost three of the last four AL Cy Young Award winners (CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Zack Greinke).

At the end of the year, whichever rotation fares best will probably get a chance to strut their stuff in the postseason. With that, let’s take a look at how the AL Central’s rotations stand up to each other.

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Any time you can follow one of the five best starters in the American League (Justin Verlander) with a guy who has averaged more than a strikeout per inning over his career (Max Scherzer), you’ve got the makings of a good rotation.  After that, though, the Tigers need some things to go their way to make it a successful season.

Following a disappointing 2008, Justin Verlander has turned in two consecutive great campaigns.  Traditionally sub-par in April, he has been phenomenal the rest of the time in both 2009 and 2010—posting 37 wins, 488 strikeouts in 464 innings, a 3.41 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a BAA of .237.  Simply put, Verlander is worthy of a third-round pick or an auction value commensurate with the best pitchers in the AL.

After Verlander, Max Scherzer takes the hill.  He has as much talent as anyone, and has 424 strikeouts in 422 career innings.  Last season, his first in the AL, Mad Max had an atrocious first half (6-6, 4.61 ERA and 1.37 WHIP) and a fantastic second half (2.47 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, though with a mediocre 6-5 record).  He certainly put it all together last season, and I think he’ll build on that this year.  Don’t let him slip too far—strikeouts like that don’t come around every day.

Like a lot of other teams, then come the question marks.  Brad Penny is their third starter, and could surprise some people…if he could only stay healthy.  He was downright poor the last time he was in the AL—with Boston, in 2009 where he posted a 5.61 ERA and 1.53 WHIP across 24 starts—but has pitched well since then. 

He had a great stretch run for the Giants in 2009 (4 wins, 2.59 ERA, WHIP under 1 and a .205 BAA), and then a good 2010 for the Cardinals, for the time that he was healthy.  If Penny can stay healthy, I think he could benefit tremendously from the Tigers’ spectacular bullpen, so I’d definitely throw a dollar or two his way on auction day.

Rick Porcello is next, and if you take out May 2009 (when he went 5-0 with a 1.50 ERA), he has been downright sub-par across the board.  He doesn’t miss bats (roughly half a strikeout per inning),  gives up a lot of hits (364 in 333 career innings), has a high BAA (.278) and has traditionally fared very poorly against good hitting teams. 

He was, however, the Tigers first-round pick in 2007, has shown promise and capability, and just turned 22 last month!  He’s not worth considering in mixed leagues, but is worth a late round pick in AL only, on potential alone.

The fifth starter is a bit up in the air.  Will they convert Phil Coke into a starter?  Though he does have great facial hair, and was excellent as a reliever last year, he was last a starter in 2008 in the minors and has started one game in the majors (on the last day of the season last year).  But since he could turn into a CJ Wilson-esque success story, and has that great bullpen behind him, he’s definitely worth a flyer in AL-only leagues.

There’s also Andy Oliver, another top prospect who had a taste of the show in 2010.  Unfortunately for him, that taste was a bit sour, as he went 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA and 1.77 WHIP.  He did, however, strike out 18 in 22 innings and had a BABIP of .348.  His ability to strike people out (he averaged nearly a strikeout per inning in the minors as well) and that BABIP that is bound to come down make him worthy of notice in AL-only leagues as well.

As for prospects, the Tigers don’t really have much on the horizon.  Jacob Turner is the only real top starting pitching prospect they have, and he’s only 19 and still in A.  For Dynasty leagues, he’s worth having on your radar.

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Written by Jesse Mendelson exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com.

Follow The Fantasy Fix on Twitter @thefantasyfix, or for Free Fantasy Sports Advice, use our Quick Fix to get help with your team!

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The American League Central Division is filled with very good starting pitchers.

Starting pitchers can obviously determine where a team goes in the postseason, or if they even go at all.

The Minnesota Twins are looking to three-peat, and they bring back the exact same rotation that they sported during the 2010 season, resigning everybody necessary to make a deep run.

The same can be said about the Chicago White Sox, who were the last AL Central team to win the title when they did so back in 2006.

The Detroit Tigers signed a few key pitchers and look to be in the hunt this season.

The Cleveland Indians are full of young and inexperienced starters who more than likely have something to prove this year.

The best starter of 2010 and years past, Zack Greinke, packed his bags and headed for Milwaukee, deserting and therefore depriving the Kansas City Royals and the AL Central of its’ best ace.

I will take a look at all 25 of the starters for the 2011 season, give a short analysis on each, and rank them from first all the way to 25th.

I hope you enjoy and I would love some constructive feedback!

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The Detroit Tigers begin the 2011 season with the goal to win a championship. However, if they want to be able to claim their first World Series title since 1984, they have some work to do.

For most of the past five years, the team has started strong out of the gate and faded down the stretch, the lone exception being in 2008, when the team became the MLB’s version of Murphy’s Law. This trend of second-half collapses was glaringly obvious this past year, when the Tigers went 7-21 from July 16 to August 13, dropping them from a half-game off the AL Central lead to 10.5 games back and an eventual third place finish at 81-81.

The Tigers generally don’t make big free-agent deals, but they have brought in Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit in efforts to shore up the C/DH and relief pitching, respectively. Brad Penny has also signed with the team as a starting pitcher.

Position battles may not be the big story of the spring, as most of the positions will likely keep the incumbent starter, but there is always the chance for someone to step up.

Offensively, the lineup will probably not receive much of an overhaul, at least early on. My Opening Day lineup for the team as of right now is as follows:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Carlos Guillen, 2B
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Jhonny Peralta, SS
6. Ryan Raburn, LF
7. Victor Martinez, DH
8. Brandon Inge, 3B
9. Alex Avila, C

Peralta and Raburn may rotate between the five and six spot, and they may even move into the two spot at times, if production starts to slip, or if they merit the move.

Defensively, most of the positions are set, barring injuries. Miguel Cabrera has found a home at first base, whereas Carlos Guillen may have trouble holding on at second, if Scott Sizemore shows signs of improvement. Shortstop and third base will feature Peralta and Inge, though Inge’s bat still leaves something to be desired. The outfield will be interesting to watch, as Ryan Raburn and Brennan Boesch may split time, or perhaps one may shift to right to give Ordonez an occasional day off. Austin Jackson did well in center field last year as a rookie and should improve with time.

The starting rotation will likely contain Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Brad Penny and Phil Coke. Barring a new signing, this will likely be the rotation on Opening Day. Joaquin Benoit and Joel Zumaya are the likely setup men coming out of the bullpen, at least if Joel can stay healthy, and Jose Valverde will reprise his role as the closer.

Of course, injuries were a big story last year, so the important thing will be to try and stay healthy, especially down the stretch. The season is a long one, and while injuries are unavoidable, smart play and smart coaching can minimize their impact. I believe the Tigers have the talent to compete and win the division, but time will tell for sure.

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On January 24th the Detroit Tigers traded Armando Galarraga to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a couple of low level prospects.  This is a risky move that officially ends the Tigers‘ rollercoaster relationship with the occasionally talented, soft-throwing righthander best known as the poster boy for good sportsmanship following Jim Joyce’s blown call on his almost perfect game last summer. 

He and Joyce were a great story about forgiveness and understanding in a sports world that is flooded with too many bad stories and will be an answer to trivia questions for years to come.  Apparently he’s not Dave Dombrowski’s answer to the Tigers pitching questions.

Galarraga was acquired from the Rangers prior to the 2008 season and burst onto the scene with a solid rookie campaign for a very disappointing Tigers team.  He finished with 13 wins, a sub four ERA and a fifth place finish in the AL rookie of the year voting.

He regressed greatly in 2009, eventually losing his spot in the rotation.  In 2010, he stepped back into the rotation when Rick Porcello, Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis all struggled as starters.  Although he was far from great, Galarraga was an adequate fifth starter who was on the wrong side of several pitching duels.  He finished the season with a 4.49 ERA but only 4 wins.

Going into the season the Tigers rotation will be Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Phil Coke and Brad Penny.  Justin Verlander is a sure thing and I’m going to go out on a limb and say Scherzer turned the corner as a quality #2.  However, the other three all bring question marks.  Rick Porcello struggled mightily the majority of last year before finally hitting a groove over his last ten or so starts, Phil Coke is a valuable bullpen guy being transitioned back into a starter, his role coming up in the Yankees system and Brad Penny is coming off a back injury that kept him out of nearly the entire 2010 season. 

If all three of those guys pan out, keep your October open because the Tigers are going to the playoffs.  Conventional wisdom will likely prevail, though, and at least one of those guys won’t last in the rotation.  Porcello will continue to regress, Coke will flame out as a starter or Penny will fulfill his durability concerns.  Even if they all pitch well, there will be injuries or skipped starts that will require a 6th starter.  Additionally, the Tigers two most effective long relievers (Eddie Bonine and Zach Miner) the last two seasons were lost in free agency so that role is needed as well.

In my opinion, Galarraga would have been perfect for a long relief/emergency starter role. At the very least, Galarraga has proven to be a capable end of the rotation guy who can give you innings.  In 2010 he only let up more than 5 earned runs in 2 of 24 starts and only went less than five innings in seven of his starts.  With the Tigers improved offense, I could see the Detroit scoring more than five runs on a lot of occasions and they just need an emergency guy who can keep them in games.  With this move, the Tigers lost a lot of insurance.

Currently, the contingency plan would be one of the Tigers heralded young arms: Jacob Turner, Andrew Oliver or, to a lesser extent, Charlie Furbush.  There is no evidence that any of these three is ready to contribute this year.  Oliver looked lost in his brief stint with the Tigers last season, Turner has only one season of pro experience and Furbush has only been a middle tier prospect.

Dombrowski and Leyland don’t see Galarraga as a long relief candidate so it appears their answer could be another dose of Bondermania as a minor league deal for the righthander might be a possibility.  The fact that Bonderman has had no offers and little interest and the fact that the Tigers had supposedly high interest in Galarraga, further points to the fact that trading Galarraga was a bad move. 

I’m not saying that Armando Galarraga is a Cy Young candidate, but for a team with a  high scoring offense, he’s capable enough to give them a shot in most starts.  Unless there is something behind the curtains with the relationship between Galarraga and the front office, this move makes little sense to me.  I hope the starters all pan out and this move becomes a blip on the season’s transactions, but I don’t see that happening and I believe that Dombrowski, Leyland and company will regret this move in the long run.

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The goal for every fantasy manager is to find the proverbial diamond in the rough, a player who provides early round production despite being taken in the latter part of the draft. These players are not easy to find due to the unpredictable nature of the sport, however it is important to use some late round picks on possible breakout players to help fortify your lineup. 

One possible breakout player that we are tracking for 2011 is Rick Porcello, a third year starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. Drafted 27th overall in the 2007 amateur draft, Porcello needed only one year in the minors to develop his craft before becoming a full time starter for the Tigers in 2009. 

In his first full year as a starter, Porcello was third in AL rookie of the year voting with a 14-9 record and 3.96 ERA. He started 31 games for Detroit, averaging a respectable 4.7 k’s per nine innings while walking an average of 1.71 batters per outing. After his strong start he followed up his rookie year with a disappointing sophomore campaign, posting an unimpressive 10-12 record with an ERA of nearly five, with an opposing batting average of .288.  

Although he had a poor 2010 season, Porcello is a young talent who pitches in one of the most pitcher friendly parks in the AL. He has a potent offense to provide ample run support that will make him a lock to win 10 games. 

He does have a few areas of needed improvement, as he gives up almost 10 hits per nine innings, resulting in a fairly high WHIP for a starter at 1.38. In addition, his strikeout total is not as high as it should be for a pitcher with his cache of pitches. I predict that as he gets older and more confident in his stuff, he will be able to increase his strikeout total to over 100 K’s per season.  

I anticipate that Porcello will fail to crack the top 30 pitchers in mixed leagues, making him a late round pick if he is drafted at all.  Most owners will shy away from him due to his lackluster 2010 stats, yet he is well worth a final pick for those in deeper leagues. I would not be surprised if he posts a 15-10 record with a mid three ERA and around 100 K’s this season.

This article was originally published on www.kramericasports.com, the home of free fantasy news, rankings, and advice.

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Even with the exodus of such players as C.C. Sabathia, Curtis Granderson, and Zack Greinke the past few seasons, the AL Central certainly has no shortage of talent. Some of those star players simply don’t get the attention they would playing in either of the Eastern divisions.

This division has sorely lacked parity the past few seasons, with a sizable gap existing between the top three teams and the bottom two, and this list reflects that. Whereas the Tigers, Twins, and White Sox combine for 20 representatives on the list, the Indians and Royals combine for just 5.

Before we get started, two star players not on the list who I admittedly had no idea where to place on this list given their rash of injuries recently; Cleveland’s Grady Sizemore and Chicago’s Jake Peavy. Both obviously have the talent to rank on the list; it’s hard to know exactly where they stand given the trouble they’ve had staying on the field lately.

Without further ado, the best players in the AL Central. Enjoy.

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