Games » Detroit Tigers
Sep21A hypothetical question
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
After the game, I asked Ned Yost whether Greg Holland would have pitched the eighth inning if Joakim Soria had been available to pitch the ninth. Ned said, “Probably.” Then he added that if Mariano Rivera were on the Royals, Soria would have pitched the eighth and Holland would have pitched the seventh. By that point, Ned was laughing, and so was I.
Ned’s point being: Soria wasn’t available, so what’s the point?
Well, this: People come to games and sometimes don’t know what happened the day before or what’s going to happen the day after. They do know they would like to see the Royals win that night. So if you were sitting in the stands at the last Royals home game and wondered who the heck this Herrera guy was and why he was pitching in a tie ball game, here’s the answer.
Starter Felipe Paulino had command issues and ran up his pitch count. He threw pretty well, but after five innings had thrown 103 pitches. In the sixth, Ned brought in Tim Collins to face Jhonny Peralta, left-handed Andy Dirks and switch-hitting Ramon Santiago. Peralta got a hit, Dirks was safe on a fielder’s choice and Santiago struck out.
Ned then went to the pen for a right-hander to face Brandon Inge to end the inning. Ned had used Blake Wood for two innings on Tuesday night, so he went to Louis Coleman. Coleman got Inge and started the seventh inning but had the tying run on second with two outs when Ned decided to bring in Aaron Crow to try to get out of the situation. Crow also had control issues, bouncing a couple pitches, and he gave up a couple singles and the lead.
Ned didn’t think Crow looked sharp, so he went back to the pen for the eighth. And that’s why I asked the question: If Soria had been available, Holland probably would have come out for the eighth. But neither Jack nor Mariano was available, so Ned had run through his list of the guys who usually pitch in these situations.
And that’s why you saw Kelvin Herrera make his major-league debut, which did not go well. There’s always a reason for what you see out at the ballpark, and I thought it worth explaining why you saw a rookie pitching in a tie game in the eighth inning.
Game notes
• Jeff Francoeur saw seven straight fastballs from Detroit closer Jose Valverde and struck out on the last pitch. So how did Valverde get away with throwing seven fastballs to Frenchy? Because they were not all the same fastball. Some ran in on Jeff, and others ran away. The pitches may look straight from the stands, but they’re not.
• It could have been worse. Catcher Salvador Perez saved at least two runs in this game: once by jumping out from behind home plate on an attempted bunt and gunning the lead runner at third, and again by blocking a pitch in the dirt with a runner on third.
• Melky Cabrera got heads-up base running points for ignoring third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez’s stop sign in the sixth inning. Melky was coming into third with no one out. Eddie threw up the sign as Tigers right-fielder Ryan Raburn booted Billy Butler’s single. At that point, the runner is on his own. There’s not time for the coach to see the play, change the sign and get the runner going again. Melky read it correctly and scored standing up.
• When a runner gets thrown out by a Royals outfielder, people ask whether the other team hasn’t been paying attention. The Tigers clearly have. Twice a runner did not advance on balls hit to Jeff Francoeur.
• Two Detroit batters walked and later scored, and another was hit by pitch and scored — and the Royals lost by … drum roll, please … three runs.
Getz and 2012
Chris says he would like to return to the Royals (we talked about what a pain it is to go to a new job and try to figure out who’s who). Chris said he would embrace the role of utility player if that’s what the Royals ask him to do. He has been working out at shortstop and says he’s getting more comfortable with the position.
Getzie was working at short the other day, taking grounders and Eddie Rodriguez was hitting them off flips from John Wathan. Eddie says the balls that come off the bat from flips (a ball flipped underhand to the hitter) are more realistic than balls hit from fungos. (Who knew?)
Anyway, Chris would like to be back in 2012.
Luis Mendoza
After batting practice, I got a few minutes with pitching coach Bob McClure, and he confirmed that Luis Mendoza was trying to get through the Detroit lineup the first time Tuesday night with as many fastballs as possible. I told Mac I had noticed Luis threw off-speed stuff the first time through the order, but only to lefties. Mac said that was right. Mendoza has a fastball that cuts in on right-handers, but he had to add off-speed to the mix when facing left-handers.
Leyland’s in charge
I was told that Tigers manager Jim Leyland does not delegate parts of the game to other coaches while the game is on. He’s on the top step, making the calls, pitch by pitch. I also was told that you could see White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen mailing it in during Chicago’s last series against the Royals, ignoring the game and holding court in the dugout.
Leyland’s about 120 years old (that number may be wrong), but he’s still out there hitting fungos during early work. And any guy that lit up Barry Bonds for being a jerk is OK in my book.
Speaking of early work
A Detroit coach was throwing early BP to hitters and calling out situations before each pitch, runner on third, infield back and so on. It was amazing how often the hitter delivered the right kind of ball in play for the situation. When you see these guys come through in the clutch, it ain’t an accident. They prepared for the moment.
A 5-5-3 in your scorebook
Third baseman Mike Moustakas got as laser beam hit at him in the fourth inning by Jhonny Peralta. Moose tried to backhand it, and the ball glanced off his glove and shot straight up in the air. Mike grabbed it with his bare hand and threw to first baseman Eric Hosmer, who picked the short hop.
Coincidentally, the day before Mike and I had talked about plays like that. He said that when a ball is hit hard, you have to play it slow and soft. If you make a hard movement in reaction, the ball will bounce off you. When the ball is hit softly, you need to play it aggressively. Really charge the slow rollers, and play soft on the hard shots.
I guess Mike didn’t play the ball softly enough, but he still got the out.
P.S.: The veterans make the rookies dress in crazy outfits for the last road trip of the season, and Moose wanted to know whether I knew what he was going to get stuck with. I told him no, but I also said I ratted him out to the veterans. Mike had told me he hates clowns, so of course I told Chris Getz. (Hey, I’ll keep some secrets, but if I can get Moose to wear a clown costume to Chicago, I’m not passing up the opportunity.)
Perez
Butler
Cabrera
I counted only one walk that scored (Jackson in the first), and it seems to me, sometimes on a walk, you have tip your hat to the batter. After the count went to 3-2, Jackson fouled off five straight pitches before finally getting ball four on the 11th pitch. Jackson also had a 10-pitch at-bat off Paulino before striking out looking in the second, and singled on a first pitch off him to lead off the fifth (go figure). I thought Jackson was one of the keys to the game, because he really did a good job of messing up Paulino's evening.
Lee, I hope you'll have Frenchy or someone get some pictures of Moose wearing a clown outfit on the roadtrip. That's a hoot.
Lee - any opinions from the players or coaches, when there is a long at bat battle going on, whether it might be better to just go ahead and walk the batter, or give him something easier to hit and put into play? I am just wondering if it might be better for Paulino to not waste so many pitches on one batter twice, and whether the answer might be better if the bases were empty.
Where can we see the rookie hazing photos?
Blair: You're absolutely right. That's why players get points in this system for 8+ pitch at-bats and why Kevin Seitzer considers an 8+ pitch at-bat a quality plate appearance.
What Jackson did helped get Paulino's pitch count up which required 4 innings from the Royals pen instead of three.
That meant Ned had to use Herrera, which is where the game fell apart.
Steve: That's what they mean when they say, "I'm not giving in", meaning the pitcher isn't going to toss a 'cookie' (a hittable fastball) to the batter.
I don't think they'd ever consider it better to put the batter on, unless it is a situation where an intentional walk or working around the hitter to get to the next guy makes sense.
Paulino threw 10 straight fastballs to Austin Jackson to start the game. Felipe clearly wanted to get through the order the first time with heat, but he couldn't put Jackson away.
I wondered at what point Felipe would break out an off-speed pitch and Paulino threw a slider on the 11th pitch of that lead-off at-bat. Felipe missed, walked Jackson and he scored.
Yamfun: I don't know if they ever take those pictures for use in the paper. So if you want to see the rookies get humiliated, you need to figure out when the Royals charter leaves and get up to the airport.
You could also catch them coming into Chicago. And just to make it a little more embarrassing, the team bus usually lets them out a few blocks from the hotel so they have to walk down the street in their outfits.
Probably silly, but the thought of Moose having to walk several blocks through downtown Chicago wearing a clown suit makes me like this team all the more, and increases my anticipation for the coming years. I'm already counting the days until 'pitchers and catchers report.'
I would love it if their overall record would have been better, but I have enjoyed watching games this season (and especially the last couple of months with the 'lineup of the future' mostly in place) more than I have enjoyed watching the Royals play in a long, long time, even in years with better records. As opposed to so many years in the recent past, this team seems to enjoy playing and enjoy each other's company. This is in such stark contrast to stories from the Baird years where the team was said to be super-cliquish and businesslike. Oh, and they sucked. That didn't help.
I guess we all want these guys to accept the business part of the game but embrace the FUN of it, the part that is still a game. It seems to me that these guys do that.
Try nopepperplay.com in a couple of days. They seem to get the photos of all the rookie hazings.
When I began visiting Clint Hurdle in the minors, it was the first time I'd ever watched a team play for a week straight. The first time I'd ever been in a pro clubhouse, the first time I knew the guys playing.
It dawned on me that baseball was like a soap opera: you had to watch all the time to know what was going on.
One episode might be entertaining, but to understand the plots and personalities, you had to commit.
That's what following a baseball team is like. Knowing that Moose might have to wear a clown outfit down the street in mid-town Chicago adds to your knowledge of these guys and their personalities.
It makes the games more meaningful and you root for the guys you've come to know. (Honestly, I'll watch post-season play with great interest, but I often think, "I don't know any of these guys" and it's little less entertaining.)
Knowing Hosmer thought Francoeur was running up to hug him after that walk-off double and then Frenchy smoked him in the sternum makes you want to see how Hos will get back at Frenchy the next time they celebrate.
It all adds to the enjoyment of following a group of guys as they try to accomplish something together over the next few seasons.
I'm just glad I get to bring some of that personality to the readers.
As always a great column and a great year for the "new" Royals. All I want for Christmas is for you to find a way to increase the worth of holds by our relievers. Last night was a prime example of what happens when these guys don't come through and "blow" one. Think they need more respect in the point standing for what they do do (so well).