I know there is a lot of interest in some of the rumors swirling around the Tigers (like Julio Lugo) and that people want to comment on signings that may or may not effect the Tigers A ( Jeremy Affeldt). A While I don't have a lot to say about these things (though I don't want Lugo and [...]

In part 1 of the series I dumped some big tables in here that looked at the rate at which teams threw a)strikes and b)the ball in the strike zone. Today we'll continue along the same path, but we'll start to differentiate based on count.

Pitches In the Strike Zone by Count

In 2008 teams pitchers [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Pounding the zone by count", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/pounding-the-zone-by-count/" });

The Tigers defense was the cause of much consternation this season, and rightly so. Now that David Pinto has released his PMR defensive metrics, we can take a detailed look at each position.

If you're not familiar with PMR, it is a system that looks at each ball hit into play and the probability that [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Tigers according to PMR", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/the-tigers-according-to-pmr/" });

The Tigers are adjusting some prices, on some games. The following areas won't see an increase to their base ticket prices: Outfield Box, Right Field Grandstand, Bleachers, Kaline's Corner and the Upper Level. That comprises 70% of the capacity. The base price is the key here because the team will have premium pricing for [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Tigers make some ticket price hikes", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/tigers-make-some-ticket-price-hikes/ " });

Beck's Blog: Galarraga places fifth in AL rookie balloting

A very respectable showing. He faded a little in September which probably kept him from finishing higher. Not bad for one of those trades that didn't mean anything over the winter.

Scout.com: TigsTown Top 50 Prospects: 50-41

TigsTown has started rolling their top 50 list (premium content). [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "links for 2008-11-11", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/links-for-2008-11-11/" });

The Tigers are in the hunt for a catcher. Brandon Inge has been moved to third base and Dusty Ryan may be ready to contribute at the big league level, but I don't think anybody is comfortable with him being handed the full load at this point. With this need has come speculation [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "No on Varitek, No on Laird, Yes on Bard", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/no-on-varitek-no-on-laird-yes-on-bar d/" });

If you're a Twitter user, I created a new profile that just tracks Detroit Tigers news. It is @TweetingTigers. I've set it up to pull in the RSS feeds from all Tigers blogs (well, I'm working towards all and plan to get there) and I'm planning to add in the Tiger related feeds from [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "For you Twitter-ers out there", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/for-you-twitter-ers-out-there/" });

Old English D

And another new Tigers blog worth introducing.

Trumbull and Michigan

Just wanted to introduce a fairly new blog to the Tigers blog scene.

Baseball Musings: Probabilistic Model of Range, 2008

David Pinto has started rolling out PMR. I'll delve into this a little more as he posts more positions, but here is the aggregated data by [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "links for 2008-11-06", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/links-for-2008-11-06/" });

The Bill James Handbook is always one of the first baseball books to come out each year. It's not a riveting narrative by any means and it consists largely of tables of numbers. But there are always some interesting pieces and there seems to be something new every year. Last year it [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Fun with the Bill James leaderboards", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/fun-with-the-bill-james-leaderboards /" });

A lot of talk, A lot of speculation piping out of the GM meetings in California. Right now it seems like most teams are in on most players. But there are some names being rumored to the Tigers. Today's rumor and moderately relevant news rundown:

The Tigers are in on Rafael Furcal, or [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Rumors, Rumors everywhere", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/11/rumors-rumors-everywhere-2/" });

With the World Series officially over after the longest game 5 ever, I half (actually more than half) expected the Tigers to make a trade today. When I saw a press release come across I thought my intuition was correct. Instead it was a compilation of roster moves and the hiring of a bullpen coach.

The [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Let the offseason begin", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/10/let-the-offseason-begin/" });

BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Ask BA

BA looks at the best lefty/righty combo's in the minors. Casey Crosby and Rick Porcello put the Tigers on the list at 10.

FIP+: American LeagueA Central - Beyond the Box Score

Six of the top seven Tigers in FIP+ were bullpen pitchers (and one was Jason Grilli). And the bullpen was [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "links for 2008-10-29", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/10/links-for-2008-10-29/" });

The Tigers placed Virgil Vasquez on waivers and he was claimed by the Red Sox today. Vasquez had a strong showing in the AFL in 2006 and got a couple shots to start in 2007. However he struggled in 2008 for AAA and even the pitching starved Tigers didn't call him up.

The timing [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Virgil Vasquez claimed by Red Sox", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/10/virgil-vasquez-claimed-by-red-sox/" });

Chone Smith has compiled defensive projections for the 2009 season. He's used 5 years of data (combination of Stats Zone Rating, Revised Zone Rating, and Total Zone), and weighted it such that the most current season receives the most weight. He also regresses the results and uses the Fans Scouting Report. The more [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Defensive Projections", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/10/defensive-projections/" });

The Tigers walked a lot of people last year. Along the way they threw a lot of pitches, and many seemed to be ill advised. The performance cost Chuck Hernandez his job, jettisoned in favor of an instructor whose students have gone on to gain some renown as strike throwing machines. Armed with [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Strike Throwing - Part 1 - Lots of Tables", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/10/strike-throwing-part-1-lots-of-table s/" });