Fixing a Pitchers Quirk - WSJ.com
Jeremy Bonderman of the Detroit Tigers is one of the best young starting pitchers in baseball — from the second inning on. Throughout his career, Mr. Bonderman has exhibited one of the games most puzzling quirks. Last season, his earned run average in the first inning was a nightmarish 11.57. For all other innings, it was an admirable 3.75.

In 151 first innings in his career, Mr. Bonderman has given up 200 hits, 47 doubles, 27 home runs and 66 walks with an ERA of 7.09. Hitters facing him in the first have an All Star-caliber .316 batting average. In the second inning, their average drops to .216.

FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - Ryans elbow causing Jays problems again
Maybin bidding to stay up

All spring, the Marlins have said they wont rush center fielder Cameron Maybin to the big leagues. But with the season less than two weeks from starting, he is making a strong case to begin the year as Floridas starting center fielder.

“A lot of times decisions are made before the end even comes up,” said Maybin, 20. “In my mind, I feel like Im doing what I set out to do, and thats to make the decision hard.” Maybin had a stretch last week in which he had three home runs in two games, including two to the opposite field. His last homer was his most memorable of the spring: With two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning Thursday night, he hit a line-drive, two-run homer that lifted the Marlins to a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals in Viera, Fla.

In all likelihood, Maybin will open the season in the minors, with Cody Ross or Alejandro De Aza starting in center. But manager Fredi Gonzalez said he might not decide until the final days of camp.

“Right now its going to be one of those all-night meetings and maybe even early into the next morning to make that decision,” Gonzalez said. “Hes making it that tough on us, which is good.”

Maybin was batting .250 with three homers and eight RBIs through Sunday. De Aza was batting .355 with three homers and nine RBIs. Ross still could prevail despite his numbers .226.

The Marlins are keeping in mind that Maybin had only 49 major league at-bats last year.

“You dont want him to get here and be overmatched,” said Marlins special assistant Andre Dawson, a former All-Star outfielder who has been working with Maybin. “They can lose a lot of confidence that way.

“You groom him slowly and you let him get a taste, like hes getting. Hes in big-league camp, and he gets to see major league pitching.

“If he doesnt win the job, he goes back to the minor leagues and he has that experience. He knows hes going to get back — its just a matter of how hard he works.”

ESPN - Tigers center fielder Granderson to start season on DL with broken finger - MLB
Detroit Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and will miss Opening Day.

A finger on his right hand was broken Saturday when he was hit by a fastball from Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Travis Blackley in the fourth and final inning of a rained-out game.

Tigers talking trade with Cubs? - Detroit Tigers Cutoff Man - MLive.com
The Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs have made a number of trades with one another over the past few years, and they may be working on another one, with the Tigers in the market for bullpen help and the Cubs looking for a right-handed bat.

March 21, Post-Bulletin: Chicago Cubs right-hander Michael Wuertz, an Austin native, has emerged as one of the Tigers’ targets. Wuertz, 29, appeared in 73 games last year, with a 2-3 record and 3.48 ERA.

The Cubs have considered adding another right-handed hitter, and they are believed to have some interest in Brandon Inge and Marcus Thames. The San Francisco Giants have also asked about Inge.

Leyland’s gut says Tigers may make a trade soon | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
-Although he stressed the Tigers didn’t have any trade in place as of this morning, manager Jim Leyland said today that he has a “gut feeling” that the Tigers could make a trade for a relief pitcher in the next few days.
“I think there is a strong possibility that something could happen in the next few days,” Leyland said. “I think that’s a strong possibility. I don’t know if anything will happen. It’s kind of my gut telling me it’s going to happen, somehow, some way.”

He bases his feeling in part on how the season is now only about a week away and how big-league clubs typically increase their trade talks as their openers draw closer.

ESPN - Cabrera set to ink Tigers biggest pact: $153.3 million - MLB
Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers reached a preliminary agreement Saturday on an eight-year, $153.3 million contract extension, a source close to Cabrera told ESPNdeportes.com on condition of anonymity.

The All-Star third baseman will undergo a physical on Monday to complete the deal, the source said.

“Miguel just signed a big contract,” said the source. “The contract will be completed when Miguel takes a physical on Monday.”

Scouts: Tigers Justin Verlander has best fastball in majors | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander has the best fastball in baseball, just ahead of todays spring foe, the Yankees Joba Chamberlain, according to a polling of scouts by mlb.com.
The results:

SPORTSbyBROOKS » Tigers’ Tata Starts Fight with Door, Loses Quickly
Jordan Tata has become the latest to come down with the disorder that overcame Joel Zumaya in 2006 in the form of Guitar Hero addiction and manifested itself again in 2007 with a ruptured tendon in his finger caused by wiggling his hand too fiercely.

The most recent manifestation with Zumaya came last winter when he did not pay proper attention to the Tigers’ latest pamphlet, “Avoid Being Crushed by Large Falling Objects“. This must have been disheartening for Tigers trainers and doctors that thought they had worked out the ‘Duh’ virus (working name) from his system.

Verlander unscored on in 8 innings during spring training - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
Justin Verlander is looking good.

The Detroit Tigers’ ace threw three scoreless innings, striking out three and walking none in Monday’s 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

“He used all of his pitches and he had a very good curveball today,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

Verlander has pitched eight scoreless innings during the exhibition season. Monday marked the first time this spring Verlander threw his breaking ball with regularity. The 2007 All-Star pitched out of a jam in the third inning, striking out his final batter— Austin Kearns—with two men on and the Tigers ahead 2-0.

“When he got in a little trouble and Kearns came up, who’s a very good big league hitter, he really was bearing down on him,” Leyland said. “Fortunately, he put him away. He turned it up a notch.”

Bonderman pleased with pitching despite Tigers’ loss
He gave up three runs on five hits in four innings. So why was Jeremy Bonderman in an excellent mood on Saturday after his start in a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays?

His change-up, that’s why.

It’s the pitch that will elevate him, in manager Jim Leyland’s opinion, from being a good major-league pitcher to something special — but he has to improve it first.

On Saturday, he improved it.

“I’m not happy about giving up three runs,” Bonderman said, “but my change-up was probably the best I’ve ever had. I’m very happy with the way I threw it.”

Said Leyland: “We gave him a few more to throw. That’s the only way you’re going to learn.”

Bonderman couldn’t recall how many change-ups he threw, “but I threw it a lot,” he said. ” I got Vernon Wells with one. I felt really good about it.”

Was it good enough to throw in the regular season?

“One hundred percent,” said Bonderman, who’s impressed Leyland with the way he’s approached this spring.

Public enemy? Inge doesnt deserve wrath of fans | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Theres never any public compassion for a professional athletes disappointment and frustration. All anybody sees are the dollar signs, justifying fan contempt for a guy making millions complaining about any aspect of his life.
Brandon Inge is quickly becoming a public villain.

And its not fair to him.

Anybody who competes at anything doesnt want to be told hes been sacrificed or diminished for somebody better.

Try forgetting for one second that hes making $6 million a year. Try putting the loss of his job as the Tigers third baseman within the context of any average person who works hard at his job only to be told he has been demoted. Pride conflicts with reality and the adjustment takes some time.

Ex-factors: Tigers prospects become Marlins building blocks | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Cameron Maybin still wears the gold necklace with his favorite number, 24, on a coin-size charm. He received it as a Christmas gift from his father in 2005 — a sign of the centerfielders connection to idol and mentor Ken Griffey Jr.

For the first two years of Maybins professional career, though, he didnt have the same numerals on his back. At West Michigan, he wore 30. At Lakeland, he wore 11. In Detroit, during his whirlwind call-up, he wore 4.

Then came the blockbuster December trade in which the Tigers acquired stars Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins. Detroit surrendered six players: Maybin, pitcher Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo, and minor league pitchers Burke Badenhop, Eulogio De La Cruz and Dallas Trahern.