Grading the off season – The Bleacher Report
The Bleacher Report has a Best/Worst blog entry today. The Tigers make an appearence in the “Worst” department:
George Fitopoulos : Max Scherzer (Traded to the Detroit Tigers)
He has to face a DH instead of a pitcher now, which will only hinder his ability to pitch past the sixth inning. He already had enough trouble with that in the National League, so wins will be hard to come by for the third-year pro.
He brings up a valid point on the DH situation. I don’t think it’s far fetched to say that AL pitchers going to the NL benefit a lot more than vice versa. Two examples off the top of my head are CC Sabathia (2008: 6-8, 3.48 ERA in 122 innings with Cleveland, 11-2, 1.65 ERA in 130 innings with Milwaukee) and Cliff Lee (who started out gang busters in the NL after being traded to the Phillies, but leveled off towards the end of the season.)
Scherzer has only pitched 226 innings of MLB baseball, so it’s still up in the air what he’s really going to bring to the big leagues. He’s obviously a strikeout machine, punching out 174 hitters in 170 innings. He also gives up almost a hit per inning. With Scherzer facing a “real” hitter four more times a game, one wonders how that will effect his ERA.
I’m not an expert in the game of stats, so I’ll leave that to Lee Panas or Bill Ferris. But I will give credence to Fitopolus’s theory that this could be an issue – but I’m leaning towards it being a very small issue. Most #9 hitters don’t put too much fear into a pitcher of Scherzer’s ilk.
Scott Sizemore also made it on the list, under the “Batter positively affected (indirectly).”
Bryan Curley: Scott Sizemore – Positively Affected (Starting after Placido Polanco signed in Philadelphia)
Sizemore is a front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year, and he should bat atop the Detroit lineup with players like Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez to drive him in.
This basically agrees with my theory that Sizemore should get some opportunity leading off for the Tigers this season. He’s got a good bat, with capable speed. I think he’s a more traditional lead off hitter than Curtis Granderson was; and Austin Jackson is slated to be hitting in the bottom third of the lineup. Of all the moves/non moves, I think Sizemore is going to be the brightest spot.
Go and read the rest of the column, it’s a good read.
Tags: Austin Jackson, Curtis Granderson, Free Agency, Max Scherzer