Detroit Tigers Rumors & News

Detroit Free Press "No matter how often someone hits the ball hard, winning the batting title can be tough. Miguel Cabrera repeatedly had shown that in the last few days before Friday. Beginning with his long final out on Wednesday, Cabrera hit the ball hard on five consecutive at-bats. On those five at-bats, he..." May 18

Detroit News "Justin Verlander hasn't been himself in his last two starts. Should you worry? Of course, you should. But choose the right reason to do it. Let's discard this reason first: His health. Verlander is not hurt. His arm isn't sore. He said Thursday night, after his abysmal outing, he's been..." May 18

Detroit News "Day One of the solution was, as you might expect, quiet. In fact, if the stats weren't available to indicate just how much Justin Verlander has struggled in his last two starts, (7.2 innings, 12 hits, 11 earned runs, and seven walks), you might have thought there was nothing from which to..." May 18

Detroit News "It must be catching — because look who has become a strikeout pitcher. Of sorts. Rick Porcello, his season continuing to mend since a first-inning nightmare in Anaheim, made it four consecutive strong starts Friday night in the Tigers' 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers. As the winning..." May 18

Detroit News "For a while, questions will outnumber answers. That's what happens when your ace, your All-Star, your Justin Verlander has one of the worst starts — not to mention, the worst inning — of his career. As he had Thursday night in the Tigers' 10-4 loss to the Texas Rangers. What's wrong? Is..." May 17

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "The ballyhooed Justin Verlander-Yu Darvish matchup Thursday night looked nothing like a duel between two anticipated Cy Young contenders. Instead, the opener of the four-game weekend series between the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers resembled a Willie Blair-Mark Clark from 1999. Except..." May 17

Michigan Live "Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland inserted Avisail Garcia into the ninth spot in the batting order so he could settle in a little bit. It didn't take him long at all. Garcia hit his first career home run -- a three-run shot in the second inning -- in a 7-5 loss to the Houston Astros. The..." May 16

Michigan Live "Baseball is a game of inches. Miguel Cabrera just missed hitting a game-winning grand slam. Phil Coke missed his spot on a fastball that Carlos Corporan hit for a tiebreaking double. But the guy who missed his spots by the most number of inches the most times was Al Alburquerque. Coke..." May 16

Detroit News "The Tigers four-game weekend series against the Rangers is a matchup of first-place teams. And fittingly, the opener features two of the premier pitchers — Tigers ace Justin Verlander (4-3, 1.93 ERA), who has led the American League in strikeouts three of the past four seasons, against Rangers..." May 16

Houston Chronicle "Carlos Corporan took the Tigers’’ series sweep and lined it to deep left-center field. The Astros catcher’’s RBI double off Detroit’s Phil Coke in the top of the ninth was a go-ahead game-winner, pushing a struggling club to a 7-5 victory Wednesday at Comerica Park. The Astros (11-30) ended..." May 16

Detroit Free Press "Expect to see slugger Avisail Garcia in centerfield today when the Tigers play the series finale against Houston. Garcia, just called up from Triple-A Toledo, will make his season debut. A bruised right heel cost Garcia a month of spring training and a spot on the Opening Day roster. Matt..." May 15

Detroit News "With their success against Houston this season, the Tigers may be wondering why the Astros didn't move to the American League sooner. Prior to this season, the Tigers were 6-9 all-time against Houston but they are enjoying a dominant stretch, winning the first five, including a four-game sweep..." May 15

Detroit News "If at first you don't succeed, wait an inning. You're playing the Astros. Down by a run after the third, the Tigers were up by five after the fourth. With Andy Dirks' first career grand slam to lift them, the Tigers downed the Houston Astros 7-2 on Monday night at Comerica Park. It was the..." May 14

Detroit News "One common refrain states Drew Smyly is too valuable in the Tigers' bullpen to even think about moving him into the starting rotation in place of Rick Porcello. It's an easy debate to build: With 23.1 innings pitched through Sunday's games, the left-hander has spent nearly as much time on the..." May 14

Michigan Live "Opportunity knocked. Andy Dirks smacked it over the fence in right field. Dirks hit a grand slam home run Monday night to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Houston Astros. He also had a single, a double and two runs scored. Dirks took advantage of an off target 0-2 pitch for..." May 14

Detroit News "Contractually speaking, first base is tied up for a while as the Tigers ponder future lineups. Prince Fielder is signed through 2020, give or take a season or two — or more — as the team's designated hitter. And, at least for the time being, that might be reassuring for an organization that has..." May 13

Detroit News "Triple A Toledo Who's hot … Avisail Garcia, OF : Back from a long month on the disabled list and hitting in the manner anticipated: .432 in his first eight games. Garcia's age: 21. Jose Alvarez, LH starter : If need arose, Tigers would stick Alvarez in their rotation today. He turned 24 last..." May 13

Detroit Free Press "Sensing the approaching rash of criticism, Jim Leyland tried deflecting the attention after Jose Valverde blew his first save in his Detroit Tigers’ renaissance. “We didn’t take advantage of all the runners we had on base,” Leyland said. Nice try, Skip. Even the most scorching bats will..." May 13

Michigan Live "Our weekly look at the Detroit Tigers: Who's hot: Jhonny Peralta struggled through a sub-par season in 2012. But with the 2013 season nearing its one-quarter mark, Peralta is hitting .315 and has helped stretch out the lineup for the Tigers. Peralta is hitting .382 (13-for-34) with one home..." May 13

Michigan Live "Jim Leyland has said all along that he won't use Torii Hunter in center field. A stint on the disabled list for Austin Jackson has not changed that a bit. Leyland confirmed Monday afternoon that he will not use Hunter in center in place of Jackson, who went on the disabled list earlier in the..." May 13

Detroit Free Press "Outfielder Avisail Garcia was recalled today by the Detroit Tigers, who placed starting centerfielder Austin Jackson on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled right hamstring. Austin Jackson did not play in Sunday's loss to the Cleveland Indians. Tigers manager Jim Leyland said before the game..." May 13

Detroit News "The Tigers still are a ways away from having their bullpen at full strength. Veteran reliever Octavio Dotel still is recovering from inflammation in his right elbow that put him on the 15-day disabled list in mid-April. Dotel threw a bullpen session this week, but wasn't feeling 100 percent and..." May 12

Detroit News "Former Tiger Ryan Raburn will return to Detroit tonight with his current team, the Indians. Manager Jim Leyland said he'll be glad to see him, but still absorbs the blame for the down year Raburn had last year with the Tigers. "I think I screwed him up last year trying to make him a second..." May 10

CSN Washington "In a 162 game baseball season it’s hard to qualify an early May series as a test, no matter the circumstances and no matter the teams involved. But for a team with World Series aspirations, sweeping the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers in a two-game series felt about as good as it..." May 10

CSN Washington "From his position at first base, Adam LaRoche often gets an unfiltered reaction from opposing hitters to the man they're facing on any particular night. What LaRoche was hearing from the handful of Detroit Tigers who reached base Wednesday night against Jordan Zimmermann was enough to convince him..." May 09

Detroit News "At 3.04 after 30 games, their starting rotation has the best ERA in the American League. That should come as no surprise if you've been paying attention at all to the Tigers, whose game against the Nationals was rained out Tuesday. If anything, the surprise is there is a rotation in the..." May 08

Detroit Free Press "With the designated hitter not in use in the National League, the Tigers will have Victor Martinez available as a pinch-hitter for the two games against the Nationals. “Just be ready for that AB,” Martinez said before Tuesday night’s game at Nationals Park was postponed by rain. “He can hit,..." May 08

Detroit News "Jim Leyland's job as the daily public evaluator for the Tigers is to walk a line slightly safer than a circus high wire. He must be upbeat about his team, but low-key in issuing grades. It is why he was spare with the tributes when it was mentioned after a weekend sweep of the Houston Astros..." May 07

Detroit Free Press "The Tigers are being held to nearly impossible standards. Last season, when they won the pennant, some argued the Oakland Athletics were overmatched and the New York Yankees were beat up and brutal. So really, what had the Tigers accomplished? (Other than winning the American League I..." May 07

Michigan Live "Our weekly look at the Detroit Tigers' minor-league affiliates: TRIPLE-A TOLEDO Record: 9-23 (.281) Standings: 4th (International League West) Games behind: 13 Who's hot: First baseman Jordan Lennerton has reached base safely in his last eight games, batting .387 (12-for-31) during that..." May 07

Washington Post "Having ceded to more than a month of actual play on the field, preseason predictions have already lost what scant relevance they had to begin with. Still, when the prognostications came flying in, the most frequent World Series pick was the Nationals against the Tigers. After the Tigers have..." May 07

Detroit News "A weird thing happened in the middle of last week as the Indians right fielder took his defensive position late in a victory over the Phillies. Fans seated in nearby sections stood up and saluted with raucous applause and chants of "RA-BURN! RA-BURN!" "I couldn't stop smiling," Ryan Raburn..." May 06

Detroit News "Now, the Nationals. And now, there will be no Victor Martinez. Not in the starting lineup, anyway, as the Tigers move to Nationals Park for Tuesday-Wednesday games against a National League team that, because it is playing at home and observes league rules, won't be using the designated..." May 06

Detroit News "When not hitting a home run becomes news, a hitter is way past hot. He's a player tracked and followed. His latest game has folks wondering what this cowpoke did today. Tyler Collins became one of those guys during the past week when he hit six home runs in five consecutive games, a string that..." May 06

Detroit News "Triple A Toledo Who's hot … Jose Alvarez, LH SP : Has a 1.29 earned-run average in six starts, with an 0.94 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning). Alvarez, who turns 24 on Tuesday, has struck out 30 batters and walked eight in 35 innings. He was signed last autumn as a minor league free..." May 06

Detroit Free Press "You have to wonder if Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera could have made the play last season in Sunday’s 9-0 win vs. the Houston Astros, so we’ll let the reader be the judge. The Astros’ Brandon Laird led off the fifth inning with a grounder that forced third baseman Cabrera to move..." May 06

Michigan Live "Our weekly look at the Detroit Tigers: Who's hot: Let's not bother looking at how Miguel Cabrera has fared over the course of the past week or from the weekend series in Houston. His numbers through 30 games this season are ridiculous. Cabrera is hitting .385 with six home runs, 36 RBIs and a..." May 06

Michigan Live "Jim Leyland did not want it to get lost in the shuffle. The Detroit Tigers swept the Houston Astros and have won nine of their past 10 games. They outscored the Astros by a 26-2 count in the final two games of their four-game sweep. Miguel Cabrera mashed his way to two home runs and six RBIs on..." May 06

Houston Chronicle "Astros pitcher Lucas Harrell was sick of watching the Detroit Tigers constantly high-five during a brutal four-game series sweep at Minute Maid Park. Reliever Wesley Wright said the Astros’ constant failure had become a “manhood” issue. Detroit starter Justin Verlander didn’t allow a hit until..." May 06

Detroit News "Some nights you simply accept. Happily accept. The Tigers had one of those Saturday at Minute Maid Park, where they torched every pitcher the Astros could throw at them in a 17-2 romp, which featured 21 hits by Detroit to six by Houston. Miguel Cabrera slammed two home runs and had six RBIs,..." May 05

Detroit News "Drew Smyly never saw 2013 evolving in quite this fashion. This new job of his, anyway, which at the outset he had every reason to like as much as your 4-year-old appreciates a bowl of spinach. The bullpen was no place for a starting pitcher. Not for the long-term. And it probably won't be an..." May 04

Detroit News "Some wise-guy film editor got a hold of Thursday night's script and made changes the Tigers didn't appreciate. Not until that surprise, 14th-inning ending. The Tigers, who were supposed to have done what most teams do with the Astros — drill them — instead played catch-up and giveaway for..." May 03

Detroit News "That glass-and-girder monster known as Minute Maid Park greeted the Tigers, some for the first time, Thursday. It is quite the baseball playpen. It has sandstone arches across the left-and center-field wall, separating balcony seats and the playing field from the glassed-in upper tier that..." May 03

Detroit News "Rick Porcello was the Tigers' chief architect Thursday. And how humble of him to have stepped aside as his Tigers bullpen mates applied the finishing artistry to a stirring 14-inning display of pitching in a 7-3 victory over the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Porcello and four Tigers relievers..." May 03

Michigan Live "First impressions are important. Jose Ortega and Luke Putkonen have made good ones the past couple days. Ortega had his second consecutive impressive outing and Putkonen pitched well and earned his first career victory in his season debut Thursday night in a 7-3 victory over the Houston..." May 03

Michigan Live "Here are three stars from the Detroit Tigers following their 7-3 win over the Houston Astros in 14 innings on Thursday: FIRST STAR: DON KELLY Don Kelly has had some clutch moments in his brief career in Detroit. He added another Thursday with a go-ahead RBI single -- the centerpiece to a..." May 03

Detroit News "Alex Avila has a home run and a single his last two games. That might not be enough to get the wolves off his back. You see, the Tigers catcher, an All-Star in 2011, is hitting a mere .183 this season. Sure, we're only a month into the season, but considering his past — Avila hit .228 in..." May 02

Detroit Free Press "The Tigers love power arms. It’s why they still love Bruce Rondon. The Tigers have a pitching staff capable of shattering records for strikeouts. When you have guys who can make batters regularly miss on two-strike pitches, you cherish them. You offer them a little longer leash. But..." May 02