The AL Central leading Detroit Tigers arrive in Baltimore to face the O’s this weekend.
Detroit is 26-19 overall, have won 7 of their last 10 games, and are11-12 on the road. After yesterdays comeback against Toronto, Baltimore has now won 5 oftheir last 6, and pulled to within 5 games of .500 at 21-26.
The Orioles are 14-11 within the confines of Camden Yards, and will look to improve upon their 6-3 record against the AL Central.
The scheduled pitching match-ups are:
5/28: David Hernandez vs A. Gallarraga
5/29: Bergesen vs Willis
5/30: Guthrie vs Verlander
5/31: Berken vs E.Jackson
Each of the match-ups are pretty interesting. Hernandez is making his Major League debut tonight, after a dominating performance his last-time out for AAA Norfolk. Hernandez has put up a ton of K’s at every-level he has pitched at, it will be interesting to see if that continues into the Majors. Detroit is 23rd (out of 30) overall in strikeouts by their batters with a cumulative total of 281. (The Mets have the ML low with 255)
Gallarraga was exceptional in April, but has been horrific in May with 4losses in 5 starts. After winning 13 games for Detroit last year, Gallarraga is 3-4, with a 5.74 era. He has pitched 47 innings, allowed 49 hits, 9 homers, 24 walks, with 35 k’s.
Tomorrow, all eyes will of course be glued to Matt Wieters as he makes his Major League debut. Wieters first at-bats in the Majors will be against Dontrell Willis, who is rounding back into shape after an abysmal 2008.
Willis appears to still be hounded by control issues, as he has allowed 8 walks in his 17.2 innings of work. Despite that, the Tigers have to be pleased that Willis has worked into the 7th in both of his last two starts, and allowed a total of 3 runs. Willis is holding right-handed hitters to a .217 batting average.
Bergesen will be making his 8th start. He has pitched at least 5.2innings in 6 of the 7 previous starts. He has also allowed 4 er or lessin 6 of the 7 previous starts. While he is keeping the team in games, he is not yet showing that he can be a reason the team wins games. In 39.1 innings, Bergesen has allowed 51 hits, and has only 18 k’s.Those are unsustainable ratios.
I had an interesting conversation with Rick Dempsey in the MASN suite Tuesday night, where Dempsey reiterated his belief that Bergesen is not far from being a very successful MajorLeague starter. Dempsey discussed an issue with Bergesen’s arm-slot which I will be watching for.
On Saturday, Guthrie will be looking to build off of his strong startMonday against Toronto. Guthrie will need to be on, as the O’s face one of baseballs most imposing starters – Justin Verlander.
Verlander is 5-2, with a 3.55 era. In 63.1 innings, he has allowed 51hits, 19 walks, and has 85 k’s. He has struck-out at least 8 batters in 8 of his 10 2009 starts.
The series concludes on Sunday with Jason Berken making his 2nd MLstart, facing Edwin Jackson. Berken was pitching in cool, wet weather Tuesday, and understandably was dealing with nerves making his ML debut. I think this effected his control, as he had 3 walks. Berken had 38 walks in 145.2 innings for Bowie last year, and 6 walks in 25.2 innings this year. In his 2nd start, we should improvement in this area.
Jackson was once one of the most hyped prospects in the game, when he initially came up with the LA Dodgers. Jackson owes a lot of his current success to the Tampa organization that stuck with him through a 5-15 season in 2007. The experience he gained that year by making 31 starts, and pitching 161innings allowed him to develop.
In 2008, Jackson had 14 wins for Tampa, and pitched 183 innings. The Rays have a ton of pitching depth, so they were in position to trade Jackson to Detroit this off-season for OF Matt Joyce.
Jackson was clearly reliant on the Tampa defense last year, as he onlyhad 108 k’s, let up 199 hits, and 77 troubling walks. In 2009 Jackson has taken another step-forward. In 66.1 innings, he has allowed 57 hits, with only 17 walks, and has 50 k’s.
Carlos Guillen is on the 15 day DL with right-shoulder inflammation.
Oriole killer M. Ordonez has an OPS under .700 through 152 at-bats. M. Cabrera is crushing the ball, as he sports a gaudy 374 batting average, and a 1.045 OPS.
After posting an OPS of .913 in 2007, Curtis Granderson regressed to a.858 level in 2008. This has decreased again so-far in 2009, as he iscurrently at .800.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.