Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers Series Prelude
It’s an early starting time for the first game in this series, so let’s break down the White Sox vs Tigers.
As we all know, the White Sox are coming to Detroit on a streak that no one expected them to be on. They haven’t fared that well on the road prior to this but had at least a .500 average on the road most of the season. However, something has clicked in this clubhouse as they have taken 6 in a row, sweeping both the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox. Three of the six games were come from behind victories, but most amazing was the 4 run 9th inning in yesterday’s game. They are on a major hot streak and are putting the pressure on the Twins showing that if the Twins make any sort of mistakes, the White Sox will catch them and fast.
Detroit however, is going in the opposite direction. Since having the lead in the division prior to the White Sox and Twins trading first place, the Tigers have steadily gone out of contention and now sit 12 games behind first place and 9.5 games behind the second place White Sox. Now they assume the spoiler role, playing the Twins recently and the White Sox now, but have even failed at that role losing 2 of 3 to the Twins. They come into today’s game with a series left against both the White Sox and Twins after this series so they can still use that spoiler role against one, if not both, of these teams. On the series, the White Sox have the 7-4 advantage, losing only 1 series against the Tigers this year.
The lineup for the Tigers:
C:Gerald Laird/Alex Avila/Max St. Pierre
1B: Miguel Cabrera
2B: Will Rhymes
3B: Brandon Inge
SS: Ramon Santiago/Jhonny Peralta
LF: Don Kelly/Ryan Raburn
CF: Austin Jackson
RF: Brennan Boesch
DH: Johnny Damon
Bench: Don Kelly/Adam Everett/Casper Wells
Miguel Cabrera has hit a bit of a slump lately. He is 2-14 in his last 4 games and was not in the lineup on September 3rd. He did return the next day but the one day of rest didn’t help him at all. His batting average has also been dropping. He averaged well over .300 for the first 4 months of the season but only posted a .299 in August. He currently has a .143 BA in September and while he could change that quickly, it could also be a sign that things are going wrong for him just like it has for the rest of the Tigers. If things couldn’t get worse for him, he has played horribly at home against the White Sox this year. He has a .336 BA at home this season with 48 RBI but the White Sox have held him to a .153 BA with no RBI at home. He also hasn’t fared well against starting pitcher Edwin Jackson, going 4-14 in his career against him.
Will Rhymes is no replacement to the injured Carlos Guillen. Rhymes is hitting .314 on the season, a much better average than Guillen but doesn’t have that power Guillen possesses. Guillen had 6 home runs and 34 RBI compared to Ryhmes’ no homers and 12 RBI. Rhymes also hasn’t had much luck against the White Sox. This season he is 3 for 12 with a RBI. That’s nothing special and not really anything to be proud of. Guillen however was 9 for 25 with 2 homers and 6 RBI so it’s safe to say that Rhymes just isn’t going to be as valuable versus the White Sox as Guillen would have been.
Brandon Inge hasn’t fared all that well since coming off of the DL in early August. Since then he has gone 24-110 (.218) with 6 homers and 16 RBI. The home run and RBI totals are pretty good but he also needs to get on base a lot more than he does. Hits seem to come few and far between for Inge as he tends to go on streaks where he goes hit less for a couple games then gets a hit and then goes right back to being hit less. He’s done pretty good against the White Sox, posting a .286 BA with 1 home run and 4 RBI, but still isn’t much to worry about for the White Sox.
At shortstop, the Tigers have gone with either Jhonny Peralta or Ramon Santiago, depending on the situation. Peralta has had a good year hitting .249 with 14 home runs and 64 RBI. He is 18-70 (.257) against us this year with 2 home runs and 13 RBI, one of the better stat lines against the White Sox this season for Detroit. Over the past 3 years he has hit .271 against the White Sox with 16 doubles, 6 home runs, and 30 RBI so he could be a threat against us if given the right pitches to hit.
Ramon Santiago has started the majority of the games at shortstop this year. He hasn’t been playing as many games recently, as he hasn’t been involved in the Tigers’ last three contests. He is batting .273 against the White Sox this year with no home runs, no RBI, and just one extra base hit. Aside from scoring 4 runs against us, I don’t see Santiago as much of a threat at all.
In left field there has also been a split in play between Don Kelly and Ryan Raburn recently. Kelly has been hitting a lot better since July. At the end of July, he posted a .171 for the month and his average for the season was at a .198. Since then, he has posted a .341 in August and a .400 in September so far, raising his average up to .242. It also doesn’t help that he has had quite a bit of success against the White Sox this year. He’s gone 7-12 (.583) with a home run and 3 RBI. This kid could be dangerous if the White Sox give him something to hit, so they are going to have to watch the strike zone with him.
Ryan Raburn was scratched from Sunday’s game with an illness so there may be a slight chance that he won’t play, but I’d say that he will. Raburn is currently 19-53 since missing a game back on August 20 against the Indians. He is another player that has had success against White Sox pitching, going .294 with 3 doubles, 3 home runs, and 7 RBI this season.
Austin Jackson is having a good rookie season for the Tigers. He is batting .306 on the year with 30 doubles, 9 triples, 3 home runs, and 32 RBI. He’s a very good gap hitter and has good speed on the base paths as the 30 doubles and 9 triples show. He’s played decently against the White Sox with a .244 average but really hasn’t dominated over them or any other team for that matter.
Brennan Boesch was having a ROTY type season through June, but once July 1st hit, he’s been in a downward spiral that he just can’t seem to get out of. The funk Boesch is in reminds me of the half a season slump Gordon Beckham got into earlier this season. Since June, Boesch posted a steadily decreasing batting average going .209 in July, .185 in August, and currently .154 in September. After hitting 12 home runs in the first 2 months of the season, he has hit just 2 since then. He’s only got 17 RBI over the last 2 months and his OBP is steadily dropping as well. He is 8-44 this season against the White Sox and regardless of the 2 home runs and 6 RBI against us, it’s a safe bet that Boesch is going to continue to struggle and be a non factor in this series.
At catcher, there has been rotation lately using Gerald Laird, Max St. Pierre, and Alex Avila. Avila and Laird have gotten every game aside from 1 game that St. Pierre got, so St. Pierre is going to be a non factor here regardless. Laird has only played in 2 of the last 9 games for the Tigers so there is a good chance he will miss some games this series, if not all of them. He hasn’t had much success against anyone this year as his .205 average shows, but he does have a little power to hit the occasional home run. He’s only 3-16 against the White Sox this season so it may be a good thing that he doesn’t play against them in this series but we will just have to see.
Avila hasn’t done much better than Laird aside from a slightly higher batting average. They have the same number of home runs and RBI so it’s essentially like looking at the same player. He’s 8 for 30 over his last 10 games and hasn’t done much other than that besides driving in 3 runs. He is 6-23 against the White Sox this season, a better average than most of the Detroit Tigers, so he could pose a threat but I’d say that that is unlikely as well.
Johnny Damon, just like the rest of the Tigers, is hitting poorly. After posting a .325 in July, Damon posted a .223 in August and currently a .167 in September. He hasn’t hit a home run since the end of July and has only one extra base hit in his last 17 games. He has played some of his best baseball of the season against us going .255 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, and 5 RBI. There is a chance he could do some damage against us but again, I don’t see that being too likely.
Off the bench, the only guy worth knowing about in Casper Wells. Wells is by far the hottest hitting Tiger right now. He has gone 12-32 since August 26th along with 2 home runs. He hasn’t faced the White Sox at all this season but he is someone the White Sox need to look out for. As hot as he is hitting and how much the rest of the Tigers are struggling, he may be the guy that gets the one good hit the Tigers need to win the game.
The White Sox on the other hand, have an offense that is ready to go and has had their pitchers’ backs over this road trip. They have had 3 come from behind victories on this road trip and all have come in the 7th inning or later.
The White Sox lineup:
1B: Paul Konerko
2B: Gordon Beckham
3B: Mark Teahen/Omar Vizquel
SS: Alexei Ramirez
LF: Juan Pierre
CF: Alex Rios
RF: Carlos Quentin
C:A.J. Pierzynski
DH: Manny Ramirez
Bench: Andruw Jones, Mark Kotsay, Brent Lillibridge, Alejandro De Aza, Brent Morel
Paul Konerko is continuing his MVP caliber season by doing what he has done all season. He is coming off his best month in terms of average, posting a .382 with 4 doubles, 7 home runs, and 23 RBI. He just continues to hit and drive in runs and be the leader of this team. He did leave the Boston series with stiffness in his lower back and is not playing in Monday’s game so he may not be in the lineup tomorrow and that could hurt the White Sox. Konerko is batting 16-38 against the Tigers this season with 2 doubles, 3 home runs, and 8 RBI so his bat will be missed at least on Monday, if not longer.
After getting hit in the hand and missing a couple games, Gordon Beckham continued to hit the ball, picking up a hit in each game against Boston. He is now on a 6 game hitting streak and has permanently broken out of that slump. He’s batting .313 against the Tigers with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, and 5 RBI against the Tigers this season so he could also do some damage as long as he is still hitting the ball as well as he is.
Expect a split between Mark Teahen and Omar Vizquel at third base this series. Vizquel has consistently hit all season long. Since a horrible April, Vizquel has posted a .278 average or better every month. He doesn’t hit for much power anymore and doesn’t get too many doubles either, but his .352 OBP this season is better than most expected him to do and has lead to him scoring runs quite often.
Teahen has played well since coming off the DL, going 16-49 since then. He’s shown some power with 3 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run but nothing outstanding. He’s a solid choice and 3rd base, just like Vizquel, so either way you’re going to get consistent offense that can easily lead to runs.
Juan Pierre is having a good season out in left field and has contributed very nicely in the lead off spot. After coming off on a hot month of August, where he hit .354, he’s gone 2-17 since then. He does have 54 stolen bases and if he does get on base, he could easily steal with Laird behind the plate, so his goal is to get on base and let the other guys do the work. He has played well against the Tigers, with his 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 8 RBI so there’s a good chance he will play better against them.
Alex Rios has had ups and downs all season long. On August 30, he went 5-6 against the Indians. The following night he went 0-3. He has only gone 3-14 so far in September so there may be a little tiredness in him. That seems likely because the White Sox are sitting him out of game 1. He’s also only 5-40 this season against the Tigers so him sitting is probably a good thing, at least for right now.
Carlos Quentin is having a good season, even though his .244 average seems to tell otherwise. With 24 home runs and 82 RBI, that shows a different story. After not playing in the first game of the doubleheader against Boston, Quentin went 2-3 and then 3-5 the next day, with 3 doubles, a triple, and 2 RBI. He has shown flashes of the type of player he was when he hit 40 home runs but never seems to be able to stay in that groove for long periods of time. He’s done decent against the Tigers this year but we are all hoping he continues his recent hot hitting.
Manny Ramirez has been a decent acquisition at best for the White Sox so far. He is 4-11 since join the White Sox but hasn’t shown any real power. The only thing he has done is apparently scare opponents into giving up 3 run home runs when he is in the on deck circle, as that has happened twice already since joining the team. He’s 1-8 this season against Detroit, so don’t look for anything too special from Manny, except for maybe a few more singles.
The bench players for the White Sox have done what they were needed to do but aside from that, there’s nothing special about it. Ramon Castro has provided some power when in the lineup but hasn’t played enough games in a row to keep that going. Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones have had their moments here and there but have never seemed to get into any sort of groove. They are just replacements from when guys get tired and need a day off. Brent Lillibridge is essentially nothing more than a pinch runner and both Brent Morel and Alejandro De Aza are defensive replacements for guys like Carlos Quentin or Mark Teahen late in games.
Now onto the pitching matchups:
Game 1: Edwin Jackson (9-10 4.37) vs Max Scherzer (10-9 3.45)
Since coming over to the White Sox, Edwin Jackson has been nothing short of amazing. He’s gone 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA. He’s through 10+ strikeouts in 3 straight games and has a strikeout to walk ratio of 45 to 8. He’s gone at least 6 innings in every start (7+ in 4 of 5) and has given the White Sox a consistent starter when everyone else seemed to be having problems all at the same time. He’s 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA against the Tigers this season so expect more dominance from Jackson against his former team.
Max Scherzer has had a good stretch of games lately. He posted a 3-1 record in August, including beating the Yankees. He’s gone at least 6 innings in his last 7 starts (7+ in 5 of those 7) and has given up no more than 2 runs over those 7 games. He is 0-1 with a 3.14 ERA against the White Sox this season so there is a good chance we could rough him up a bit and get a win.
Game 2: Freddy Garcia (11-5 4.82) vs Justin Verlander (14-8 3.61)
Garcia hasn’t been the same pitcher that he was in the beginning of the season. After going 8-1 in May and June, he is just 3-2 over July and August. Over his last 11 games, he has given up 3 or more runs in 7 of those games, including total meltdowns against Oakland, Minnesota, and these Tigers. He is 2-0 this season against the Tigers but he was taken out of his last start versus the Indians with lower back stiffness so there is no telling exactly how ready he will be.
Justin Verlander has pitched pretty well lately but has only earned 2 wins over his last 8 starts. He hasn’t faced us yet this year but over the past 3 seasons, he has gone 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA in 12 starts so we have had some success against him in the past.
Game 3: John Danks (13-9 3.56) vs Jeremy Bonderman (7-9 5.25)
Danks had a rough month of August, going 1-1 with a 4.73 ERA. He gave up 5 runs in a game to Minnesota and 8 runs in a game to the Yankees and inflated his ERA from 3.19 to 3.65 at the time. In his one start against the Tigers this year, he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA. He held the Tigers to a .048 BAA in 7 innings of work.
Bonderman is having a terrible year as the 5.25 ERA shows. Aside from May, he has posted an ERA of over 5.00, including a 7.77 ERA in July. He consistently gives up runs every time he starts and has given up 4 or more runs in 4 of his last 5 starts. He has shown the White Sox both his good and bad side by going 6 2/3 innings and giving up just 1 run in one start against them and then following that up with a 6 inning performance, giving up 6 runs to the White Sox. Chances are, Bonderman is going to get roughed up against the White Sox but never say never.
Game 4: Gavin Floyd (10-11 3.78) vs TBA
This game the Tigers have yet to announce a starter so a match-up can’t be talked about just yet. Floyd however is 7-3 over his last 12 starts. Aside from giving up 7 runs and 6 runs in two separate games against the Twins, Floyd has held all other teams to 2 runs or less over that stretch. He is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA against the Tigers this season so there’s a good chance that he will pitch well against them.
The bullpen is definitely advantage Chicago here. We just got Matt Thornton back and he picked up the save in the last game against Boston so it looks like he is back and healthy. Bobby Jenks also picked up two saves in the same day and at least for right now, he is back to being a dominant closer. The rest of the bullpen has been pitching better but is still giving up runs when we can afford them too. With Putz coming back soon, the bullpen shouldn’t be a weakness anymore.
My Prediction:
I said that the White Sox would take 2 of 3 from Boston and they ended up proving me wrong and sweeping them. I would love for them to go on a perfect road trip but I think this series is going to end up being split. Chicago does have the bullpen advantage and the pitching advantage, but I just don’t think there are enough guys on the team that can carry the load offensively right now. Unless a couple people break out and start smashing the ball everywhere, this will be a split series.
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And as always…….. GO WHITESOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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