#MyCardMonday

This week I am keeping the same trend for the past two weeks, a N.L. pitcher who has the ability to throw a no hitter every time he steps on the rubber.

Looking at Clayton Kershaw's numbers this year without knowing it was his numbers, but another pitcher in the majors you would think he is having a good year. ERA of 3.20 ERA+ of 116 leading the N.L. in strikeouts with 140 and a WHIP of 1.036. In reality for Kershaw his numbers are down this season. His career ERA is 2.53 and the ERA + 149, now his strikeout per 9 is up one whole strikeout this year compared to last year at 11.8. I would expect him to get back to the Kershaw of old and be that dominating pitcher that he has been. I just like looking at his numbers that are actually good numbers for anyone other then a handful of pitchers in the major league. Just goes to show how good Kershaw has been in his career.

Draft Collection: Beau Burrows

The Detroit Tigers selected Beau Burrows with the 22nd pick in the 2015 First Year Player Draft. A right handed pitcher out of Weatherford Texas High School. From reports that I have read that he could possibly be a relief pitcher, but only being so young it is hard to tell. He throws a two and a four seam fastball to go with a curveball, and a change-up. His fastball can reach up to 96 mph. Watching the draft I heard Burrows being compared to Trevor Bauer of the Cleveland Indians.

According to reports Burrows improved every year pitching in the tough baseball state of Texas. Last year he went 9-3 with a 0.89 ERA while striking out 132 batters, walking 15 in 71 innings pitched. He might be a little under sized as a pitcher at 6-2 200 lbs but again he is just coming out of high school.

Side note this is probably one of my favorite cards. It is actually on some kind of Plexiglas. The scan photo doesn't do justice for the card.

#MyCardMonday

In the Ramones song "Judy is a Punk" they have a line that goes "second verse same as the first" well this post fits that song lyric. Last week I wrote about Max Schrezer great outing of pitching a 1 hit complete game shut out while striking out 16 batters. Schrezer was up to it again on Saturday against the Pittsburg Pirates.

Last year watching Schrezer pitch for the Detroit Tigers, I remember my dad always telling me that "Schrezer is do! He is going to throw a no hitter!" Well unfortunately for the Tigers he never did in while wearing the Old English D. On Saturday though, Max was perfect through 26 batters. Then Jose Tabata of the Pirates step into the batters box and got a 2-2 count on him. Schrezer would try to go inside on him and when he did Tabata did nothing to get out of the way except to drop his elbow to get him by the pitch. It is almost as bad as trying to bunt during a no hitter. Either way though Max would get the next batter to fly out and get his first no hitter of his career. He struck out 10 on the day and just looked dominating. Congrats Max Schrezer on your first no hitter.

 

Draft Collection: Christin Stewart

Last week with the First Year Player Draft the Detroit Tigers had two picks in the top 36 draft picks. When the Tigers lost Max Schrezer to the Washington Nationals they received a compensation pick in the draft. They had 34th pick and drafted an outfielder out of the University of Tennessee, Christin Stewart.

Stewart projects to be a power hitting left fielder. He bats from the left side and he hit 15 home runs for the Volunteers this past season. He can be aggressive swinger at the plate with the 38 strikeouts in 50 games also. The good news with that is he also walked 28 times. Defensively the reports don't show anything really good for Stewart. He doesn't have the speed for center and he doesn't have the arm for right field. At 6 feet tall and 205 lbs he should develop into a nice power hitting left fielder for the Tigers. Only time will tell what we will get from Stewart. I'm hoping for something good to help with the loss of Schrezer.

A hard loss

For baseball players it is a business. As a fan you would like to think that players would have more loyalty then what they do. Some players do have quite a bit of loyalty to their teams though, but others look at is as a business. I can't blame players for going out into free agency and getting as much money as possible. In my job that is what I try to do, make as much money as possible and why should we bash athletes for doing the same.

This past off-season the Detroit Tigers had one of the biggest arms in the game entering his first free agency, Max Schrezer. After the past two seasons in Detroit Schrezer was a two time All-Star and a Cy Young winner going 39-8  over that span. Putting together two season like that before you hit free agency, you are going to get paid and that is exactly what Schrezer received.

He ended up signing an extremely player friendly contract with the Washington Nationals. The contract would be worth $210 million dollars over the course of the next 14 years. Here is the catch he is only signed with them for the next 7 years to play. That means after the 2021 season he can do three things, retire, sign with another team or re-sign with the Nationals. Now no matter what he does he will still be receiving $15 million dollars for another 7 years. I cannot blame Schrezer for taking this contract. He is set up for the next 14 years and only has to play for the next 7 if he wants. Now I would have like to see the Tigers sign him, but that contract does not make any sense for really any team. Good luck to your future Schrezer and congrats on your awesome complete game 16 strikeout 1 hitter on Sunday!

Collecting Detroit Tigers: Tyler Collins

The Detroit Tigers rank pretty much dead last in everyone's farm system rankings. They do not have anyone player that stands out and has broken into the top 100 prospect lists. With that being said one of the Tigers' farm system strength is with their outfielders. They have a handful of decent outfields with Steven Moya, Daniel Fields, and Tyler Collins.

Last season Tyler Collins was able to break spring training with a spot on the Tigers' major league roster. He started off slow before being sent down to the minors and not being recalled until the expand roster in September. With a crowd outfield again this season Collins would start out the season in triple A Toledo. Once Victor Martinez would go on the disabled list, Collins was given another shot to see what he could do with the Tigers.

Collins has stepped up in his limited role with the Tigers so far this season. He has seen playing time in both left and right field plus time at the DH. With his size Collins should show more of a power hitter then an average guy. He hit 18 and 21 home runs respectively the past two years in the minors. He has a decent arm and decent speed as well. So far in a small sample size of 39 plate appearances Collins is hitting .306/.359/.472 with 1 home run 5 RBIs and 1 triple.  Again it is a small sample size to go off of and I would expect the average to go down, but the power continue to be there for him. He has been a pleasant addition to the Tigers' lineup while V-Mart continues to get himself healthy.

#MyCardMonday

Another Monday another #MyCardMonday post. Flipping through my cards yesterday trying to decide what card I want to use for today's post I stumble across this  Magglio Ordonez relic card. I made a trade with the Snorting Bull while I was visiting him last August and once I came home I had filed this card away and somewhat forgot about it. It is a really cool card with having part of the letter "E" I believe for the relic.

Magglio Ordonez has been one of my all time favorite Detroit Tigers. He signed with the Tigers in 2005 after he left the Chicago White Sox for free agency. He was part of the new look for the Tigers after the dreadful 2003 season. He would play a total of seven seasons while wearing the Old English D,  Five of the seasons he would hit over .300 including the 2007 season when he won a batting title while hitting .363. Injuries slowed him down his final two years before he decided to call it quits, but he fun to watch at the plate while he was healthy and we cannot forgot the memorable walk-off home run in the 2006 playoffs.

Welcome to the Show!

Last night the Texas Rangers started their top prospect and one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Joey Gallo. He was getting his first career start at third base for the Rangers with Adrian Beltre on the DL with an injury.

Gallo went into the season ranked as high as 6th best prospect according to Baseball America. A power hitting third basemen who has shown his power throughout the minor leagues. It didn't take him long to showcase his talents last night against the Chicago White Sox. Gallo would go 3-4 on the night with a home run in his second at-bat and a double. He would also drive in 4 RBIs for the Rangers. Talk about a great start to his major league career!

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For the past couple seasons the Detroit Tigers have had Alex Avila as their starting catcher. Avila is best known for his work behind the plate, but has struggled offensively. This season James McCann beat out Bryan Holaday as Avila's back up catcher. Once Avila went down with another injury McCann claimed the starting role.

McCann has been best known for his offensive over his defense. Well he has shown that he is a pretty good defensive catcher so far this season. He has gunned down 9 base runners so far on the short seasons. Offensively he hitting .278/.313/.407 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs. While his numbers might not be huge they are big upgrade so far over Avila.