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.
On July 23rd, 2014 the Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers would find themseleves trade partners once again. Last season the Tigers' bullpen was pretty awful and they were looking to add some help to strength the bullpen for down the stretch. The Tigers would send minor league prospects, Jake Thompson and Corey Knebel to the Texas Rangers for Joakim Soria.
When the trade first went down I will admit I wasn't really thrilled. Knebel did see some major league action, but was really rushed to the majors due to the lack of quality in the bullpen for the Tigers and Thompson was a top starting pitching prospect for the Tigers. I would have given up one or the other for Soria. I tend to believe reliever are hit and miss. You might strike gold with them or they might be a big flop. The way Soria started for the Tigers I was starting to think I was right. He went on the DL and ended up only pitching a handful of innings for the Tigers last season.
Well he has proven me wrong so far this season. Soria came out of spring training being the setup guy for Joe Nathan, who was extremely shaky last year for the Tigers. After the first game against the Twins with Nathan getting the save he would find himself on the DL and eventually headed for another Tommy John surgery. Soria stepped up and took the closer role. So far this season he is 14 out of 15 save opportunities with a 1.33 ERA and a 309 ERA+. Now this is only through the first 47 games of the year. Small sample size, but compared to what the Tigers' closers have done in recent years this is like a miracle.
Last week I made a trade on Twitter with a really good guy. His handle is @cpujesse. He is a Dodger fan and I was able to flip my Jose De Leon to him for a couple of cool cards that I would like to add to my collection. I actually got theses cards in the mail on Saturday and just now getting around to posting them.
Both these guys where involved in the blockbuster trade for the Tigers and the Rangers before the 2013 season. Prince Fielder had one really good year for the Tigers before having a down 2012 season, but still a cool card to have in my collection. I was really happy to add the Ian Kinsler orange parallel. I love having Kinsler on the Tigers with his great defense and solid bat.
Saturday afternoon I was able to witness a pretty cool feat in one of the greatest hitters that I have ever been able to watch. Miguel Cabrera step into the batters in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals, Tyler Lyons and launch his 400th career home run over the centerfield wall.
I thought the Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signature would be a fitting card to use for Miggy's 400th home run post. As a Tigers fan it is truly awesome to be able to watch someone this talented play everyday. Every time he steps to the plate its like he will going to do something great. The thing I love most about the Miggy is how much fun he has playing the game. Always has a smile on his face and joking around. After the game he was quoted saying he wishes he could stay 32 years old, because he enjoys playing the game so much.
Back in 2013 when I first started collecting baseball cards I didn't know anyone outside of my brother-in-law who collected cards. I knew he knew a bunch of other collectors from collecting for so many years. When making trades online I am somewhat skeptical of being ripped off. One of the first trades I made was for an Ian Kinsler quad relic card.
I don't remember what I traded for this card or who I even traded with. The deal was smooth and easy. I have been lucky and not have had any problems with the short period I have collected cards.
Now this Ian Kinsler card I traded for was before he was with the Detroit Tigers. I always like Kinsler as a player good glove, bat, and decent speed. When the Tigers traded for him it was a move that looked really good for the Tigers. They were getting a second basemen who could stop the rotating door at second for them, plus trading Prince Fielder and cash would allow Miggy to move back to first and the Tigers could bring up young third base top prospect Nick Castellanos.
Kinsler had a really nice first year in Detroit. He was an All-Star and a Gold Glove runner up. He hit .275/.307/.420 with 17 home runs, 92 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He is off to another good start in his second season with the Tigers as well. The one thing that really impressed me with Kinsler this year is he has taken on more leadership in the clubhouse. He saw last year that Torii Hunter was the guy that would speak to the media after games no matter if it was a winner or a lose. He felt that someone needed to let the media and the fans know how the team was feeling. After the Tigers decided to part ways to Hunter, Kinsler decided to step up and take on that role for the team. He has been a great player on the field and now it is showing in the clubhouse as well.
Here is a nice double play with Kinsler and his double play partner, Jose Iglesias from yesterday's game.
I should have done this post a week or so ago, but I am just not getting around to it. This year for the Detroit Tigers we are seeing some new familiar faces broadcasting the games with Mario Impemba. Former Detroit Tigers greats, Jack Morris and Kirk Gibson are splitting time with Rod Allen to broadcast the games. A week or so ago we found that unfortunately Kirk Gibson has been diagnosed with Parkinson.
Gibby was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1978 and played his first 9 seasons for the Tigers and then his final 3 years in the majors, including the 1984 World Series team. He is Michigan native from Pontiac. He was a solid outfielder who never made an All-Star team during his career, but he is best remembered for his walk-off home run in the 1988 World Series where he was a pinch hitter who could barely walk to the plate. He did win the MVP that season while playing for the Dodgers.
This is my favorite moment from Gibby's career. This was before I was born, but watching the highlights from the 1984 team this was great. Goose Gossage thought he could strike-out Gibby and you had Sparky yelling from the bench "He don't wanna walk you!"
I wish Kirk Gibson the best fighting Parkinson disease.
My other box that I had waiting for me when I got home from work on Saturday was Bowman Chrome. With Bowman Chrome you are guaranteed three autograph cards in the box. The series focuses on more younger players with their rookie cards. It is a good set to get familiar with young guys who are still in the minors. Out of the three autograph cards I pulled, I only had heard of one of the three.
Joes De Leon is a right handed pitcher in the Dodgers organization. He was drafted in the 24th round in 2013. He is ranked number 7 in the Dodgers organization in top prospects according to mlb.com. He is a strikeout pitcher who broke Clayton Kershaw's Great Lakes single game strikeout record with 14.
Alex Reyes is a top 3 prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. He is another strikeout pitcher with a fastball that can reach mid 90s and even touch triple digits. He even made baseball's top 100 prospect list. The card is #/499.
Brandon Finnegan was the one player that I knew. I did pretty well with pulling Royals cards this weekend (the other being Venture in Gypsy Queen). I heard of Finnegan last year when he was drafted 17th overall to the Royals and then made his major league debut later on that year. He would earn a win in the 2014 ALDS and throw perfect 10th and 11th innings in the AL Wild Card game also.
