Always A Tiger.

[mfbmike]

Tigers' Willis Has The Look

Tigers pitcher Dontrelle Willis is focused on regaining his touch in 2009 and putting his troubles from last season way behind him.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Anyone within earshot of the morning conversation with his locker mate, Nate Robertson, could have detected that something was different with Dontrelle Willis.

As in, just about everything.

Willis kibitzed and laughed and looked overwhelmingly relaxed Thursday in the Tigers clubhouse at Marchant Stadium, where pitchers and catchers formally will open spring camp Saturday.

But it was not only his demeanor that suggested a man fresh from a catastrophic 2008 season was perhaps on his way back to becoming a capable big league pitcher. It was the way he looked.

Willis says he's down "about five pounds." It might be the heaviest five pounds any baseball player has ever shed.

Willis, a left-hander, appears to be in the kind of shape a Marine would appreciate, which is a match for the way he feels heading into a 2009 season that he hopes will be a 180-degree turnaround from last season's nightmare.

"It's a lot more fun this year," Willis said as he took a break from his Robertson gabfest to talk about a new season. "I feel stronger, and I feel strong, mentally.

"I'm a human being. I did the best I could do last year, but I didn't get it done," said Willis, who pitched only 24 innings as a knee injury and a horrific inability to throw strikes (35 walks) forced the Tigers to return him to Lakeland for a mechanical and psychological makeover.

"It was a case of me fighting myself, and my knee. It's hard enough to battle opponents and be successful without battling yourself.

"I'm ready to have fun this year and I'm pleased to be employed again. I'm happy, but not content. I know I can help this ballclub. It's a great place to play. The sky's the limit for this team, and everybody seems ready to go."

Willis, 27, came to the Tigers in the December 2007 trade that also brought superstar slugger Miguel Cabrera to Detroit. Willis had exceptional success early in his career with the Florida Marlins, but had begun to have control issues even before the Tigers acquired him.

-detroitnews.com​

 

[Yawkey Way]

thats good to see, i've always liked dontrelle. I remember watching a Tigers Indians game last year and they did a side by side of Dontrelle's delivery compared to Cliff Lee's delivery. Dontrelle was dipping and pulling his shoulder out so much that the ball was just flying everywhere. He was a mess mechanically. Hopefully his accuracy is manageable in the show

 

[mfbmike]

Got it from tigers.com brah. Embedding it from my photobucket though.

 

[GMSFootballa54]

Go Tigers! Hopefully you can win with them in the game, hopefuly they can win IRL.

Good luck with this, looks great so far.

 

[mfbmike]

did you download it from there or what?

Something like that. :happy:

WOW, this and your pacers chise have made me want to psot here, not nearly as good as yours but i dont know many ppl that are as good as you at this, maybe BDawg35 but thats about it.

Great work mate and good luck with the Tigers.

Thanks a lot dude, that's flattering.

Go Tigers! Hopefully you can win with them in the game, hopefuly they can win IRL.

Good luck with this, looks great so far.

Thanks a lot. I'm hoping I can do big things with them as well.

 

[mfbmike]

Quiet Tigers Show Promise

Carlos Guillen will likely continue to be a strong hitting presence for the Tigers. The real question is how he will adapt to playing left field.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- No hype, little fervor. It's peaceful here at Tigers camp, so quiet you can hear the pop of Joel Zumaya's fastball, so quiet not even Gary Sheffield is saying much.

Ah, that's what a true humbling will do, when a playoff contender becomes a last-place team. It's also what happens when a team's biggest offseason acquisitions were solid, but far from sexy.

Adam Everett was signed to be the shortstop. He's known for being low-key and playing good defense.

Gerald Laird was signed to be the catcher. He's known for being low-key and playing good defense.

Edwin Jackson was signed to be the third or fourth starting pitcher. Brandon Lyon was signed to be the closer. Both are known for being low-key and using the defense by inducing grounders.

Nothing fancy, but there's also no gaudy sense of entitlement, and that can be a good thing. Last year, you couldn't walk through the Tigers clubhouse amid big-name acquisitions like Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria and not get sticky with the hype. Some people foolishly predicted 100 victories. Smarter people like me suggested they'd merely win, oh, 95 or so.

This season? I'll tell you right now, this is a .500 team until it proves otherwise. The potential is still great, but the injury history with the pitching is significant.

Lowered expectations means there are issues, obviously. But this also could be a more relaxed team, a more balanced team, a hungrier team, and, in many ways, a more fundamentally sound team.

Cabrera knows he's the first baseman, not the third baseman, and he also knows he doesn't have to hit 60 home runs to impress.

"We didn't even play the first game last year and everybody says we're going to the World Series," Cabrera said. "It's not that easy. Now, I feel a lot more comfortable."

It shows, in ways subtle and small. The other morning, Jim Leyland came out of his office and was greeted by Cabrera, who leaped up and put him in a bear hug, wrestling him until the manager yelled to be released.

Across the clubhouse, it would take plastic surgery to remove the smile from Brandon Inge's face.

Sheffield, 40, finally looks capable of being somewhat of a force again, more willing to swing hard than swing verbally. He's one home run shy of 500 and coming off his first offseason without surgery in five or six years.

This team has questions, no doubt, mostly with its pitching. But it also could be more settled than a year ago. Every position is spoken for, although I still want to see how Carlos Guillen adjusts to left field. No one on the outside seems to be expecting much, which suits the Tigers fine.

Leyland has spent so much time talking about defense and baserunning, I swear I stumbled into a National League camp.

"We've got a good team, don't get me wrong," Leyland said. "But we're not gonna be the spring training darlings this time."

Not darlings, but certainly not dogs either. Too much was expected last year. If the Tigers actually focus on pitching and defense like they say, too little might be expected now.

-detroitnews.com​

 

[Yawkey Way]

your gonna make a lot of noise in the Central if you can keep away from the injury bug, i'm really interested to see what you do.

 

[mfbmike]

Yeah I'm hoping injuries don't plague my team like they did early in my Pacers chise. haha.

It seems like I'm going to have a lot of firepower though. Especially with Shef claiming to be as healthy as he does and with Cabrera, Ordonez, Guillen. :bow:

 

[mfbmike]

Same lol. It would be my first. Pretty stoked. Game needs to come out already.

 

[mfbmike]

Of course.

 

[mfbmike]

I hope so. lol. I played the demo for the first time lastnight. Two innings. Managed to only get 1 hit. Struck out twice too. lol, just gotta get used to not swinging at everything.

Kicked ass with Hamels though. Striking bitches out ftw.

 

[Mit]

I hope so. lol. I played the demo for the first time lastnight. Two innings. Managed to only get 1 hit. Struck out twice too. lol, just gotta get used to not swinging at everything.

Kicked ass with Hamels though. Striking bitches out ftw.

You had more luck than I did. Kazmir struck me out 10 times through 4 innings. It was ridiculous.

 

[mfbmike]

D-Train On Track To Dominate In Early Going

Dontrelle Willis had a rough '08, going 0-2 with a 9.38 ERA for the Tigers.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Dontrelle Willis has clearly been happy the way he has pitched so far in Spring Training. He had a different look on Tuesday.

It wasn't just about what he was throwing, it was how he felt about throwing it.

As Willis talked about his second session of live batting practice Tuesday, he wasn't simply gushing about how good he felt to be back on the mound and throwing strikes. This was a little more of a quietly confident Willis, someone who envisions success before he takes the mound and goes out looking to execute.

"I knew what I wanted to do today: Get there and continue to throw quality pitches throughout the 12 minutes today," Willis said.

More than attacking the strike zone, trying to force hitters to put the ball in play, Willis was attacking particular parts of the zone, keeping his pitches low while working them inside and out. More than firing fastballs, he was mixing changeups and breaking balls to every batter he faced. When he missed, he was missing mostly off the plate, not over the middle of it or hanging something in the zone.

"Everything was low and with movement," said infielder Ramon Santiago, one of the batters who faced Willis. "And he threw where he wanted."

There was still that Willis smile, especially when he set up Mike Hessman for a swing and miss. But clearly, Willis isn't simply satisfied to throw strikes again. He's working to throw quality strikes.

"I threw a bunch of good changeups. I'm gaining confidence in that," Willis said. "I'm going to try to use that a lot more. I felt like I was down a lot today. I was able to repeat it. All in all, just a good pace."

In turn, the Tigers seem to be gaining confidence in Willis.

"He looked really good," manager Jim Leyland said. "Good life, good movement, throwing strikes. ... He looks tremendous right now, to be honest with you."

-tigers.com​

 

[mfbmike]

Everything I read about Tigers spring training is that D-Train is ready to rip bitches.

:bow:

 

[LC AAU]

D-Train better pitch good this year.

 

[Miggy]

I remember when the D-Train was down here I went to like 5 of his starts and he fucking owned. Miguel is a candidate for MVP this year so you better come through Mike!

 

[mfbmike]

I'll try man. Hitting has been one of my weaknesses so far in the demo. lol.

 

[mfbmike]

Off from work tomorrow, will be picking up game tomorrow morning and getting this show on the road.

 

[mfbmike]

Here we go!

 

[mfbmike]

Opening Day Is Here

The real games are here at last, and it's time to get rolling Tigers fans.

What do you expect this year? Justin Verlander gets the start on opening day as he looks to return to dominance. Manager Jim Leyland has done all he can to get the club ready, so it's up to the hitters to hit and the pitchers to pitch and the defenders to defend. How will the 2009 season go?

Stay tuned all year. It ought to be exciting.

With opening day upon us, here is the official 2009 Detroit Tigers Lineup and Pitching Rotation.

Batting Order:

1. CF Curtis Granderson

2. 2B Placido Polanco

3. RF Magglio Ordonez

4. 1B Miguel Cabrera

5. DH Gary Sheffield

6. LF Carlos Guillen

7. 3B Brandon Inge

8. C Gerald Laird:

9. SS Adam Everett

Bench:

C Matt Treanor
SS Ramon Santiago
LF Marcus Thames
RF Clete Thomas



Pitching Rotation:

1. Justin Verlander

2. Armando Galarraga

3. Jeremy Bonderman

4. Edwin Jackson

5. Dontrelle Willis

Bullpen:

LRP Zach Miner
LRP Nate Robertson
MRP Freddy Dolsi
MRP Bobby Seay
SU Fernando Rodney
SU Joel Zumaya
CP Brandon Lyon​