2007 Detroit Tigers Rookie In-Depth Analysis
By Paul Coffey - Guest Writer
12/19/2006
Brent Clevlen DOB – 10/27/83 (Age 23) Bats: R Rightfield
Clevlen got his first taste of the majors in August and was Curtis Granderson’s platoon partner versus lefties for most of August. He made the jump to the majors from single A ball. He hit well initially even taking David Wells deep at Fenway. However, he went just 0-12 with 8 K’s after August 28th. He amassed most of his AB’s versus lefties, twice drawing Johan Santana.
| SPLIT | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| vs. Left | 24 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.360 | 0.667 | 1.027 |
| vs.Right | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.250 | 0.600 | 0.850 |
| Total | 39 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0.282 | 0.317 | 0.641 | 0.958 |
Due to the limited number of at bats his card with have minimal impact on current season. He will most likely be a 4th outfielder for a few seasons and will eat into Curtis Granderson’s playing time versus lefties. He played most of his games in CF, but profiles best as a RF. He more than held his own defensively, with three assist and no errors. Probably profiles as a poor man’s right handed Bobby Higginson.
He was drafted in the 2nd round in 2002 by Detroit. Prior to this year he was listed as the 4th or 5th best Tiger minor leaguer. His minor league work showed some improvement in 2005 before his call up showing a combination of some power and speed. He has a very high strike out rate throughout his career, but improving it when repeating Single A ball at Lakeland last year. His K-rate dropped from 30.2% in 2004 to 23.9% in 2005. His MLB K-rate was 38.5% (15/39). His right handed swing is a little long, but he is capable of taking the ball the other way.
Although he may have higher upside, I only foresee a 4th outfielder with good splits versus lefties and a solid defensive player, mostly a RF-3 (-1) with maybe a couple season of RF-2. He will amass 100 AB’s in 2007 versus lefties depending on whether Granderson shows any improvements versus lefties. He may be pressed into duty further if Magglio Ordonez misses any significant time (knee?). Prospect Cameron Maybin will eventually follow in 2008 and push Clevlen to the bench or to another team.
Ramon Santiago DOB: 8/31/79 (27 years) Bats: S SS, 2B, 3B
Santiago is the ultimate utility infielder. He filled in for Placido Polanco until the Neifi Perez pickup which eventually sent him to the pine. He is no longer considered a rookie as he played with the Tigers and Mariners collecting 713 ABs over 4 seasons prior. He will be newly carded in 2006 after amassing only 8 ABs in 2005.
A typical free swinging Dominican player, he typically puts the bat on the ball and is a good bunter. He also exhibited good defense when he did play (SS-27 games, 2B-12 and 3B-1). I expect a SS-3e10 and 2B-3e10 with Bunt-A and H&R-C with a speed of 15. That’s the good news; the bad news is his card will be putrid with these splits:
| SPLIT | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Vs. L | 24 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.208 | 0.208 | 0.250 | 0.458 |
| Vs. R | 56 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0.232 | 0.259 | 0.268 | 0.526 |
| Total | 80 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0.225 | 0.244 | 0.263 | 0.506 |
He will be a late inning defensive replacement only this year. Already 27 years of age, the chance for Santiago to be anything more than a utility player is minimal. A career OPS of .591 over 900 plate appearances spanning five years doesn’t merit any future year considerations.
Alexis Gomez DOB: 08/06/78 (28 years) Bats: L LF, RF
Gomez is your typical 5th outfielder. Most likely the reason the Tigers called him up and sent him down more times in 2006 than is possible to count even on an abacus. I wonder how far Toledo is from Detroit. Can Alexis take advantage of a frequent flyer plan to capitalize on all those trips in 2006? I suspect more of the same in 2007, so he might benefit by racking up some Southwest flier miles.
Gomez will profile as a poor man’s Michael Tucker - a left handed corner outfielder that will hit .275 with limited pop and speed if given a chance to showcase his tools on a regular basis. As a Mudhen in Toledo he did connect for 4 HR’s in a game in 2006. He will offer a decent split versus righties in the 2006 card set with a 287Avg/340OBP/754OPS. Already 28 years of age, he should be avoided in keeper leagues and only picked up for the 2006 card as a potential platoon.
Joel Zumaya DOB: 11/09/84 R-Relief Pitcher
This guy is simply a freak and I love freaky players. Zumaya dials up triple digits like no bodies business. Matter of fact, he threw 233 pitches at 100+ MPH according to Baseball Info Solutions as reported by ACTA Publications. There is an old adage that goes something like…”You can’t hit what you can’t see!”
He gave up only 56 hits in 83 innings of work. He also keeps the ball in the park and has exhibited this throughout his major and minor league work to date. The inning tally is somewhat high and may have led to the forearm fatigue that beset him going into the playoffs; however, he was accustom to pitching that many innings as he was a starter in the minors in 2004 (130 inn) and 2005 (151 inn). I don’t believe the forearm strain is a major problem and he did end up pitching against the Cardinals in the World Series.
The only knock on him can be the amount of base on balls allowed and coupled with the fact that he was not that adept at holding runners in 2006, may pose problems to teams with speed for the 2006 SOMBB set. Regardless, Zumaya is a top 5 closer going forward. Heck, the guy enters from the bullpen to “Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix and has a killer flame tattoo on his arm. Draft this freak without hesitation – I know I will.
Justin Verlander DOB: 02/20/83 R-Starting Pitcher
High accolades have followed Justin Verlander since the 2004 draft. Drafted in the first round and 5th overall, he has quickly become a household name. He has a dominant fastball that hits triple digits, but works consistently in the high 90’s. He also features a plus curveball. He dominated righty batters this year to the tune of .682 OPS; however, he has struggled versus lefties and will need to develop or enhance an out pitch versus lefties.
This Rookie of the Year showed flashes of brilliance through the end of July, but due to a career high in innings pitch, fatigue started to hinder his performance down the stretch. Detroit even skipped a couple of his starts in September to try to keep his innings down and minimize dead arm. Despite the tall frame, he was adept at keeping runners close and actually picked off several would be base stealers. A top 3 pick and long term keeper.
Zack Miner DOB: 03/12/82 R-Starter/Relief
A fourth round pick in 2000, Zack has shown a durable arm as he has progressed through the minors in typical fashion. He was slotted in the rotation for the Tigers as the fifth starter in 2006, but pitched out of the bullpen at times when Mike Maroth was healthy. Miner throws three pitches: fastball, curve and change. He also utilizes a low arm slot below ¾. His fastball sits in the 90-93 range and his change sits at 80 on the Jugs. He will use either the change or fastball for his out pitch depending on what is working for him on a given day. Due to the arm slot there is a natural tail in on righthanders and away against lefthanders on both his fastball and change. He is effective when he keeps the change low in the zone and the fastball inside on righties.
He fared better in relief than starting and had much better splits versus righties. He gets in trouble when he leaves the ball up too often like many pitchers.
He projects to be a #5 starter/swing guy and could develop into a solid #4 if he improves his curveball and develops an effective pitch (split or 4-seam) to combat the lefties who feasted on him in 2006. I like him as a righty setup guy for the 2006 set, but would not expect him to be a long term keeper. For what its worth, he was not listed in any top tens for the Tigers in 2005 or 2006. Zack also has a pretty swing from the clip I saw of his first major league hit.
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