Results tagged ‘ Jair Jurrjens ’
West Michigan alums in WBC
Six must be a lucky number for the West Michigan Whitecaps this year, as first a half-dozen former players were got invites to the Tigers training camp. Now, six ‘Caps alumni will be playing in this season’s World Baseball Classic representing their respective countries. The latest player to sign on, is Warwick Saupold. He pitched for the Whitecaps last season and will be representing Australia. A relief pitcher, Saupold was 2-1 during his time in West Michigan, with a 2.79 ERA. He struck out 58 batters in 28 games.
Warwick Saupold pitched for the Whitecaps last season, and will represent Australia in the WBC.
Representing Venezuela will be Ramon Hernandez. Hernandez played in West Michigan back in 1996, when they were affiliated with the Oakland A’s. He hit .255, with 12 home runs and 68 RBI’s. He’s been playing in the majors with Oakland, San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Colorado.
Former Tigers’ closer Fernando Rodney will be playing for his home country of the Dominican Republic. He played for the Whitecaps way back in 2000, going 6-4 with a .294 ERA. In 22 games he had 56 strike-outs and only gave up two home runs. After leaving the Tigers, Rodney went on to pitch out of the bullpen for California/Anaheim/Los Angeles and Tampa Bay.
Representing the great maple leaf will be Chris Robinson for team Canada. Robinson was a catching prospect for the Tigers when he played in West Michigan in 2005, hitting .257, with eight doubles and two home runs. He’ll be in pursuit of base hits and cheap gasoline while playing in the WBC. He threw out 12 baserunners from behind the plate for the Whitecaps, too.
One of my favorite former Whitecaps, Jair Jurrjens, will be playing for the Netherlands. He was part of one of the worst trades in Tigers’ history, in my opinion, but needs to find his form back to be effective in the WBC. With West Michigan in 2005, he went 12-6 with a 3.41 ERA. He had a whopping 108 strike-outs in that season, also. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2008, and I love to see him back in the Detroit system.
Giovanni Soto pitched 16 games for the Whitecaps before being traded to the Indians that same season. He went 6-6 with 2.61 ERA in West Michigan, while fanning 76 and pitching two shutouts. He would go on that season to win the Midwest League Championship with the Lake County Captains, and threw a no-no last season for Akron. He’ll be representing Puerto Rico in the WBC.
Photo courtesy of the West Michigan Whitecaps
VOTE AVILA ’11
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who excercise your right not to vote, now might be a good time for a change. Voting can undo some major injustices, and if Detroit Tigers catcher (and former West Michigan Whitecap) Alex Avia does not start the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, that would be an injustice. At this time, Avila is trailing Yankees catcher Russell Martin by a fairly significant amount (2,226,797 to 1,730,511 as of 6/21). If you compare the two, however, you’d have to agree that Avila is simply the better choice. The Tigers back-stop is hitting .304, with 15 doubles, 10 homers, and 45 RBI. Compare this to Martin, who is batting a whopping .230, though his nine home runs and 30 RBI’s aren’t bad. Defensively, Martin has caught only 12 base-stealers, while 34 have made it safely to second while he was behind the plate, for a CS% of .261. Avila, however has a CS% of .400, nailing 20 out of 50 at second. I’m not saying that Martin is a bad player, or a bad person, or anything like that. The simple facts of baseball at this point, however, state that Avila is the better catcher at this time and should be the starter come July 12. I also understand how the system works for the All-Star game, and Martin being a Yankee has a huge advantage. Even Jeter is leading the race to start at short stop, and we all know that he’s battling injury, and did not play like his legendary self this season. The power is in our hands, we can vote on who actually deserves to be there, or let the All-Star game become more pointless that it has already become.
Vote for Alex!!!
Other Whitecaps alumni who should be in the starting line-up on July 12 at Matt Joyce (TB) and Jair Jurrjens (ATL). Joyce is batting .313 with 10 home runs and 38 RBI for the Rays. Jurrjens has been one of the best pitchers in the National League all season with the Braves, sporting an ERA of 2.07 and a record of 10-3. He has struck out 55 batters to boot. Representing the Tigers in the Futures Game for Team USA is former ‘Cap Jacob Turner. Turner is 2-2, with an ERA of 3.01 with 72 strike-outs for the Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League.
Illustration courtesy of Samara Pearlstein
Whitecaps Update
2010 Coaching Staff: The Detroit Tigers organization announced the coaching staff for this season’s Whitecaps team. Returning to the helm as manager for his thrid season is Joe DePastino. He led the ‘Caps to two playoff appearances in 2008(72-65) and 2009(81-59). Also returning for a third season is former Tiger and pitching coach Mark Johnson. Joining the staff this season as hitting coach is Luis Quinonnes. Quinnones was the hitting coach for the Class A-Short Season Oneonta Tigers for the last three seasons. Moving on is former hitting coach Benny Distefano who has been in West Michigan since 2006. He resigned to accept a position in the Mets organization. Benny was very good to the fans and always good about signing autographs. Below is a good pic of him and my daughter from last season.
2009 Promotional Video: Click HERE for the Whitecaps 2009 Promo Video. It’s entertaining and gives a good view at what to expect at future Minor League games.
Tiger Fridays are back: This will be the second season the Whitecaps are offering Tiger Fridays, where a former Detroit player or players will be at 5/3 Ballpark to sign autographs. They usually have a bobblehead giveaway, or something like that, too. Here’s the lineup for this season; Jack Morris (June 4), Juan Berenguer and Ozzie Virgil (June 25), Larry Herndon (July 23), Mike Henneman (Aug. 6), Dick McAuliffe (Aug. 20), and Frank Howard (Aug. 27).
Path of the Pros: MiLB.com is continuing it’s Path to the Pros series this time featuring former Whitecap Jair Jurrjens. Jurrjens was part of one the worse trades in Tigers history (maybe that’s pushing it, but my opinion) being sent to Atlanta in a deal for Edgar Renteria. You can read the full story at MiLB.com HERE.
Prospect Chat: Baseball America has a nice interview with Casey Crosby who played for the Whitecaps last season and was named the top Minor League Pitcher in the Tigers organization. You can check this out HERE.
Winter Beer Festival: 5/3 Ballpark is hosting the 5th annual Winter Beer Festival this year on Saturday Feb. 27. You have a unique chance to sample some great beers that are brewed in Michigan. They are expecting over 35 microbreweries and beerpubs to participate, and over 200 beers to sample. Sounds like a good way to handle the winter weather to me.
Photo property of MIB
Minoring In Baseball
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