Trots
04-03-2002, 06:31 PM
Before I settle in for another night of exciting Tiger baseball, here are my thoughts on the opener. Weaver was okay, at best. He struggled all night and got pulled after 5.1 ip. He just threw too many pitches. He's got to start looking like a number one starter, especially against teams like Tampa Bay, if the Tigers are going to get in the neighborhood of .500 this year.
Matt Miller will be gone before May 15. He got rocked most of last year, most of spring training and didn't look any better in game one. He's a Garner favorite, which doesn't say much for the manager's evaluation skills. Rumor has it rookie Andy Van Hekken may be in Detroit shortly, if he starts well in the minors. Van Hekken doesn't throw real hard, but has an array of pitches and is tough-minded from what I hear.
Michael Rivera was a little shaky behind the plate, but it was his first Opening Day. He also had two hits. Higginson looked better than he did most of ST.
This team still can't move runners along and makes far too many errors. Paquette, Rivera and Halter all had some costly mistakes last night. Game Two is about an hour away, I'm hoping for some improvement this evening.
Matt Miller will be gone before May 15. He got rocked most of last year, most of spring training and didn't look any better in game one. He's a Garner favorite, which doesn't say much for the manager's evaluation skills. Rumor has it rookie Andy Van Hekken may be in Detroit shortly, if he starts well in the minors. Van Hekken doesn't throw real hard, but has an array of pitches and is tough-minded from what I hear.
Michael Rivera was a little shaky behind the plate, but it was his first Opening Day. He also had two hits. Higginson looked better than he did most of ST.
This team still can't move runners along and makes far too many errors. Paquette, Rivera and Halter all had some costly mistakes last night. Game Two is about an hour away, I'm hoping for some improvement this evening.