Tigers Demote Scherzer, Sizemore
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer was demoted to Triple-A Toledo today, along with second baseman Scott Sizemore.
Scherzer, who was acquired from the D’Backs by the Tigers this offseason as part of the Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson deal, did not impress in his brief time in the AL. Scherzer struck out 9.19 batters per nine innings last year, but is down to a 5.57 K/9 through his eight starts in 2010.
He has seen a touch of bad luck, with a .327 BABIP agaisnt and 58% LOB%. However, Scherzer has had trouble with balls in play for his short MLB career, with a .323 BABIP against in over 268 innings.
While his ERA is 7.29, his xFIP is only 5.04. Our updated ZiPS projections have Scherzer finishing the year with a 5.16 ERA. MLB.com’s Jason Beck says that Scherzer has had problems with his mechanics, so hopefully he can work things out in the minors and return relatively shortly. If you have Scherzer in a keeper league, you might as well hold on to him during this stretch, otherwise it is safe to drop him.
As far as Sizemore goes, his demotion isn’t even the biggest news surrounding the Tigers 2B job. The team says that Carlos Guillen will be the everyday second baseman when he returns from the DL in the next week or two.
Guillen hasn’t played 2B since 1999 (when he was with the Mariners), but he did play 132 games at SS back in 2007, so he isn’t that far removed from the middle infield. In real life, UZR was not kind to Guillen at SS in ’07, or at 3B in ’08, so we’ll see how long Guillen can hold down the job at 2B. For fantasy owners, as long as he plays enough games to gain eligibility, it doesn’t matter how long he sticks. ZiPS has Guillen hitting .280 the rest of the season, and adding in 10 homers and 5 steals. Getting those numbers out of your second baseman is not the worst thing in the world.
Focusing on Sizemore, a .268 BABIP and 3.6% HR/FB rate hurt his value and he ended up with awRC+ of only 60. He should be able to return to AAA and hit very well once again, forcing the Tigers to consider bringing him back up later on in the season. But, if Guillen plays well at 2B, there may not be room from him.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
I’ve noticed Scherzer’s also lost about 2 mph off his heater this year for some reason. Mechanics? Or something more?
Drop in velocity coupled in with eliminating your cutter could lead to problems. Not sure what’s causing it, but my guess is mechanics. Fair warning, though, I haven’t seen him pitch this year so I couldn’t tell you for sure.
I watched him pitch on Friday. He couldn’t locate anything. His velocity looked okay though. I think his first pitch was 96-97. Everything was up and nowhere near where Laird was asking for it. I think it is mechanical, but wouldn’t be surprised if he had an injury. Ortiz hit a HR off him which is still going. It went over the heads of the fans in right center… and I mean the people standing on the concourse BEHIND the bleachers. That wall measures around 430 feet. The discussion in the stands was whether he should head to the bullpen or the minors, because he definitely did not look right.
What cutter? When has Scherzer ever thrown a cutter?
Threw it ~4% of the time last year, according to pitch f/x
Last weekend I traded Scherzer for Beckham. Victory!
Which side wins: Wright, Shin-Soo Choo, Randy Wolf and Harang (essentially two open roster spots) ::: Kung Fu Panda, Granderson, Figgins and Buchholz.
Kung Fu Panda side wins.
The guy giving up Sandoval wins imo. I don’t trust Sandoval’s unearthly BABIP, Granderson has yet to figure out how to hit lefties, and something is wrong with Figgins. I also assume that he’s giving up Clay Buchholz and not Taylor, neither of which is worth a 20/20 .300 bat, a 30/30 infielder, or two average pitchers. Too many questions for those guys.
Does this 2B shuffle mean Boesch keeps getting full-time at bats?
My guess is, that is why they are doing it. So, yes, he should keep seeing ABs.
I have watched him pitch this year. He doesn’t have an out pitch. He throws hard, but not much movement and imminently hittable. I have seen lots of 7, 8 or 10 pitch at bats whereby his good pitches (on the edges or down) keep getting fouled off until he grooves one and when they hit it it is hit hard, not some lucky bloopers.
This is not the same Scherzer that dominated in hitting friendly PCL just a few years ago. His mechanics are awful and must have changed enough to make him a BP pitcher. I had him in my fantasy league and dropped him last week after that two-start bombination where he gave up like 14 ERs in 8 innings.
I will keep an eye on him down in the minors, but someone has to get him to throw a split-finger pitch and a good two-seamer with good down and away from lefties movement if he is to EVER get out another left handed hitter (which have been just lighting him up).
Oh, and that pickoff move looks like a deer in the headlights move. He is so afraid he’ll throw it away that he just lobs it over there. He may need a sports psychologist, like the one (Dr. Lewlyellen?) that helped John Smoltz back in the mid 90s when he was struggling.