Odds and ends from Jim Leyland's office before the Tigers/Yankees tilt today....

Mark down Saturday, March 14th on your calendar.  That's the day that Jeremy Bonderman will take the next step in testing his shoulder.  Bonderman will take the mound at 10 am at Tigertown to face some hitters in camp in what will basically be a batting practice session......it will be an important step in geting Bonderman ready for the regular season and Leyland said he will be  little nervous, hoping things go well....the skipper has also been impressed with Fernando Rodney's perfomance this spring.  What has been the biggest difference?  "His command of his fastball is much better," according to Leyland......The Tigers have been hit hard by the WBC.  Four of the Tigers' top five hitters in the line-up are not in camp.  Leyland said he worries about the guys in the Classic not getting a chance to practice the fundementals.  Practicing cutoffs and rundowns is a big part of what they do in camp, but there should be enough time once Granderson, Cabrera, Ordonez and Guillen return to camp....

Marcus Thames strained an abdominal muscle yesterday in Jupiter making a play in the outfield...he was a scratch today and will be examined...

Justin Verlander struggled with his control today, walking four, but the Tigers beat up on C.C. Sabathia (1.2 ip 6 h 5 r)...Sheffield took him deep.  Shef said before the game that Lloyd Mcclendon made an adjustment with his hands and Gary responded with a long ball.

The Tigers face the Cardinals in Jupiter today, and it's a beautiful sunny day with the temperature in the 80's.  While the Cardinals line-up is stacked with the usual suspects named Pujols, Duncan, Ankiel and Ludwick, the bulk of the Tigers line-up is wearing a World Baseball Classic uniform.  Maggs, Cabrera, Guillen and Granderson are currently representing their countries, and the Tigers starting nine is filled today with some pretty good outfielders hoping to make the team.

One of them is Marcus Thames.  Marcus proved his worth by taking Kyle Lohse deep in the second inning.  Thames is a big league talent.  He has proved that the last three years in Detroit.  If he wasn't on the Tigers bench, he would be starting for may teams in the league.  But, as Jim Leyland ponders the makeup of this season's squad, deciding whch outfielders to keep could become sticky.  Carlos Guillen's shift to left field this year has had an effect on those decisions. 

Lets look at the candidates and what they bring.  Brent Clevlen is a supremely talented player who posses great power, an outstanding arm and the ability to play center field.  Clete Thomas is coming off Tommy John surgery and is expected to start throwing at some point during camp.  He provided the Tigers with a spark last year showing speed, power and the willingness to get his uniform dirty.  He can play any of the outfield positions.  Jeff Larish is one of the Tigers top power prospects and has the versatility to play left, right and the corner infield positions.  To make matters interesting, Clevlen is out of options and Thames (who will make over $2 million this year) is not a center fielder which becomes an issue.  Leyland must make sure that he has a backup centerfielder on days when Granderson needs a blow.

When all is said and done, a player's performance tends to make a manager's decisions for him.  But, like the battle for the fifth spot in the roatation, the outfield battle is an intersting one.

Speaking of the fifth spot in the rotation, Zach Miner continued his bid today but allowed three runs on seven hits in three innings.  He allowed a home run to Chris Duncan.  The top three candidates for that spot continue to struggle.

As Rick Porcello makes the start in Jupiter tonight, the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation continues this spring.  At the start of spring camp, Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson and Zach Miner were considered the front runners for the gig.  Porcello was a long shot.  However, the early numbers on Willis and Robertson have not been very encouraging.  The two lefthanders have combined for eight walks in seven spring innings so far.  Miner, meanwhile, has allowed seven runs in seven innings.

There is a thought that even though Porcello hasn't pitched above "A" ball, the young right hander has a shot to make the staff.  While Porcello has clearly pitched the best among the candidates so far, he is still only 20 years old and pitched only 125 innings at Lakeland last year.  Can you realistically expect him to make the jump to the big leagues and contribute 170 to 190 innings next year?  Well, it has been done before. When Justin Verlander won 17 games for the big club in 2006, he was coming off a year in which he pitched only 129 innings the previous season.  Verlander went on to throw 186 innings in the big leagues and won Rookie of the Year honors in '06.  Of course there is one major difference: Verlander pitched three seasons of college ball at Old Dominion while Porcello came to the Tigers straight out of HS.  If Porcello defies the odds and make the big club, the Tigers would have to monitor him closely and limit his innings as they did last year in the minors.

Then there is the issue of having an all right-handed rotation.  Not the most desired situation.  I think the Tigers would love to see Robertson or Willis win the job, especially in light of the amount of cash they a paying each.  However, if Porcello has the best spring, don't you have to take him?

By the way, Porcello tonight against the Marlins:  3ip 5h 0r 0bb 1k

Hmmmmmmmmm.

As we approach the 2009 season, the Tigers line-up will look different in some ways this year, especially at the bottom.  A few new names are sprinkled in, but the core remains.  Part of that core is center fielder Curtis Granderson, who once again with be in charge of helping to make the Tigers offense go.  It has been an offense that does not really posses a lot of pure team speed.  It is also an offense that stole just 63 bases last year.  Only four teams in all of baseball stole fewer.

While this team may still be built to hit the long ball, you may see a bit of a different attitude at the top.  Granderson had just 16 stolen base attempts last year, and was successful on 12 of those.  This year, expect those numbers to jump.   I had a chat with Andy Van Slyke during the Tigers Caravan in January, and it appears that there will be an emphasis placed on making more use out of Granderson's speed.  Van Slyke, who is also the Tigers base running coach, said his goal was to see Curtis attempt 40 stolen bases this year and to be successful in at least 30 of those attempts.  That is a huge projected jump from last year's numbers.  In 2006 when Granderson was at his best, he stole 26 bases, but attempted only 27.  That is a terriffic percentage, but 40 projected attempts this year is far more than Curtis attempted in his best season.

So why the sudden change of strategy.  Actually, it's no change at all.  Van Slyke wanted Curtis to run more last year, but because the team was behind in so many games, they had to put on the brakes a little more for fear of running out of a scoring chance.  if you go back to 2006, the Tigers would often jump out to a lead early, which in turn freed up the running game.

If Granderson does indeed end up with 30 or more steals this season, it could be a sure sign that the offense once again was humming.

With the new 2009 season on the horizon, the Tigers have a new direction in the pitching department.  New pitching coach Rick Knapp is already busy putting his fingerprints all over the Tigers staff.  As you know, Knapp comes to the Tigers from the Minnesota Twins organization.  With the Twins, Knapp was busy overseeing the likes of talented pitchers like Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins, just to name a few.  The main message he delivered to all of them was simple.  Throw strike one,  the best pitch in baseball.  As a result, Twins staffs generally allow the fewest number of walks in the major leagues.

Last season, Twins pitchers allowed 406 walks the entire year.  That was by far the lowest total in major league baseball.  Moreover, the Twins staff threw an average of 15.7 pitches per inning, the fewest in baseball.  By contrast, the Tigers allowed 644 walks, the fourth highest total in all of baseball.

Knapp's message to his staff is really quite simple.  Trust your stuff and throw strikes.   The Tigers defense should be improved with the return to Inge to third base and the addition of Adam Everett to play short stop.   It's one thing to invite the opposition to put the ball in play and another thing to catch it.  The improved defense and an emphasis on throwing strikes will hopefully translate into more victories in 2009.

The Tigers 2009 telecast schedule is now posted at foxsports.com/detroit ... it includes 4 spring training telecasts (March 16, 19, 22, 29).