Phil Roof – The Whirled League

#Detroit Wolverines

After giving up a 5-0 lead, Detroit rode a grand slam from Oscar Gamble to an 11-6 win over Birmingham. Bob Bailey also went deep and Gene Conley improved to 6-1 out of the bullpen.

Despite it not being clear how long he’ll be out, C Bill Carrigan was placed on the DL to make sure the Wolverines have an option to Ed Bailey behind the plate in the form of Phil Roof, was recalled from AAA.

A grand slam from Ty Cobb broke open a pitching duel, leading the Wolverines to a 5-1 victory and a sweep of a doubleheader over Birmingham. Conley improved to 7-1 with the victory.

#Los Angeles Angels

Gerrit Cole has been accused of not deserving his win/loss record on the year, but he was downright impressive in moving to 11-3 with an 8-2 victory over the Black Yankees. The Angels exploded for 5 runs in the 5th, chasing Ron Guidry from the game and effectively putting it out of reach. John Stearns drove in 3 runs with 2 hits and Rusty Staub went 3-for-4.

#Wandering House of David

Two homeruns by George Stone helped the House of David to a 5-4 victory over Houston. Ernie Banks also went deep, with a game-tying shot in the top of the 9th.

Wade Miley closed out the first half of the season for the House of David in high style, twirling a 4-hit shutout over Houston. Stone and Mark Grace had 3 hits each in the 6-0 victory.

Spring training will determine if Whitey Wilshere ends up in the rotation or the bullpen, but either way he’ll probably make the roster. Gene Conley, Hank Aguirre, Tom Hughes, Si Johnson, and Johnny Marcum are also in the race for the back-end of the rotation.
- Jason Schmidt and Claude Passeau have struggled mightily (Passeau especially has put himself in danger of not making the team at all), opening up more competition for starting spots. Wilshere is almost guaranteed one, and Marcum has impressed as well.
  - Passeau has moved down to AAA. Newhouser and Wilshere have spots in the rotation, but the rest is unsettled. If Johnson has a decent 2nd start, he is in, but nobody else has shown enough, leaving eight pitchers vying for the final 2 spots.
- Wilshere moving to the rotation opens up a lot of room in the bullpen, with Mike Henneman joining Buddy Napier as candidates to close.
  - Napier has been rocked hard, moving him to the edge of the roster entirely. Henneman is the closer, with Mark Dewey the only other decent bullpen performer so far.
Robby Thompson and Charlie Gehringer are competing to start at 2B, and Ray Chapman and Sparky Adams to backup George Davis at SS.
- Thompson is far ahead of Gehringer at this point, and Chapman is even outperforming Davis at SS so far.
  - It’s all so confusing. Phillips was brought in just for flexibility, and he’s outperforming everyone. Thompson and Adams continue to impress, while both Davis and Gehringer are edging towards demotion. Jorge Orta has been recalled.
Only 2 of Al Kaline, Wes Covington, and Jody Gerut will make the roster in all likelihood.
- Right now, it’s Covington and Gerut, as Kaline–along with Ty Cobb–are the worst performing OFers of the Spring. Veteran utility player Tony Phillips has been called up to add some roster flexibility as well.
  - Cobb has recovered slightly, but Kaline has just about lost his roster slot. Geoff Jenkins has been recalled to add some competition here as well.
Ed Bailey has closed the gap with Bill Carrigan at C, and Phil Roof has been added as a 3rd option.
- Bailey is hitting better than Carrigan, leaving open the possibility of a platoon situation.
Hank Greenberg is struggling, opening the door for Nate Colbert to push him at 1B and Bob Bailey has hit enough to make a strong case for a roster spot.
- Even Greg Brock is outhitting Greenberg at this point.

	Near Definite	Likely	Possible	Long Shot
Starting Pitchers	Hal Newhouser Whitey Wilshere	Si Johnson	Jason Schmidt Johnny Marcum Gene Conley Hank Aguirre Tom Hughes Red Ehret Justin Verlander Mickey Lolich
Middle Relievers		Kevin Hart
Setup		Mark Dewey	Buddy Napier Roberto Hernandez
Closer			Mike Henneman
C		Ed Bailey Bill Carrigan		Phil Roof
1B		Hank Greenberg	Nate Colbert Greg Brock
2B		Robby Thompson	Tony Phillips Charlie Gehringer	Jorge Orta
3B	Jimmy Collins	Bob Bailey
SS		George Davis	Ray Chapman Sparky Adams
OF		Ty Cobb Chili Davis	Wes Covington Oscar Gamble Jody Gerut Al Kaline	Geoff Jenkins

Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Phil Roof

TWIWBL 22.1: Series XVIII Notes – Bill James Division

#Detroit Wolverines

#Los Angeles Angels

#Wandering House of David

Spring Training Preview: Detroit