Tag Archives: Alex Avila

August 9, 2017

Losing Contreras

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The Cubs may lose catcher Wilson Contreras to a hamstring injury:

No team wants to lose their starting catcher, and that’s especially the case with the Cubs and Contreras. On the season, the 25-year-old is batting .274/.342/.519 in 102 games, which is obviously excellent production for someone who mans a premium position. Contreras has also been especially hot in recent weeks, as he entered Wednesday when an OPS of more than 1.100 in the second half.

Luckily the added Alex Avila, who is doing an even better job this season of getting on base.

October 5, 2014 October 18, 2013 October 17, 2013

Taking a Beating

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David Ross ran into Alex Avila earlier in the game, and now David just fouled a ball off Avila’s mask. It hit hard enough to take the mask off of Alex’s face. The Tigers may want to get Alex out of the game as they are trailing 4-0 in the top of the fourth.

Update: Alex is out in the bottom of the fourth. Good. It’s not worth having him suffer another concussion.

September 15, 2013

Football Sunday

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The Royals tie the Tigers in the top of the ninth on an Alcides Escobar double, steal of third, and a wild pitch. On the wild pitch, the ball bounced behind Eric Hosmer, who signaled Escobar to come home. He was also trying to move out of the way, when Alex Avila ran into Homser and knocked him over. It looked a little like Hosmer intentionally moved in from of Avila, but it looked more accidental to me, and to the umpire as well.

Despite being out-hit 12-6 by the Tigers, the Royals are in this game tied at two. Max Scherzer, despite a great pitching performance, will not win his 20th game.

Update: Avila homers in the bottom of the eighth to give Detroit the lead back, 3-2. It’s his second home run of the game, and he drove in all three runs.

Update: The Royals go quietly in the ninth, and the Tigers win 3-2. This was a much tighter game than it should have been. The Royals can’t afford many more losses if they want to make the playoffs.

October 28, 2012 October 6, 2012 September 27, 2012

Walk-off Catchers

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Dioner Navarro and Alex Avila record walk-off events within minutes of each other Thursday afternoon. The Brewers were one out away from a 1-0 win When Todd Frazier homered and Jay Bruce singled. That set up an unusual walk-off triple for Navarro. The Reds hurt Milwaukee’s playoff hopes with a 2-1 win.

Billy Butler hit a solo home in the top of the ninth to tie the Tigers at four. The Royals defense loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, however. Avila grounded to first, Brayan Pena stepped on first, but he cold not complete the double play. The Tigers win 5-4 and stay in first place for another day.

July 1, 2012

Catcher Falloff

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Alex Avila knocked out two hits in the Tigers 5-3 win over the Rays Sunday afternoon. His 2 for 4 day increased his averages to .247/.335/.402. That’s a big decline compared to his .295/.389/.506 slash line from 2011. That kind of production from catcher gives a team a big boost. Without it, the Tigers are hanging on in the AL Central race instead of dominating.

October 17, 2011

Flinching Catcher

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Former Cy Young award winner and perennial person in trouble Denny McLain has a theory about Alex Avila’s injuries:

“I believe, and I could be wrong, maybe the Tigers know this, maybe they don’t. I think he’s a flincher.”

McLain explained that kids growing up who wanted to be catchers would “blink just as the ball got to the mitt.”

“If the hitter made a motion that he was going to swing, the catcher would blink,” McLain said. “And, therefore, the glove would move, the eyes would move, the head would move. Everything moves when you blink. I suspect that he may be, as I call him, a flincher, a blinker.”

Because he takes his eye off the ball, he gets hit by more foul balls. I would think that someone could go back and watch a few games to see if this is true.

October 13, 2011

Wounded Whomp

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Alex Avila, playing poorly due to a knee injury, homers off C.J. Wilson with one out in the bottom of the third. That ties the game at one, and a single plus error puts Ramon Santiago on second.

Update: That’s all the Tigers get, but Verlander looked stronger since the first. Maybe one run is all the Rangers get against him.

July 5, 2011 June 9, 2011

Speedy Catcher

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Alex Avila hit two triples in the first five innings of the Mariners/Tigers game. That gives him three triples for the season and three for his career. Not bad for a catcher. That’s the 11th time a player accomplished that feat this year, Jose Reyes recording three such games.

Detroit scores four times in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead.

May 24, 2011

Tiger Taters

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The Tigers scored six runs on three homers, but the second homer of the game by Alex Avila gave the Tigers the lead in the eighth and a 7-6 victory over the Rays. Avila hit his seventh and eighth home runs of the season, beating his 2010 total, which he reached in 104 games. At 24 years old, Avila is maturing into a very nice power-hitting catcher.

May 3, 2011

Wasted?

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The Detroit Free Press runs this headline about Alex Avila’s play against the Yankees:

Alex Avila‘s two home runs wasted in Tigers’ loss

Avila kept the Tigers in the game, tying it late with his second home run. He’s having a very good year at the plate, with a .593 slugging percentage in 24 games. A catcher who can hit for power is a valuable commodity. A two-home run game draws attention to him and the Tigers. His good performance did not result in a win, but there are positive nonetheless. The better he hits, the less the Tigers will feel the need to use Victor Martinez behind the plate.

January 23, 2011