OT: Detroit Tigers offense
Every fan of every team complains about runners LOB.
The players are still going to only get a hit 2-3 times out of every 10 attempts.
My issue isn't necessarily with runners LOB, but more the fact that we can never seem to get runs in from 3rd with less than 2 outs. Its pretty annoying. Admittedly, I've only seen a handful of games this year, so I don't know if this is still the case, but for the past 4-5 years it has been aweful.
Well, sure. But the Tigers don't seem to have problems getting on base. It must be something mental when there are men on base. They 2nd in the AL in LOB and 5th overall.
you just be QUIET *cries*
But let's not compare him to the greatest of all-time.
Miggy and are already halfway to 500 HRs and 3,000 hits, then go ahead and compare him to whomever you want.
but that is absurd. ok he's Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, and Tom Brady.
Fontes's teams performed terribly in the first half of the season, only to rally after Thanksgiving to save his job. Leyland's teams usually are in first place the first half of the season, then nosedive after the break.
that is all
Neg this man. Neg him good and hard.
I was a Yankee fan thru the lean years in the 80's and early 90's, as well as the championship runs since! And I think A-Rod is a putz, so I'm not all bad.
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<br>But, yeah, not sure I'd be so cavalier with my Yankees support if neg-banging was actually in effect
My father is a Cleveland fan, and it's like New Year's every time the Yankees lose. He's having a good time this spring.
their quick start out of the gate will fade, and Cleveland will be forgotten by July
The '80s weren't even really lean for the Yankees. They had one of the best records in baseball over that span. They just could never seem to finish in first place in the AL East.
a.k.a....better than Derek Jeter at baseball
The Tigers really don't have a complete lineup of guys that are good at making contact in certain situations. It has been that way for at least 5 yrs. Every year I get the feeling that they leave a million runners on 3rd with less than 2 outs.
Generally my rule of thumb is the Tigers' over/under on runs scored is how many times Miggy bats.
And what was it before that? A complete lineup of guys that couldnt hit at all?
The Tigers are hitting .198 as a team vs. Oakland. This might have something to do with your frustration.
Yeah it's not that they are leaving men on base (even though that's a problem) they just can't hit the ball right now.
there is a huge differnce between walking cabrera with 2 out and martinez making an out and the bases being juiced with no outs and braden wiggling his way out of it.
They all count the same but the former is a lot more understandable.
My issue with the team has and will always remain Verlander, Porcello and Scherzer getting ahead of every batter 0-2 and throwing them 5 fastballs to try to strike them out and getting their pitch count up to 85 in the fourth inning despite only giving up a run and a couple hits.
The tigers are playing with a bunch of minor leaguers with Rayburn, Inge, Rhymes and Avila. They have a 4 batter whole at the bottom of thier lineup which makes it hard on the top 5 to do everything. If one or two of the top 5 are in a slump that basically means they are done unless the pitcher throws a shutout or something close.
Ever notice anytime Leyland gets his hands on a nice young hitter it only takes a few days for the kid to try to hit everything out? They go from nice gap to gap swings to Inge. whiffffffff
Eh, not everyone has to hit >0.300. I'm really happy with Rhymes as a fielder, and he hit pretty solidly last year in an extended stay in the big leagues. I think you hit the nail on the head though with the last comment: you can't make a power hitter out of a non-power hitter. I'll take Rhymes getting singles and doubles all day long if he never hits a home run.
Is it me or does it sound like Mario and Rod are calling the game in an empty swimming pool?
Starts at the top. Austin Jackson is a tremendous outfielder. But his hitting this year is pitiful. And his strikeouts..don't get me started on his strikeouts.
players go through stretches of bad play all the time. His happens to be the start of the season. Also, strikeouts mean diddly squat if you are a batter. A strikeout is no less harmful than a flyout.
is .229 and it should rise up at around .290 which means his BA should increase from .170 to .250 which isn't terrible but not ideal for a lead off hitter. He was lucky last year with .396 BABIP.
raise his OBP to .334, which is almost equal to his .345 mark from last year. Which leads me to another point. Batting average is a useless stat.
The Tigers are kings of the 2 out nobody on singles/rallies, then not scoring. Their OBP as a whole is killing them, especially at the top of the lineup, and their inability to get key hits with runners in scoring position continues a trend. Leyland always stresses situational hitting, but this team under him and Lloyd McClendon has continually lacked in that area. Last night is a great example, 2nd and 3rd nobody out twice, and it took a throwing error to get one run. A simple ground ball to 2nd, you get a run and a chance for a second with a fly ball, or another ground ball if the infield stays back. And, this team lead the AL in LOB last year, so that is a key stat. And, they never ever seem to score early in games.
The offense will always be a little suspect because the team only has one above-average hitter in the lineup (Cabrera) and a couple of average guys (Victor, Peralta). The top of the order has a horrible OBP, and the last third is where rallies go to die. As another poster noted, though, the Tigers need their pitchers to go deep in games to have a chance, and that means not taking 7-8 pitches to get mediocre infielders out. I'm not sure who can fix that problem, but until that changes any offensive jumps will be muted.
How is he an average hitter? His career OPS is .836. It's not even close to what Peralta is (low .700s). Hell, even Raburn is at .796 as of today.
Because position matters. The standard is higher for a DH than a SS. Last year the average OPS for DHs was .824 compared to .680 for shortstops. So yeah, they're both right around average for their position.
you can compare them to their respective positions doesn't mean that they are equally valuable at the plate. Also keeping in mind, most of what V-Mart accomplished was done while catching.
I'm also not judging him on what he did years ago in Cleveland. He was okay in Boston the past couple of years despite being protected somewhat by a dangerous lineup, but I wouldn't view him as anything elite. I expect him to have around 20 HRs, 60-70 RBIs, a decent OBP and not strike out a bunch, but I stand by my assessment that he's not going to provide nearly as much pop in the lineup as some people expect. Also, if he isn't going to be catching all that much (and it looks like he'll be DHing more than in the past), he's going to take away ABs from guys like Magglio and Guillen, which will also hurt the offense unless Leyland trots them out and hopes their defense doesn't kill.
If Martinez is going to be viewed as Catcher, then I agree he is an above-average hitter. But if you are going to have him line up as DH, then a sub .700 OPS and a sub 100 OPS+ isn't anything special, and even a .844 OPS from last year isn't great either (for comparison's sake, a mediocre David Ortiz season last year was nearly .900 OPS).
With Peralta at SS, a career .750 isn't that bad. He's middle-of-the-pack for a SS, and that is an upgrade given the past couple of years. He's no star, but he's at least a major-league hitter.
is based on 2 weeks of a season though. It's a safe bet that this trend is going to change as that is such a small sample for baseball players to be judged on
Leyland has given his ideas about what could take place with the Tigers. Jimmy said, in a gruff voice, "if we get good hitting and good pitching and play good defense, we'll be a good team". So there you have it, no need to worry. Just need a couple conditionals to fall into place and the Tigers will be in the thick of it.
Blows.