OT: Tigers vs. Royals Open Thread
Tigers looking for the sweep of KC today. Justin Verlander vs. Bruce Chen. Score is 0-0 going into the bottom of the 2nd.
GO TIGERS!
Rajai Davis' speed causes so many problems for opposing teams.
The last five games before today have statistically been one of the nice little runs that the Tigers have had this season, and as always, it has been fun to be around to watch it. In these last five game, they've had a .344 BA with a .378 OBP as well as a .890 OPS and .511 slugging percentage. This also has been a period where the Tigers have averaged eight runs and twelve hits per game as well.
Miggy with a sac fly, just missed hitting it out. Tigers go up 1-0.
then strolled in on Miggy's SacFly to the left-center wall. Tigers 1 - Royals 0.
I hope Davis is OK, his speed has added a lot to the Tigers offense.
2-0, J.D.
...
...I'm going to take this thread OT for a moment, as the USA just won the World Cup of Softball by beating those dirty red Canadian socialists, 5-2!
beating the country responsible for Justin Bieber and Nickleback, and yet get no love on MGoBlog?!
Yes, I know it's not Michigan, it's not the Tigers,and it's not FIFA World Cup, but c'mon, what do I have to do, post something more eye-catching than the American Flag to bring attention to this championship, to make them front:
and center:
...in everyone's minds, if only for a brief
moment?
Bruce Chen gave the Royals some much needed innings considering he hasn't been stretched out as a starter in awhile. JD just continues to rake, although the Royals gifted him an RBI single earlier.
It's funny after all the complaining fans have done about the Tigers this year, here they are 16 games over .500 and 4 innings away from having a 8.5 game lead in the division at the ASB. In layman's terms, relax, baseball is a marathon not a sprint.
in a pretty poor division. The bullpen is an implosion waiting to happen. Hopefully it doesn't happen in the playoffs.
Totally agree, people like to crap on the division and not give the Tigers their credit but this division is not as bad as people make it out to be.
would finish no better than 4th in either of the other two AL Divisions
2nd Place Teams
AL East - Toronto: 2 games above .500
AL West - Angels: 20 games above .500
NL East - Braves: 9 games aboe .500
NL Central - Cardinals: 8 games above .500
NL West - Giants: 9 games above .500
So, the Royals might be a bit below average, but I think they're solid. The AL Central doesn't have an awful team like every other division though. The Twins are only 6 games below .500. That makes them the "best" last place team.
every American League Central team has a winning record against the East and there isn't a major difference against the West so your statement is not true.
on that one. I wasn't aware the East teams were struggling so bad.
The Tigers goal is more than just to win the division, though. They have been there and done that. Anything short of WS is a failure. There is alot to like about this team, however the bullpen certainly could be the downfall in the playoffs. Hopefully, they will do something at the deadline to help the bullpen. I remain unconvinced that Nathan is a closer that can be trusted in the playoffs.
Oakland would be the favorite in the AL to me at this point. The trade they made with the Cubs gives their starting rotation five guys with sub 3.50 ERA's. Their bullpen is better than the Tigers right now. They also have scored more runs than the Tigers. Really, the only advantages the Tigers have are more playoff experience in the starting rotation, and the 3 and 4 combination in the lineup of Cabrera and V-Mart.
I'm going to be curious to see how Samardijza adjusts to the AL and Jason Hammel's career numbers in the AL suggest that he won't be as big of a replacement as thought he could be.
Personaly I think the A's are probably still the best team in the AL but the Tigers do seem to have that "mental edge" against them when it comes to a head-to-head series.
I'm more concerned with catching Oakland for the # 1 seed at this point than I am with KC.
Ugly seeing eye singles inning and JV is chased from the game.
Al has a 2.96 career ERA. He also entered today with a 2.91 ERA on the year. He may be inconsistent with his control at times, but your question is ridiculous. He has been the Tigers second best reliever after Joba.
You're citing his career 2.96 and this year's 2.91 ERA as a reason that he *is* a good pitcher? You realize he's a reliever, right? I realize ERA numbers are skewed for relievers due to the murky method that runs are attributed to them in certain situations, so WHIP might be a more valuable stat. His WHIP on the season is 1.21, and his career WHIP is 1.27, which is not great, it's maybe average. He's also given up 31 hits and 11 runs, which I don't think is counting today. He'd be a good fit for the Rockies, but not for a team with championship aspirations and a closing window to realize them. An elite reliever, like the Tigers need, is someone like Craig Kimbrel with a 1.91 season ERA and 0.88 WHIP. Of course, it's better than Phil Coke's WHIP of 1.50, so I guess he has that going for him...
Oh come on now be realistic, there aren't many relievers that are good as Craig Kimbrel...and certainly not any elite relievers that teams are going to be willing to trade for less than a fleecing of Dombrowski.
Honestly, at a certain point we might need to be open to the idea of a minor fleecing. Pitching wins titles, and we simply don't have enough of it. The Tigers will 100% not win a world championship with this bullpen. We've seen time and again that our fancy power hitting peters out in the playoffs against elite starters and closers; we might need to be open to the possibility of unloading some of those guys and getting elite bullpen help(not Joe Nathan)/more guys that are Kinsler-esque.
will be in the bullpen for the playoffs which will improve it greatly. i could see him closing games with nathan depending on the situation.
Any trade rumor thoughts? I've heard the usual bullpen rumblings. Also people keep throwing around the idea of picking up another starting pitcher and bumping Smyly back to the bullpen. I'm just wondering if Dave D. has any tricks up his sleeve.