Tigers: Jones Providing Spark
I'd love to see this kid playing with Cameron Maybin on the base paths. He's a pretty cool story so far.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:05 PM ^
He is providing a spark but they really need a forest fire.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:07 PM ^
They are 0.5 back from the WC and 4 back from Central with two series left against Cleveland. Not desperate times, Tigs are right in the race.
It's not like they are 30-90 and need to win 100 straight.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:09 PM ^
Hey i'm all for them. The issue is they win a couple then lose the same amount.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:26 PM ^
I want to yell at you, but you're right.
This upcoming KC series is huge and if they follow their 2016 form, they'll at least drop 2 of 3. Every time they seem to get it going and string together some wins and close the gap on Cleveland or the Wild Card, they've immediately laid an egg this year.
One of these times, they've gotta break through, right?.....Right?...
August 31st, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^
KC's the hottest team in the bigs right now...especially at home. If the Tigers can take two of three they'll be doing well. I'd feel better if we could have thrown Verlander at them.
August 31st, 2016 at 5:06 PM ^
Verlander would have been nice, but the pitching matchups look pretty favorable regardless. Should be a fun series.
August 31st, 2016 at 5:05 PM ^
Injuries have been critical - they were very hot before Castellanos went down - they aren't a deep team obviously and it seems like they just can't field a complete starting roster this year.
August 31st, 2016 at 5:35 PM ^
I think they'll be in excellent shape. Baltimore is only a half-game up in the wild card and come to Detroit next weekend. If we can win that series, hopefully that's enough to jump them into one of the WC spots.
Then we host the Twins for 4 games. If we take 3 of those games, we should be great position to overtake Cleveland with 7 or the next 13 games against them. Not saying we will overtake them, but we will at least be in position to do so.
August 31st, 2016 at 6:08 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 6:17 PM ^
They would switch places.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:11 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:11 PM ^
Yes please :)
August 31st, 2016 at 4:34 PM ^
How many games are you under the impression the MLB season lasts? Haha.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:06 PM ^
Does Jones know how to figure out how to post on the iPhone app???
August 31st, 2016 at 4:12 PM ^
Do you have the HD app or the old one?
August 31st, 2016 at 4:29 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:50 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:29 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:08 PM ^
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August 31st, 2016 at 4:27 PM ^
Maybin's re-injury was nasty the other day. Anyone who has ever had a sprained thumb winced hard.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:12 PM ^
I was at Comerica last night and saw his debut. His first two at bats were shaky but I was happy to see his RBI double and then his other RBI later on.
Will be interested to see how he responds to an inevitable hitting slump but a nice couple nights for him for sure.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:14 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:16 PM ^
Astros and Mariners both losing right now. Hopefully the Mariners fall off for good, they've been in a complete tailspin.
Don't think the Yanks have enough to catch up.
Royals are always a threat. This upcoming series at KC is going to be brutal. If Tigers can take 2 of 3, that'll be gold.
Baltimore is going up against one of the best pitchers in baseball tonight.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:20 PM ^
If this kid does nothing else the rest of his life he's had a weekend that Al Bundy would have killed for. It's great when the parents get to watch in person. If dad didn't hit that last night shame on him.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:28 PM ^
We haven't had a lot on the basepaths and this kid provides some. Don't know how close the play at the plate would have been with a good throw- but speed puts pressure on the opponents.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:47 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^
7 IP, 3 H 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
In 10 starts since the All-Star Break, Verlander is sporting a 2.04 ERA in 70.2 innings with a microscopic 0.76 WHIP, mainly because he's only allowed a measely 41 hits. He is striking out over a batter per inning (9.93 K/9) and has a crazy-good 6:1 K/BB ratio (78 K vs 13 BB). His record is 6-1 and the Tigers are 7-3 when he pitches.
Simply put, he has been vintage Verlander, at age 33.
August 31st, 2016 at 4:47 PM ^
I wrote JV off before the season started. Thought he reached his peak, and he was done.
I came here admit my wrongs and give JV a +1. You got an upvote from me. I love seeing vintage JV.
August 31st, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^
On the season, Justin Verlander LEADS THE AL in WHIP. First.
His WAR is tied for 6th, he's tied for 5th in wins (dumb stat but needs mentioning), he's second in strikeouts (4 behind Chris Archer), and he LEADS THE AL in innings pitched.
He's a legit Cy Young candidate and two more starts like he's had recently you have to consider him one of, if not the, front runner.
August 31st, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^
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August 31st, 2016 at 5:50 PM ^
September 1st, 2016 at 12:26 AM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 6:50 PM ^
Verlander is throwing about the same number of strikes he did last year. Fangraphs says he is throwing 48.8% strikes, while he threw 48.3% strikes last year.
The big difference has been his stuff, specfically his fastball and his slider. He is throwing both of these pitches more than he has in a long time (fastball he is throwing more than he has since 2009, slider he is throwing more than EVER) and he is throwing near career lows of his changeup, which has become an ineffective pitch for him.
HIs fastball has been almost as effeective as it was back in 2012 (can't touch that 2011 year--that was nuts) but the big addition has been the slider, which Pitch F/X says has been his most effective pitch. This has been a new weapon for him, as he has never had anything but a solid slider before. Now he has an All-Star quality one.
This has led to a large reduction in contact % by batters. AKA he is getting more swings and misses. Last year he was at 79.4%. This year he is at 76.5%. Back in 2011-2012 he was at 77.6 & 75.7, so he's back in that territory again.
So I suspect a combination of being recovered from the dual-core surgery he had in 2014 plus adding something new to his slider has been the difference for Verlander this season.
August 31st, 2016 at 7:03 PM ^
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August 31st, 2016 at 8:54 PM ^
I don't know... your single stat can be very misleading or, minimally, not a full picture. Of course the more strikes you throw, the more effective you are. That's pretty given. A random round number as a cutoff isn't really going to make me jump from correlation to causation, though. Like the poster above said, the addition of a plus-plus slider has been huge. The anecdotal evidence suggests so, as do the stats.
September 1st, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^
I mean, think about it. What kinds of games would he have toms of strikes in? Games where he has tons of strikeouts. And what kinds of games would he be dominant in? Games where he has tons of strikeouts.
So, it's kind of DUH that games where he throws a ton of strikes he would be dominant, because that means he threw a bunch of strikes THAT WERE NOT HIT. But that doesn't mean that it was the mere act of just thorowing the ball for a strike that made him dominant. He had to have great stuff to get swings and misses. On other nights he may have thrown early-count strikes that were clobbered, which would lead to less overall strikes.
It also may indicate games where he threw a bunch of great pitches with movement out of the zone that were swings and misses and therefore counted as strikes where he fooled the batter.
August 31st, 2016 at 5:23 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 5:30 PM ^
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August 31st, 2016 at 6:22 PM ^
I was hoping, somehow, that this would be about Todd Jones.
August 31st, 2016 at 7:11 PM ^
I don't like to do hypotheticals, but where would this team be if they had brought him up earlier instead of suffering through Tyler Collins and Casey McGehee? Maybe not a hugh difference in the W-L column, but even a 1 game improvement would have been a huge difference when you're .5 back in the WC.
August 31st, 2016 at 7:20 PM ^
August 31st, 2016 at 8:48 PM ^
Plus he had a .260 career batting average. Also, they might not have been able to option him down to Toledo without placing him on waivers.
August 31st, 2016 at 7:25 PM ^
Tigers are 71-50 (.600) against teams not called The Tribe. We just need to get in playoffs and allow Cleveland to choke in the first round and it's smooth sailing to our 5th world title. We have hot starting pitching, a good closer, a potent offense, and a serviceable bullpen. This is our year.
August 31st, 2016 at 9:13 PM ^
I wont over react to Jone's single handedly winning us 2 crucial games and saving our playoff hopes with his mere presence.
His enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air. Miggy and Victor are the leaders of this team and are above reproach. But from a fan's perspective they seem a little chiller than maybe ideal and it seems like the team follows suit to its detriment. A firecracker is a welcome addition to the mix.
August 31st, 2016 at 10:33 PM ^
UM Fan From Sydney is a pitiful little piece of gutter trash.
August 31st, 2016 at 10:36 PM ^
Don't forget, as Rod pointed out the other night.....since Jones got called up before September 1, he's eligible for the postseason.
And I need to add that YAAYYYY the Tigers are calling up UVA product John Hicks. Maybe he can provide some needed hitting from the catcher slot. Even though Salty did rescue the team a couple days ago. Still parked below the Mendoza line, and McCann's hitting is no great shakes this year either.