OT: Tigers Open Thread
Tigers finishing off a series with the White Sox this afternoon. They got underway around 1:00, so it's already 2-1 Detroit in the third inning. Tuiasosopo with another home run for the Tigers...he's only played in 3 games in the last couple weeks, but he's homered in each one.
Tigers fans, what (if any) splashes do you think DD will try to make before the trade deadline? I've heard rumors floating around about targeting Garza/Gregg from the Cubs, but I think that would require too steep of a price. I've also heard rumors of Phillies scouts checking out some of our minor leaguers, which could point to a possible deal for Papelbon, but again, I think the price is too high there. I still think we'll try to land a more steady closer. I can't imagine this team heading into the playoffs without a set closer.
White Sox fans (since I know there's a number of you around here: this season is obviously already a wash for you, so what are you looking forward to for next year? Who are some of the exciting young guns in your farm system?
Warnings didn't occur after the benches cleared and then both teams returned to their dugouts. But that pitch by Putkonen clearly was a purpose pitch. Normally an umpire will let it go and warn both sides at that point without the ejection but an ejection ought to calm things down a bit more. Usually they give the team a chance to retaliate without represcussion.
Outside of Benoit and Smyly, no one in our bullpen can hit the strike zone anyway so why was this a shocker? But in all seriousness Ramirez threw a bitch fit and that's why this all happened. Prince didn't even give Sale a look when that happened. Zobrist didn't even give Porcello a look for Porcello's retaliation pitch. But Ramirez overreacted and caused all that crap
It's always pathetic to me how the bullpen thinks they need to run in when things like that happen.
99.9% of the times the dugouts clear, nothing happens except yapping and "hold me back" bullshit. Either go at it or don't.
Miguel Cabrera is on a tear, and seemingly won't be stopping any time soon. Meanwhile, Chris Davis, who everyone couldn't stop talking about, is no longer in the top 5 for BA and is 0 for his last 14, and 1 for his last 24. Cabrera is just that much better than everyone else, plain and simple
When you take out the steriod users, Cabrera is projecting right now to have one of the greatest seasons of all time. His projected stats are comparable to these guys:
Ted Williams 1949
Joe Dimaggio 1937
Jimmi Fox 1932
Babe Ruth 1920
Lou Gehrig 1934
Ted Williams 1941
Hack Wilson 1930
Lou Gehrig 1927
Mickey Mantle 1956
Comparable stats could mean a lot of things...
And no, I'm not discounting what you said, I'm just curious.
Avg, Hr, RBI
Unless you were Sale, you don't really know that.
"Who are some of the exciting young guns in your farm system?"
Uh, there's not much. They need to trade out any veterans who can bring something useful. Erik Johnson is a pitcher in the upper minors who looks to be useful. There's some toolsy outfielders but no one can tell if any of them will turn out to much (Trayce Thompson, son of Mychal and brother of Klay, looks like he could be something in a couple of years). A couple of potentially decent infield prospects, particularly Carlos Sanchez. Some guys in the way low minors. But it's one of the lowest ranked systems in baseball.
But hey, Phegley's been solid since coming up and his haircut is hilariously terrible, so they have that going for them.
Man, I don't know what it is with Coke, but he's got to get his head on straight. Used to be a shut-down reliever not too long ago. Seems like he hasn't been the same since his experiment in the starting rotation. He's really become a liability now.
That's the key phrase. He hasn't had a good year since '09. And before people start with the "but he was good in last year's playoffs" that's why I said a good year. From 2010 to today, His ERA is something around 4.5 and his WHIP is above 1.5. He needs to go
has brought nothing to the table this year, he can't even get lefties out. Dombrowski needs to find a LOOGY along with another 7th/8th inning arm.
I'm going crazy watching this team. This Tigers team reminds me of the Fontes Lions talent. Ton of talent, but an almost complete lack of heart and consistency. This team is just so inconsistent.
Wow, relax dude. Still a long way to go. We're going to make the playoffs, and anything can happen once we get there. Plenty of time to work out the kinks in the bullpen before then.
Edit: My response doesn't make as much sense now since you edited your post, but the point still stands.
I'd hardly call it a pitching collapse, this team just got back from an 11 game road trip and this was Anibal's 2nd start since coming off the DL so lumps are going to be taken. We won't win a World Sereis with the same GM that brought us to 2 in 6 years? Of course they need bullpen help, I'm sure everyone in the front office would agree with that premise but they need to be smart about how they go about fixing it. This team is still up 2.5 games in the division (assuming we do lose today) and the Indians have far worse problems than we do, so let's not overreact.
This is purely for the board's consumption, but excluding today, the last ten games for the Tigers have been not too bad offensively:
| AB | R | H | HR | EBH | BA | SLG | OBP | OPS | |
| Per Game Avg: | 36 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0.287 | 0.487 | 0.344 | 0.832 |
Some of the per game pitching averages in the same period - 8 K, 2 BB, 4 R, 9 H, good for a 4.88 ERA (that admittedly concerns me some, but we're still in first in the Central right now).
By a lot of statistical measures the Tigers are awesome: Hitting and starting pitching rank near the top in baseball and even the bullpen is close to average.
And I think I saw one of those advance stats reports about a week or two ago that basically said that the Tigers just haven't been very lucky thus far this year. I'm okay with provided their luck turns on in the second half & playoffs. They've managed to get pretty good results so far (1st place) by just chugging along so if they catch fire then they might rout their way to a World Series victory. We'll see.
Get him out of there.
is both Porcello and Putkonen handled it the correct "professional" way, they threw at the players in areas where they would probably get a nice bruise but nothing more. And MLB suspends them. The guys who threw the dangerous pitches won't get anything, heck Sale didn't even get a warning today.
the Tigers were 44-42, 3 1/2 games out of first place
Essentially the Tigers are 3 1/2 wins better than last years pace
Fuck that shit. Leyland blows.
Great perspective. People tend to overreact when the team isn't meeting their expectations. Yeah, it would be nice if the Tigers had a better record than they do right now, but come on, they're fine. Still plenty of baseball left to be played. Plus, the Indians annual second half collapse is drawing nigh, so we'll win the division easily.