August 25th, 2013 at 9:03 AM ^
I literally laughed out loud.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:15 AM ^
I miss him something fierce.
August 25th, 2013 at 2:04 PM ^
You can't be serious.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:26 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 11:42 AM ^
I watched that about 10 times, and then realized that it's RR doing that wiggle-snaky whateverthefuckyoucallit thing.
AZ is a better place for him.
August 25th, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^
Thanks for not hiding your smugness.
August 25th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 10:43 PM ^
I appreciate your keen sense of observation, but when did language become smug?
August 25th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
When it died.
August 25th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
This is why we need voting back.
+1 Funny
-1 Dead Horse beating forthcoming.
August 25th, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
Brady Hoke get that $$$$$$$$$ cash cash dollar bills y'allz
August 25th, 2013 at 8:58 AM ^
Anibal Sanchez has been the best pitcher if you go by ERA, FIP, and K/9. Talk about a great problem to have for Leyland. They have 4 pitchers who can start at Game 1 for the Tigers. How many team in the league can say that? Unreal depth and quality pitchers on one rotation. The bullpen is fortified with Porcello moving to the bullpen as a long relief pitcher. They have Smyly, Veras and Beniot as a 7-8-9 RP which is now solid.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:00 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:20 AM ^
This is completely not true. Leyland will go with whomever gives them the best chance to win the series. In '06 he went with Nate Freaking Robertson against the Yankees in game 1.
August 25th, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 12:12 PM ^
Actually, I don't think that played much of a factor. I don't recall Leyland going "all out" to win the division. I can't say I remember for sure that they were setting the rotation for the playoffs in that week, but I think they were. If they really were worried about winning the division, I don't think they would have skipped JV's final start. Here's who started to end the season:
9/24: Verlander
9/26: Bonderman
9/27: Robertson
9/28: Rogers
9/29: Ledezma
9/30: Miner
9/31: Rogers
And the order of pitchers in the ALDS:
Robertson
Verlander
Rogers
Bonderman
There was a day off before the ALDS, so Bonderman or Verlander could have went on full rest in game 1 and that's what everyone expected. Instead, he went with Robertson, likely to mitigate the short porch for Yankees lefties.
All this, point being that Leyland will not choose the starter for game 1 of the post season based solely on who the better pitcher is.
August 25th, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^
Yeah, according to baseball-reference he only threw 70 pitches (< 4 innings) in the prior start.
I'm struggling remembering exactly how it was being talked about at the time, but I do remember everyone being surprised - even knowing who was rested and for how long - that Robertson got the call.
August 25th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 1:50 PM ^
Certainly true. That ALDS game was his true coming out party.
I think the big surprise was that Bondo didn't get game 1, though knowing the Yankees lefty-heavy lineup, it made sense.
August 25th, 2013 at 2:31 PM ^
Wait. Since when does September have 31 days?
August 25th, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
Leyland also stuck with rookie Verlander in Game 5 of the World Series that year instead of a red hot Kenny Rogers who was on normal rest thanks to the previous night's rainout.
And Leyland started Alfredo Figaro in game #161 of the 2009 season when he needed to win the last two games to guarantee the division title without a play-in game.
So no, he doesn't always treat winning as a complete urgency.
August 25th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^
Having a manager who is afraid of players egos is not a good problem to have.
We're almost in September and JV has been significantly inferior to both Scherzer AND Sanchez (hard to take the OP seriously when he leaves Anibal out of the conversation altogether).
He had chances to show he's still the 2013 ace and he blew them. As of now, he's a Game 3 starter.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:04 AM ^
Scherzlander - I'd start him
August 25th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 3:03 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:08 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:23 AM ^
This is one of those hypothetical talk radio questions.
You can't make this decision until you know who you're playing and who's pitching the best come October. A lot can change in 5 weeks.
One thing I know: Leyland will examine all the data and arguments for whomever and make the decision that is best for the team. He's never been one to shy away from unconventional decisions regarding post season pitching match-ups, so this idea that he will pick JV out of pure loyalty is completely unfounded.
HOWEVA, if we go completely blind, i'd go with:
Scherzer
Anibal
JV
Fister
Scherzer
August 25th, 2013 at 9:56 AM ^
for the playoff. You can make arguments for Anibal to start game 1 based on numbers which is better than Scherzer.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:22 AM ^
Granted, Scherzer doesn't have as many postseason appearances as Verlander (7 to Justin's 12), but they've managed to put up somewhat comparable stats in their experiences in postseason play.
This is just the historic overview, of course, and the decision will be made based on opponents and current performance at the end of September, I imagine.
K/9 - Scherzer would rate at 10.91, Verlander at 9.85
BB/9 - Scherzer sits at 3.55, Verlander at 3.33
So, in both cases, their K/BB ratio sits within earshot of 3.00. Also consider:
Postseason BA against for Scherzer: 0.214
Postseason BA against for Verlander: 0.226
Postseason WHIP for Scherzer: 1.21
Postseason WHIP for Verlander: 1.24
Ever so slight edge to Max Scherzer there, but with a far smaller sample in his case.
If you look at K%, BB%, LOB% and a few others, they are close enough - I believe - to say that existing postseason data might indicate that you'd likely get comparable performances in the postseason.
Now, there is also FIP - fielder independent pitching - which measures what ERA may look like based on things pitchers can control (i.e.,excluding balls that fall for hits and so forth). Justin Verlander's FIP expressed as ERA is 4.09, compared to 2.70 for Max Scherzer. That has a lot to do with who you're facing, of course, so consider that as well.
In any case, it's a little early to be asking this question, I would think. We still have over a month of regular season baseball left.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:26 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^
that is the concern. This really sucks because the Tigers just signed him to a long term deal as well. With the need to re-sign Scherzer and Cabrera the Tigers may have to look into trading JV in order to do so.
August 25th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
He is only getting better and better. I'd trade Verlander before Scherzer at this point.
August 25th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
Because they won't be able to afford what Scott Boras will want for him on the open market. Your choices are either let him walk after next year and get a compensation 1st round pick for him, or trade him after this season and restock your farm system with high end talent that allows you to extend your championship run.
PS There's no way the Tigers can/will/or should trade away Verlander, those type of arms don't grow on trees, he'll get it figured out sooner or later.
August 25th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 12:09 PM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:39 AM ^
a few inches off the speed of his fastball, but I don't think that's his biggest problem. It's where he's locating his fastball that's hurting him. JV is not just a fastball pitcher; his curve is one of the better ones in the league, too.
Best case scenerio, IMO, for the Tigers is that they open up a double-digit lead over Cleveland and KC by mid-Seeptember and rest JV one time around in the rotation. This would give him a mental and physical break (don't forget, he's thrown way more innings over the last 4 years than anyone else in the AL) while giving the coaching staff and JV some extra time to work on his mechanics and/or anything else thats causing him to struggle.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^
I'd go Sanchez-Scherzer-Fister-Verlander. JV has looked absolutely awful at times. In fact, most his starts have been average-to-below average.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^
I'm mored worried about how we can only put up 3 runs on 15 hits.
August 25th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
Don't forget that was against the 2nd most dominant pitcher in the National League this season... 15 was a little much, but I'm not worried considering it was against a pitcher as good as Harvey. And frankly, since we have something like 3 or 4 guys hitting over .300 and 5 or 6 hitting above .280 and Fielder, I am not too worried... If I were to be worried about anything, I would still be a little frightened about our bullpen depth which should only get stronger when we put Porcello in there for the playoffs (Huge if, though... Not to get ahead of ourselves).
August 25th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^
Definitely frustrating but nothing to worry about. They lead the majors in run differential, two out runs, hits, slugging %, team batting avg, OBS, OPS, and are second in runs scored. I'd be far more concerned if they struggled to get runners on base.
August 25th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^
August 25th, 2013 at 10:20 AM ^
I'd definitely go with Scherzer plainly on the fact that he has been such a dominant force this season. He is the guy that I would want starting games 1 and 5 in the ALDS series... As for the rest, I would want Verlander, Sanchez, and Fister... I would definitely take Sanchez in games 3 and 7 in the ALCS and WS