Tiger337

He will, but he won't be huge all by himself. They need multiple hitters to improve.

In most line-ups, it would not make sense to bat Ibanez leadoff even against lefties. The Tigers line-up is not most line-ups. One thing about Hinch is he doesn't manage his roster based on hunches, but rather data.

I see them as a .500 team. Their pitching staff is as good as their hitting is bad. I was thinking at the beginning of the season that they could be a contender in a weak division, but so far it's not looking so weak.

I was thinking 10% walk rate which is around what you'd expect for him. I don't think there is a big correlation between strikeout rate and walk rate. It's not uncommon for hitters to have high strikeout and also high walk rates. They don't put the ball in play, so they see a lot of pitches and a pitcher without control might walk them.

Let's say he had 100 PA and 40 K. We'll give him 10 BB and 3 HR. So that's 90 at bats, 18 hits (15 are not homers). That's 47 balls in play and a .319 BABIP which is very doable. It's also a .280 OBP which might not be tolerable on a contending team even with his defense.

This is not JIm Leyland's Tigers. He's a non-smoker and vegetarian.

I don't see anything in Vilade's profile that makes me think he's going to break out and surprise us. He is flexible and has decent on base skills which are two things that Harris looks for. I don't know what kind of defender he is. Flexibility often means not being able to play any position particularly well. If he can move around without hurting them defensively, then he can help.

Greatest team since the 27 Yankees.

If he bats third, it will be 3 fewer solo home runs😃

Some players are like that. Tony Clark, Carlos Pena, ...The anger seemed to start as early as 2022. It might be the high expectations.

He never does anyhing when it counts. He doen't start hitting until they are already out of the race. He just doesn't care. Too soft.

They need to use the softer version in MLB. I believe it would solve some problems in the game.

60 definitely feels different from 50 and I imagine 70 will be worse. The funny thing is I don't really think any differently than I did when I was 35. I see people who are 60 and I think to myself "I don't look old or act old like them" but I probably do! The thing I do notice is physical - joint pain and inability to recover quickly from strenuous activity.

All the City Connect uniforms from every team suck and are unnecessary. yeah, I'm old.

There are a number of MudHens who are worth looking at but I don't think there is anybody there that is worth holding up the re-build over. Jung is promising, but he may be as ready as Keith. I think it's time for them to start looking at trades this off-season. They could possibly make free agent signings too, although that's not usually the best way build. With their pitching depth, I think they are getting close to where they can contend for a playoff spot with some clever moves.

I do miss those old MLB talent for MLB talent trades. Every trade today is always one poor team trading high priced talent for a bunch of prospects and the team getting the prospects is on the losing end of the deal more often than not.

I hope they don't repeat the Thompson for Cowens trade. That never made sense to me.

Amazingly, he had the 5th highest OPS in today's starting line-up.

The GOP used to be mean. Now, they have become the party of pussies.

More opportunities for strikeout struts. That's the kind of thing that turns a new generation on to the game.

Ausmus was not smart enough to figure that out.

The Tigers have 129 wRC this year. This means that based on their numbers of hits, homers, extra base hits, walks and outs, they should have 129 runs scored this year. They actually have 131 runs scored, so the line-up is producing producing almost exactly as one would expect.

No, I don't. With starters going fewer and fewer innings, it just seems like a natural step. At some point, the back end starters are going to be pitching 3-4 innings per start which means the bullpen is going to pitching more innings than the starters and the line between starter/reliever gets blurry.

The Book: "Your three best hitters should bat somewhere in the #1, #2, and #4 slots. Your fourth- and fifth-best hitters should occupy the #3 and #5 slots. The #1 and #2 slots will have players with more walks than those in the #4 and #5 slots. From slot #6 through #9, put the players in descending order of quality."

I think the next step might be to have rotations where you have two or three regular starters and then you have a set of pithers who serve as swing men pitching 100-120 innings per year and then your short relievers.