tiger2022

Bobby Witt Jr is good. It's crazy how teams can find a guy like that at the top of the first round in the draft.

He doesn't seem like a whiner or complainer. I have nothing to base this on other than he acts like a professional and doesn't throw hissy fits. That's it.

Plus they probably took in the fact that McKinstry doesn't have the arm to throw him out if he fields it cleanly.

It actually kind of makes sense. If you put an actual hitter 9th, especially leading off an inning, there is a better chance he gets on base than a pitcher so the top of the order has a guy on base.

I know people hate Baez, but he makes that play easily.

Plus he seems like a really good guy.

Except when LaRussa would hit the pitcher 8th.

I don't see Tork as a diva at all. I picture him as a hard worker and a humble guy. I hope he figures stuff out

I suppose that is one of the only areas, along with lineup construction, where managers really matter.

Great players make managers. I don't think managers really can win games for a team. They can lose them though. Smokes had some amazing players over his career. He managed a top 5 player all time and there is a video of him chewing Bonds out. It's priceless. And Miggy, Verlander, and Scherzer are all easy HOFers.

With these two pitchers on the mound, over under for 25.5 strikeouts in the game.

Word on the street is Hinch plans to play Malloy only against lefties and pinch hit occasionally. Sounds like Hinch is setting him up to fail from the start. I know, I shouldn't question the sage of the garbage cans.

Why? Just because someone can recognize an obvious bad decision doesn't mean they have a solution. I always thought picking a 1st baseman #1 overall was lazy and stupid. Quality hitting 1st basemen is the easiest position to fill, so for a guy to go #1, he has to be top 3 in the league for a long time. And for Mize, picking a guy with an average at best fastball just because he had success in college is not a great strategy. That was the pick I was left wondering about the most and I am not surprised he has been pretty bad as an mlb pitcher.

Maybe he can turn into a consistent 35 hr guy even though he might only hit .220ish.

That sounds about right. Tork never had been able to hit professional pitching. But what else can they do? They picked him #1 and he is 24. Give him the rest of the season on Toledo. What do they have to lose?

When your fastball is below mlb average, you aren't going to have a lot of success.

Send him to a minor league team and let him hit without the pressure of facing mlb pitchers. Maybe just let him DH. Getting your 24 year old former #1 pick comfortable hitting is the #1 priority.

Why is the brain trust so intent on seeing Torkelson fail? He has had zero success this season and has zero confidence. Things aren't suddenly going to turn around. Send him to the minors and let him work on his swing, approach, etc. To me, this just further shows the incompetence of Harris and Hinch.

Flaherty will be gone by the trade deadline.

I am.fortunate. I have Pinetta and Flaherty on my fantasy team.

Halfway there The Tigers might push 15 tonight.

I can see them trying to move Flaherty, parts of their bullpen, and maybe Canha, Vierling. They won't be adding anyone. By next year's deadline they will looking to move Skubal.

I assumed Vierling would be on the pine tonight. That seems to be the way hinch operates. On a side note, this is going to be a good game for fans who love strikeouts At minimum 22 Ks combined by both teams.

I apologize for responding to you.