gehringer_2

If the D Line doesn't pick up the pressure they are still at pretty serious risk of getting torched by a team with strong passing game. The guys in the both kept talking about 'best front 7'. I don't see it. Guys making great individual plays - sure. The line being consistently stout, not so much.

they do have to have the worst OF though.

one run out of 6 hits and 6 walks.

Meadows at least getting on base with a good walk rate the last few games, something to be a little optimistic about. At least better than seeing guys going down the tubes late in the season which is what you see with a lot of prospects that flash early, then fade once they are scouted, never to be seen again.

Pac 10 - the 'fear the walking dead' conference.

this is a truly terrible offense. We tend not to notice as much as we should because our pitching keeps us in a lot of games that we have no business being in at all so how bad the runs scoring is by league standards isn't so striking.

tough series for Tork. Looking for #30 too much probably. He did go to right earlier in this game, but should have been looking for that more.

The rule changes have definitely shortened the games. There is a lot less come from behind time now, so don't get behind.

Say what you will about whether Harris has done well or not overall, his incoming claim to that he was going to clear space for the prospects to play has been the worst kept promise since something that belongs in the political forum.

The Tigers worst moves were not even the trade trades, it was the stupid extensions - Dontrelle, Prince, Martinez and Cabrera were all big unforced errors.

I'm open to a solid report on the subject also. In it's absence, I would guess that Malloy got back to 3rd because they decided they wanted Keith at 2B, both for the experience and possibly also to save wear and tear on the arm, which reportedly may still not be 100% since the injury.

Maybe what is shifting that would make the 3 inning guys on regular schedules more viable is that it's becoming more predictable that your starters are NOT going to go more than 5-7. When starters still did, or at least teams still planned like they hoped they were going to go 8 or 9 inning, it was hard to plan to use guys in regular long relief because the use pattern would be too erratic. If the Tigers start Skubal, Manning, Olson, and a couple of back end guys, you could go ahead and just bank on never using any of them more than 7, usually 6. Now you have regular slots to put your 3 IP guys into. I think in reality we've already had this situation for a while now but baseball people don't really want to admit to themselves that the complete game is an anachronism that is just best forgotten about when planning pitching deployments. The bonus would be that if you get your BP guys working 100 ip/year instead of 50-60, you will reduce the number of pitchers you have to carry which improves average quality and opens up rosters room for more hitters.

I don't expect Baddoo to make next year's team. It will be a bad sign of lack of progress if he does.

And conversely, Nolan Ryan was under 200 IP his first 4 years in the Majors. Tanana was over 250 3 times before he was 23. Does make you think,

Mr Wingenter doing a good job of punching his ticket out.

I take back the nice things I said about Holton earlier today. 😡

Tigers fail to make another play at 3b. A up by 1.

I imgine part of the issue is trying to figure out cycle time. Not saying it can't be done but that I don't think any team has ever sat down and figured it out. They know they want to keep a guy throwing 100 pitches on 5 days, they know they can use a guy at 15-25 pitches 2 days out of 3, but what is the proper cycle and rehab cycle for a guy throwing in the range of 45-70?

Gameday just calls it a change-up but Hanifee setting the ball in his glove with a split/forkball grip.

Jake takes 3 straight called strikes after 3-0. I like Jake but that's a terrible AB!

Skubal showing tonight that change of speed can work just as well as pitches with big break. Especially against a bad team.

A's outfield is some kind of bad.

Is there such a thing as getting peak value for a guy you've been using in middle relief? Methinks you'd end up selling fairly low. I guess the knock is that he's 27 yrs old. But traditional wisdom is that it's never too late for a lefty to turn into something.

the other option that maybe has earned a look to join the rotation is Tyler Holton. He has been pretty much lights out every time he goes to the mound -- 0.859 WHIP across 80 IP. You have Brieske, Alexander and Faedo as long relief/Toledo starting reserve, so I think we'd be wasting Holton in that role again. How many long relievers can generate 2.7 WAR?

My complaint about Willi in the OF was less that he didn't have the skill to play OF well than that he was the kind of player that had too many brain farts in the field where he just screwed up. If he's found a way to play at a higher concentration level I can believe he is capable of being a good fielder. At short I didn't think his hands were good enough. Tigers never game him any kind of shot at 3B. Maybe that was their mistake.