gehringer_2

Fulmer's stuff is marginal, he is what he is. Soto's stuff is good when he can control it, but he could not throw his slider reliably last season which is what was making every outing in the later part of the season an adventure. Looking at Fangraphs, his slider usage is back up to where it was in '21 and its pitch value is closer to career norm so it's looks like he has recovered it. If he doesn't lose the slider again he'll probably have a decent season by the time it's over.

Not happy with Turnbull maybe not telling them he has a physical issue? Or not happy they lost track of him while he was changing agents? Or maybe unhappiness internally because someone tried to play service time games with Spencer and he caught them out at it in public.

Manning 1.2 inning for the Hens. 5 outs, 0R 2H 2BB 1K. 45 pitches 23 strikes. Rusty.

Justice Bigbie and Chris Meyers from WM to Erie as per Henning. https://twitter.com/Lynn_Henning/status/1668022850916175872

things that happen when nobody likes you anymore.... https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/04/27/russian-bitcoin-wallets-allegedly-exposed-by-apparent-hacker/

We hope both that all this is true and that Harris is truly competent, but in truth how Harris talked to Ilitch - at least initially - is probably not that simple. Remember he had to get the job first. There is a calculus there right? If you come into the interview and are brutally honest about how bad it is and how long it will really take, you might not get the job because you know there is probably another guy out there who will come in and wax poetic about all the potential they see in the system and how painless progress will be with *him* at the helm. It's like bidding any contract - you'd like to put all the adds in there you know you are going to need, but if you do you know you won't get the job, so you hope you get the job and develop enough trust as you go that you can go back to the well for those adds you left under the table on the bidding.

I would say the 'starter' strategem worked exactly as designed today. Getting to the 6th inning with 4.1 IP from Wentz and only 2 runs on the board is absolutely a successful result for your pitching plan. That part worked fine. They lost this one because Foley and Lange both picked the same day to not be able to throw strikes. If you are managing by likelihoods, that's not the one you should spend your time planning for because you don't have any workaround for it anyway.

Funny thing, when Trout came up he had kind of a 'baby fat' look that I read as a risk he night run to fat as he got older. That part turned out to a completely unjustified concern, but he's ended up missing big chunks of his career prime seasons anyway.

the thing we don't see that will also play a part is what Harris represented to Ilitch as the target outcome for this season. WE can sit here and say there never should have been any expectation, but none of us know if that is the expection Harris presented to Ilitch, which is the standard by which he and his team are likely to be judged. Sure, I would be surprised if Harris doesn't more or less have a pass from Ilitch for this year, but I'd be a lot less surprised if the management team is going to be on a much shorter leash as early as next year. Once an owner gets impatient enough to make the 1st change, his patience to see movement is likley to grow progressively shorter, whether ours does or not. 😟 The third regime enjoying the accolades for success built on a foundation that the 2nd regime put into place but was not allowed to see through to completion is an all too common US business story.

dead now.

Not Castro

not dead......yet

this would be funny if it weren't tragic

team effort from the BP today

One would assume the battle plan has any number of options. If the Russians look like they are going to collapse in a given area there should be flexibility to leverage that.

I would note that at his last start, Dirks said Wentz needed more speed differential and to throw his Curve. Today the change is a mph or so slower and he's throwing the curve. Maybe we need Dirks in the dugout!

Dirks is a great analyst.

But OTOH, just because you have a high average doesn't mean it's also empty. Arreaz also walks and hits doubles and he has a 950 OPS. Chasfh's point that you can have a 950 OPS with a much lower BA if you hit for more power is dead on, but it doesn't mean that what Arraez is doing right now isn't still damn useful. All that said, based on his history and current BaBIP, it's mostly just a nice hot streak.

it's not just the two of them though. This is a triangle. Owner's have a certain amount of agency - and if Chris I thinks he's going to be the butt of the jokes at the owner's meeting for having no passion to improve his team..... or whatever worm of discontent you want to imagine works its way into Ilitch's psyche, the guy who will be on the thinnest ice if Ilitch starts getting itchy will be Hinch. Now note - I only said 50/50 in the OP. It's not a hard prediction. I just don't think we should be naive about the way these things often go.

Never underestimate the propensity of management to value marketing and PR over relationships. They are going to need another PR booster for next year if this season doesn't turn around at least a little, and you know who the #1 candidate 'scape goat always is.

well, it's pretty clear that Flynn's cylinder heads have completely blown their gaskets, so there's probably nothing anyone can say about him that is beyond the realm of possibility. I think I've said this before, but in this world, nothing significant can happen over any significant time span unless someone is paying for it and we know their obvious sources of mischief $$ vis a vis the US is Russia. And while the details of the how the dots are connected may be important to counter intelligence and law enforcement, to me, the details of whatever they happen to be don't change the basic oulines of what the story must turn out to be in the end; a story that the US citizenry and media have been slow to credit, partly because to recognize it would demand an international political response and from where we are now there isn't much further we can go against Russia short of direct shooting warfare.

Just looking at raw realities, I would say that if the Tigers lose 90 again, the odds are 50/50 Hinch is let go. 2 bad seasons is a common bottom line for managerial survival. And if that happens then we are probably looking at more philosophical realignment - either toward a new manager's ideas, or possibly to a more GM office centered philosophy if Harris ever makes that hire. So I think there are a lot of unknowns in play for a future as near as next year that hinge on how they finish this year.

I don't care about this case one way or the other, but aren't suspension lengths appealed in virtually all sports all the time? I guess I expect a perfunctory appeal on any suspension.

Warning: Morbid fascination post: Old friend Franklin Perez came in for his 2nd inning of work in the 10th of a tie game when he was charged with a balk - moving the placed runner to third before he faced the 1st batter. 2Ks, BB, fly out and he escaped without giving up the run. FCL Tigers then lost in the 11th (Perez had been lifted)

In the last month I think Malloy has played his way out of there being much point to a call up. Bumping Keith to AAA seems reasonable enought though.