gehringer_2

yeah - I think the wish-cast on Perez was that he would be the Isaac Peredes that didn't get away, a late blooming bat that could stay on the field defensively in a utility role. Well - not so much, esp after he came down with the throwing yips as an infielder.

just in case you wondered why Trump loves Crypto so much.... https://news.umich.edu/cryptocurrency-increases-risk-of-corruption-on-autopilot-says-u-m-expert/

no - the metaphor is midnight struck for them last year in the playoffs - they turned back into pumpkins before the ball was over (didn't get to end of playoffs/World Series win).

This is likely the last shot for Workman - if he doesn't produce he either needs to find a long term AAA gig or head for the real world. Same is probably true for Short, but the quality of his glove may allow him to stick at AAA as some team's emergency depth - which I guess is where he started the season. The disconnect is we have pitchers close to coming back but the pitching fill-ins have preformed betterr than the position fill-ins have. We are in more dire need of bats than arms - though it's probably an easy prediction that the level of pitching we are getting isn't sustainable for long without more of the regulars getting back soon.

In my hard core days, I did TOSRV a few times ( a long while ago now!) which was a double century on Mother's day weekend. Columbus to Portsmouth on Sat and back on Sunday, so I had to have at least 250+ by now, which was a real a challenge given how erratic Spring weather is.

I don't know if the back will hold up but I'll challenge you to a friendly competition. The best I've done in the last 5 or years is 875, last year was only about 650. I'll warn you I'm going to count maybe 10 miles week commuter mileage on a volunteer gig I can ride to beside the time on the road bike. You apparently have a good leg up - as I noted I'm just starting out, for the season -I'm at about 22mi

thank-you Mr Sunshine.

you never really know what a team is going to be. So far it looks like last season was the Cinderella at the ball season for the Tigers but midnight struck a little too soon for them. This year Fairy Godmother is apparently otherwise employed so it's back to tattered dresses and keeping the hearth warm for others ..... unless she should make another appearance.

doesn't really matter much how you pitch if you only score 2 runs over 2 games.

true, but the league average is ~5 runs per game and if you have one guy like Skubal at 2.00 and your #2 is maybe at 3.5, then that is what the end of your staff looks like in a typical year. If we had signed Flaherty to be the 5th starter, we'd only be moderately disappointed - we didn't so his performance level feels even worse.

It looks like Flaherty may never be the guy we want him to be again, but still, you should be able to win a few games if your starter goes 6 and gives up 4. That just normal end of the rotation expectation.

I took some time out to get in some time on the road bike. Between too much going on and crappy weather (and just being pickier about what I will ride in as I get older) I'm way, way behind my summer schedule. So what are we up to now, 1 run in the last 14 innings?

so he can't throw the breaking stuff over the plate and he walks guys and gets in trouble. Today he's throwing the breaking balls for strikes and the Jays crush a few.

he was there, he needs to catch it. he screwed up the little corner but it's his home field, he got to go out there and practice until he can deal with it.

"It's the Same, Old Song....."

Watching Platner talk about his epiphany wrt the US military-industrial complex got me thinking an optimistic thought that I'd never thought about before - it goes something like this: I wonder if a lot of the increase in polarization in US politics is just the last act of the polarization that's always been there inside the boomer generation - where the lefts and rights have hated each other since half of them got drafted and sent to 'Nam and the other half got deferments and went to lit school, graduated and became the dominant force in a liberal US media. Thinking back, GWHB was the last WWII generation President and when he left the scene you were left with Newt and Clinton, the first of the boomer gen to come to power, and I think you can almost date the start in the decay in US politics to that transition. And the thing is, the left was never the majority of my generation, but it was the half that dominated the conversation because they where the arty and erudite part, and the vitriol of the conservative backlash as the conservatives of that gen finally came to economic thus eventually political power and could get their revenge on all those hippies that controlled the conversation all their lives thus has a certain logic to it. The connection with Platner was the contrast with John Kerry. You can take Kerry and McCain as representing the divide in the Boomer gen. McCain a Navy brat vs Kerry the rich kid. The Navy brat served, suffered, came home and stayed on the right. Kerry - who rejected his war in a similar way to the way Platner now rejects his, was a child of privilege and the Ivy league who came back and became one of the faces of the liberal wing of the boomers. But Platner is anything but John Kerry. He was a long term grunt - the kind of boomer who came back from the Veitnam war and stayed on the right side the rest of his life. But that innate division isn't already cooked into Platner's generation the way it is in mine. So maybe that's a cause for optimism that as we boomers die off and take our generational baggage with us, people who haven't stewed in a lifetime of resentment will be less prone to thinking they have to hate the other side so much. another adpect to the divide in addition to geography, religion, etc.

who knows what the effect will be of Ukraine showing these increased capabilities where the Russian public can't help but see them so many months into a war Vladdie has been promising them is going swimmingly. I'd guess more shirtless horseback pics should be released soon.

there have always been balks, which also create a 'result' where no pitch is thrown (in play) so it's a concept already present in the game.

Maybe, maybe not, but that's what you pay a GM to decide. And maybe it's just a matter of working a little harder - how much does it really 'cost' to make sure your bad OBP hitters learn to bunt for example? That's always the tyranny of sport - those willing to work harder often end up winning.

yup - you can try to be 'half-way' in, but it it's usually a failure. If you are going to go after the King, you have to keep going after him until you win or take yourself to exile. Speaking of the Senate - Platner sat for the NYT interview with L. Garcia-Navarro. He was a little evasive about the deletion of his Reddit profile - think there is still a raw nerve on that one, but in general he had no problem owning his past. He reminds me a bit of Buttigieg in his rhetorical skills. Understands/is clear in his own thinking, is willing to answer the question asked, and is able to make a direct argument in straightforward language without hedging. Curious to see if he will be able to handle the added pressure of a debate type setting when the time comes.

OPS of 5 Tigers hitters today: 308, 457, 464, 510, 588

but speaking of stats and ghost runner rule, I don't get how it can make any sense to charge any pitcher with that run. OK - so it is unearned, it's still a run he might not have allowed if that runner weren't put there. Since 'nobody' is charged with the runner appearing there, 'nobody' should be charged when he scores. But of course then they would have to add a column to a team's RA labeled 'ghost runners' otherwise runs charged to pitchers wouldn't total all runs. They are both bad solutions but I'd rather see the extra column in the stats because that is the way it should be done to maintain statistical consistency for the pitchers who pitch in extras.

The last Keith AB was a disappointment. You want more than that from the guy hitting 320 when a single is exactly what you need.

True. Of course what would be even better for the game would be to solve the risk factors for pitchers, then some other stuff could follow.

I don't have any sympathy. Teams know the rules. If they don't want to invest in the skills to be better at getting a runner around from second base in 3 outs they are going to lose some close games to teams that do. Seems fair to me. On aesthetic grounds I don't like the rule either, but unless the game somehow changes to reduce the demands on pitchers, I don't see it going back. Compared to other sports, it's a better tie breaking system than football OT, way better than a hockey 'shoot-out' (but not the 3 on 3) and not as good as basketball where you can just add 5 min to the clock.