gehringer_2

I'd like to see Manning pitch inside off the plate with the fastball against the lefthanders. Too easy for Grandal to reach over the plate and punch that to LF when he doesn't have to be ready for hard in.

BTW - that was Cabrera's 1800th RBI

Can't we just clone Schoop and have him play 2B and SS?

OK, he couldn't have turned that one, but did you notice that Willi didn't know Paredes wasn't going to be there and he wasted several milliseconds realizing he had to go to 2nd himself. That hesitation was not the difference but could have been.

putting the leadoff man on is bad enough but even worse when the odds of turning a successful DP approach zero.

with the double the missed DP costs a run and drives Manning's pitch count. I really, really, really don't like using major league games as practice time for unfinished infielders.

Castro blows his 2nd DP turn as well. He might not have had him but he still made a terrible throw.

Manning having a lot of trouble with left hand hitters. Isn't throwing anything inside to the lefties. Now he's got a big jam. EDIT: make that a BIGGER jam....

Wiili Castro blows his 1st DP pivot playing SS. /..sigh../

Garneau setw up outside the zone. Manning hits the glove and issues the walk.

interesting to see Reyes in CF and Cameron in RF.

and where is Lee? He has to have gotten the message.

I'm fine with giving W Castro at least another year before pulling the plug, just not at Detroit. While I haven't seen him play, almost everything I've read about Kreidler says the glove will play if he can hit, and there are a LOT of reservations about that. OTOH, it is unusual for a guy to put up significantly better numbers as he moves up a system -- it can be a sign they have found something that wasn't there when everyone was doing their initial projections. BTW - Cody Stavenhagen wrote him up in the Athletic recently but I'm not a subscriber.

Just started raining hard in Ann Arbor. It's moving NorthEast - with a lot more to the South than to the West - so it could go by quickly or not depending how much West wind pushes it through

don't much like any uni with the same color pants and jerseys either. Didn't care for UM in all blue.

Niko has a good arm and is athletic enough, but I'm not a particular fan of his overall defensive game. Gives up too many plays by not charging balls he could and in general lets the ball play him too much. Granted he has been a bit better recently than earlier in the year, but with his bat not making any appearance for the 2nd season and his refusal to reconsider his approach as a LHH I just don't see much future potential. He may have peaked as a hitter in 2018/19.

Hens fall 8-4 but Greene continues to run to the finish at a torrid pace. 2/5 with his 23rd HR of the season. Kreidler 1/3 2BB. Torkelson DNP

Soto is big loss. if they hold to 500 the rest of the way I'd take that as a serious over-achievement.

Me neither - but I did think to turn the DVR from the web about 1/2 way through so as soon as I'm done typing this I have to flash my self in the face with my Ronco handheld MenInBlack Forgetter Pen.

LOL - well that is fair enough! The current IF situation to me is less about Kreidler (or Paredes for that matter) than what seems to be an obsession with Niko and W. Castro. I just don't believe either of those players have a place on a winning team and wish the Tigers would move on - the direction mattering less than that they just move on.

And Willi Castro or Goodrum are? It's not like anyone is asking to bench Ryne Sandberg to give Kreidler a shot. Hinch's mantra is supposedly that this org will reward you based on what you do rather than your press clippings. Even if it's only to prove he will fail Kreidler is building a strong case to be given the chance in place of either of two clearly sub replacement level players.

It appears to be dangerous to get too close to a role in the back of the Tiger bullpen. Cisnero out, Jimenez out, Soto out. Does this make Funkhouser or Holland our closer? (Ok - probably Fulmer but that sounds far less apocalyptic)

So McCosky with a piece about W. Castro to the effect that despite the season being a total waste with the bat, the saving grace is that he's working really hard with the coaches to to get to a point where he is almost an average fielding 2b. What? We don't coach IF anywhere in the system other than the ML club? I still can't figure why we are still looking at him and Niko flail at the plate (598 and 588 2nd half OPS respectively) instead of letting Kreidler get his feet wet and be in a better position to compete next ST.

I haven't noticed too much of that at CoPa yet, but it's more and more SOP at more and more places. I had UM season tickets for number of years back in the day but hadn't been to a game for a long time leading up to one I attended a couple of seasons ago. Same thing - constant ear splitting volume every moment the play clock was stopped. If you are a young investor go long in hearing aid technology and manufacture timed for about 2050-2060. It is is bad enough for the Rock'n'Roll concert generation, but everyone born after the advent of the earbud and the Class D PA amplifier is going to be deaf by 60.