2023 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Discussion Thread

[chasfh]

Maybe even with a very good season, Baez doesn’t opt out after all. Maybe he sees what’s going on here, the direction we’re gong in, the plan being put in place, the fruits of the plan and the efforts, and decides he wants to stick around and be a part of it. I don’t know whether I want that or not. It’s all up to him. But I guess, all of a sudden, that’s a possibility.

[Biff Mayhem]

15 minutes ago, casimir said:

Oh, I don't know.  I think the Lions might actually have something going here.

I hope you're right! I really do. When I went Lions free in 2006, people on the old board told me I'd regret it. Well, here we are 17 years later......

[casimir]

Its possible Baez stays.  I don't think it would necessarily be the worst thing in the world.  If the importance of his bat can be minimized and his defense can be upper tier, he fits with the team well.  Maybe he does like what he sees.  But then there's also a reason he agreed to an opt out, so maybe he's going to do what free agency allows him to do.

Edited May 11, 2023 by casimir

[Toddwert]

37 minutes ago, Biff Mayhem said:

I hope you're right! I really do. When I went Lions free in 2006, people on the old board told me I'd regret it. Well, here we are 17 years later......

It’s still the Lions this is just the setup for another lion’s extreme let down moment 

[RatkoVarda]

42 minutes ago, casimir said:

If its an inside the organization replacement, do they just roll with some sort of amalgamation of Maton/McKinstry/Short/Kreidler to bide time until Perez is MLB ready (assuming he'll become MLB ready)?

do you mean Wenceel Perez, who is only playing 2b now?

Santana and Graham both stayed at Lakeland and are struggling. Even if you believe in the bat, Serretti does not have ML defensive skills. Workman's Ks are still really bad but no longer ridiculous. There is a steep step down from Baez to Maton/McKinstry/Short/Kreidler. Abel Batisdas has no at bats yet for Lakeland.

Baez seems to be the best bet going forward; the money is not relevant IMO; the Tigers have less than 50% of the average payroll committed for 2024. And the FA position player pool is bad, not just at SS.

Losing Baez and/or ERod means this team is moving in reverse.

(God was Avila bad at his job.)

[bobrob2004]

59 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Hinch haters here will hate this.

 

Well, except for that one game where they left 12 runners on base and didn't score any runs.  

[bobrob2004]

The Tigers are 10-7 since Hinch moved Maton out of the leadoff spot, so there's one right move.

[casimir]

6 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

do you mean Wenceel Perez, who is only playing 2b now?

Yeah, I missed that one like a Baez flail at a slider didn't I?

[Toddwert]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

Hinch haters here will hate this.

 

What kind of strategy is batting an .170 hitter in the clean up spot

[chasfh]

12 minutes ago, Toddwert said:

What kind of strategy is batting an .170 hitter in the clean up spot

Maybe the same kind of strategy as batting Baez cleanup the day immediately after bending him mid-game.

[Tiger337]

Tigers have one of the worst offenses in baseball this year.  They are doing better because pitching (specifically Rodriguez) and defense.  If Hinch has anything to do with that than great.  He didn't seem to have any effect on Rodriguez or the defense the last two years.  The bullpen has been consistently good under Hinch, but I think it probably has more to do with Fetter rather than chess moves.  

[casimir]

38 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Tigers have one of the worst offenses in baseball this year.  They are doing better because pitching (specifically Rodriguez) and defense.  If Hinch has anything to do with that than great.  He didn't seem to have any effect on Rodriguez or the defense the last two years.  The bullpen has been consistently good under Hinch, but I think it probably has more to do with Fetter rather than chess moves.  

The offense has been better lately.  But can it be sustained?

[Tiger337]

9 minutes ago, casimir said:

The offense has been better lately.  But can it be sustained?

But Hinch was the manager in April too.  

[casimir]

5 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

But Hinch was the manager in April too.  

Sure.

I guess my point was more along the lines of questioning what kind of offense is this?  Its kind of weird that SO% and BB% both dropped several percentage points from month to month.  Is it simply the result of becoming more aggressive at the plate?  Is it just baseball being baseball?  Will we see them be more like April or more like May or maybe somewhere in between?

[Mr.TaterSalad]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

I know a lot of us are hoping Baez has a monster season and opts out.  But, who replaces him?

The Upcoming Shortstop Class Looks Increasingly Bleak

If its an inside the organization replacement, do they just roll with some sort of amalgamation of Maton/McKinstry/Short/Kreidler to bide time until Perez is MLB ready (assuming he'll become MLB ready)?

With Torkelson and Greene showing more of an offensive acumen lately, and with Malloy (and maybe MeadowsP) possibly/probably ready for promotion next season, can they be a trio to build a lineup around with mixes/matches all around them?  Gotta think the Tigers would need another pair of everyday players to add in.  I'm not sure what the other positions look like for this upcoming hot stove.

What about the draft and taking someone like Marcelo Mayer, I hear he's pretty good . . . Oh wait!!!

[Tiger337]

43 minutes ago, casimir said:

Sure.

I guess my point was more along the lines of questioning what kind of offense is this?  Its kind of weird that SO% and BB% both dropped several percentage points from month to month.  Is it simply the result of becoming more aggressive at the plate?  Is it just baseball being baseball?  Will we see them be more like April or more like May or maybe somewhere in between?

If Greene and Torkelson don't hit, their offense will be terrible overall.  If they live up to their potential, it will be interesting.  I don't think the rest of the team has the talent to sustain anything long term.  

Edited May 11, 2023 by Tiger337

[Toddwert]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

Maybe the same kind of strategy as batting Baez cleanup the day immediately after bending him mid-game.

One of them is a former all star the other isn’t …. It’s a little different 

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, Toddwert said:

One of them is a former all star the other isn’t …. It’s a little different 

Sure, everybody is a little different, but maybe the goal is similar: generate confidence leading to increased performance. It may not be 100% about winning this game today. We are not at that point quite yet. He's probably managing to set up for the future as well.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

Tigers have one of the worst offenses in baseball this year.  They are doing better because pitching (specifically Rodriguez) and defense.  If Hinch has anything to do with that than great.  He didn't seem to have any effect on Rodriguez or the defense the last two years.  The bullpen has been consistently good under Hinch, but I think it probably has more to do with Fetter rather than chess moves.  

The Tigers do indeed have one of the worst offenses by wRC+ in baseball this year.

The Tigers also have a top ten offense by wRC+ during the last two weeks.

[mtutiger]

Regarding AJ Hinch and batting Wolfie cleanup a couple of days ago despite his struggles, notice how he wasn't in the lineup yesterday at all? And probably won't be in the starting lineup tomorrow?

I didn't love the decision to bat Maton in the cleanup spot on Tuesday, but to Hinch's credit, when he makes decisions that can be seen as mistakes, he tends to correct them fairly quickly. This isn't Brad Ausmus we're talking about here who would just keep ****ing that chicken over and over again.

[Tiger337]

4 minutes ago, chasfh said:

The Tigers do indeed have one of the worst offenses by wRC+ in baseball this year.

The Tigers also have a top ten offense by wRC+ during the last two weeks.

Hinch was the manager the first four weeks too.  So, if you are going give him credit for the last two weeks, then you need to blame him for the first four.  It's 2021 all over again.    

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

Hinch was the manager the first four weeks too.  So, if you are going give him credit for the last two weeks, then you need to blame him for the first four.  It's 2021 all over again.    

OK.

[mtutiger]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

Its possible Baez stays.  I don't think it would necessarily be the worst thing in the world.  If the importance of his bat can be minimized and his defense can be upper tier, he fits with the team well.  Maybe he does like what he sees.  But then there's also a reason he agreed to an opt out, so maybe he's going to do what free agency allows him to do.

If he does have a good season and stays, some of it could be a reflection of the team improving, but also AJ will have to get some credit for really building that relationship in the offseason and building that trust with him.... think about where we were a month ago when he ****ed up on the bases and got benched and where we are now. A different manager who didn't put in the work to understand their star player may have ended up with a different result.

Honestly, ERod would need to be extended for sure just because the AAV of his current deal is too low for how he's pitching, but maybe the same could be said for him in that the org did stand behind him last year when he was away and when the fan base was agitated by whatever personal problems were going on in his life. Not sure that's a guarantee in other orgs.

[gehringer_2]

32 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

If Greene and Torkelson don't hit, their offense will be terrible overall.  If they live up to their potential, it will be interesting.  I think don't the rest of the team has the talent to sustain anything long term.  

So semi-realistically , beyond Torkelson and Greene, we have McKinstry doing a good job OBP wise, and Baddoo also has potential to keep up a decent OBP. With Javy playing more to his career averages (which he actually has been doing since mid-season last year) you could have 5 guys with a reasonable chance not to make an out. That's marginal but should not be record breaking bad like last season. If Carpenter gets back you *might* approach reasonable. But yeah - even under the best of circumstances they are going to have to rely on success keeping runs against below average.

It would be nice to have some confidence that we are going to get something out of Maton or Vierling, but right now that's not easy.

Edited May 11, 2023 by gehringer_2

[LongLiveMaroth]

3 hours ago, casimir said:

I know a lot of us are hoping Baez has a monster season and opts out.  But, who replaces him?

The Upcoming Shortstop Class Looks Increasingly Bleak

Ronny Mauricio after we trade E-Rod to the Mets.