2024 Detroit Tigers Spring Training Thread

[Edman85]

[gehringer_2]

21 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Faedo made the team with a strong spring. From the Free Press;

 

So Diaz is out. He is the guy I would have guessed they view as most willing to lose.

[Tiger337]

13 minutes ago, Longgone said:

What makes you think it was the stats, because that's all you see as a fan? Maybe it was his stuff, command, poise, etc. Maybe his ability fit the role they wanted to fill better than the competition. Stats may reflect that, sure, but they also may not.

I would guess, the decision was made largely on what they've seen from him in the past in real MLB games.  

[Tiger337]

So, Joey Wince will play the role of the reliever who people keep telling me is good even though he isn't.  

Or maybe he'll figure it out as a reliever?  

[Dan Gilmore]

Or maybe being able to throw a bit harder (for fewer innings) and not facing a batter more than once is enough to elevate his effectiveness significantly. Failed starter.

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

So, Joey Wince will play the role of the reliever who people keep telling me is good even though he isn't.  

Or maybe he'll figure it out as a reliever?  

My guess is they hope to get some trade value out of him, as opposed to Diaz who at ~30 with a long history of high walk rates wasn't going to return enough to be worth bumping Faedo for.

[LongLiveMaroth]

Honestly, Brieske not making the team out of spring training is unfortunate. Obviously, he will be up here eventually, but he deserved to make the squad. I guess this is the fortunate part of getting better that this is even a question.

[LongLiveMaroth]

23 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

So, Joey Wince will play the role of the reliever who people keep telling me is good even though he isn't.  

 

Well that is a nickname that should stick if he does poorly as a reliever 

[RandyMarsh]

13 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

sometime this week I'm going see CoPA's park factors show any correlation to the Tigers offensive output. Haven't decided exactly what to pick, but just looking at the park factors over the years vs the team, my impression is I'm going to see a correlation. I know park factor is supposedly production neutral, but I don't think baseball as game is itself production neutral. It makes sense to me that a poor scoring team should depress the output of its opposition as well because they won't substitute or  pinch hit for optimum production if they are always already ahead. 

I'm too lazy to look but I know Copa naturally plays a lot smaller in the hot summer months, so I wonder if in the years where the park factor was lower if the Tigers happened to play more home games in the early spring or September/October? I don't know if it would be enough to make that big of a difference but say in the down years they had 10-15 more home games in those cooler months vs. the summer could that explain the disparity between years?

[Tigermojo]

Maton and Sands released on the same day.

[Toddwert]

2 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Faedo made the team with a strong spring. From the Free Press;

"Faedo, 28, shredded hitters in spring training.

He logged a 1.35 ERA with two walks and 17 strikeouts across 13⅓ innings in seven games."

But...yeah...stats don't matter. 😆

only when they help you

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, Dan Gilmore said:

Or maybe being able to throw a bit harder (for fewer innings) and not facing a batter more than once is enough to elevate his effectiveness significantly. Failed starter.

Just like Faedo.

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

So Diaz is out. He is the guy I would have guessed they view as most willing to lose.

He had bad spring stats...<ducks>

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

So, Joey Wince will play the role of the reliever who people keep telling me is good even though he isn't.  

Or maybe he'll figure it out as a reliever?  

We need a few players to send down in May and to blame for another 3-15 start. 😉

[Tenacious D]

Brieske, Manning, Kreidler and Malloy being demoted gives me some encouragement that this organization is on the right path.

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

Well that is a nickname that should stick if he does poorly as a reliever 

You misspelled “when”.

[christinagi]

What happened to Badoo? I haven't seen much written about him, but it seems like it's been a forgone conclusion all spring that he would not make the team.

Edited March 26 by christinagi
im an idiot

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

I'm too lazy to look but I know Copa naturally plays a lot smaller in the hot summer months, so I wonder if in the years where the park factor was lower if the Tigers happened to play more home games in the early spring or September/October? I don't know if it would be enough to make that big of a difference but say in the down years they had 10-15 more home games in those cooler months vs. the summer could that explain the disparity between years?

yes, the weather is a big confounding factor. We were living in Minny when Target opened and there was panic because by the end of 1st summer the park was playing huge, which was not the intention. But it was all weather - it was just a bunch of really odd weather patterns for that summer - odd winds and cool temps. The park has played fine since.

[Sports_Freak]

4 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

Just like Faedo.

To be serious, the only way to really judge a pitcher in spring is to watch him pitch. Facing too many AA and AAA hitters from other teams.

I just really hate seeing these guys warmed up, really getting loose in the 80⁰ Florida weather and then coming north and trying to pitch in 45⁰ weather. It has to be hard. But I'm prolly just over-thinking it. 🤫

[Motor City Sonics]

It ends in a TIE ?        Come on, settle it with Home Run Derby so Isaac Parades can get us all pissed off again. 

[casimir]

8 hours ago, oblong said:

I would like honest player feedback, especially from someone like JD Martinez who played here then left, about whether the park size impacts them on the road vs at home.  I believe it messes with their heads but I never claim to be an expert on such things so it's just me talking here.    

Well, he apparently admitted to balking on San Francisco because of those dimensions, his hitting profile, and his age.   He was apprehensive about going to San Francisco as a 36 year old hitter and seeing his home run levels drop because of the possible backlash that might occur for the next contract.  I was listening to a podcast that took his 2023 batted ball map and plotted it in San Francisco and New York (and the obvious disclaimer of only half of his games would be in either park was acknowledged), and it was something like 36 home runs as a Met and 22 home runs as a Giant.  Obviously there are other variables that would factor into the baseball’s destination (climate is an obvious one, but what about something like batter’s eye?), and this was a pretty simplified look at it.  But directionally it makes one understand Martinez’s decision.

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

Brieske, Manning, Kreidler and Malloy being demoted gives me some encouragement that this organization is on the right path.

To me Wentz over Brieske was sub-optimal in terms of a purely talent driven decision. But no decision is ever made in that kind of ideal vacuum. If they can leverage more value in an eventual trade by having kept Wentz, the long term return on the decision could still be better than having a very marginally better starting 26 this week. 

[oblong]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

Well, he apparently admitted to balking on San Francisco because of those dimensions, his hitting profile, and his age.   He was apprehensive about going to San Francisco as a 36 year old hitter and seeing his home run levels drop because of the possible backlash that might occur for the next contract.  I was listening to a podcast that took his 2023 batted ball map and plotted it in San Francisco and New York (and the obvious disclaimer of only half of his games would be in either park was acknowledged), and it was something like 36 home runs as a Met and 22 home runs as a Giant.  Obviously there are other variables that would factor into the baseball’s destination (climate is an obvious one, but what about something like batter’s eye?), and this was a pretty simplified look at it.  But directionally it makes one understand Martinez’s decision.

And it’s not an ego thing, like I won’t get paid,  but seeing those non HR as probable outs.  So he has to adjust. Then adjust on the road. I think over a season that wears on a player. A guy coming in for the weekend will just play his game since it’s only 3 games. But a 7 game homestand means you need to try something. 

[Tenacious D]

I just remember JD choking up when he was traded.  

[gehringer_2]

Baez with 4 K in his last 27 ST AB.