3/13/24 1:05PM EDT Tigers @ Phillies

[Tigeraholic1]

BayCare Ballpark - Clearwater, FL

Game Time Weather: 77 Partly Sunny

Watch: NBCSP+

Listen: NA

Probable Starters:

RHP Jack Flaherty

TBD Possibly a pitching machine

 

[1776]

27 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

BayCare Ballpark - Clearwater, FL

Game Time Weather: 77 Partly Sunny

Watch: NBCSP+

Listen: NA

Probable Starters:

RHP Jack Flaherty

TBD Possibly a pitching machine

 

Is the pitching machine per Javi Baez request? Or does he need another day away to gather himself?

 

[LongLiveMaroth]

 

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, 1776 said:

Is the pitching machine per Javi Baez request? Or does he need another day away to gather himself?

 

I think at this point the organization is going to let Javy keep looping his own rope for the next couple of weeks so he can basically make the decision for them.

[gehringer_2]

21 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I think at this point the organization is going to let Javy keep looping his own rope for the next couple of weeks so he can basically make the decision for them.

I am going to guess he gets ~ 100 regular season AB no matter what happens. Maybe the exception being if they lose 7 or 8 of the their first ten where they don't score enough I could imagine the pressure building sooner.

It would be nice if he would at least hit LHP but for as much focus as there has been on his trouble with the slider away, he only OPS'd 659 against LHP last season. So the slider away is just the most easy to see example of a problem that extends to difficulty pitch tracking in general.

Edited March 13, 2024 by gehringer_2

[chasfh]

I wonder whether his eyes are bad, which is to say, not up to major league standards. Maybe he's 20/20 or even 20/25, so he can't see spin.

[gehringer_2]

42 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I wonder whether his eyes are bad, which is to say, not up to major league standards. Maybe he's 20/20 or even 20/25, so he can't see spin.

We know that despite the Avila regime beginning to make initial foray's into getting some kinesiology expertise and force analysis equipment at lakeland, they still didn't seem to have any concrete ideas on how to use it all to help hitters - or at least none that ever showed. I wonder if the group there today has reached a point of analytical ability to have flagged Javy before the trade as likely to have been so close to a downward spiral? That said, whatever expertise they have gained has still not apparently been enough to help Javy now that he is here. But who knows if there is/was anything that could? Too many unknowns.

I guess that's why sometimes coaching just comes down to hitting a personality fit where some particular person is able to teach someone things no-one else can.

Edited March 13, 2024 by gehringer_2

[Tigermojo]

I know the chess master will change the lineup 162 times this year but why is a top OBP guy batting fifth so often?

[Tigermojo]

Phillies announcers say Flaherty's delivery is the same as Scherzer's.

[Tigermojo]

https://twitter.com/cardinalsgifs/status/1036696636976640006?t=o7hAwURstUhopYXWuNS7Mg&s=19

[mtutiger]

Boy, Vierling crushed that ball....

[mtutiger]

I have no idea whether it sustains once we get into the regular season, but the Tigers rotation looks pretty good at the moment.

[1776]

Is this going to be the 2022 version of Torkelson?

[Tiger337]

I don't think there is any correlation between spring training and the regular season.  Last year, the Tigers hit well in spring training and couldn't hit at all when they came north.  I liked their rotation's chances going into this March and was skeptical about the offense (at least for this year).  That feeling is not going to change no matter what happens this spring.  

[casimir]

11 hours ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

 

An Opening Day type of lineup on the road for spring training?

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

I don't think there is any correlation between spring training and the regular season.  Last year, the Tigers hit well in spring training and couldn't hit at all when they came north.  I liked their rotation's chances going into this March and was skeptical about the offense (at least for this year).  That feeling is not going to change no matter what happens this spring.  

I don't doubt that for the overall numbers that is true, because none of the early performances mean anything,  but the nearer to the end of ST when the regular players are starting to see real pitchers, the more significant it becomes if a hitter still isn't finding a groove. 

[Tiger337]

23 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I don't doubt that for the overall numbers that is true, because none of the early performances mean anything,  but the nearer to the end of ST when the regular players are starting to see real pitchers, the more significant it becomes if a hitter still isn't finding a groove. 

yet, they seemed to be in the groove at the end of spring training 2023 and then...

[gehringer_2]

12 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

yet, they seemed to be in the groove at the end of spring training 2023 and then...

maybe - but the most likely predictor for what a guy is going to do tomorrow is what he did today. You don't want to have to depend on 4 or  5 guys all suddenly being able to discover their missing timing on March 28!

Edited March 14, 2024 by gehringer_2

[bobrob2004]

9 hours ago, Tigermojo said:

I know the chess master will change the lineup 162 times this year but why is a top OBP guy batting fifth so often?

Canha should definitely be batting 2nd after Meadows. 

[gehringer_2]

1 minute ago, bobrob2004 said:

Canha should definitely be batting 2nd after Meadows. 

I believe Hinch has said not to pay too much attention to his ST batting orders as there are various sorts of ST only considerations that go into them that will be gone once the season starts. 

[1984Echoes]

Yeah, Meadows is at the top only to get as many at-bats as possible in spring training.

Regular season, he's in the bottom 3.

Just a wag.

[Tiger337]

20 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

maybe - but the most likely predictor for what a guy is going to do tomorrow is what he did today. You don't want to have to depend on 4 or  5 guys all suddenly being able to discover their missing timing on March 28!

I think the more likely predictor than what he did yesterday was what he has done over the past year.  That might be less true for young players. For them, you have to hope that they have made improvements, but those are difficult to determine over a small sample of games versus veterans who aren't trying their hardest.  

[bobrob2004]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

Yeah, Meadows is at the top only to get as many at-bats as possible in spring training.

Regular season, he's in the bottom 3.

Just a wag.

Who do you think will be the leadoff hitter?

[Toddwert]

9 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

yet, they seemed to be in the groove at the end of spring training 2023 and then...

atleast thats a little more explainable with pitchers buckling down and not facing teams full of minor league pitchers  trying to make it to the end of ST 

[casimir]

8 hours ago, bobrob2004 said:

Who do you think will be the leadoff hitter?

I would guess Greene or Canha to start the season.  And it might be a day to day thing with those two.

Greene, Canha, Torkelson, Carpenter, Keith (in no exact order) are among the top part of the lineup.  Meadows, Baez, 3B du jour, Rogers/Kelly (in no exact order) are probably the bottom of the order.  Then there are the days off for the aforementioned "everday" players which could throw a wrench into an "everyday" lineup.  Or injury could affect it, too.