8/14/24 6:40PM Mariners @ Tigers

[IdahoBert]

AJ won this game with moxie and no garbage cans. Progress!

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Sammons came outta nowhere. Kinda surprises me. Oops...a run. 

Literally - from an independent league. Guy had always walked too many, but he's only given up 4 passes in 18.2 so far with the Tigers.

[Sports_Freak]

12 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

That fact that it was Parker at 2b is almost certainly what lead Seattle to have the OF in far enough for Baddoo to hit what is normally an easy fly ball out over their head, so Parker's speed is still what drove the outcome there.

Agreed. Seattle was playing a depth that would have allowed them a play at the plate on a line drive single. With that being said, the ball Baddoo hit wasn't a routine fly ball. It was smoked over the CF head.

[Sports_Freak]

Can you imagine if Carpenter would have been healthy in June and July? We may have been buyers...

Edited August 15, 2024 by Sports_Freak

[chasfh]

7 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Literally - from an independent league. Guy had always walked too many, but he's only given up 4 passes in 18.2 so far with the Tigers.

Consistent with the Harris philosophy of controlling the strike zone on both sides of the ball. You do that by your pitchers not issuing walks—Tiger pitchers are 4th in MLB at that—and your hitters to draw walks—Tiger hitters are 23rd there.

The main thing you need to make that work is to get the right players who can do these things. We seem to be able to find pitchers who can do their thing. Now we have to find more hitters who can do their thing. It makes sense that pitching would come around first because it’s a pitcher’s game these days.

[Sports_Freak]

17 minutes ago, chasfh said:

You gotta like these guys. Our rotation is shredded, we’re missing what we assumed would be key pieces to injury and optioning and deadline trades, and we’re now 5-3 in the last eight games against two teams fighting for the playoffs. The season might be all but toast, but they are still showing some spirit, some fight, some moxie, whatever you want to call it. They’ve been fun to watch again.

Still, we’re firing Hinch, right? 😏

Lol..Hinch isn't going anywhere. He was extended last off-season to a super-duper secret extension. 😁

[Sports_Freak]

15 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Literally - from an independent league. Guy had always walked too many, but he's only given up 4 passes in 18.2 so far with the Tigers.

When I was watching him today, he looked like he has pinpoint control.

[IdahoBert]

This has been two extremely satisfying nights in a row. Tomorrow’s a day game and a bullpen game - again - from what I can tell. I don’t know how long they can keep this up. I think we expected to be smothered after the trade deadline but we’re 6-4 in the last 10 games and even split a West Coast road series. This ugly dog has some teeth. They’re actually pretty darn entertaining. 

[Tigermojo]

8 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

This has been two extremely satisfying nights in a row. Tomorrow’s a day game and a bullpen game - again - from what I can tell. I don’t know how long they can keep this up. I think we expected to be smothered after the trade deadline but we’re 6-4 in the last 10 games and even split a West Coast road series. This ugly dog has some teeth. They’re actually pretty darn entertaining. 

They have been getting most of those innings from Sammons, Maeda and Hurter, they just haven't started. I think Hinch figures if he doesn't announce who the starter is, teams have to prepare for multiple possibilities. So far, it's working.

[SoCalTiger]

11 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

They have been getting most of those innings from Sammons, Maeda and Hurter, they just haven't started. I think Hinch figures if he doesn't announce who the starter is, teams have to prepare for multiple possibilities. So far, it's working.

Yes. I believe his thinking rests with starting them against the bottom part of the lineup in hopes of them getting in a groove. 

[Tenacious D]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Literally - from an independent league. Guy had always walked too many, but he's only given up 4 passes in 18.2 so far with the Tigers.

Fetter-ized?

[Tigermojo]

29 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

Yes. I believe his thinking rests with starting them against the bottom part of the lineup in hopes of them getting in a groove. 

They did mention that during the broadcast. I wonder why Montero is different. Seems he could benefit from the same approach.

[papalawrence]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Can you imagine if Carpenter would have been healthy in June and July? We may have been buyers...

If they can stay healthy, big if, a line-up that includes Carp, Greene and Keith could start to resemble an actual decent MLB offense. I also like Malloy's potential to be an .800+ ops guy, but as a dh. He has excellent plate discipline and can drive the ball to all fields. Hopefully the years of having a AAAA offense are coming to a close. Then Jung, Clark etc should be ready the next few years

[Jim Cowan]

I like Malloy as the RH bat in the middle of the order, I feel like an OPS of over .800 is almost a guarantee.  I really, really wanted him to play third, that isn't going to happen, and even playing left seems like a challenge.  My problem is that if a guy is going to be a full time DH I want the OPS to be .900 plus, not .800 plus, to justify the absence of any defensive value, and to justify clogging up that spot so that it can't be used as a partial rest day for other players.

Has he ever played first base?

[Timmitch55]

7 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Can you imagine if Carpenter would have been healthy in June and July? We may have been buyers...

Oh, we are gonna be good.

[casimir]

8 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

Crazy like a fox….

What does the fox say?

[casimir]

8 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

This has been two extremely satisfying nights in a row. Tomorrow’s a day game and a bullpen game - again - from what I can tell. I don’t know how long they can keep this up. I think we expected to be smothered after the trade deadline but we’re 6-4 in the last 10 games and even split a West Coast road series. This ugly dog has some teeth. They’re actually pretty darn entertaining. 

They have been getting good results.  They've also benefitted from the schedule makers with off days on July 31, August 5, 12, and 19.  For the most part, they've been pitching well since the all star break.  But, yes, you kind of expect the wear and tear to arrive at some point.

They have the off day on August 19 after the Little League game.  Then its at the Cubs for 3, at the Jerk Sox for 4, host the Angels for 3, host the Red Sox for 3, then out to the Padres for 3 and at the Athletics for 3.  Basically 3 weeks straight with an odd Tuesday off on the Tuesday after Labor Day as the only rest day.  Maneuvering that could be interesting.  Mize is probably due back at the end of that?  Maeda hasn't been reinstated into the rotation yet.  I don't know.  That stretch could make for some tough sledding.

[Shades of Deivi Cruz]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

Maeda hasn't been reinstated into the rotation yet.  

Yes he is. He just doesn't pitch in the first (or sometimes second) inning. If that's working for him (and it seems to be), then there is no reason to change it.

[casimir]

29 minutes ago, Shades of Deivi Cruz said:

Yes he is. He just doesn't pitch in the first (or sometimes second) inning. If that's working for him (and it seems to be), then there is no reason to change it.

I s'pose that's one way to look at it.

[Shades of Deivi Cruz]

3 minutes ago, casimir said:

I s'pose that's one way to look at it.

I mean, if he were truly a bullpen piece, you'd see him pitch randomly an inning or two every few days. He doesn't do that. He's on the same regular pitching cycle as any other "starting pitcher".

[casimir]

10 minutes ago, Shades of Deivi Cruz said:

I mean, if he were truly a bullpen piece, you'd see him pitch randomly an inning or two every few days. He doesn't do that. He's on the same regular pitching cycle as any other "starting pitcher".

The SO/BB split is particularly interesting.

[chasfh]

I wonder how much of Maeda's issues relate to his contract, specifically, putting pressure on himself to live up to the richest AAV he has ever gotten, and by a long shot.