Tiger Cubs (notes on the minors)

[Tigeraholic1]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Colt goes deep! 1-0

 

Good to see. He has been in a little funk lately.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Good to see. He has been in a little funk lately.

He made a couple of decent 3B->1B throws also. Nothing extraordinary but routine plays properly made.

[Jim Cowan]

45 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

He made a couple of decent 3B->1B throws also. Nothing extraordinary but routine plays properly made.

That's good enough for me.  I always liked Cabrera at 3rd...if you hit it right to him he made all the plays, and he had a cannon.  So that plus the 1.000 OPS made him one of the top 3 all-around 3rd basemen in baseball, and gave the Tigers a huge advantage in lineup construction. 

If Keith could be even a slightly below average defender at 3rd, with an OPS+ of 120, I'm sold.  The outfield is too crowded for him, he needs to play 3rd and play it every day.

[gehringer_2]

23 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

That's good enough for me.  I always liked Cabrera at 3rd...if you hit it right to him he made all the plays, and he had a cannon.  So that plus the 1.000 OPS made him one of the top 3 all-around 3rd basemen in baseball, and gave the Tigers a huge advantage in lineup construction. 

If Keith could be even a slightly below average defender at 3rd, with an OPS+ of 120, I'm sold.  The outfield is too crowded for him, he needs to play 3rd and play it every day.

Yes - I loved Cabrera as a 3b. The problem with that IF was not Cabrera at 3B, it was having Prince in the field with a glove on at all.

[Tenacious D]

11 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

He made a couple of decent 3B->1B throws also. Nothing extraordinary but routine plays properly made.

Not surprising, right?  Was a pitcher before being drafted and considered a strong arm.

I agree with the notion of playing him at 3B, until he absolutely proves he is completely incapable of it. The other option is 2B, but that spot is probably easier to solve.  

[Toddwert]

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

Not surprising, right?  Was a pitcher before being drafted and considered a strong arm.

I agree with the notion of playing him at 3B, until he absolutely proves he is completely incapable of it. The other option is 2B, but that spot is probably easier to solve.  

I agree but Harris is in love with position versatility dont know if it stems from a man crush on Ben Zobrist or what

Edited August 19, 2023 by Toddwert

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

Not surprising, right?  Was a pitcher before being drafted and considered a strong arm.

I agree with the notion of playing him at 3B, until he absolutely proves he is completely incapable of it. The other option is 2B, but that spot is probably easier to solve.  

Right. The world is awash in failed SS looking to land at 2B.  

There was another play last night  - men on 1st and 2nd, 2 out (IIRC), chopper to 3rd and the out at first was probably hopeless. Colt fielded the ball still looking at first - seemed to have second of indecision then made the right play to beat the runner to 3rd to end the inning. Only reason I mention it is that you could see he had to think it through, in contrast to a guy like Baez whose instincts are so good he's always already mentally ahead of whatever play he's going to make. Hopefully that part gets better with innings.

[Longgone]

6 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

Not surprising, right?  Was a pitcher before being drafted and considered a strong arm.

I agree with the notion of playing him at 3B, until he absolutely proves he is completely incapable of it. The other option is 2B, but that spot is probably easier to solve.  

Keith has eased the concerns regarding his defense, he probably will be able to stick at third. Most of the apprehension came from the fall league when he came back from injury rusty and overweight. Malloy on the other hand, has not shown any movement towards proficiency in the infield.

[microline133]

Malloy hasn't shown any ability to capably use any glove at this point. He's a DH.

[Toddwert]

4 minutes ago, microline133 said:

Malloy hasn't shown any ability to capably use any glove at this point. He's a DH.

Is he worse then Carpenter with the glove?

[casimir]

50 minutes ago, microline133 said:

Malloy hasn't shown any ability to capably use any glove at this point. He's a DH.

Is it anything in particular that weighs too heavily or is it just an all around deficiency?

[gehringer_2]

Bigbie with another mulit hit game 2/4

Meadows with his 19 HR.

I guess the DH sort of sucked up the baseball oxygen yesterday but Gipson-Long has some love coming for his start at Toledo yesterday. One hit, which was a  bloop down the LF line against 12 K in 6 IP.

[Timmitch55]

9 hours ago, Toddwert said:

Is he worse then Carpenter with the glove?

Malloy has the Harris OBP schtik going on.

I could see Keith and Malloy alternating at DH and 3B.

Dingler and Meadows II should join them here next year.

4 pretty good players joining Carpenter, Tork, and Riley

[Cruzer1]

4 hours ago, Timmitch55 said:

Malloy has the Harris OBP schtik going on.

I could see Keith and Malloy alternating at DH and 3B.

Dingler and Meadows II should join them here next year.

4 pretty good players joining Carpenter, Tork, and Riley

With a club option, I'd pen in Carson Kelly for 2024. Keith might alternate with Vierling at 3b.

[Motor City Sonics]

14 hours ago, microline133 said:

Malloy hasn't shown any ability to capably use any glove at this point. He's a DH.

Yep.  I don't know why there has to be an age qualification to be a DH.    If he can get on base consistently, who cares how old he is.      Use him in the field in extreme emergencies. 

[SoCalTiger]

17 hours ago, microline133 said:

Malloy hasn't shown any ability to capably use any glove at this point. He's a DH.

Can Keith provide acceptable defense at 3B in the majors ? Thanks.

[microline133]

20 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

Can Keith provide acceptable defense at 3B in the majors ? Thanks.

Acceptable? Yes.

Average? Doubtful.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Yep.  I don't know why there has to be an age qualification to be a DH.    If he can get on base consistently, who cares how old he is.      Use him in the field in extreme emergencies. 

Billy Butler was pretty much a full time DH from the time he broke in as a rookie. Had a few good years, but a pretty short career.

[gehringer_2]

9 minutes ago, microline133 said:

Acceptable? Yes.

Average? Doubtful.

i don't know if it's skewed perception because the Tigers have had so much trouble filling the position, but it seems like the supply of good defensive 3B is short all around the league. Maybe just part of a long general trend of fewer players with strong arms?

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

Keith might alternate with Vierling at 3b.

Curiously, Vierling has gotten better against RHP this season. He has a negative platoon split for this season. You see him trying to take the slider away to RF a fair amount, which is a good way for a RHB to neutralize a RHP's usual advantage.

Edited August 20, 2023 by gehringer_2

[Toddwert]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Billy Butler was pretty much a full time DH from the time he broke in as a rookie. Had a few good years, but a pretty short career.

Bob Hamlin was a guy I remember being a DH from day one

[Tiger337]

The only problem with Malloy being a DH is that he limits the versatility on a team that relies on versatility.  That was part of the problem with Cabrera being a DH.  He was taking up a roster spot making it harder for Hinch to mix and match.  Now, if Malloy hits like Edgar Martinez, then you deal with it!  But, if he's just a decent hitter, he's going to need a position which he can play part of the time.    

[casimir]

16 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

The only problem with Malloy being a DH is that he limits the versatility on a team that relies on versatility.  That was part of the problem with Cabrera being a DH.  He was taking up a roster spot making it harder for Hinch to mix and match.  Now, if Malloy hits like Edgar Martinez, then you deal with it!  But, if he's just a decent hitter, he's going to need a position which he can play part of the time.    

Yes, this is absolutely it.

So, going into it for next season, is there a roster fit for Carpenter and Malloy?  I think with Cabrera retiring, there’s more room for a regular everyday DH.  Now maybe Carpenter and Malloy split those duties while also getting defensive reps, I don’t know.

Keith Law mentioned getting to the point in the season where rookie status can be protected next season and brought up Colt Keith.  He wasn’t all too optimistic about Keith at 3B but also didn’t shut it down.  Anyways, he thought maybe the Tigers bring him up soon as generally teams have their best defensive coaches up at the MLB level.  I don’t know whether this is copy & paste for all teams or for the Tigers specifically.  I guess if that’s the case, do the Tigers employ this plan?  And if so, would they also consider it for Malloy?

The other aspects Law brought up regarding minor leaguers being called up made sense.  Teams would do it for guys they think are going to get serious burn next season.  Rookies can get used to the culture at the big leagues.  The competition is obviously a key factor (he mentioned the gap between the majors and minors and what a leap that can be for some guys).  I think there’s merit to it.

But I think there’s also consideration to just playing everyday.  So, maybe it’s to Keith’s advantage to be plugging away at the hot corner in Toledo to finish out that season, and then maybe promoted to finish out the Tiger regular season.  They could always bump someone like Diaz or Ibanez in lieu of bringing up a prospect.

[Jim Cowan]

All I watch is the highlights but Carpenter does not seem like Timmy Lupus to me.  It's been pointed out that he does not make plays at the wall but other than that he seems adequate enough that he does not have to DH full time.

[Tenacious D]

8 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

All I watch is the highlights but Carpenter does not seem like Timmy Lupus to me.  It's been pointed out that he does not make plays at the wall but other than that he seems adequate enough that he does not have to DH full time.

Agree.  Maybe another lazy narrative, but he doesn’t look like a liability out in RF. Plus, he’ll likely have a speedy CF in Meadows to help cover more ground in right center.