I had the pleasure of attending last night’s game. No, I didn’t stay for the whole thing. I made it through 12 and a half innings before calling it a night. It was a beautiful night to be at a game, and the Tigers put up a good effort. In particular the bullpen really stepped up. While they’ve been a frequent target of mine for poor performance. As a group they did a tremendous job last night. Most impressive was Steve Colyer, who has struggled mightily this year.
Sanchez was his usual frustrating self. I loved the bunt hits, and getting all the way to third in the first inning. He also made some nice plays tracking down balls over his head. However, why in the 5th inning did he stop running between 2nd and 3rd? Being at the game, I didn’t get to see replays or hear analysis. Just a mind boggling play, which is what I expect from Sanchez.
Knotts to get start
Not surprisingly, the Tigers didn’t elect to stick with a 4 man rotation. (I’d be surprised if they even considered it) Instead, Gary Knotts will get the start on Friday. Knotts biggest problem last year was consistency. At times he’d look great, other times miserable. Trammell hasn’t committed to keeping him in the rotation, so Knotts will be making a pitch to make another start.
Shane Loux should get that start …
As for last night, while he played for the bad guys, I was impressed with Justin Duchscherer’s 5 relief innings late in the game. Tram used three pitchers to Macha’s one during that span. Duchscherer went through the lineup twice and did not give his manager reason to worry about lefty-righty splits and matchups.
I understand Dingman was probably called up over other more viable candidates for reasons not related to performance, but it would be nice to instead have someone like Loux at Tram’s disposal for games like last night. Pitchers that can go at least five or six innings if need be (ie, “starters”) are more valuable than “situational relievers” who are good for no more than an inning at a time.
The sooner the front office can look past these labels when constructing the pitching staff, the easier Tram’s job will be.