Well, and here I thought having Dixon Machado called up would mean that we’d be spared the awe-inspiring sight of Hernan Perez at the plate for a while. A lot of us have been saying that Ian Kinsler could really use a day off (he was 1-for-Houston, with a number of cringe-worthy strikeouts), so Brad Ausmus is giving the day off to…Miguel Cabrera, who just went 2-for-4 with a HR. Hmm. Miguel will be replaced by Babe Hernan Perez at first; Dixon Machado gets his first major league start at short.
There will be more days off coming I presume; the Tigers are beginning a West Coast trip without the usually travel day off, going from a late-afternoon Detroit game to an afternoon game on the West Coast, something I can’t remember happening in a long time.
They play three in Oakland, then travel down to maybe their least favorite place to play the LA Angels, which will give them 20 straight games without a day off by the time it is finished.
Kevin asked whether this is just a .500 team we are watching (throw out the first week-and-a-half of the season, and that is what they have been achieving). Something to ponder. The A’s have been struggling, but the Tigers have a habit of letting struggling teams off the hook (I’m sure when they read today’s lineup they felt the hook loosen a bit).
Hopefully the return to his old stomping grounds will put Yoenis Cespedes in a Home Run Derby kind of mood.
Today’s Jet-Lagged Lineup:
- Anthony Gose, CF
- Ian Kinsler, 2B
- JD Martinez, DH
- Yoenis Cespedes, LF
- Tyler Collins, RF
- Nick Castellanos, 3B
- James McCann, C
- Hernan Perez, 1B
- Dixon Machado, SS
Here is a nice story about the cover photo. Hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day.
Another throw-away game lineup! Can we really afford this mismanagement ….. we must be 5 games in front! I will not throw-away an afternoon to watch this bullcrap!
I can take away at least one positive thing from yesterday’s game = the fact that skipper Ausmus was mad about this one. That’s a good sign. He didn’t hand us the “Well, it’s only one game, a lot of season left, we split the series anyway, it only counts as one loss” crap. With the starting pitching staff that the Tigers have, the statement, “When you score 8 runs, you should win the game” could be etched in stone.
Maybe he’ll be angry enough to shake his team out of their dull (of late) playing. Of course, whatever he says will be not much more than useless banter, if he neglects the current #1 priority as I see it:
TEACH EVERYONE not named Miguel or Victor, how to BUNT!!! Then maybe the next time Tigers have that 0 outs, runner on 1st or on 1st and 2nd, in late innings of a crucial, tight game, we’ll start seeing a few successful sacrifices replacing the usual swing-away you-know-what. A manager who’s smart enough to know when to play some “small ball” can help his team win games, and save them from embarrassment many times.
Miggy ususlly goes 1 for the West coast trip after visiting with the LA night life so no big deal getting a day off. With Perez playing he might be capable of 1 for West Coast….
Lets see. .080 thats 8 hits in 100 at bats. Thats pretty amazing when you think about it!….and then you watch Kinsler batting and you wonder if he will get 8 hits in 100 at bats
Isn’t great to see Billy Butler out of a Royals uniform?
Speaking of KC, Gutherie gave up 11 ERs in one inning against the Yankees.
Interesting line up. BA has “Ty” (not Cobb) Collins batting 5th and in front of McCann? Hmmm.
1st and 2nd, nobody out, obviously a bunt, right? Nope, another GIDP.
I wonder what the most errors a team has ever had in a shutout?
And Assmus doing what he does best NOTHING,…… no bunts, no hit and run, no steal attempts…nothing. And with only a few runners trying something is even more important.
And…there’s another one. Zzzzzz….
Look what Hinch is doing in Houston, look what Molitor is doing Minn….look what Asmus is not doing in Detroit!…….
This team has zero motivation and thats Brads job!…..and to get beat by 10 absolutely horsecrap pitchers this year, means your team is not prepared……
Greene and Lobstein could both have 5-6 wins easily this year, but those are games the Sluggos take off. And we all know the Tigers take games off. Brad thats your fault!!!
@jud:
You could throw in a few other (what I would term) smart baseball managers here….. I think Buck Showalter may be another of those.
But you’re absolutely right, all that you said above.
You know? —-It really stinks. Whenever I see for example, 7th inn, 1st and 2nd, 0 out, and batter is either .230 avg., or very fast, or both, and managerial staff gives sign that must say, “Go ahead, swing away and ground into DP”, this manager & his staff must not be capable of processing data from previous, hell, 18+ yrs, Brad, in the major leagues, or Ausmus, for some unbeknownst-to-man reason, doesn’t want to put his runners in scoring position, less than 2 out, doesn’t care enough to try to get his team those extra “little” runs, that many times, can change a game around.
I feel like Ausmus is a terrific student of his mentor, “no-brainer” Leyland, since he’s managing like his clone.
At first, when Leyland stepped down, I was rejoicing, thinking, NOW we’ll get something fresh! —–Little did I know………
Jud, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this (or from anyone else here too).
….Tigers lead the MBL in stolen bases. BUT they never run when tied or behind. He only steals when they are ahead
..Its obvious Asmus is not a bunter ( yet he claims is likes the NL style better). Is that his fault or DD.
.. the Victor fiasco is a major problem in itself and shows Asmus is not in control of this team.
..Kinsler is 0-21…bet he bats second tomorrow. Asmus doesn’t have the balls to move him. His replacement would be Perez then thats on DD. Ir its Romine, fine!
…Everyone shifts on the Tigers hitters. I see nothing from Asmus encouraging ways to beat the shift…none. His answer is “hit it where they ain’t”, but between them.
….Asmus told us he would platoon Avila and McCann, but he didn’t!
….lets see you are hitting .100 LH and .400 RH….hmmmm your hitting RH. Instead he asked Victor and Victor said no! WHAT???…then DL a month ago or longer!
…His post game explanations tell you nothing. He whines or just says “thats baseball”. Thats his pat answer. Listen to Joe Madden or Bruce Bouche sometime explain the game. Asmus is so Far over his head he doesn’t know. Thats why he doesn’t tell you anything.
…the fact that Perez is on a MLB roster is on DD and Asmus both.
…last he ,taken straight from Jim Leyland, does not DARE hurt anyones feelings, therefore he does not hold ANYONE accountable. Vintage Leyland…
Thats my take on whats happening. No I never coached at that level but I have coached 70…thats 70 high school or higher teams. Maybe I am wrong about some of this stuff, but I do have enough experience coaching to make these observations.
I forgot this one Houston brings up a guy from the minors and he hits Two home runs to beat the Tigers in two seperate games. The Tigers bring up a guy who can’t hit, throw or catch….thats on DD!
To play devil’s advocate (Ausmus being the devil in question), the Tigers have managed to take in a few players who have been disgruntled on former teams (Gose, Cespedes, Rajai, maybe others) with no sign of dissent or disunity on the team, and the coaching staff needs some credit for that.
Some credit for being good baby-sitters and at times they can’t even do that well. When it comes to managing a baseball team ….. they are completely clueless and out of their league!
I agree with Coleman about coaching staff needing some credit for maintaining a positive clubhouse feeling for (difficult) players, but TIGERS RULE summed it up pretty well.
And jud said: therefore he does not hold ANYONE accountable. Vintage Leyland…
This points to another bigger problem that really irks me perhaps more than anything else management does. I guess you could categorize it as sentimentality. Ausmus and his staff will go out of their way, as Jud mentioned, to not hurt anyone’s feelings. The other 50% is the way the bullpen is handled, especially in close games. So often it seems to me that Brad is making sure that guys “get their work in”, so he plays bullpen roulette with the struggling arms out there, trotting in one after another ineffective reliever. So these guys “get their work in” —–at the expense of winning ballgames!!!
Coaching staff: Get your priorities in order!!