2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.64: Reds at Tigers

21 Comments

This is a big 2-and-2 swap series for me, living in the Cincinnati area. It has been ridiculously hot and humid here, until late this afternoon, when it became overcast and windy. So I went on a nice walk; then the sun came out, and it became hotter and hotter, and I began walking more and more slowly, and…this is a metaphor for something, I’m not sure what. There is a lesson here that will apply to today’s game, if only you have the proper interpretive skills.

There are plenty of Tiger alumni on the Reds: tonight we get Eugenio “Hey, I was Way Better Than Hernan Perez” Suarez at short, and Brennan “Boesch Bash” Boesch in left, and we will see Brayan Pena probably tomorrow, who has become a fan favorite in Cincinnati, the way he does everywhere he goes.

The weather will be a big issue tonight; I will be shocked if there are no delays. It will also be an issue in Cincinnati Wednesday and Thursday.

I’ve been pondering the GIDP issue. Perhaps I’ll have some thoughts on that tomorrow.

Tonight’s Dial it up to the Red Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  5. JD Martinez, RF
  6. James McCann, C
  7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Rajai Davis, DH

Raj and Gose swap spots in the 1-9 / 9-1 world. Nick is back. Yay. Well, OK, Yay-ish. Sort of. McCann moves up to 6th, his highest spot in his career.

21 thoughts on “Game 2015.64: Reds at Tigers”

  2. I don’t know —–maybe I’m too negative, but it just seems to me that Tigers play dumb baseball on basepaths. I offer my choice (if I’m manager): Iggy on 1st, Davis AB. I ask Rajai to bunt. That automatically puts Iggy on 2nd, and if the speedy Davis lays down a good bunt, it’s 2 on, none out.
    Instead of what we got, and usually get = inning quickly over.
    Some feedback on this?

    1. We have 4 fast guys in a row: Iglesias, Davis, Gise, Kinsler. We should find a way to take advantage of that.

      1. Right. Instead we make what I call the low-percentage choice to run Iggy; Cincy sniffs it out and calls for pitchout. Even w/o pitchout, still a chance Jose gets thrown out.
        I like the higher-percentage decision to trust Davis’ speed and bat control to try for bunt-single.
        Anyway, doesn’t mean much now, as Cabrera, JD bust it open here in 6th.

  3. Cabrera seems to be getting on a hot streak. Still, he’s no Hosmer, apparently.

    1. Yeah, that sucks. Detroiters gotta vote, vote, vote.
      Btw, great news on VMart = could be up north with team for Yankees series.

  4. Let Anibal try for CG tonite? If I’m Brad, I ask Sanchez how he feels. But he’s shown no signs of weakness.

  5. Beautiful pitching gem! Fantastic to see Sanchez easing back into his quality form.

    1. outstanding pitching by Sanchez!

      i believe Sanchez has has not given up an ER in his last 21 innings…and his ERA is still 4.65, which gives an indication of his less than stellar start to ’15

  6. Great start to this…kind of 4 game series!…

    ..and Brad ….Kinsler was 1 for May so u move him to 5 spot…now McCann is 1 for June so you move him to the 6 spot…..I don’t get it!!!!

    1. Look at it from Brad’s perspective. He scratched out the 1st draft of the lineup, and then thought oh man, no way Castellanos can bat 6th, so just threw some other guy in there.

  7. Don’t abandon hope, Castellanos is still very young! But right now, at this moment, either Wilson or Romine is more valuable in the lineup. Not sure how I would handle this.

    1. Josh Wilson is 34 and has never had an OPS over .623. So what we get there is a poor man’s Inge. But he is rock solid in the field, as is Romine, who also has wheels. On the other hand, Castellanos could still turn into a player that neither of them could ever dream of being. Or not. So what’s the right move here?

      1. Keep giving Josh and Andy some playing time, and play Casty too, and in this way continue to boost the kid’s confidence, hoping he will soon gel. I also think it’s real important for the coaches to work with Nick whenever there’s a free moment, throw tons of BP at him, and someone should closely monitor his swings (bad and good), try to get him to stop swinging at balls the catcher has to dive for, and try to fix what ever else ails him at present. We all know he’s better than .223.

  8. On Sunday evening, the Reds had a late inning loss against the Cubs in Chicago; I am sure they got into Detroit late, depressed, and tired. Let’s be careful and hopefully see what today brings. Meanwhile, like Coleman taking a long walk that turned into a hot and slow one, I made all 35 of my All Star votes. That was also a hot and slow one that makes me wonder if I will make a difference? I was sad to see Brennan Boesch batting only .131. I was at the Tigers v. Rangers game where he made his MLB debut swinging on his first MLB pitch for a double. We brought two Exchange Students to that 4-game series and our German student was so proud to see a guy named Boesch do such; seeing that success made him a baseball fan for life. (Our Norwegian student caught a foul ball of Johnny Damon at his first MLB game so he was hooked too!) Meanwhile, how can a guy with so much explosive hitting talent go south after his arrival to the show? Do or don’t coaches make a difference?

    1. RE: Boesch decline – as is the case w/most young hitters that have impressive starts to their careers, it usually doesn’t take MLB pitching/scouting to find a hitter’s weakness(es) – and unless the hitter adapts and learns how to hit (or layoff) that type of pitch that pitchers/teams exploit, then every pitcher exploits that weakness, and the young hitter loses confidence, and some never pull themselves out of the downward spiral.

      It takes ‘work’, and these are guys who typically have been the best hitters on every team they’ve been on (before going pro), so they’re not accustomed to struggling – and many of these guys don’t know how put in ‘the work’ like JD Martinez did (before coming to DET) and re-invent or re-calibrate their approach to hitting.

      1. Good point. And let’s not forget the other side too: Scouting/hitting soon learns the rookie pitcher’s arsenal, what he likes to throw in given situations, his “out” pitch, any weaknesses like changing arm slot, etc. And the newbie hurler who at first is very “Cy-like” also gets exploited. Case-in-point = Shane Greene?

      2. I am certainly aware of, and have seen, such flash-in-the-pans; players that can’t adapt. However I am just in awe of the lapse of vertical sharing of hitting/pitching info from minors to majors. In Boesch’s case, he came on strong in the majors until via trial and error they figured out he couldn’t hit the so-in-so pitch. Didn’t they know he couldn’t hit such in the minors? Certainly he had to learn how to successfully make adjustments in the minors as well as majors?

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