2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.88: Tigers at Twins

29 Comments

Normally I find the All-Star break irritating. Four days with no Tiger baseball! This year I think we could all use the break right now, after watching the Tigers get simonized yesterday.

Today’s Worst Hitter Bats Fifth Again Lineup:

  1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  2. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
  3. Victor Martinez, DH
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Alex Avila, C
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. Marc Krauss, 1B
  8. Anthony Gose, CF
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

James McCann had 2 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 runners thrown out, but sits for Alex Avila, because…left-handed!

 

29 thoughts on “Game 2015.88: Tigers at Twins”

    2. …and inserting a .198 hitting Avila in ‘the 5th spot'(?!) hasn’t really panned out thus far (2 for 2 w/K’s)

  3. heading to DET next week, so a month or so ago some family and friends (15 of us) bought tickets to Friday’s game against BAL – at the time we thought it best to lock up tix in advance… hell, by Friday, they might be giving tix away to DET games

    we were also thinking about going on Saturday, but this week’s performance made that decision easy

    1. I know how you feel. Just bought 9 tickets for the Tigers v Astros 3 game series in August in beautiful downtown air conditioned Minute Maid Field.

      1. some friends and i will go to at least one of those HOU games also …regardless of how DET comes out to the gate after the AS game

  4. Love to watch other teams chew us up with perfect bunts.
    Is someone going to tell me that the Tigers, a major-league pro team, can’t learn to do that??
    What is wrong here???

  5. Annnddd………………Here we go again!
    Might as well get used to it. A shame tho, because we had this team on the ropes —–they admitted that more or less, they didn’t know how they were going to beat us. Then came that 9th inning Friday, and momentum has completely swung in Twins’ favor.
    I believe our domination of this team is finished for a few years now….

  6. Question. Will the Tigers be sellers in July? Question number two do we have anything worth selling ?

    1. We have got to be sellers. We have to get younger. Price, Cespedes, and Soria should be flipped. Simon too if you can convince anyone that the last month of the season is an aberration. We should be able to get a Starter and 3-4 prospects back for them. Plus clear up a bunch of salary for the off-season. Next year will be rough while we develop pitching, but we’ve got 2-3 years after that of dominant Miguel Cabrera.

      I have no idea who will anchor the staff. JV and Sanchez can be 2 & 3, with the potential that one of them can be a #1, but I’m not certain of it.

      Castellanos may develop better with a little pressure off. He’s made some strides in the field this year.

      Selling those guys off will relieve everyone, and hopefully relieve Ausmus of a job.

      1. I agree 100%…Sell..Price is 99.9% sure of leaving. Cespedes may stay…Someone will take Simon, AlAl, having Davis and Gose to play CF is a luxury you can’t afford when u don’t even have 9 starters.
        If you trade away pieces make the other team take Avila and Ausmus both…..cut Krauss so Ausmus isn’t requirred to play him..
        Also I think DD is gone. He is a smart man and he can see the writing on the wall..

      2. Good luck with that sell-off Kevin. I can’t imagine it happening with “Snakeoil” Dave running the team. His MO is to build up teams, not break them down. He’ll double down on his failed strategy (buy lots of “stars” – it’s all about PR, while ignoring everything else – e.g. see bullpens and benches over these years), in the hopes that it will continue to generate INCOME for the boss. And why not, it has worked wonderfully well during his tenure, as he has made oodles of money for Illitch in that time. He obviously has had a good read on the “customers” in this particular “market”. Building a winning team, not so much, but then that is of secondary importance to the big plus figure on the Tiger’s financial bottom line at the end every year. If WC would have somehow miraculously happened, so much the better, frosting on the cake. Admittedly, he is better than “Radar” Randy, but I think he has been stupendously over-rated, mostly living off a World Championship success early in his career which may have been as much due to good luck as anything else.

        The Suck won’t end until somebody else comes on board to clean up the mess. And that won’t be happening this year. And where the hell is Illitch in all of this. Sometimes I think maybe he isn’t so committed to “winning” as he is given credit. It’s easy to mythologize and project your hopes on a figure who is largely a mystery character.

  7. To that extent, I believe these last three losses were a positive. If we win them the organization may have been fooled into thinking that this is a championship team, but with the holes at 3B, SP, and the blowpen, it’s simply not. I truly hope that widespread changes are coming. It would be a shame to not win a WS with the best right handed hitter of our generation.

    1. “If we win them the organization may have been fooled into thinking that this is a championship team, but with the holes at 3B, SP, and the blowpen, it’s simply not.”

      Totally agree with this. Even if the Tigers manage to make the playoffs this year, it will be by some miracle—not because they’re actually a WS contender. My only concern is that Ilitch won’t let a fire sale happen. He’s a madman with his money and has, to the best of my knowledge, never been known to do anything like that. But maybe he’s just as fed up as every other Tigers fan is. We can only hope.

  8. Back to the game: Exact same thing Joe Maddon would have done = let Castellanos swing away for the DP and rally-killer. Real creative and different.
    Q: Can we sell our manager too?

  9. Playing Avila and Krauss today borders on negligence just because “the book” says so. Ausmus is worse than Leyland in that way, and we all thought Smokey was nuts. Difference is Smokey got results a lot of the time. Ausmus has zero ability to manage where creativity, or gut feeling, or the game itself needs to be managed. Leyland could win a lot of those games.

  11. See you and everyone else on the other side of this madness, Jud.
    Let’s wish our boys well in the ASG! Wish Miggy could be there too.

  12. i agree Kevin, but i suspect DD and Illitch will hold onto that hope and not take advantage of some fantastic trade leverage they have (namely Price and Cespedes, and to a lesser degree Davis and Soria).

    With the weight of JV’s and Sanchez’ (& VMart + Cabrera’s) contracts, it doesn’t make economic sense to add another $200M SP contract – which some team will likely give Price when the FA market opens… but BEFORE the trade deadline some contending team (that feels they’ll be able to re-sign him) should be able to offer up a valuable trade package. Cespedes should also command a respectable trade offer.

    Its obvious (by the lack of success of AAA call-ups) that DET farm system is sadly lacking (rated near the bottom of MLB farm systems), so the chance to do some restocking for the future ends on 7/31, but as stated before i suspect DD will try to add another SP and RP (and further diminish the farm system by trading prospects)…namely because (as Vince touched on) any version of a fire sale would likely kill attendance (revenue) for the remainder of the season – plus DD’s and Mr. Illitch’s future with the team could be limited.

    I doubt anyone would offer any value for Avila or Simon, but they might make an acceptable offer for Kinsler. JD is making $3M this year, but is arbitration eligible next year, so he’ll get a tidy raise (if he continues). DET get’s a sandwich draft pick for Price when he signs (FA) with another team, they get nothing if/when Cespedes signs w/another team…yes, they’re two critical players, but with or without them, i think DET ends up out of the playoffs, or best case scenario a WC team that is quickly bounced.

  13. Very Real chance the Home Run Derby will be a rainout. And tornado sirens just went off. The Curse of JD Martinez?

    1. And looked great, sharp!
      Iggy & JD = 2 ground-outs —-ah well.
      Missed Miggy starting. Betting he would have had a hit or 2; maybe even matched that guy on the W Coast’s lead-off HR….

  16. i’m off to DET to witness either; a) the start of a dramatic 2nd half comeback, or b) the continuation of a frustrating slog to mediocrity

    i’ve recalibrated my expectations down to just about nothing, and will try to maintain that perspective regardless of the impending ups & downs that will ensue

  17. Well, have a safe trip, and I certainly hope that scenario (a) is what you witness the start of. Balt, Seattle, K C —–doesn’t really matter who we’re playing. I’ve seen it so many times = If Tigers are on a good roll, they can tear apart the best of teams, best of pitchers. If they’re in one of their “sloggish” phases, they can be humbled, beaten up by the worst of teams, even Little League-caliber pitchers, it seems.

  18. Hey! Who’s pitching tonite?

    ——–Oh gosh, that’s right: 2 more days of No Tigers Baseball.
    (I hope, by the end of this weekend, I’m not saying, “My God! Give me some days of No Tigers Baseball!”)

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