2016 Season, Game Post

Game 2016.11: Tigers at Astros

24 Comments

Despite the abundance of inconveniences posed by the two toddlers who dominate my house, I was able to watch most of this game. A few observations:

1) Topping out a 94 on his FB is going to make for a long season for JV. He’s throwing it less and less, with good cause, but man, he’s gotta hit 95/96 on occasion. He doesn’t have the command to just “pitch.”

2) Props to the pen. 3 IP, 1 H, 2 Ks. That was a dominant pen. Good to have Wilson back.

3) The Tigers had 16 baserunners and went 2-12 with RISP. This was a hot topic last year, but as I pointed out, we were decent w/RISP last year (.265/.768 OPS). If they continue to put men on base like that, they’ll win more than they lose.

4) I think that when Castellanos was thrown out at 3rd, it should have been a ground rule double. The center fielder put up his arms. Castellanos was running all the way, but I’m wondering if he figured he had nothing to lose. Not sure what the rule is there on when an OFer signals like that.

5) Cabrera is going to be just fine.

Sanchez takes the mound in today’s rubber match. Game preview here.

 

24 thoughts on “Game 2016.11: Tigers at Astros”

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  3. WHY WAS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT KINSLER LETTING THE POP UP DROP? IT WASN’T AN INFIELD FLY RULE SITUATION. NO ONE IS FORCED TO CATCH ANYTHING HIT EVEN WHWN IT IS AN INFIELD FLY RULE, EXCEPT THE BATTER IS CALLED OUT TO PROTECT THE RUNNERS.

  7. That was a great at bat for Gose, and he doesn’t even have to run to first!

  8. J-Up should have gotten tossed. The pitch was a strike, but even if marginal he had two strikes.

    It does seem like Brad took too long to get off his butt to try to keep him in the game. Our manager is very casual when managing, could probably call it in from home and his easy chair.

  9. Got a break there Upton got tossed…!!…can we un-sign him?…he make Avila look like a contact hitter!

  10. Yes J-UP strikes out too much and he is new with a nice contract but you can’t ignore the fact that Miggy and Victor are batting a combined .260ish with less homers together than Ian Kinsler has.

  11. Plus with Iggy and Knsler both around
    ..330 and getting on base Upton, Miggy and VMart are not exactly driving in a lot runs. Upton is a waste at this point.

  12. Upton, Miggy, VMart, JMart…10/48 in the series with 7 of the hits coming Saturday..lucky to get 1 out if 3 when your 2-5 aren’t producing..
    Royals usually bring out the best in the Tigers so we will see.

  13. Interesting series in Houston, good exciting games but we only won 1 of 3.

    Yesterday Kevin made the comment that JV might have a long season if he can’t hit 95/96 every so often. I agree. I think his command/ control so far is bad. Did you notice all the foul balls after 2 strikes? He had a lot of trouble putting hitters away. Sanchez looks like he is back to giving up homers by the bucket full again. That’s half or more of our starting rotation. The youngsters that are ready to come up from Toledo, I don’t count too much. They have not proven themselves in the big show yet. Remember when Rondon was going to be the great rookie closer? The good news so far is that our pen is not entering the games with cans of gasoline to throw on the fires!

    Some things that bother me are base running and attitudes. I don’t know what is going on with the base runners, but I must lay part of it on coaching and the manager. When Kinsler got thrown going 1st to 3rd in the first inning it didn’t bother me at all. Game is 0-0 first inning and being aggressive is OK. The other two outs at 3rd did. Castys in particular because it seemed our coaches must have been out getting a hot dog. Gose not running out the sure hit to center infuriated me. That’s not the first time Anthony had dogged it but apparently no one cares. He should not start any of the games in KC just to get his attention. Maybe McCann can call him out.

    The final comment is on Miggy. Kevin said he is not worried about him. I am and it has little to do with his lower than expected numbers. For a week or more, it seems to me that Miggy is not his jovial, kidding around self. He doesn’t seem to be smiling a lot as he usually does. My guess is that there is something wrong and not on the physical side but the emotional side. We forget these kids do have private lives and just like us it can be disruptive on the job when something at home is not right. Just a wild guess, but hopefully I will be proven wrong.

    1. good points Tony.

      To me, other than Zimmerman, thus far DET’s starting pitching is a concern, i’d like to see Norris come back and flourish, though his initial rehab outings haven’t gone too well. DET’s SP certainly could get better, but my confidence in JV and Sanchez seems to be diminishing with each start. JV closed out last season well, but for DET to compete this year JV (@ $28M per yr through ’19) has got to pitch significantly better…soon.

      RE: Miggy, i wonder if his vision has diminished – i haven’t watched many games this year, but in the handful that i have, i think i’ve seen Miggy ‘get fooled’ on some pitches AND chase several pitches out of the strike zone… something very ‘un-Miggy-like’… Again, for DET to compete, he’s got to produce like one of the game’s top 5 hitters.

      DET travels to KC next for 3 games beginning Tuesday, i’ll repeat my pre-HOU series prediction, ‘based on the SP pitching (Greene – Ventura, Zim – Kennedy, Pelfrey – Voquez) matchups, i believe DET will be fortunate to win 1 of those games’ – hope I’m proven wrong.

      Look for DET to close out April strong!…thanks in-part to their schedule.

  14. Last year Tigers had 25 thrown out at home. Last year they had 20 thrown out at third. Both led the MLB… Some of this has to be on Clark. As far a running out balls that are hit, Assmus doesn’t know what to do to make them run hard. I did notice Salty runs everything hard…JD most of the time…Romine runs hard…thats about it. Even Iggy and Gose who might just beat out that groundball run like old men…Victor , Miggy, Casty are the worst. They jog to first no matter where the ball is hit. I can’t tell about Upton, he seldom hits the ball!

  15. You know, these last few comments all go to…managing. The talent is there. For all his idiosyncrasies, Leyland used to win games. I usually feel like we’re lucky if Ausmus doesn’t lose one.

    That said, it is VERY early friends. VERY early. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Nothing wrong with 7-4. Saltalamacchia has been amazing. Props to Avila. Bullpen looks good. That will make a huge difference. It’s still early.

    1. Avila has done a great job putting this team together. The bullpen alone is an amazing turn around. Salty has produced. Its too early to evaluate Upton.
      We all knew Asmus would be the weak link. That isn’t about to change. But as Kevin just typed..7-4 ain’t bad. This team will contend!

      2. Problem solved..Assmus says ” I hope the base running gets better!…the guy is brilliant. Thanks Brad!

  16. DET got out of HOU just in time, some parts of the city got over 20 inches of rain last night and this morning… its a friggin mess here … as are other parts of TX and LA – and the rain keeps coming

    1. …why not! sound like it could be a good biz venture – get a few key “stars’ to start using it, and they’ll sell. http://www.warstic.com – ash, birch & sugar maple bats for $109 to $129, and an aluminum for $289… with the understanding that when it comes to the art of hitting, ‘the bat’ constitutes about 1% of the equation, while ‘the operator’ (hitter) makes up the other 99%

      If Kinsler continues on his current pace, that should also help sales…

      White Stripes trivia: Hotel Yorba was an actual hotel in DET… and i believe the bldg is still there in the hood on Lafayette Blvd (off 75/Fisher)… and a great song.

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