2016 Season

Game 2016.146: Tigers at Twins

27 Comments

Uhhh, we still have Mike Pelfrey?

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B

2. Jose Iglesias, SS

3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B

4. Victor Martinez, DH

5. J.D. Martinez, RF

6. Justin Upton, LF

7. James McCann, C

8. JaCoby Jones, CF

9. Andrew Romine, 3B

27 thoughts on “Game 2016.146: Tigers at Twins”

  1. Pingback: Game 2016.146: Tigers at Twins | Detroit Tigers

  2. based on Castellanos’ past few days, it’s pretty clear he will not be back by 9/18, now DET is now saying they ‘hope’ he’s back before the end of the season

    needless to say, they could use another productive bat

  3. Pingback: Game 2016.146: Tigers at Twins | Ruthian Sports

  4. Doesn’t make sense to me to pull Pelfrey there. He needs more work, he only needed 1 more out. I’d have given him a shot to get through another inning.

    1. Kevin what really didn’t make sense was to let him pitch to Dozier with first base open. Hasn’t Dosier hurt us enough? You can say it was a successful at bat since he kept him in the park.

      By the way, has JD lost track of the strike zone lately?

    2. …and I’m sure MIN appreciated the additional batting practice Pelfrey served up today 😉

  5. I like watching teams play small ball. Tradition as they sang on Fiddler On the Roof. This may work but if Lowe blows this I nominate Brad for the Fickle Finger o Fate Award.

  6. Love Jack Morris. He probable won’t be back, he is too truthful about the game. On the last Twinkie hit he pointed out that J-Up didn’t bother to charge the ball aggressively. He also rightfully pointed out that the turning point in the game was when Brad decided to pitch to Dozier with 1st base open.

  8. I have serious doubts that the road to a playoff spot is paved with losing 2 out of 3 to Chicago and splitting 4 with the Twinkies.

  9. 3/20 out of the 1-5 spots. 1 whole run….Tigers think they are a shoe in for the playoffs with splits with Minn and losing series to everyone else….our Manager of the year…not worried!!!

  10. As an indicator of the current status of this season, I normally TIVO Thursday afternoon games and watch them after work. This game, I checked on the final score before deciding whether to watch the entire game or a condensed version via MLB At Bat. Hmmm….unfortunately the condensed version it is! A split with the Twins doesn’t look well going into Cleveland for a weekend series with the Tribe. Let’s play them out and see where we are Sunday evening. Meanwhile my condensed version viewing will allow me to time take a long stroll this evening.

  11. I’m all for staying positive, but even if I thought there was any suspense about Detroit making the playoffs, there would be no suspense about how long they would last (one game). The 2016 Tigers are a pretty good team with no business pretending to be top-tier, just like another 10 MLB teams you could name.

    Looking ahead to 2017, it’s an unusual (at least for Detroit) and encouraging situation to have three – three! – rotation-ready young starters going into a season. At least, that is the expected situation.

    I can think of a number of names that might not – my preference or no – be showing up on Detroit’s Baseball Reference pages next season. Gose, McGehee, Aybar, Saltalamacchia, Collins, Farmer, VerHagen, Pelfrey, Lowe, Sanchez, Greene, Hardy, Moya… to begin with.

    There’s a strong feeling around here that what the Tigers really need is a new manager. Maybe. I’m neutral on that. I think they need much better pitching to be a strong contender. They have the pieces already, sure. Or maybe sure. But this has been the case for the past few years, and it continues to disappoint. Say what you will about an offense that goes dead from time to time, but good pitching wins in spite of that. Offense is more exciting, and Detroit has a great paper offense, but… it’s tough to contend without pitching that can’t dominate for notable stretches of games.

    It’s easier to see Detroit mostly standing pat in the offseason, and I don’t have a clue about the free agent situation right now, but if Detroit were to pull off some unexpected trade, the value they have to offer at the MLB level would be: Castellanos, Iglesias, Maybin, Norris or Boyd, Greene, Moya, and Collins. The first few names might be shocking – why would they do that? – but hey, the trade value here is at its peak, and you gotta give to get when you can’t pay the bill with prospects.

    I’d sure like be rid of Sanchez, Pelfrey, and Lowe, but I don’t know how that would work. I’ll pretend that it could and make this the stand pat 2017 Opening Day team I could live with:

    C MCCANN
    1B CABRERA
    2B KINSLER
    SS IGLESIAS
    3B CASTELLANOS
    LF UPTON
    CF MAYBIN
    RF J.D. MARTINEZ
    DH V. MARTINEZ
    C SALTALAMACCHIA
    UT ROMINE
    UT AYBAR (I suppose)
    OF COLLINS
    SP VERLANDER
    SP ZIMMERMANN
    SP FULMER
    SP NORRIS
    SP BOYD
    RP GREENE
    RP A. WILSON
    RP J. WILSON
    RP RONDON
    RP RYAN
    RP Someone they already have that I don’t like, I guess, ha ha – OK, HARDY (he’s alright, I suppose)
    RP RODRIGUEZ

    This is almost certainly not how it is going to be. Wish I had some predictions or specific suggestions. Bold prophecy is fun. Can’t do it. But what could the Tigers conceivably use from a fantasy shopping list? Well, a proven starting pitcher better than Zimmermann but younger (dream on), an all-in-one CF who can play every day, a killer setup guy for the bullpen, a better overall SS, a better overall 3B. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m anxious to be rid of Maybin, Castellanos, or Iglesias. They’re awesome. But the durability of #1 and #3… just isn’t and won’t be, I don’t think.

    I think that improvement will be mostly about pitching. The Tigers seem to be kind of middle of the pack as a staff, and I guess there *are* contenders mostly slugging their way to the top, but if you took Verlander and Fulmer out of the stats… Detroit would look about as horrid as the impression I’ve gotten. The bias at DTW seems to be criticizing the offense, and I understand, because it is hard to forgive THIS offense for scoring 1 or 0 runs. But I’m more disappointed in the pitching. More hopeful, too. There’s some talent there, really more than for some years past now. Largely because of past trades that I either didn’t like or downright hated at the time.

    1. The problem I see with your 25 man roster is the Tigers tried your 2017 list this year and it didn ‘t work…
      1. A .225 catcher with 35 rbi
      2. Collins, Iggy, Salty, McCann, all .235 hitters..35 rbi
      3. Can’t possibly have Upton do what he did this year, like he did it
      4. Victor puts up numbers, but is very unreliable, and one base running blunder away from the DL
      5. Miggy puts up numbers but is not the hitter we was 2-3-4 years ago
      6. The manager does not believe in bunting, stealing, hit and run therefore you are stuck with a station to station team
      7. has to be the worst offensive bench in the MLB
      8. you are returning the worst baserunning team in the MBL
      As you can see I agree that the pitching has to improve..but I see the problem as an offensive one!
      This roster next year is a 86 win team…
      Like Loon just my opinion.

      1. Jud, that’s only my stand pat roster, because I can’t think of any “guaranteed” improvements, and because I wouldn’t count out better seasons from some players who fell short this season. So I only make a few (wishful) cuts.
        1. The C position (including Saltalamacchia) is way better this season. Remember Avila? I would definitely leave this as is.
        2. Yes, but not a big factor in the team’s failures.
        3. Not sure what you mean, exactly, but yeah, Upton should have been better and should be better in 2017.
        4. Miggy didn’t want to DH. Thus Victor for four years.
        5. I think Miggy has some more monster years in him. But healthy and solid would be more than enough.
        6. The organization doesn’t believe in it. We can’t have everything.
        7. Yes, bad – ridiculously bad early in the season; worst, I don’t know. I’ll fall back on an old argument: “Good bench” teams tend to be teams where the bench guys could possibly displace the starters, and teams that don’t come close to Detroit in terms of the talent of the regulars.*
        8. That might be an exaggeration. But yeah, it’s a problem.
        Got any ideas for acquisitions that would give the Tigers a better shot at better than 86 wins in 2017? Let’s say they turn the page on Ausmus. What next?

        *Also, carrying 13 pitchers makes it hard to have any bench at all.

  12. Hey Brad. Dozier isn’t hitting .900…he’s only hitting .282. Maybe everyone else in baseball know how to pitch to him!!!!

  13. Brad quote after the game…” This wasn’t a very good homestand”!…..
    Gee thanks for the insight Brad!

  14. Good write up Loon…a colleague suggested offering Little Ricky Porcello’s pitching coach 10 percent more salary if he came to Motown. Maybe he could then turn Sanchez, Lowe, and Pelfrey around instead of the Tigers having to dump their contracts. Could be cheaper and all he has to do is bat. 333!

    1. Also let’s throw another 10% in on the Royals bullpen coach…Sanchez has a $17M payroll so who are you gonna get to take him?!?

      1. good point, both Sanchez & Pelfrey under contract next season w/Sanchez due $16.8M & Pelfrey next season… and no team is going to trade for either, unless DET pays most of salary due

        …stuck like Chuck

        1. My wishful thinking is that the Tigers could find a buyer (trade) for Annabelle if they cover maybe 25%, and as for Pelfrey, well, $8MM is small change these days. Turn him loose and let him go “eat innings” (yeah, as many as 5 at a time, woo-hoo) for the Indians or the Royals. Could be worth paying for.

    2. Hey, Ole Miss (your new nickname, I gather). Speaking of pitching coaches, I haven’t heard that much about Rich Dubee.

  15. From the previous comments it would appear you have given up on 2016. With only 16 games remaining and projecting that Brad can guarantee us maybe 4 more losses just through mismanagement alone, you may be right.

    I was surprised to see Aybar at SS for Iggy tonight at Cleveland. Aviles must have given him copies of Brad’s frat pictures to make sure he gets some playing time. Don’t worry because Aviles was designated for assignment and we could get him back. Understandable that he couldn’t crack that tough Atlanta roster.

    1. Acquiring Aviles to begin with and then holding on to him for so long mystified me. Maybe he’s a great clubhouse guy or something, but come on, we saw plenty of him when he was with the Indians. Couldn’t hit, sure couldn’t field any position. Were any of us thinking, “Wow, that’s what the Tigers need”? It had to be charity of some sort. Had to be. Give the nice guy a job.

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