Well the Toledo Tigers really came through. It’s great to see a guy like Jim Adduci come through; 31 years old and only 136 career MLB at bats and two years playing in Korea, he made his Tiger debut a memorable one. Remember “can’t miss” prospect Steven Moya? He’s only hitting .122 in Toledo and got passed over for Adduci. There is a nice piece on Adduci here.
JaCoby Jones, Jose Iglesias, JD Martinez, Miguel Cabrera. That’s a lot of DL talent. If these guys can even scrap their way to playing .500 ball until guys start coming back, it would be a win.
Today’s Adduci Edition Lineup:
- Ian Kinsler, 2B
- Tyler Collins, CF
- Nick Castellanos, 3B
- Victor Martinez, DH
- Justin Upton, LF
- Alex Avila, 1B
- Jim Adduci, RF
- James McCann, C
- Andrew Romine, SS
Pitching: Jordan Zimmerman vs Felix Hernandez
at least Zimmerman gave us one good month last year. Looks like it was one good start this season. 110mm is a lot to pay for a shelling every 5th day.
This is good, Felix with 48 pitches in 2 innings.
Zimm isn’t all that sharp but he does have the GIDP pitch working.
Upton teed off!
And Junior! Where’d these guys come from?
They way the Mudhens are hitting, I’d let Victor sit and put Hicks in the lineup.
Did Brad sneak Sanchez into the game?
Adduci must be having the time of his life out there.
Victor has a hit Seattle hasn’t leased our pen, have they!
I think this one is pen proof.
But is it JZ proof?
I wonder if Felix is hurt? You don’t usually take out your starter after two even if he is sucking.
+1
Normally this is the point of the game where you would take out the starters and put the scrubs in…but they are already mostly in the starting lineup. Got to get Hicks in there though.
Ausmus followed your advise….and Hicks delivers
Sad commentary on our pen that we are forced to use AWillie with a 10 run lead.
…and a reality of the bullpen options (or lack thereof)
WOW 20 hits, two TDs and a safety
Zimmerman still not right: 6IN, 11 H, 5 ER
Another Mudhen hit.
OK, i’ll say the obligatory “save some runs for tomorrow”…as Mahtook hits a HR
…of course w/this bullpen… it never hurts to get another two “insurance runs” 🙂
K-Rod may still have a save opportunity.
with this game, the worst bullpen in baseball just solidified their (bottom) spot
I wonder if the reason Avila is doing so well is the fact that he basically has taken the past 4 years off and he is well rested…..hmmmm!
There has been a lot of talk in the media about Felix “The King” Hernandez’s arm out here in the Northwest. It looks like he has a dead arm, and the Tigers hitters would the killers.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2017/04/26/detroit-tigers-bullpen/100918622/
Ausmus appropriately expressing his frustration with his bullpen… i believe he also knows that the primary reason they don’t throw many strikes and get behind hitters is because they don’t have any confidence in their stuff
Through the first eighteen games of the season, the Tiger relievers rank dead last in ERA (6.63) and dead last in WHIP (1.67).
until they solve the bullpen problem, the two steps forward & three steps back procession will be the norm
Norman, can it be said that after 3 years they have achieved consistency?
without question Tony…over the past 4-5 yrs DET’s bullpen has been a model of consistency…that being, consistently unreliable
And the one of the most frustrating aspects of the bullpen, as appropriately highlighted by Ausmus, its the friggin BB’s – many times lead-off walks!
I’m often reminded by the wisdom of Sandy Koufax: “I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.”