2017 Season, Game Post

Game 2017.30: Tigers at A’s

51 Comments

Well, Frankie had me fooled. Two quick outs and two strikes on the 3rd guy, and it looked like we were about to get treated to the elusive clean save. You know what happened: a walk, a double (lefties are killing him), and a two-run single.

I think closers are over-rated even when they do roll up the string of saves—it’s not that unusual for a pitcher at any time of the game to go out there with nobody on base and not give up any runs. I also think that when closers do fail, there is a lot of fan overreaction. It’s baseball. Balls fall in the gaps, grounders sneak through the infield, someone blasts a good pitch, your infielder boots a double-play ball, things happen.

But when you look at Frankie’s numbers, you aren’t looking at fluke bad luck. He has a 6.35 ERA and an appalling 1.853 WHIP. There aren’t many spots on major league staffs for guys who put 2 guys on base per inning in any inning, much less the 9th (the only Tiger with a higher WHIP is Anibal Sanchez). And if you can throw a lefty up there, it’s truly frightening: lefties are hitting .344 with a 1.167 OPS against him.

Today’s Someone Save Us Lineup:

  1. Andrew Romine, CF
  2. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. Justin Upton, LF
  6. Jim Adduci, RF
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Dixon Machado, 2B

Pitching: Daniel Norris vs Sonny Gray

Romine roams out to center today, so we get a rare look at Dixon at 2nd.

51 thoughts on “Game 2017.30: Tigers at A’s”

  1. Are Fingers and Alex hurt? I’m trying to figure out our Sunday lineup. I love James McCann and I think he’s our best catcher but he’s hitting about .150 where Alex has been one of our best hitters. Then you compound it by playing Machado?

  2. You gotta play your hot hitters…Monday is off…Not that hard ???

    2. Brad schedules these days off like in March or April the sends it in to Kinkos to run off.. So hot hitter.. Cold hitter means nothing to him… it’s scheduled… Just like 8th inning pitcher.. 9th inning pitcher.. Same concept! …its SCHEDULED that way!

  3. Let’s see a win Fri… A lead with two outs Saturday.. West Coast trip looking good…… BAM!…… 2-7 just like always!

  4. James finally gets a hit, Brad is a genius, or Even a blind squir…. never mind I’ll take it.

  6. Justin Wilson is our eight and ninth inning guy ….and then I change my user name.

  7. To be realistic, if you want Frankie gone, he’s gonna have to blow about 10 more of these.

  9. I am turning game off at 4:38 PST time.. No way am I watching the bottom of the 9th.. Will check back later… Good Luck boys!

  10. Oh here’s a great idea in a one-run game: start off by walking Rajai.

  11. How about putting Frankie, Brad, and old man Avila on a boat run by the Skipper and Gilligan, but with no Professor, Ginger, or Mary Ann.

  12. The all-time blown saves record is 28, for a team. Frankie’s got a shot to do it solo!

  13. Jud you should have seen this. That just brings the confidence meter all the way to the top for Brad. Luckily they are off tomorrow and since he only threw 21 pitches he can pitch again on Tuesday.

    Poor C-Mo is speechless on TV.

    1. If there were no plan B, it wouldn’t be Brad’s fault. But Justin has “closer” stuff, and you could plug in a Crocodile Saupold or something in the earlier innings without losing anything. Frankie is literally one of the 20 worst relief pitchers, much less closers. After this game his stats will be worse than Anibal’s. Think about that: the Tigers might actually be better off with Anibal closing.

      1. …Anibal’s dog, a southpaw, without an opposable thumb, might be a better option

        The KRod train is heading over the cliff, will Ausmus pull the pin…or follow him over?

  14. Absolutely no excuse. A day off to make some changes. Hopefully see a new team in Az.

  15. Jud back.. Not laughing……

    But here’s the BIGGEST problem….. Brad doesn’t have the balls to tell KRod he is moving him out…
    JWillie… 13 games.. Scored on 1 ttime KRod…. 13 games… Scored on 8 Times

  16. Putting in A-Rod is no different than the Pistons asking Drummond to shoot technical free throws with a 1 in 3 success rate. You would conclude the Pistons had lost their mind. Same thing applies to the Tigers.

  17. Guys – so I’ve been working on a post called “The Case for Brad Ausmus.” No lie. I started it last weekend – the team is above .500 even with all the injuries, poor performances, and no minor league system.

    Then came Sat and Sun.

    I just crumpled it up and threw it out the window.

    1. Brad isn’t as bad as people like to think. Among other things, the team teamness, if you know what I mean, is first rate. And he’s been dealt a bad bullpen hand, so you can’t blame him for bluffing. But he did get VERY lucky with Hicks and Adduci coming in and putting up Cabrera and JD numbers.

      1. There is a case to made for Ausmus (which I’d crumple up like Kevin did), and part of it is the team teamness mentioned by Coleman.

        I have the same fan reaction of disbelief and disappointment everyone else does about two consecutive games blown just about the exact same way. I have the same fan solutions. But it’s not my job on the line if I’m wrong. If you count on your closer, then you count on him. When you don’t… it’s kind of over at that point, eh? Despite all, it might still be a bit early for that.

  20. Since Monday was an off day, I did some reflecting on the Tiger’s future. Here we are again in pretty much the same spot we’ve been in for the past few years. Actually, it may be worse that it has been in the past if for no other reason than that core of the team is older. To make it even harder to fix is that the fan base has lost their greatest advocate for building a winner: Mr. I. For years Mr. I spared no expense to try to get another World Series to the motor city. All the money he spent may not have been spent wisely, but you knew he really wanted a winner.

    I can not imagine what drives his son Chris. I’m not sure if he simply wants to sell the ball club or just get their bottom line to a more reasonable balance and then build a winner. In reality, it doesn’t matter. If he just wants to sell, he must balance the books to make the club worth more. If he wants to build a legitimate contender, it can not be done in a single year, we have to reduce the liabilities first and rebuild a destroyed farm system. These are not short term projects.

    When Mr. I purchased the Red Wings they were in similar condition. Years of failure and lots of liabilities. The Wings were still paying players that had long left the NHL but had great contract. Attendance was way down and the play on the ice was a joke. As I recall, the word was Mr. I paid more for the concessions than he did for the hockey club. It took a while but Mr. I did rebuild the club into a true contender and winner of several Stanley Cups and a string of 25 years of playoff appearances that ended this year.

    Based on the reality, I think the road forward for the Tigers is pretty clear, no matter how unpleasant it may be for the fan base. I think in July we will have a big sell off assuming anyone wants some of the players we currently have. I do not think anyone on the roster is exempt, not even JV or Miggy although their contracts may prevent many clubs from offering anything for them. If JD returns and puts up anywhere near the numbers he has, he will be as Ernie used to say: “Looong gone!”. My hope is that he goes at the trade deadline (where we will get something in return) rather than at the end of the year where we will get nothing because we can not afford him. Victor will be here until his contract ends. It’s possible, although unlikely that someone may show interest for J-Up in July.

    Based on either of the paths forward (i.e.: sell the Tigers or rebuild them) changing either the GM or manager would not be a priority. (Sorry, Jud.) So unless Brad gets fed up, I think he gets a one year extension. Big Al will try his best no matter which way it goes.

    Those are what I think the possible paths forward are. Just try to enjoy individual games and take it as it comes.

    1. With the Red Wings in the process of moving into a new arena, you’d have to think that the Tigers are not priority #1 for Chris I. at the moment.

    2. great points Tony.

      If DET is contending (even for just a WC spot) at the trade deadline, they will not sell anything (though possibly JD, if any of the young OF’s significantly step it up). If they are below .500 and floundering (and attendance is descending), they’ll dangle some expensive players/contracts for value offers, but as Tony indicated, there are maybe only 3-4 teams tops that could/would take on the JV or Cabrera contracts, and still offer up an acceptable return of young talent.

      My prediction is DET will remain just close enough to stand-pat, and unless they get some unexpected help from young players/pitchers, they’ll probably find themselves on the outside looking in (playoffs)by a couple games, regretting the handful of games ‘they should have won’. But (as with most longtime Tiger fans), I still hold out “hope” that my pessimism will be obliterated by the unexpected. Either way, I’m along for the ride.

  21. Justin Wilson is now our closer …..via Bless you boys…
    and Captain Obvious…Stormin, good assessment…I see
    another repeat of last year…Close but no cigar…
    A team that needs a 4 run lead going into the 9th doesn’t
    usually make the playoffs.

  22. DET faces ex-Tiger (briefly) Robbie Ray tonight – lefty, who’s been solid

    JV pitching for DET

    1. It would seem as hard as telling Sanchez he wasn’t in the starting rotation.

  24. 16 balls and 13 strikes (2 BB’s) for JV in the 1st inning…no runs, but not the type of beginning you want

    McCann only hitting .162 but leads the team in HR’s…go figure

    1. w/Avila’s 4 HR’s, that’s 11 total from the catcher position in 31 games… on pace for 57… i’ll take it!

  26. JV when he’s wild gets in love with his FB and throws a ton of balls… Today he isn’t really sharp with anything and he’s throwing everything…. He needs a couple 10 pitch innings here!

  27. Swing batter batter batter swing…. Ray with 6 k’s.. Non in the strike zone… Glad we have 2..and JV going

  28. Never mind!… JV will be at 100 next inning +runs… And he’s getting tagged pretty good!…. Can the swing swing swing boys come back?….

    1. yes, probably going to need a TD and possibly also a safety or FG to win this one… and too late for me to stick around to find out

  30. JV can still bring the big heat when needed… 99 top of the zone… Un-frickin-hittable!

  31. Typical of JV. If you get a chance to get him early and you miss, he stays around and gets better. Looks like he’ll go 7 tonight.

  32. Brads watching all these pitching changes and says to Lamont, “wish I could do that”!!

  33. Oh well, wrong again. At least JV can not lose it. First chance for the “new” pen. Not easy with 2 on, no outs.

  34. Good to see some rare Tiger add ons…helpos the pen!….now bottom of 9 ..Let the real game begin!

    1. Jud: Like F-Rod age must be getting to me. When the D-Backs changed their pitcher in the top of the 9th, Teresa and I went to bed. With a 4 run lead I felt it was safe although I was a little concerned since both Sanchez and J-Willie were warming up. Looking at the play by play, I see J-Willie had an 11 strike 15 pitch 1-2-3 inning. What I also liked was that Hardy and Greene stranded the 2 on/no-out runners JV left in the 7th. That was where the real “save” took place.

  36. It amazes me all these teams the Tigers play parade out guy after guy after guy.. 26-30 years old…. Throw 95….and throw strikes!….. How come these guys are so hard to find?… Everyone has.. Several of them!!

    On a side note.. Shane Greene might benefit the most from the KRod problem. Greene has electric stuff but…..

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