20 thoughts on “Game 2017.50: Tigers at White Sox”

  1. Can’t wait for Brad to tell us Zimmerman hasn’t been getting enough sleep lately with this grueling schedule.. ..

  2. True. Or he’ll blame it on the offense.

    But Zimermann and JV need to take the blame here. They are teaming up to be the worst 1-2 combo in baseball.

  3. Can’t hit
    Can’t field
    Can’t run bases properly
    Can’t pitch
    Don’t coach
    Pretty much sums up why the Tigers are one game out of last place….

    1. Yes we’ve mastered all aspects of the game. It will give them a chance to return home in last place. Mario says its the road trip. He’s right it’s been brutal (the way we played) and we are a dominant 12-10 at Comerica.s

  4. Castellanos 11 errors in 47 games is on pace for 38 errors…now if he were batting over .300 and driving in runs, that would be easier to overlook than a guy batting .218, .659 OPS. Its not just Castellanos, with a few exceptions, this team seems like a boat without a captain or a rudder – hence the ongoing floundering

  5. 49 K’s in a 4 game series breaks a MLB record from 1913. Brads answer is….”we had a lot of bad luck”!…..thanks Brad!..I knew it was something like that!….

    1. yes, and it wasn’t against some Hall of Fame type pitching staff either

      1. Detroit isn’t the worst team at striking out, but May has pulled them in that direction. Very far, apparently, for now only Tampa Bay is worse. There have been other four-game stretches this month of 45 and 43 strikeouts. Here’s how they stack up against other high K teams result-wise when striking out more than 10 times:

        NYY 11-8
        TBR 16-19
        OAK 10-14
        BAL 7-12
        DET 6-13
        TEX 4-14

        The most obvious difference between Detroit and the others is HR power (that the Tigers lack). One might also infer that there are team similarities between DET, TEX, and BAL. Let’s see. Yes, both the Tigers and Orioles have had woeful pitching, and the Rangers have the worst bullpen in the league.

        So, Detroit: If you’re going to strike out a lot, start hitting some home runs as well, and do something about your lousy pitching. Problem solved.

    1. Agreed. Too early to give up, too late to expect a lot more than we’ve seen.

    2. Agree with Loon, it is so well stated it may get him banned from the ball club. Fact is, it is already too late . The fact we’re in a crap division may keep us alive mathematically until mid-September but we won’t make it anyway. Might as well build toward the 2019 (not 2018) ball club and do it right.

        1. Yeah, that is another reasonable assessment. My only point of disagreement is on the effect of injuries. I do not see that the Tigers have even once struggled as a result of a regular’s literal absence. So far. Pitching staff has been healthy, which is remarkable good luck for this injury-prone part of any team.

          This Faces of WAR thing I’m making a joke of is really quite weird. Every single big money guy aside from Upton in the bottom half of WAR after 50 games? Buck Farmer in the top 12 after pitching one game? Come on!

          Bad luck, well, yeah. Not in terms of hitting or pitching directly. Tigers BABIP is exactly at league average. But there really is a lot of chance and luck in baseball. 23-27 isn’t that far from 27-23 in this regard. And yet we’d be a lot more hopeful at 27-23.

          Maybe part of the dismal perception is that aside from Fulmer and J.D., no one has been tearing it up in any “wow, look at him” way. Avila has been a nice surprise, and then there’s Justin Wilson, and more, but no one and no small contingent has been carrying the team by any means.

          The Tigers really look bad statistically. 23-27 seems like getting off easy seen from that perspective.

  7. Contrary to an actual professional opinion cited on MLB Trade Rumors, I think that Upton will opt out if there is a chance to sign with a contender. I don’t want to pick on Upton too much. Cabrera (Pujols Syndrome?) and V-Mart (now a singles hitter, a reasonably productive one, but still) are much more disappointing.

    Mahtook has to be the next to go, not that this means a whole lot. Makes room for Infante, maybe? Don’t see why they should carry five outfielders when they have super-utility Romine and none of the OF reserves stand out for their hitting or speed. You have to think that Adduci will be back if and when he recovers from what was much more of an oblique injury than first assumed.

    Maybe they are holding Frankie Rodriguez in reserve as closer in case it doesn’t work out with Justin Wilson, but don’t they need to find him some work in the meantime? With the Tigers at or near an all hands on deck situation, I have to think that trading or releasing Rodriguez is in the offing.

    The bullpen is starting to look like the Tigers’ one *strength*, isn’t it?

    I don’t know how Machado stacks up against Iglesias defensively, but it seems like one of them has to go before the season is out. They could get *something* in trade for Iglesias and some light reduction in payroll, right?

    With a rebuild of some kind looming, is Castellanos a player to hold on to and build around? Especially at 3B? I think so less and less. With the dearth of veterans the Tigers could realistically trade, maybe Castellanos is a candidate for trade now.

    McCann seems less like catcher of the future and more like, well, a whole lot of catchers. Platoon guy with defense to recommend him. I guess that’s not so bad, but as with Castellanos, I think the ceiling might have been highly exaggerated.

    Zimmermann, what to do? Nothing. It’s the Sanchez Trajectory, without the great start. Stuck. One can only hope that he will be durable and eat innings though at least 2019, the $74 million Mike Pelfrey. At least the Tigers should have a majority of talented younger pitchers through this time, and the rotation won’t be just a hodgepodge of iffy and overpaid veterans. That’s something.

    Then again… if Zimmermann continues to post outings like the last, will the Tigers really do *nothing*? Maybe shut him down for a bit with one of those fake DL things, or skip the occasional start and plug in Farmer, perhaps keep Farmer on the team and split #5 starter between them? Maybe not realistic, but can they really do nothing?

    Trading J.D. Martinez at the deadline seems like it would be smart, but gosh, wouldn’t that just kill the season? Whatever their chances at that time, do things have to go down in flames like 2015?

    Are they protecting JaCoby Jones from despair by not playing him full time? Let him play or send him to Toledo for the balance of the season if he is not ready. Or stop pretending the potential was ever that great to begin with and make another plan. He’s a career .772 OPS minor league hitter with + strikeouts and underwhelming power, .678 career at the AAA level. If he is some kind of astonishing defensive CF (?), then play him for that reason and expect no more than Iglesias-level offense for 2017. THEN make another plan.

    And I thought I was an optimist. Guess not.

    1. Nice obituary Loon!

      I’ll start with CF. While Lettuce is a very acceptable CF, he not much better at the plate and he is valuable for the other positions he plays. I would let Jones make it or not the rest of the season. According to Al Kaline, he is our best outfielder. So he either learns how to hit or we go to plan B. I would not platoon him but give him the rest of the season to work it out. He won’t hurt us with his glove.

      If I thought it would help, I’d light candles if it would make J-Up opt out.

      McCann is the catcher but I would play Alex until he cools off (he has been our best hitter so far).

      If Casty doesn’t star hitting, he is a big liability. If he does, he might be Victor’s replacement.

      Miggy is the biggest disappointment and there is not a bloody thing that can be done. He has been so great that almost anything he does in the future might not be accepted. My son in law said the other night that perhaps his eyesight is going. I wonder, but I ASSuME the Tigers would check that.

      F-Rod has had a great career, but even if he recovers we should let him go.

      To me Machado can not replace Iggy, so I hope we pay his arbitration bill. Ian is also at the end of a great career. I’d love to see Omar play while Ian is out, but we need younger replacement.

      The road forward is hard and I’m almost certain our management team isn’t up to it.

      1. Castellanos at DH, hmmm. No, I just don’t think he’s enough of a hitter, though I do like the idea of a DH not being an “old guy” good for nothing else. I think I prefer the more flexible DH assignment some other teams employ.

        *But maybe Casty fits a rotating DH scheme a couple years down the road, I don’t know.

        Miggy is probably the one guy that I have faith in to get back to form and go on a tear and make us wonder – for maybe the 3rd year in a row – how we could have doubted him.

        No one in the pipeline for a younger Kinsler replacement (long term), as far as I can tell. Something that will have to come in trade, I guess.

  8. OK Guys, now that we’ve all vented in writing, tonight Van-Man will pitch a career game and the offense will put a 12 spot. Just to make us look bad!

    1. Of course! I walked away early from the game Farmer pitched, and after I discovered what had happened, I thought, there you go, complain about how hopeless things are and that’s what you get. Then I thought, maybe that 4-3 win with Farmer’s 11 K was going to be a turning point for the season. Then yesterday, and back to lowered expectations.

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