Miggy is back. Sort of. He is DH’ing, which doesn’t always work for everyone. Jumpin’ John Hicks is back, they could have used him.
Alex Avila is hitting 2nd, for the first time ever (he started at cleanup for the first time ever yesterday).
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Justin Verlander vs A.J. Griffin
I predict a Justin-to-Justin win.
The Rangers are hot, they’ve won 9 in a row. The Tigers are without Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera (Victor will miss the series on paternity leave. OK, there are 4 or 5 months a year where you wouldn’t have to miss games, there are ways to time this stuff you know).
No matter. The Tigers have Mighty Alex Avila to plug into the cleanup spot.
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Daniel Norris vs Nick Martinez
Curious move to put Tyler Crazy Fingers Collins in the field and JD at DH, although I guess it makes things easier on JD’s foot. His injury has left him struggling with only 5 home runs in 6 games. Hopefully with a little rest he can pick things up.
Nick actually has been struggling, and is dropped down to 6th in the lineup.
The Tigers are running all 3 of their catcher’s out there (including the emergency Romine). Managers usually don’t like doing that.
Last night was a good win, dedicated to every fan who has ever said a player was “due,” because if anyone was due, it was Tyler “Fingers” Collins.
Miggy has an oblique strain, and will probably be out the rest of the home stand, but is not expected to end up on the DL.
JZ, we have our eyes on you today, you have been underwhelming us.
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Jordan Zimmermann vs Dylan Bundy
The Tigers had a very exciting game last night. In different circumstances, that JD Martinez grand slam could have ended up on the season-end highlights of the year.
Justin Wilson was and has been awesome, but when he gave up that dinger to Trumbo (who happens to be one of the hottest hitters in MLB at the moment) in a two-inning save attempt…well, certain wheels were set in motion.
Maybe I only thought that because of exhaustion and tequilas. I’m kidding! (I wasn’t really that tired). I do admit I chuckled when Gibson pointed out that the Tigers had an advantage because they had more available arms in their bullpen. Those arms being Frankie and Anibal. Oh, stop!
In a better world, Frankie would gather his dignity together and retire, which the Tigers would love. But correct me if I am wrong, but I think if you retire, you don’t get paid the rest of your contract. I have thrown this out there before with no takers, but…
I agree that a wasted salary is not as bad as a wasted salary AND a wasted roster spot. BUT, because of the new CBA, and Illitch’s contracts, that spot will cost them at minimum a minimum salary PLUS a 30% penalty. I have thrown this out there before (and I will again), but I don’t think our new owners are up to paying the Illitch tax.
Good news for today’s game though: their bullpen is depleted, and Anibal is still fresh!
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Michael Fulmer vs Ubaldo Jimenez
Cabrera a last-minute scratch. He got hit on the hand last night, so that isn’t all that surprising.
Tyler Collins is in CF because he is due. Ridiculously due. If he doesn’t get a hit for another week or so, he will be SO due. The most dangerous hitter in baseball.
Also, Jim Adduci seems to have been on the 10-day disabled list for weeks. And Jacoby on the 15-day for months.
The Tigers have two quick 3-game series, before a long road trip, not the friendliest stretch of their schedule.
Today’s WAR What is it Good For? Lineup:
Pitching: Matthew Boyd vs Wade Miley Cyrus
Mikie Wait I’m Still on the Team Mahtook gets a rare start in center.
After a Jud-inspired JD Martinez performance, the Tigers now have a chance to close out a West Coast trip with a winning record, which doesn’t happen every day. The only thing better than watching JD go long twice was seeing Justin Wilson blow through the 9th in 1-2-3 fashion. That feels good.
In other news Jordan Zimmermann just isn’t that good. But we knew that.
We are getting near that 40-game mark that Sparky always said was the time to start evaluating your team, and the above realization is starting to stand out.
Today’s Win One For Mom Lineup:
Pitching: Justin Verlander vs Alex Meyer
Not bad for a Sunday Lineup.
J.D. Martinez returned, and squibbed a single. Jose Iglesias made a great play at short. A bunch of other things also happened, none of which were worth staying awake for. Zimmermann wasn’t horrible, but he certainly was not good. The Tigers were probably looking for more than “not horrible” when they gave him that contract.
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Daniel Norris vs Ricky Nolasco
J.D. Martinez is back! The lineup is now starting to look like the lineup we expected to see this season. Jim Adduci to the DL with an oblique injury.
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Jordan Zimmermann vs Matt Shoemaker
The Tigers finally made the big decision, and there’s me without internet access.
It was a decision that seemed somehow both inevitable, but still surprising. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, they do with Frankie now that he is no longer the closer.
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Matthew Boyd vs Zack Godley
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:
Pitching: Daniel Norris vs Sonny Gray
Romine roams out to center today, so we get a rare look at Dixon at 2nd.
As JD Martinez begins his rehab assignment ( 2 hits at DH), his fill-in is making a pretty good show of it. Jim Adduci had a clutch bases loaded triple to put the game out of reach, and continues to put up numbers that would be nice even for JD Martinez: so far in 37 plate appearances he is hitting .343 with a .950 OPS. Not bad for a guy who was last seen playing in Korea.
There is a nice story on Jim Adduci here.
Ian Kinsler is day-to-day with hamstring tightness. But don’t worry, The Lettuce has things under control.
Today’s Lineup:
Pitching: Jordan Zimmerman vs Jesse Hahn
Game 28 was supposed to be yesterday, but that one was called swiftly. Could it have been because the Tigers had a West Coast train to catch at night? (The home team gets the call on postponing a game before it starts; once it starts it is the umpires’ call).
Jud is already forecasting disaster for the trip, and past results would seem to support the pessimism. They do seem to do alright in Oakland though, especially in the playoffs. And the A’s aren’t exactly tearing it up. Triggs looks tricky though—he’s at 4-1 with a 1.84 ERA. Then it’s two at Arizona (who is doing quite well), and three at the Angels, who are anything but Angels against the Tigers.
There are always a lot of Tiger fans at the Oakland games. Sometimes more Tiger fans than Athletic supporters.
Today’s Triggonometry Lineup:
Pitching: Michael Fulmer vs Andrew Triggs
“Every Day” Ian takes an extended day off as the Tigers dish out The Lettuce as the opening course.
