Meh.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. RF J.D. Martinez

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. 3B Nick Castellanos

6. CF Justin Upton

7. LF Steven Moya

8. C James McCann

9. SS Jose Iglesias

Verlander pitching tonight. Watch the location of his slider.

Baseball-Reference game preview here.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. RF J.D. Martinez

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. 3B Nick Castellanos

6. CF Justin Upton

7. LF Steven Moya

8. C James McCann

9. SS Jose Iglesias

Another game, another loss, this one just happened to nearly set an MLB record for futility.

Ausmus made two huge managerial blunders yesterday – not getting Salty in to the game via a double switch after his PH appearance, and not sending a red hot Castellanos up to bat. This seriously may be the best two month stretch of Castellanos’ career. And he can’t get a PH at bat under last night’s circumstances. Think about that.

Firing Ausmus doesn’t put us in the playoffs, but it may at least but the game back in the hands of the players.

I wanted to talk about Cabrera for a sec. Last week I heard Jim lamenting about how the ball doesn’t look to be coming off of Cabrera’s bat with the same velocity that we’re used to. He implied that Cabrera maybe had lost some power. We’ve seen this in the past when he’s had his core issues, but the understanding was that he was fully healthy this year. So what do the numbers tell us?

The first number to look at is is ISO. Isolated power is SLG – AVG, or basically extra bases per at-bat. Cabrera’s career ISO is .239, this year it’s .152, a marked decrease. In fact, last year’s .196 was the only season of his career below .200. His line drive rate this year is 25.3%, which is slightly above his career average of 22.1%, but based on Fangraphs’ soft speed/medium speed/hard speed metrics of his balls in play (provided by Baseball Info Solutions), he’s below his career average for hard, and above for soft and medium. This is a concern. Further, he’s going opposite field 35.4% of the time, vs. a career average of 28.3%. He’s only pulling the ball 34.3% of the time, which is a slight decrease from last year’s 35.8%, and well below his career 39.4% average.

It’s definitely expected that he’ll lose some power over time, and a more experienced hitter goes the other way more often, but the actual numbers are concerning. I’ll also point out that his 11.1% swinging strike rate is his highest since 2008, and well above last year’s 9.6% (something we would not expect from a more experienced hitter).

In a nutshell, less XBH, softer hit balls, and more swinging strikes. Not good indicators. He’s definitely earned the right to a larger sample size, but either he’s declining rapidly, or still injured.

Moya up (Hardy down), Upton still in the lineup – in CF. Baseball-Reference game preview here.

Daniel Norris is up as well, though he hasn’t pitched well in the minors.

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B

2. J.D. Martinez, RF

3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B

4. Victor Martinez, DH

5. Nick Castellanos, 3B

6. Justin Upton, CF

7. Steven Moya, LF

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C

9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Last night was the sigh of relief game of the series.

Tonight we bounce onto the rubber game with a classic matchup, ex-Nat Zimmerman vs. ex-Tiger Scherzer.

Tonight’s We Can Still Take This Series Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. JD Martinez, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. Upton, LF
6. McCann, C
7. Gose, CF
8. Iglesias, SS
9. Zimmerman, P

The Tigers are playing like an un-oiled machine, misfiring on all cylinders.

Starting pitching, bullpen, hitting, those funny noises are coming from every part of the engine.

Well here we are with another interleague road series, against 5-0 Strasburg and the 19-12 Nationals. Let’s see what the Tigers have got.

When a team is playing badly, talk turns to the manager of course. Heck, even when a team is playing well, nobody is happy with how the manager uses his bullpen. Ever. That’s one of the advantages of moving around; you soon realize every fan base in every city thinks their manager is the one manager that doesn’t know how to use his bullpen. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s definitely a thing.

There is an old saying though that organizations, of any kind, take on the personality of their managers. Does ours have one? (I mean a personality). When Ausmus was first hired, everyone talked about how smart and good-looking he was, but the Tigers aren’t looking particularly smart (I’ll pass on the good-looking part).

Right now there are two guys on the team that have any kind of edge. Cabrera is Cabrera, and hopefully will be for a while, but right now it’s Ian Kinsler (who is producing), and James McCann (who isn’t, but he has gone into the dugout after balls twice already after coming back, which would inspire a team more inspiration-ready). Remember when your grandmother would say if you keep making that face, it will get stuck like that? They both have permanent Game Face.

There will be typical flimflammery with the National League lineup, involving Cabrera / Martinez / Castellanos. Anibal Sanchez will move a runner over and they will call time so he can save the ball. Bryce Harper will start me on a new Beat the Streak Streak. Great fun will be had, by somebody.

Today’s No Rain in the Forecast So They Have to Play Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. JD Martinez, LF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Castellanos, 3B
5. Upton, LF
6. McCann, C
7. Gose, CF
8. Iglesias, SS
9. Sanchez, P

Eight-Inning Nick moves up to 4th in the lineup. He will probably sit tomorrow, with Cabrera at 3rd. Buck Farmer back to AAA, and and Tyler Collins back to the bigs (hopefully with middle finger in check), drawing oohs and ahs from Tigers fans. Check that, those were yawns, my bad.

Happy Mother’s Day!

1.5. That’s rhe over/under on JV hits allowed in the first. What do you think?

Four in a row.

I don’t even want to mow the lawn anymore. I need to find deeper meaning in life.

Tigers are 5-7 at home…

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. RF J.D. Martinez

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. LF Justin Upton

6. 3B Nick Castellanos

7. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia

8. CF Anthony Gose

9. SS Jose Iglesias

My lawn needs to be mowed. I struggle with the opportunity cost of my time. I’m in that hectic stage of life where my young kids demand a ton of time or they are too hilarious to not spend time with, and I’m highly motivated to grow my business, so free time is hard to come by. And working in the services business curses you to the extent that I have an idea of what my time is worth (in some regards).

But I love mowing my lawn. Fresh cut grass and a nice edge line is as American as apple pie and a three spot by the visiting team in the top of the first. So I’m here to admit that I based my decision on whether I would mow the lawn, or call the guys to do it (for the first time this year – I’ve held out for over a month already), on Saturday’s game time. A Saturday afternoon listening to sweet Dan and redundant Jim on a warm day while I mow is something to look forward to at my age. I envision the kids laughing and playing with some water spraying toy in our freshly carved lawn as my wife, wearing a bikini, brings me an ice cold beer and offers to turn on the patio fan for me to sit and admire my work.

In all actuality, I’ll be pissed b/c I have to mow twice due to all the rain, I’ll miss several clumps of dog poop and will spend 10 minutes carving the sh*t out of the tread of my shoes with a stick, and my weed eater will run out of line and I’ll spend an hour trying to re-string the thing as I wear my fingertips to a pulp. Then my wife will walk in with the latest load from Target and ask that I unpack whatever we already have four of in the pantry. Ahh, the American dream.

***

Awful pitching and no hitting = 3 game sweep. How long do JV and Sanchez have to keep this up before something changes? Any 4th or 5th starter pitching like they have would be on the DL or in the minors by now. Not that anything will change soon. Just words for thought.

Aviles in right for JD Martinez. Hamels v. Zimmermann tonight should be fun.

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B

2. Mike Aviles, RF

3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B

4. Victor Martinez, DH

5. Justin Upton, LF

6. Nick Castellanos, 3B

7. James McCann, C

8. Anthony Gose, CF

9. Jose Iglesias, SS

The Tigers have been on whatever the opposite of a roll is against Cleveland this season.  (What is the opposite of a roll anyway? I’ll go with flop for now). Michael Fulmer takes the mound as the Tigers pursue their O-for-Cleveland flop. (On the bright side, the Tigers are 14-7 against teams without “Cleveland” in their names).

One nice thing last night, if you managed to stay awake for it: Eight Inning Nick got two more hits. He is just tearing it up out there.

Tonight Andrew Romine gets his first career start in center. Hey, why not?

Tomorrow Kevin’s home team comes to Detroit. We have expertly scheduled our rotation so The Dallas Kid gets the Texas games.

Tonight’s Winless in Cleveland lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. JD Martinez, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Upton, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Saltalamacchia, C
8. Aviles, SS
9. Romine, CF

If you tuned in late yesterday expecting a 7:00 start, you saw the Tigers already in a 3-0 hole that they never got back out of. You did miss an exciting play at the plate, where it initially looked like JD Martinez was out at home, but was overturned. You didn’t miss much from Verlarnder. The Indians certainly didn’t. If you like those win probability chart things, but the time the Tigers came to bat in the top of the second they only had an 18% chance to win the game.

Verlander put on his Captain Obvious cap after the game: “I need to pitch better. And I’m going to.” Well, OK, he took off the cap halfway through that one.

We did get to see Andrew Romine in center. He has now played every position other than right field and catcher.

Tonight is another 6:10 start, theoretically. But get out your virtual umbrellas; rain is in the forecast. The 6:10 starts are school night deals, to get the kids home earlier. I’m all for new ideas to get younger crowds.

Today’s Tarp-Covered Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. JD Martinez, LF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Upton, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. McCann, C
8. Gose, CF
9. Iglesias, SS

Tonight’s pitching match: Corey Kluber vs. Anibal Sanchez. Ol’ Sanchy is looking pretty serious in that photo, I’m expecting a good outing (I wonder if Brad Ausmus still uses those nicknames for everybody?).

The Tigers are riding a five-game winning streak after a sweep of the struggling Twins. The big news though is that Kate Upton is engaged to tonight’s starting pitcher, as E! News scoops ESPN with the exclusive leak.

Of course now we will all be treated to various theories blaming/crediting the engagement for Verlander’s woes/success on the mound, if what happened when it first came out that they were dating is any guide (that version was the “blaming” one). Upton’s net worth is estimated at a measly $20 million, so she may be in it for the money.

I know what you are all thinking…where is the picture of the ring? OK, here you go.

On a frivolously baseball-specific note, Verlander last beat the Indians on April 17, 2014.

The Cannon returns: James McCann has been recalled from the DL and is in tonight’s starting lineup. To make room for McCann, the Tigers trade Bobby “The Rental” Wilson back to Texas (he came from there in the Holaday trade) and got 27 year old minor league left-hander Chad Bell from the Rangers.

Tonight’s game will be starting at the unfashionably early time of 6:10.

Today’s Five-And-Counting Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. JD Martinez, LF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Upton, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. McCann, C
8. Gose, CF
9. Iglesias, SS

I guess it’s nice to get McCann back into the lineup. But it’s worth noting that Saltalamacchia is a career 4-for-5 against tonight’s pitcher Josh Tomlin, with a home run, a double, and an OPS of 2.433. Hmm, maybe McCann could have waited until tomorrow?