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Looking at defensive stats in Fangraphs: The 2024 Tigers were a legitimately elite defensive team. Last year we were by most measures barely above average. In 2026 we're on pace to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The projected OAA of -87 would be historically bad. Even accounting for small-sample noise at six weeks in, the direction is unmistakable. This is more of a range problem, than an error problem. The fielding percentage has dropped some (.986 → .986 → .983), and errors are on pace for a normal season (~99), so we're not making dramatically more mistakes on batted balls we get to. We're simply not getting to as many batted balls. Team zone rating (RZR) for 2026 is .795, down significantly from last year (.815) and 2024 (.804). Where the collapse is coming from: Tork is the single biggest culprit, -4.7 Def, -3 OAA, -7 DRS in 358 innings. First base is supposed to be a defensive non-event, but Tork continues to actively cost us runs there. Wenceel in RF has flipped from a plus defender (+2.7 Def in 2025) to a significant negative (-4.6 Def, -4 OAA) in 2026 Riley in LF has been a consistent negative (-3.9 Def, -2 OAA) and his numbers have been poor for two years now, so this isn't new. But it does factor in. Kevin at SS and 3B is a combined -2.0 in Def across 355 innings. He's a rookie finding his defensive footing, and the metrics reflect it, although we all know he won't long-term at shortstop anyway. Carpenter in RF has been poor in limited time (-3.5 Def, -3 OAA in 150 innings). Hao-Yu Lee at 2B and 3B is a combined -2.3 Def, also a young player. There are some bright spots: Dingler behind the plate continues to be excellent (+5.9 Def, +6 DRS, +5 FRV in 272 innings), on pace for another elite defensive season. Gleyber Torres had been a genuine surprise at 2B (+0.9 Def, +2 OAA, +2 FRV) before going out, and was better than expected from a player not known for his glove. Matt Vierling in CF (+1.2 Def, +2 OAA) and Parker Meadows in CF (+1.0 Def, +1 OAA) have been fine in their center field work. The story is that our defensive identity was built around our infield athleticism and outfield range, and both have deteriorated, partly through personnel changes, partly through young players who haven't found their footing yet, and partly through positional mismatches. The 2024 team was exceptional—this one is looking like a genuine defensive liability, which matters a lot for a pitching staff that relies heavily on ground balls.

They should have won games 3 and 5. We should be talking about the Knicks today.

Agree with this, and I believe there must be some Murphy's law corollary somewhere stipulating that the greater success a front office achieves, the less the team needs to recede in order for them to get fired. After a string of championships and finals, a GM will get ****-canned for his team crapping out in the early rounds twice in a row.

Six Genders and a Vegan ???? Could our resident Trump apologist please list what exactly those six genders are. (No what aboutisms or stupid memes aloud)

His goal is not to contain China, but to make sure he gets his when they carve up the entire world three ways.

No, a lot of them aren't, but the ones that are viewed as geniuses by fans tend to fall out of favor over time. There are very few that are universally admired throughout their whole career.

Well, not all of them ... 😉

I learned about it from Alex DelVecchio.

coaches, managers, GMs, all geniuses until they're not.

that chyron...gulp

Which words/idioms? I watched your clip and honestly, none of them leaped out at me. I am always keenly interested in this kind of thing. There was an example of what you mean in Killers of the Flower Moon, which had a pow-wow scene from the time (1920s) during which a tribal elder used the word "genocide", which itself was not coined until the Nuremberg Trials. Another example from 25-ish years ago was from the TV show "Freaks and Geeks", which takes place at a Mount Clemens-adjacent high school in 1980 The Neil character was talking to the Sam character about Sam's crush, Cindy Sanders, and was trying to talk him out of pursuing her, something along the lines of, "she's a hot cheerleader, you're a nerd ... do the math". I promise you, no one in 1980 said "do the math" in a way that meant what it had come to mean by 2000.

I say if Workman keeps hitting cut bait on Torkelson sooner rather than later. This team has dillydallyed with Tork, the injury prone Meadows, Wenceel, Jahmai, Jung, and on and on.

Even sillier to portray a portray a Russian by speaking English in an English accent.

I'd be more embarassed by only clearing the mat by a foot vs a stiff swing. 😉

These Know Nothings conveniently forgot about 9/11. The only time Article V was invoked was in relationship to 9/11.

Guy shows up for his tee time 30 seconds late....gets penalized https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7279705/2026/05/14/garrick-higgo-pga-championship-late-penalty/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.ilA.zdrG.jM15Jlb1lWnp Dude shoots a 67.. To quote an old band director...."Early is on time, on time is late"

The bolder, aka the less careful, he gets with his rhetoric, the closer he believes he is to not needing voter or citizen approval anymore. EDIT: This meme and its quote may or may not have been fabricated, but my comment is intended as an overarching point, not a tailored response to a specific incident.

This, but also, more. There are the rest of us to deal with, too.

This is the only thing Trump promised that he ever even cared about. That whole affordability nonsense was to get votes from rubes who live in deep rural areas away from demographic groups they're are scared of, but who ultimately just live their lives out accepting whatever happens happens. He doesn't care about rubes like that. He cares about people who will take action and smash and grab things on his behalf. He's going to need those people back to help him later.

I learned about hard 'ch' in Italian when I got my Bianchi bicycle frame.

It's simply mind-bloggling that a public official, placed in office by voters, is allowed to elude access by the public for so long and without reasonable explanation or discovery.

Was at the last 2 games of the series, and some things really struck me seeing them in person: -- This is one of the worst defensive teams I've ever seen. Outside of McGonigle and Dingler, there's not a single guy who seems comfortable or a natural at their position -- This team has no identity. I get that with Skubal out that hurts, but there's not a single player, or team skill, or part of the lineup that opposing teams are concerned about or even aware of -- We need a full relief pitching overhaul. These guys are throwing batting practice out there, and I wouldn't be opposed to burning it all down and starting over

May 15, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-15?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2026-0515-05152026&om_rid=&~campaign=hist-tdih-2026-0515 On this day in 1776, delegates to the Fifth Virginia Convention in Williamsburg voted unanimously to instruct delegates to the Continental Congress "to declare the United Colonies free and independent states absolved from all allegiance to or dependence upon the crown or parliament of Great Britain." Becoming the first Colony to do so