casimir

That’s a level of intelligence that some people are incapable of understanding.

I don’t mind the Jansen signing as much. The SO% has been better than last season, but the BB% has risen by too much. He might not have been the best solution for the end of the bullpen, but I can see the madness behind the method to signing him. In a more macro sense, I do wonder if Harris & Co are less worried about swing and miss stuff than others are. The problem is the defense isn’t as lock tight as would be needed behind a put it in play pitcher. How much of that is worse without Baez and Meadows is a reasonable question.

I wouldn’t say the Tigers are necessarily streaky by nature. I think that’s just how things have played out. I think in most normal seasons, 22-38 buries a team further than the Tigers buried themselves in terms of games behind. They found themselves at the bottom of the league, which is still a tough hole to climb out of. But whether or not the rest of the league is truly subpar or whether or not other teams have had similar misfortunes as the Tigers, that’s kind of irrelevant with the opportunity that the Tigers have in front of them. 5 1/2 games behind is one thing. Climbing over 7 teams is another. But, as you all remember, the early season schedule was against a lot of National League teams. The Tigers still have enough American League teams left to play against. So maybe that 7 teams is a bit less difficult to achieve if the Tigers can take care of business. Maybe there isn’t as much scoreboard watching as there is simply taking advantage of winning against the opposition on the field (who very well could be 1 of those 7 teams).

Ok, I’ve been resistant to assuming a fully healthy pitching staff at any point this season. It just doesn’t happen anymore, so why put any stick into it? But what the heck, I’ll play the game. SP in no particular order after Skubal would be Skubal, Valdez, Mize, Verlander, ….. Flaherty. Probably not much debate with the first three. As for Verlander and Flaherty, I’ll wouldn’t be surprised to see either bumped for Montero. But I think SO ability is what would keep Montero out of the rotation, as well as the fact that Montero could supply long relief in a game. I can see where folks would point to Melton. I think he’d move to the bullpen as a way to build his season stamina back up, probably as a multiple inning RP. I think it’s possible he’d get the opportunity to fill a rotation spot ahead of Montero going when that time comes, but I’m not putting money on it.

65-53 gets them to .500. That’s a .601 winning percentage going forward. Not impossible, but not much wiggle room. The current 3rd wildcard (Texas) is 31-32, so below .500. Now it seems doubtful a losing record gets into the playoffs. I certainly wouldn’t want to see it. So that .601 is probably not going to cut it, and along with that is the fact that there are 7 teams to jump to get that 3rd wildcard spot. We’re all well aware that this team hasn’t really had an elongated run of good baseball. Maybe they’ve just begun such a stretch. And then hopefully add recovered Skubal and Mize into the mix, figure out what to do with SP moving into RP roles, and see what happens.

If Montero matches Valdez’ pitching from last night, he’ll struggle to get through the 4th.

I walked by it for free once.

Might need some driveway reports for this one.

Might as well.

Yup. There were “too many” starters in spring training. And then May happened.

I'm glad I could bring a (wry) smile to your face. 😆

This is it. Yes, the bullpen isn’t good. But the offense is horrible. Just absolutely inept. They’re asking run prevention to completely carry the load while multiple fifths of the original rotation is on the injured list (including the Skubal guy) and the bullpen isn’t to be trusted. The offense shouldn’t be shattered because Torres and Carpenter are on the injured list.

That guy enjoys the recent trend of guys congregating in one section of the stands, taking their shirts off, and waving them around. And doing other intelligent things like chant "overrated" at Mike Trout. Sure. Because they're also a hall of fame employee in their line of work.

Sure could use a groovy outing from Valdez today.

Would you count on a repeat performance?

Who?

7 games out of the wildcard and everybody to jump over to get there. They've put up a league average run prevention and have been a below average offense at 3.81 runs scored per game vs 4.39 for MLB. They've been hit by injuries to both aspects of the game. Some of those key cogs are in in rehab and/or shortly due to be there. They were a .500 team in March and April. In May when injuries were at their peak, they've gone 6-20. Beyond the record, there's objectively to everyone been sloppy play and subjectively (from the outside anyway) bad vibes. If/when those primary players that have been missing in action return, and its got to be sooner rather than later, is there enough season left to dig out of this hole?

What kind of extension would be reasonable for Mize? He's become a very good pitcher, but he cannot stay healthy.