casimir

Those release points are interesting.

Wentz is out of options. Maybe he sneaks through, maybe he doesn't.

Maeda's line is almost as blue as those trave$hamockery $ity connect$.

Can we call him a floor spacer?

Elly De La Cruz for Javier Baez. Who says no?

Baseball gods having a little fun in the 9th.

This would'of been nice to post in March. Could you give some of the other batter swingers but hitters a lift?

Shouldn't be Ledezma. He was a rule 5 pick. He didn't come up from the Tiger farm.

Wow. Looks like Trayce Thompson is available.

Wasn’t there a general optimism about the starting pitching depth heading into this season? A Gipson-Long season ending injury, Maeda absolute crash and burn, Manning regression, and Madden stall at Toledo later, the depth seems to have gotten shallow.

You’ll be so sorry you ever doubted Al Avila when Daz Cameron makes the all star game.

Maybe they simply need to go to a different bat supplier? Have the Tigers thought about that?

Stretch out Wentz? I love your sense of humor.

I also thought it was a fine signing. But its obvious that he just cannot find what he had to miss bats in the past. I mentioned in another thread that his SO% is down to 17% from a career average of about 27%. HR% is up a bit as well, but that SO% is just alarming. I think there was risk that he would age, but this drop in production seems to be unprecedented.

Yes, I know they wanted to get this game in, but at some point common sense needed to interfere with the proceedings. Unfortunately it came down to a HBP that was dangerously high and tight on an obviously slipped pitch.

Indeed, although Ryan Reynolds never played for the Clevelands. So I'm not sure how that factors in. Maybe I don't want to know.

Have you ever looked at ball players as utility players rather than one position or another for your rankings? Just kind of curious what that list would be. I'm thinking Tettleton would make the list. But then how would one define the parameters of a utility player rather than an IF or an OF or a C? Kind of fun to think that two of those better players in franchise history were on the same team for a few seasons.

True. Unfortunately Maeda's SO% has just completely fallen off of the table this season. Down from a career average of around 27% to 17%. I don't know for sure, maybe one of the more expert statheads can weigh in on effects of aging, but this seems to be an unforeseen level of collapse. In a vacuum, he should be dumped. The problem is the SP depth isn't there right now. And considering Flaherty is going to be circulated in trade talks, even when he returns it probably won't be for long.

I never knew he was so demonstrative on the mound. Maybe he wasn't before this struggling season, I don't know.

I would suggest he was more of a LF. He played 1,679 innings as a LF, 1,585 as a 2B, 1,236 as a 3B, 654 as a RF, and then a few hundred amongst CF/SS. I understand what you are saying about Whitaker "blocking" him. I guess I just prefer to look at where he actually played.

Then we might as well embrace the apocolypse.

Ibanez had quite the stretch early on today, too. While we're at it, Ibanez is coming back next season.

Ah, OK. I thought you were referring to Phillips. Without looking at it, I'd have said Kell & Fryman in whatever order of 1 & 2 and then the next best can start at 5. That's my impression of what Tiger 3B history is.

Just need to get through 5 with a lead and then the weather can do its thing.

Yeah, agree there. I guess I had just never thought of Phillips as one of their best 3B. I had always thought of him more as an everyday hitter that was plugged into an available defensive position.