casimir

Cameron Maybin made his Tiger TV game analyst debut last night, and I assume he'll be in the booth again today and tomorrow (it seems like that seat is filled by the series). He seemed very chatty, but he had good content. There were a couple of genuine laughs involving Maybin last night, not the fake banter chuckle. So, for those of you muting the TV in lieu of the radio, maybe allow for a few innings to see how you feel about Maybin on TV.

I hadn't thought of that. I was surprised that Bally's started with that this season. I like it.

He might have been better off doing that, but I don't blame him for trying the 3-6-3 with the way the inning was going. If the double play is turned, its a 3-0 ball game and the inning ends. Unfortunately the return throw allowed for 2 more runs to score. Taking the force at 1st but not getting the 3rd out at 2nd or no error on the play with the force at 2nd but batter safe at 1st makes it 4-0. Torkelson and Baez both have strong enough arms that the ball can get back and forth, and I think I remember that the throw back to Torkelson was in time but just inaccurate. Is this play similar to baserunning where you take the extra base knowing that the only way you get cut down is with perfect throws and catches?

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I could be wrong, but I think the only few times that Hinch has used Cisnero in high leverage situations is when the bullpen depth is kind of shallow for the game. I'm still kind of shocked that Cisnero was retained and agree his ERA seems a bit of a mirage, but unfortunately he's a part of the bullpen and is going to be used. The trick is to use him accordingly.

Didn't he take a line drive off of the side of his head in the World Series vs San Francisco? He stayed in the game and had a line of 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 SO.

At least he's been limited to pretty much lower third of the lineup vs LHP.

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Sure. I guess my point was more along the lines of questioning what kind of offense is this? Its kind of weird that SO% and BB% both dropped several percentage points from month to month. Is it simply the result of becoming more aggressive at the plate? Is it just baseball being baseball? Will we see them be more like April or more like May or maybe somewhere in between?

The offense has been better lately. But can it be sustained?

Yeah, I missed that one like a Baez flail at a slider didn't I?

Its possible Baez stays. I don't think it would necessarily be the worst thing in the world. If the importance of his bat can be minimized and his defense can be upper tier, he fits with the team well. Maybe he does like what he sees. But then there's also a reason he agreed to an opt out, so maybe he's going to do what free agency allows him to do.

I wondered aloud about her last week, too. It seems like there was some light chatter about her future as an NBA head coach while she was with the Spurs, but it has kind of died down when she moved to the WNBA. Maybe that's more to do with proximity to each league, I don't know. I think Popovich had her take the head coach role for a game or two while with the Spurs, but I could be wrong about that.

I know a lot of us are hoping Baez has a monster season and opts out. But, who replaces him? The Upcoming Shortstop Class Looks Increasingly Bleak If its an inside the organization replacement, do they just roll with some sort of amalgamation of Maton/McKinstry/Short/Kreidler to bide time until Perez is MLB ready (assuming he'll become MLB ready)? With Torkelson and Greene showing more of an offensive acumen lately, and with Malloy (and maybe MeadowsP) possibly/probably ready for promotion next season, can they be a trio to build a lineup around with mixes/matches all around them? Gotta think the Tigers would need another pair of everyday players to add in. I'm not sure what the other positions look like for this upcoming hot stove.

Oh, I don't know. I think the Lions might actually have something going here.

OK, boomers. At what point does "can't jump over the phonebook" lose its meaning? Or has it already?

It was Opening Day. Tuffy Thompson.

True. The one scenario that isn't brought up is signing an extension that takes the place of the opt out.

The exit velocity on that was incredible.

Take it easy, dude. Some of us are similarly afflicted.

And sports team names.

Well, I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but appears that most of these shooting sprees involving multiple victims are pretty much committed by the Nordic and Anglo Saxon distant descendant migrants. I guess the other thing that I find questionable is that if so many people are packing heat these days, why are they not responding immediately in these situations and taking out the perp? Why is it that so many of these are only stopped with police intervention?

Unless one is full blown Native American, aren't we all descendants of migrants?

Well, I don't know if the bloom is off or he's just in a rut or what. Whichever it is, the cleanup experiment needs to be done. I think I'd be comfortable with Torkelson hitting 4th going forward. I think maybe he's turning the corner lately.

This one was particularly grating because they had plenty of opportunities to score and just couldn't get off of the doughnut.