casimir

His minor league slash line is .257/.374/.458. That seems to be a pretty good on base clip. The power is probably lacking a bit, at least pure HR power for a 1Bdude. It only cost them cash to acquire, so hey, why not?

Thankfully the weather held off. It was all sorts of rainy around the game but not a drop during it. Kind of amusing seeing the field crew hosing down the infield dirt with as much rain as there was before the game. And then seeing Andy Ibanez take the field with a ski mask in mid 50s temps was a tad bit amusing. The smell of hot dogs, the pop of mitt, the taste of the beer,... its baseball season, baby. Will Vest still having issues. The crowd was getting restless, at least those of us that were headed over to the Walleye hockey game afterwards. I guess I didn't realize or had forgotten how tall Parker Meadows was. Quite a sight to see him standing next to St. Paul's 1Bdude Tyler White who seemed to be a 5'10" offensive lineman.

Detroit Tigers vs Tampa Bay Rays Watch: Rays - Bally Sports Sun, Tigers - Bally Sports Detroit Listen: Rays - WDAE 620 AM/95.3 FM, WQBN/1300AM, Tigers - 97.1 The Ticket, WXYT 1270

Well, that and COVID has taken away some game time for him. I looked again, he’s pretty much been +/- less than a year, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. He probably is more of an organizational guy. Hey, those ball players are necessary, too. I have to think a stronger supporting cast helps to improve the skill sets of the higher regarded prospects. And with some luck, they might find another surprise here and there, too.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=paulso000dil Interesting numerals. Seems to have played at or slightly older than his peers’ age. I was looking over the Toledo roster and thought another lefty bat would be nice for lineup balance. I don’t know if that’s where he is headed, but it seems like it’d be a bit for both he and the team.

I was suspect of his defensive accolades in 2022. I thought a lot of his “range” might be due to the shift. So, I would agree that this does bear watching. I will say, though, he did shed some weight over the off-season and it appeared that he came into camp physically ready to go. So, give him some due there. But at some point the skills recede and that may very well be the case with his lateral movements and/or quick twitch and/or reading the ball off of the bat.

The lower echelon salaries still seem a bit tight, but clearly its a much better situation than before. And if housing/meals are taken care of by the organizations, even if only during season, it makes those salaries go further.

Sometimes the opposition is just too damn good. McClanahan's baseball card suggests he has days like that.

That was pretty awful by the Tigers.

Detroit Pistons vs Houston Rockets

Don’t worry, you’ll be wrong.

Doing the Mud Hens’ opener with fingers crossed. 3 rounds of precipitation are expected, and hopefully the projected window between the first and second holds true.

I can see a better team in June/July yield a similar year end record. A couple of variables to consider are the schedule and more games outside of a weak division (hence a tougher overall schedule) and possible trades of Rodriguez/Baez/Boyd among others. But I think it should be a better team for the first 2/3 of the season with expectations of improvements from Greene/Torkleson, rebounds from MeadowsA/Baez, better positional depth, and hopefully not using 57 different pitchers.

This team should be better than last season. It should post a better record than last season if they played last season's schedule. But fewer games within a weak division should pull that improved record down a bit. That's a bit of a factor bridging from one season to the next that I think is easy to forget. I think I am more interested in individual performances this season. I can handle a losing Tigers' team if there is competitive play and promise from the youngsters. Rebounds from the veterans are reasonable bets, I think. But I want to see what happens with the guys that could be here in 2025. Can they be components on a winning team in a couple of seasons? And, for that matter, what about guys at Toledo/Erie/West Michigan? What's the development process look like this season and next? What kinds of strides can be made?

At Tampa for 3, at Houston for 3, vs Boston for 3, at Toronto for 3, vs San Francisco for 3, vs Cleveland for 3. That's not exactly a way to ease into the season. And when a team is bottom third of the league, most matchups look tough anyway.

Detroit Tigers vs Tampa Bay Rays Watch: Tigers - Bally Sports Detroit Listen: Rays - WDAE 620 AM/95.3 FM, Tigers - 97.1 The Ticket, WXYT 1270

Huh? I thought they were just waiting for Cabrera to be gone to spend money? Are you looking into acquiring more parking lots for Baby Doc?

Detroit Pistons vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Maybe the kid just needs glasses?

I think McKinstry on the roster is first and foremost due to his versatility rather than his bat. I don't know much about him, hopefully is defensively better than CastroH was. But with a roster including Cabrera (who can't play defense) and Carpenter (who plays below average defense), the versatility is necessary. I know to some, Hinch moving guys around the diamond during spring training seemed like a joke. But it was wise. He was looking forward to what he would possibly need to deal with on a game by game basis.

Shocked I am not.

So maybe the rationale is a combination of these two comments? Baddoo may be better overall future value, but is still quite raw and still needs to be in an atmosphere to learn more conducive to learning, including hitting against LHPs. Carpenter is probably closer to being what he can be, and so there's not much more he'll be able to pick up with extra seasoning. The present value of the two might be up for debate, but one has higher ceiling with more tools to work on while the other is pretty much what he will be. Or maybe its as simple as Carpenter's bat is more valuable/consistent for a team that needs it.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Detroit Pistons

That's what I had in my bracket (that I forgot to send in).

Looking to be 60 & damp on Friday. We will be under an overhang, so we should be fine there. We didn't make it to a Fightin' Mortimers game last season and this is our first Fish game of this season. I need a generic "Toledo" sweatshirt to attire myself for both events.