Jim Cowan

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

Yes, I don't want hear excuses.  Keith isn't hitting the ball hard like he supposedly did in the minors.  I thought one of his best assets was supposed to be his power.  

He looks like a hitter, from what little highlight reel I have seen of him.  I agree, let's start seeing more smoked line drives, and hearing less complaining about the park.  And comparing it to minor league parks, yeah, stop doing that kid.

Somebody said it up above, this is a good assignment for a manager...talk to the kid about maturity and accountability.  Or Canha could do it, probably even better.  But if players are publicly shifting blame and not taking accountability for their own performance, that's a  clubhouse issue.  Losers do that.  Let's get the clubhouse under control, especially the rookies.

42 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Interesting.  Have assumed so far that it was mostly about Keith's move to 2b blocking him there. 

That's what I thought too, they basically traded places.  There was something about Keith that they didn't like at third, but everybody seems satisfied with him at second. 

1 hour ago, IdahoBert said:

This game sucked. It was like being spanked by the ugly babysitter and your mom thinks you’re lying. 

Like walking in on your grandparents. 

Yeah, I was just being a smart ass.  Everything you hear about him is positive.

I don't like Clark's OPS all that much.  I hope he is playing good D and running the bases.

But when Briceno gets inducted into Cooperstown, Clark can tell his kids that he used to be a teammate   🙂

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

Questioning your priorities.

Same here what are we supposed to do while you are gone?

I knew it all along, I tried to tell everyone but no one would listen, the first two callups would be Wenceel Perez and Ryan Vilade

15 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

.844 OPS the past 15 days.

I always thought that if they would let him play 120 games he would hit .230 with 20 home runs, which these days would make a very good number 9 hitter.

Whew

Lange come on don't screw this up

Just tuned in.  8 runs. Huh.

5 hours ago, casimir said:

Is it getting shorter?  How long of a leash did Avila have?

If shorter means a decrease from 12 years to 10, yeah sure.  Does anyone actually think that Harris will be under any sort of job pressure in the foreseeable future?  

5 hours ago, casimir said:

3-3 is still doable.  Who’s with me?

Was it over when the Nazis bombed Pearl Harbor?

8 hours ago, 1776 said:

I miss Jim Campbell.

I miss Bill Lajoie

Hi I've just awakened from a coma, the guy who should bat second is a white second baseman with an Eastern European surname and a low OBP, he can take a strike while the leadoff hitter steals 100 bases, he can handle the bat and hit behind the runner, and he can drop down a bunt.  He has moxie, and intangibles up to here, and he has the dirtiest uniform.

5 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

II wouldn't joke about something like that.  😃 I would not have had a problem if Cabrera led off especially since those Tigers teams had some pretty good power hitters to go with him.  I always thought he should have batted secod.  I also have no problem with Greene leading off.  The Tigers have so few good hitters that I don't want them losing hits and baserunners by subtracting at bats from their best hitter.  Another reason Greene might be leading off instead of batting second which is statistically optimal is that he has not really been a big home run hitter until recently.  He just now appears to emerging into a home run hitter where he was more of an OBP guy previously.  If that trend continues, I can see him being moved to the second spot, so they can optimize run scoring and RBI opportunities even though they'd be losing some of his at bats.  

The days where a team's best hitter bats third are fading away and I am glad the Tigers have a modern manager who recognizes that.  

That's well said.  The team's best hitter should bat 3rd if Tony Phillips is leading off, and if Tony Phillips is also batting second.  Otherwise, bat him second.

May the Fourth be with you

26 minutes ago, casimir said:

And before this play gets forgotten, I tip my hat to Verdugo.  He placed that bunt perfectly against a defense that was ignoring it.  He read that situation perfectly and dropped the ball in a pretty good spot to take advantage of it.

That's a good point and according to GameDay that wasn't a very buntable pitch, high and outside.

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Yeah - this used to be SOP, but it's not in Hinch's playbook. Apparently out of fashion, but the force at home is sooo much easier for a catcher than a tag play. I wonder how much the difficulty of the latter leaks into thinking about playing for the former. And of course turning the 5/2/3  DP is not beyond the defensive talents of either of the Tiger catchers. 

 

I think it's just a case of Hinch being the smartest guy in the room.  Loading them up is such a no-brainer.  His in-game tactics dont do much harm, or much good, and his decision there did not affect the outcome of the came.  So his action was pretty weird but no harm done.

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

You don’t walk the guy in that situation because a standard double play doesn’t help you, or end the inning. You’d have to go home with the throw and that’s hard to manage if it’s not hit decently hard right to you. At that point you’re going for the strikeout. Then you issue the free pass to try for the double play to end the inning.

Disagree, set up the force at home right away.  Why wait for one batter? If you don't load them up, and it's not hit decently hard right to you, the guy scores standing up.  I don't want to overthink these situations,  they are straightforward...set up the force.  The strikeout would be ideal, sure, but you can't rely on it.  Take the next best thing, set up the force.

Meanwhile, Malloy keeps getting on base, Baddoo is hitting for power and running the bases.  Maybe we don't like their gloves or their arms, but at least one of those bats needs a callup.  FWIW Baddoo has been playing exclusively in CF.

Just now, HighOPS said:

Walk em loaded? IDK

I would have

Bah, leadoff batter gets on

3 outs

6 outs