Motor City Sonics

What's the latest on Kerry Carpenter?

Wow, he felt like a bust and now it's confirmed. They should have cut him anyway.

This is the 6/7 game losing streak I have been expecting since April. Tigers are good but we know they've been charmed too. Still leading the division by 11 games and tied for the most wins in baseball. Houston is also on a 3 game losing streak and sorry if I just don't believe the Blue Jays will keep this up. And regarding Sweeney. I agree. They just don't seem to have another option. McKinstry could play SS, but he's not that good. Plus there is always that fear in the back of our minds that McKinstry and Baez will turn back into McKinstry and Baez. And if Meadows and Vierling don't get going soon, maybe a trip to Toledo is in order.

Clarence Beeks.

Instead of ghost runner - Maybe - starting in the 10th inning, the defensive team has to take one player off the field and then for every inning until the 12th they have to take another off the field. Then if it's still tied - a tug of war.

What I do think could happen in the future is the ability to bring back a player into a game after they've been replaced, but you can only do it once and it costs you an out. If you do it on offense you lose an out. If you do it on defense the other team gets an extra out. The way managers (like AJ) use their bench so frequently they will make measures to make sure teams don't have to put a pitcher into the field where they'll break like china dolls, I guess.

We're going to have a swing off in regular season games We're going to have the Magic At Bat - or whatever it's called, Golden At-Bat We'll probably have a game where fans get to make the moves for the managers, at least in an exhibition game. I don't mind changes, but some of them are ugly to me. But I'm Old Guy Yelling At Cloud

Listening to the new Sublime track and I am floored at how much Jakob Nowell sounds like his father Brad, the original lead singer. Wow.

Its frustrating. I used to love college football. Now I hardly care, it's gotten so out of hand. Michigan won a championship and I watched parts of 4 or 5 games and that was it. I wasn't against players getting paid, but not in the millions. And these conferences. The Big 10 means nothing to me now. USC? Oregon? Come on.......

TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON................TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON ! (Is there an ECHO font?)

This second-half collapse is going to be very painful, isn't it?

Wow, I didn't watch, but all the Tigers were all pretty awful. But that's fine. We'll save it for games that actually count.

It's not as good without the drum thing. that's what releases the tension that's so incredibly built up in that song. It's never worked as a piano ballad.

Yep. I think having that hefty lead might erode a little intensity but the bullpen is a bit alarming, but it's good that we are finding out now and not 10 days AFTER the trade deadline. I am still not worried. I think it's a helluva time for an All Star Break - and going until July 13th to have your first 4-game losing streak is darn impressive, no, it's DAMN impressive. Everyone take a deep breath. It was a bad weekend and that's all it was.

That's the one vaccine I got that HURT, I mean really hurt. But yes, it's way, WAY better than getting Shingles.

This is actually a good thing, folks. Expose your issues before the trade deadline, but still with enough time to see what you can actually fix or work with - plus the All Star Break is coming at a great time. If guys like Mize and McKinstry are in a bit of an All Star Daze right now, I'm cool with that. It's got to be exciting. I'm not worried at all. I've been expecting a 6 or 7 game losing streak and they still haven't lost 4 in a row and that's pretty incredible. If they lose tomorrow, it'll be the first 4-game losing streak....on July 13th. That's insanely consistent. In fact, have they had any 10 game stretch at all where they went worse than 4-6? I am going to rely on the first 94 games as an indicator of what this team is and not on the last two. I am thrilled that AJ Hinch and Chris Fetter are not going to the All Star game this year. I know all the players and coaches are supposed to take a break, but those two guys are going to be breaking down a lot of video next week to see if they can spot what's going wrong with the bullpen guys and to see their trade targets and minor league guys. I am sure they've been on the phone with the Toledo staff telling them who NOT to pitch tonight. If I had a guess, they're going to make a couple of moves before tomorrow's game two of PJ Poulin, Drew Sommers, Dylan Smith and Matt Seelinger are going to be on the first morning flight from Omaha to Detroit tomorrow. I think the team is in a bit of a mid-season funk right now, and that doesn't bother me. Can't have that game-day intensity for 162 games. I know we think of Kirk Gibson and say he never took a day off, he never lapsed in his intensity, but that's just not true. With this trade deadline coming up I am expecting us to lose a player or two that we like. We could lose Colt Keith, Kerry Carpenter or Parker Meadows. They are going to have to trade a really good prospect (just not Max or McGonigle, please). As far as our guys, outside of the bullpen, I would like Jack Flaherty to get it sorted out. And Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling have had enough time back now, it's time to get going for both of those guys. Just - a great time for an All Star break, just please, nobody get hurt there.

I don't follow basketball that closely and I am already sick of Cooper Flagg.

Are you being serious?

I can't imagine sitting in that sun on a day like today at Comerica Park. There are some storms working their way towards the tri-county area, but they won't last long.

Is it me or does Skubal struggle against Seattle in general? Seems like it. I know he went to school there, so maybe emotionally there's something about facing them. I mean, he's not a robot.

Well, I am sure that's on their list for the deadline. They'll have other games like this. It's just baseball.

It's a single game. Relax. Even 100-win teams have about 10 of these. A shellacking like this can actually be good for the long run. Gonna have these now and then

I think on this one, Chris Fetter crashed the car like Jeff Spicoli and, surveying the damage proclaimed he had access to this ultimate set of tools and said "I can fix it". Great Pitching Coach. But some things can't be fixed. Can't wait to see what PJ Poulin can do.

I think it's safe to say Swing & Miss by the Tigers with Carlos Hernandez. It might be the only time we associate the term Swing & Miss with him. I'm actually glad this is the game they put on Apple TV. I didn't have to experience it.

The team was going nowhere with Avila and the question seemed to be - could he not judge talent or could he not develop it or both? I think we have the answer. He was a good talent evaluator that did not have a good handle on development. Harris came in and fixed that immediately and now we see that Avila was better than we thought. I think the current Tiger system is modeled after the Tampa system, and Tampa always develops good enough talent to basically contend every 3 out of 4 years. The difference here is - where Tampa trades away any player about to get into serious contracts, the Tigers probably can't get away with that as much. The Tampa fanbase doesn't have that ache for baseball that the Detroit fanbase does - and trading away your stars as they become starts would infuriate the fanbase here. If this was the Rays, Riley Greene would be gone, probably this year, even if the team was contending. The Tigers and Lions seem to be on a run of picking and developing good players - the kind of thing that if you stay this good, or even close to it, you should always have a shot at the playoffs. The way Brad Holmes is going with the Lions, a 9-8 season is going to seem like a failure. Imagine saying that just 4 years ago. The way things are clicking into place for the Tigers, and with the talent they have in the minors, losing a Tarik Skubal might not be as bad as some believe. I don't think the Tigers will be able to keep him. I think Steve Cohen's gonna offer him 60 million a year, especially if the Mets haven't won a series by then. Even if Skubal loves it here, he's not turning that down.