SoCalTiger

The issue with Tork is he is a poor defender and at best average runner ( yesterday killing our only rally getting thrown out at third ) so his value is all based on his hit tool. He need an .800 plus OPS to overcome those two issues. Homers and RBI are misleading stats since many can come when the game is no longer in the balance. What matters is can he hit well will runners in scoring position and get on base and score runs himself. Again I am rooting for him hard because we need him and Green and Carpenter to be the meat of the order. Being a 1-1 puts more expectations on him, unfairly and I am one to do so , so we have to be patient before we decide weather he is part of our core or a platoon DH.

A win tomorrow and it will seem much better. Skip breakfast and come to work hungry Tigers !

I am. I’m rooting hard for him. We need him. I just have my doubts like you do with Olsen. It’s what fans do.

Olsen is much better than Manning. Let the season play out.

Nice play Tork

Olsen is a keeper. Our number 2 hands down. Thanks Mr. Avila for the parting gift.

Tork with a poor base running mistake with the play in front of him for goodness sakes. Don't make the first and third out at 3rd base. And not a word from Monroe about it.

Baez had been grimacing after swings and did not play yesterday so I bet it’s DL for him.

This only reinforces my concerns. I know it's early and that I am not a keen evaluator but he does not inspire any confidence when he comes to bat. I have never really liked him for no reason I can articulate other than not meeting expectations for a 1-1 and his poor defense. I also find it somewhat irritating that he presents himself as the face of the franchise and is always the most quoted player in the paper, on TV and during promotions like addressing the crowd on opening day and at the Wings game. It's like he is just so happy to on the team he is unaware of the role he needs to play for us to succeed. I am hoping and rooting hard but my money is on a new first baseman once his arb salaries start to rise. First baseman are just too easy to obtain and rarely are drafted so high for the same reason. Hope I am wrong.

Interesting as in if a 4 inning start is perfect aren't they all relievers ?

All valid points but most probably we will never know since the Home Run is too vital to the game and if pitchers blow out their arms MLB snd owners will just see it as an incentive to not pay high salaries for stating pitchers. If I was an owner I would be very hesitant to pay top dollar over many years for pitching and I think that's beginning to play out and will become the norm soon. Look what the Tigers are doing under Harris. Low one and two year deals, develop a bullpen of "multi inning" relievers, Avoid "Closers" who command big $$, develop your draft picks and work the waiver wire and have bullpen days. Forget about multi year big dollar deals. Arod signed for 4 years 80 million. Harris could have added one year and done that easily but refused, same with Friedman and LA at the trade deadline refusing to add one year to ok the trade. Baltimore which is loaded passed on all the big names and traded for Burnes for one year. Sure there are outliers, Yamamoto and Nola for a couple but one brings huge gate receipts and promotional money to LA and the other is a retuning star. Starting pitchers are targeting 5 innings / twice through the lineup now so why pay huge dollars for that ?

I mean which pitcher wants to surrender their competitive edge?

Is it correct to assume that deadening the baseball will stop pitchers from throwing with maximum effort? Won’t they continue to spin and stress to prevent hits ? The cows are out of the barn. Teams have huge pitching staffs with technology to maximize velocity and spin and there are lots of private companies as well. I don’t see any pitchers taking it easy because home runs go down. I

Terrible owner - bureaucratic government and rapidly declining city equals FUBAR.

The hitters seemed anxious and a little burned out. Road trip..waiting out rain for two days..doublehader..opening day...RedWing game and another early start and the energy just seemed a bit lacking. It happens. Win tomorrow.

We have three guys hitting under .100 and Baez is third on the team in average ( based on todays lineup only ) and we are 5-1. Ya it might not stay that way unless we start hitting.

To be a starter. Not big leaguer. I wrote that poorly.

Everything that I have read focuses on maddens need for a breaking pitch. It seems everything else is in order so without developing a third offering he looks like a bullpen guy with one he’s a starter. Hope he develops it this year. might be his last chance.

Thanks for all the great replies to my post. I feel much better ! Also on the bright side we might only need a couple strong hitters to really cement our team. As a huge proponent of defense I should embrace the pick more like I did on draft day. I guess I’m over anxious for a winner.

Thanks

So with todays rain delay I was surfing games on my MLB subscription and came across the Texas - Rays game where Wayne Langford is already starting and starring for the Rangers. Moments later Issac Parades cranked a 3 run homer and I couldn't help but wonder how good we would be TODAY is we hade kept Parades and drafted Langford. Then I felt sad which is no way to feel with so much going well for the Tigers. So I am asking the board for some consolation. Forget about Parades it's been beat to death but did we/Harris over think by not taking Clark ? Hoping to hear some good news that Clark/McGonigle ( taken with $$ saved passing on Langford) will prove to be better than Langford ( who seems to be Kirk Gibson energy) . Cheer me up please !

I think they will try to muddy through at least one game today or tomorrow leaving only one game for Thursday.

As for the new Pizza home run celebration, they should stick a fork in it

Nice start !!! Pitching will keep us in all games !!

Tork could hav had an out there. Poor fielder