SoCalTiger

17 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

especially that draft. As per BR, Spencer has out homered anyone else from that 1st (or 2nd) round by a factor of 2x+. Jordan Walker, who went 21st, and was called up last year, has 16 with StL. A couple of the pitchers are doing OK, but not much in the way of hitters from the top of the 2020 draft.

Which proves tanking sucks !

18 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Skies are a little cloudy for Langford. 2 XBH (0 HR) in 55 AB not likely what a championship team wants  in a production position like LF. I'd call it 50/50 which of he or Meadows get sent down 1st. Langford has the "we are not going to admit we were wrong" aspect going for him, Parker has the great D going for him. Still will be neck and neck I think. 🐎🏇

Watching Langford circle Carpenters double two games ago like a blind squirrel highlighted the defensive concerns that were mentioned in his draft analysis. He was already playing deep and took a poor route and the ball fell short of the wall behind him. I guess thats why he is mostly a DH. Still impressive he is in the show so quickly but maybe not for long as you suggest.

I think Meadows will get a super long runway. Good thing about defensive players is they contribute when not hitting whereas bat only...seems at the moment we have either or on our team unfortunately apart from Riley. Hopefully more developing. 

Can't blame Al Avila for the Tork pick but I wonder if Harris thinks he and others are  not so good and that's why he passed on Langford because his evaluation of the inherited talent makes him think we are still 3 years away so he went high school high ceiling draft. 

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

It's been interesting to hear Carlos be so critical of  Tiger hitter approaches - in particular wrt taking pitches.  I have to wonder if the booth is going to get push back from the staff at some point.

Of course Carlos wasn't a great all around hitter either, but he was good at two of the things the Tigers want, which was walks and HRs, so he knows something about accomplishing that.

The situation with the hitters will resolve one way or the other because hitters will eventually tune out advice that isn't working for them, it just needs to happen more quickly than it's happening. That is *if* these guys are actually better than they are showing and that's what is happening.

I hope they don't push back. Carlos is breath of fresh air and brings his MLB approach where they commented on all teams without being employed by one. He has analytical comments rather than sugar coating comments. 

3 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Canha has been one of their best offensive players so far.  McKinstry has contributed nothing.  Not hitting into a double play?  Is the bar that low now?

McStinkey did hit into a double play but Simien bobbled the transfer otherwise its two. 

Canha has the highest OBP so try him with Greene second..then pull them out of a hat.

Or not

We got this

Bat Greene second so you get the best of Riley Greene. Period. 

Why didn’t they try to throw Hime out at second? He’s really slow that doesn’t fit the aggressive narrative of the team.

Glad McKinstry is in the bench. Just play Urshela most days. 

2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Lange has to throw the FB for strikes because the curve is supposed to get there out of the zone. But a hard two seam fastball can be a treacherous weapon. It's a good pitch because it moves erratically, but that also means some days just by random chance it's going to happen that you throw a bunch of them and none land for strikes. Then the problem just snowballs as you start trying to aim the ball, which inevitably results in a batting practice pitch that ends up in the seats. It was happening to Foley yesterday, but he landed enough strikes to fight through it without giving in.

Do you think Lange can right himself? He was doing so well last year for a long time and it seems overnight Hyde showed up!

Clark’s shows don’t bother me one bit. He can walk on the grass. Social Media is big for kids that age so enjoy your youth young man. Plus the revenue they can make from a high number of followers is real. Not chump change. Influencers are a career in itself. 

The problem with Lange is when he misses it’s by such a wide margin there isn’t any temptation to swing. 

Looking for a bounce back from Olen today , Lorenzen getting knocked out early and Langford getting the golden sombrero.  
Tigers win. 

Very cool. Moxie Maxie.

We really needed that gift. Happy Holiday. So the day I start really doubting Baez in print he homers ? Is El Mago back ? Possible ? Blind Squirrel finds nut ? 

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

That play at third, right there, for the second out in the ninth? That's what we signed Urshela for.

Exactly so why did Hinch take him out of sn extra inning game for Croquet legs ?

my early season enthusiasm has waned considerably. Bummed.

2 hours ago, AZTigersfan said:

I’m still disappointed about the routine grounder Mckinstry missed in game one yesterday. I know Hinch won’t bench him for a week but I sure would like to see it. Anything to send a wake up call to these guys would be good IMO. 

Well it's not mental error so I don't think I would bench him as punishment. I would bench him because he's not very good but since so few are playing well that might not be in order also. I do think if Leonard or Kridler were healthy he might not be on the team. I mean if Kridler wasn't hurt he would be up playing lots of shortstop as well.

17 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I think with Tork there are quite a few potential outcomes. The one we all hope is that is he so super-talented that he will inevitably click and become a perennial All-Star hitter. That's the outcome we obviously hope for. The range of remaining outcomes includes that he is talented and has big-league hitting potential but his ceiling is a lot more limited than All-Star caliber; that he is talented but our coaching can't figure out how to fix him; that he is talented and our coaching has a good idea how to fix him but he is obstinate about instruction and/or lazy about applying it; that he is talented, our coaching knows how to fix him, he's willing to do it, but he can't figure out how to apply it; that he is talented in ways that make him a great hitter for college ball but not a good MLB hitter; or that he was talented once, but now his talent has abandoned him. Any of these outcomes are in play for Tork.

I'm swagging that the chances of the perennial All-Star outcome occurring for Tork is somewhere between one half and one third—probably closer to a third—and that it's more likely one of the field is true. That happens to some 1/1s. It happened with Mickey Moniak, Tim Beckham, Matt Bush, and Delmon Young, all flops. Or he could be Royce Lewis, who took six years to come through the minors before finally clicking with the Twins with an upside still TBD. Or maybe he'll be Pat Burrell or Phil Nevin or Jeff King or Shawon Dunston, all of whom were drafted with great promise at 1/1 only to have merely decent careers. The range of outcomes are wide and varied, but the one thing we know for sure is that he is ours for the next five years, so sit back and enjoy the show.

As for Javy—we may be seeing one of the most spectacular career flameouts of all time. Not like there weren't warning signs that this might happen, giving his skill set and approach. I think we all accept that his chances of becoming an acceptable major league hitter again have dwindled down to neatly nothing. The only thing I know for sure about that guy is that we are going to keep running him out there until we get someone in-house we know can do better than he.

Thanks for the in depth analysis. It seems we have to just "enjoy(try) the show since both Tork and Baez will play all year come double Hockey sticks or high water. Hoping for the best but bracing for the worst. 

5 hours ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

 

Good to see. Thanks.

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

In Avila’s defense, TORK! was the consensus 1/1 that year. Most if not all of the other 29 teams would have taken him that year.

I agree with this. Only a few players from that draft made it and the good ones were lower picks. But that's not for debate. The issue is will he perform, is coaching hindering him or should we be concerned. I mean we have no choice but to play him snd hope he improves but 14 K's in 45 AB against right-handers  is tough for a team to absorb from the player getting the most AB's. Only 1 in 14 AB against Left-handers is better but no real results against either. SUPER early but worrisome all the same.

And Baez is so so bad. I am one of his top supporter on this board but jeesh. And getting back to G2 observation Baez is supposedly following an off season of advice from Hinch/Coachs to improve. Didn't help or made him worse.He simply can not be this bad can he ? He looks great in the field so his athleticism remains intact so it's not age. It's like he fell off a cliff into a deep ocean 

3 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

OK, so they are not 2-11, but they won some games on the virtue of some great pitching, the O is just as dead out of the gate as it has been for the third year. When does the hammer fall on Hinch to change the way/take responsibility for the way he brings his hitters out of ST? The probability of this just being bad luck or cold weather is pretty low at this point. The team is messing itself up somehow. They are all 'in between' looking for what ever it is they're looking for that isn't there.

You have been concerned about this for some time and it's a valid concern that's playing out. It "feels" like a boss micro managing or a nagging spouse where there is too much guidance and all you think about is what you are supposed to do instead of the task at hand. 

And Earl Weaver was right bunting is just plain stupid. It's a game of outs so why give them away. How does that mesh with analytics anyway? Verling tends to hit to the right side anyways and he's pretty hard to double up. Micro managing. And Foley has been incredible so don't let him close out the game because " we don't have closers..or starters.. or single position players..( including McKinstry at third replacing Urshela who is a real third baseman )because I AM THE LEADER. 

It's unfair and too easy to ride the manager, especially if the alternative is probably worse, but where I had zero doubts I am starting to wonder a bit. Let's face it the players he had in Houston were pretty bloody good and did just fine with Dusty.

4 hours ago, Dtrain72 said:

We won yesterday, so it wouldnt be a sweep, but losing tmrw and dropping 3 of 4 against a hobbled, broke **** Twins team is alarming, and yes, even though it's early in the season.

Agreed. It's like watching a Movie and they torcher the star for the longest time until miraculously he gets away instead of just shooting him. We let the Twins escape and then waved the white flag in the 12th inning which doomed our Karma for the nightcap. I'm still burned. Wings didn't help.