SeattleMike

2 hours ago, lordstanley said:

I’ve told this story before, but the MNF Fidrych game was truly one of the most memorable days of my childhood. Last day of school, 3rd grade or Grade 3, had been the Friday before. I was turning 9 in two days so we held my birthday party in the lower deck in left with Family Night tickets. My parents, a couple of uncles, a few of my friends. I was a baseball nut/nerd then so knew all about Fidrych’s progression over the past two months and so was excited that he was the starter. But having been to weeknight games several times in the past, we were expecting a crowd of 20,000 or so. When we got there and saw our normal parking lots full and then the throngs walking over the pedestrian covered overpasses we were stunned. But boy did that ratchet up the excitement. For a few minutes we were worried that the game was sold out, as that was the rumour, but managed to buy tickets. I remember almost everything about that night. Especially the curtain call. Went to many other Fidrych starts in 1976 and 1977, I wish more radio or TV broadcasts of his starts were available. 

Was that Fidrych's first curtain call? 

5 hours ago, Longgone said:

I would give up on batting average as an indicator of performance, especially in the short term (year or two), and especially with developing talent.

Yeah. Was talking to some guy about Jung and he dismissed him as a prospect because he was hitting only .240 (at that time). His FC+ was 130 though. The guy didn't want to hear it. 

4 hours ago, Timmitch55 said:

Bigbie is making a Keith move.

Meanwhile Keith has cooled some, although he still seems to get on base at least once every game. 

1 minute ago, gehringer_2 said:

Pitching is still a large potential problem. If we assume Mize and Turnbull replace ERod and Lorenzen next season, a) will either of them pitch well? b) can the starting staff stay healthy? You have Faedo and Wentz but it's not clear either of them can hold down an MLB starting gig if pitchers start going down next season and beyond those two it's just off a cliff. Flores and Madden have been underwhelming, Jobe is too far away.

So you'd think they have to bring in at least one FA starting pitcher - can they find one as good as either of the two leaving? And another decent reliever.

Maybe Jobe is the answer in a year or two? 

2 minutes ago, kdog said:

I want the Twins or Guardians to win games so the Tigers don't delude themselves into thinking they are in a race. I'm sure Harris knows the talent on this roster is years away. It's easier to sell when you are 8 games out.

Years away? That’s probably too negative. No one saw Baltimore’s 2022 resurgence. No one saw Texas’s this year. Two or three moves go the Tigers way and a couple of developmental successes and they could be competing in a year or two. 

2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Could we maybe go back on the road?

That Englert beating so emblematic of the last 7 years. Always more eyes on the future than whatever is happening in the moment. Fair enough. But really tests the loyalty of its fans. 

3 minutes ago, AZTigersfan said:

3rd inning for Englert? I just don’t get that.

Padres say thank you rain delay. 

Max Clark skipping FCL and going straight to A ball. Very aggressive. He may be the youngest player in that league. 

2 hours ago, mtutiger said:

I would take the fact that other contenders would trade for him as a piece of evidence that he's more real than not. A complement of sorts.

In and of itself, though, it's evidence that the smart move would be to hold unless someone wanted to pay a premium for his services. He's just controllable for far too long, and his power bat from the left side, as G2 suggests, just doesn't have a lot of match for anyone coming up in the system.

I just can't imagine any team making an offer for Carpenter that would make sense for the Tigers. 

28 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Sorry, but this is the definition of selling high.

I can't imagine any trade scenario in which the Tigers would receive a return that could possibly exceed the current or future value of Carpenter. I guess two 50 grade position prospects? But who would make that trade? 

25 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

No word yet on if he will be available in a pinch hitting role tonight. 

Small thing but why are they are parading him around Detroit when he could be down in Florida actually starting his career. I hate that the draft is so late now. 

3 hours ago, mtutiger said:

Taking a step back again.... Granted a lot of it is the division that they play in, but the fact that it's late July and there's actually a not-totally-unserious debate about whether to sell or buy among the fanbase seems like a win for what we expected going into this season.

As you admit, it's the division that is responsible for this unexpected debate. After the first 2 weeks of the season many fans were expecting a 100-loss season (or much worse). That the Tigers have been a .500 team since then is a pleasant surprise. 

6 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

the interwebs don't do nuance. Avila failed at everything! is the only HOT TAKE we are allowed.

seriously, Avila had some wins on his watch, probably more than he gets credit for, just not enough wins, not fast enough, not visible enough, and not enough to overcome his faceplant trades and free agents signings.

 

Olsen for Norris: scouting acumen  or just dumb luck? 

30 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Green, Meadows Vierling, Carpenter, Cabrera are sharing 3 OF + DH and Cabrera only plays 50% and they want to rest Riley more the rest of the way so the other three can all have >80% of maximum AB. Works for me.

I like Baddoo, but he's done pretty close to zero since June other than the one game this week. It's not enough.

Meadows will probably hit like Baddoo but his defense will add so much more value. 

Just now, Jim Cowan said:

Another decent outing for Manning.

Better defense and it’s probably another 6 scoreless innings for him. The added velocity this year has been welcome. 

2 minutes ago, AZTigersfan said:

Wow that was a pathetic effort by the top of the order. Yuck!

Few hard hit balls even. This offense….

47 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I am in the minority as I think most fans would agree with you. However, I just wouldn't see a team that played .500 ball for a 162 games as a real champion.  Sure, I'd be entertained by the playoff run, but I would look back and know that they were a mediocre team that got lucky in the end.  It would be a different feeling for me from 1984 when they were a great team from start to finish and unquestionably the best in baseball.        

 

I wonder if that is how Cardinals fans feel about 2006. Or Twins fans about ‘87. I sort of feel the same way you do but wouldn’t suffer too much from an “undeserved” championship. 

4 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Wake Bert up!

What if Carpenter and Greene hadn’t gotten hurt? Tigers are probably close to .500 and bouncing around first place in AL Central. 

22 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

Carpenter’s power is a pleasant surprise. Next year he can DH. Hope Hinch plays him against lefthanders also. 

So is it time to think of Carpenter as part of the solution and not some tease.

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

A performance of which Todd Jones would be proud. 

Todd Jones gave up lots of singles but rarely walked anyone nor gave up many HRs. Not a bad profile for a guy who comes in to start an inning with a lead. It’s difficult to score runs by bunching singles. 

16 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Heading out to the game. Go Tigers

5 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Good stuff, no command. Could be a reliever some day.  Got to have a couple of them.  

Brings back warm and fuzzies about the ill-fated all reliever draft. If memory serves though Alex Avila was in that draft. Avila seems to get overlooked when discussing position player Tiger draft success stories. 

3 hours ago, oblong said:

Norm Cash was better than I realized.  

 

Cash had that one supernova season in 1961 where posted a 201 OPS+. Then he had nothing but good to great seasons after that. In his final 13 seasons he posted an OPS+ of 125 or greater 11 times. His two worst seasons were a 120 and his final season with 112. He really didn't become a regular until he was traded by the ChiSox to the Tigers in his age 26 season, in 1960. If he could have started his career earlier and at Tiger Stadium he might have been in the HOF conversation. 

Manfred just mispronounced Oregon. Embarrassing, especially because he's in the PNW.

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

The other aspect though is that the bottom line is you bring guys up when they can help. If they are still better than what they replace then I don’t really care if they are still not yet the player they may ultimately become. Greene being a case in point. He was ready enough to play on last years Tigers.  That said, the tigers never gave Isaac a reasonable enough audition to know one way or the other if he was ready. 
 

The team also has to evaluate a guys mental makeup, but as fans we’re usually mostly in the dark on that 

Very few guys earn promotions to MLB as finished products. If that were the bar few would ever get promoted. I'm not arguing that the Tigers should promote Keith, Malloy, or Meadows right not. But it's hard to know when a guy is truly ready and usually involves a bit of blind faith.  In Paredes case I agree with you that the Tigers never gave him a serious look, like 300 AB at the MLB level. Never understood it.