bobrob2004

Which is why there's no reason to act now. Someone will get fired midseason (someone always does) and maybe that person will have the qualities to justify replacing Hinch. In the meantime, just wait until the off-season and go through the interview process like normal. This time with Harris' input.

Aside from the fact that I said I'd wait until the off-season, the most likely candidate right now would be the bench coach. In the Tigers case that's George Lombard. Of course they could also grab a manager that was fired last year and couldn't find a job in the off-season, such as Joe Girardi or Joe Maddon.

So we keep Hinch because that's who we are stuck with? Leftovers from the previous regime? Why not let Harris have a say in who he wants to manage the team? He's taking over the rebuild, why not clean the whole slate and start over from scratch? No, I'm not suggesting we fire Hinch right this minute. Let him ride out the year and see who is available in the off-season. Is there really no one else that will be able to take the Tigers to the playoffs, assuming they are able to get the right players? Sparky Anderson was before my time, so I do not know what the overall consensus was when he was hired. He was hired in the middle of the season, when the Tigers actually had a winning season, and they decided to fire Les Moss and replace him with Sparky Anderson. Of course Sparky had great success with the Reds, so maybe this was a fluke thing and there really are no managers now that are available or will become available that could justify replacing Hinch.

I think it's time for this discussion again: What makes A.J. Hinch so special? He wins when he has great players in Houston, but loses when he has terrible players in Detroit, just like every other manager. When he loses, he can't be blamed because...just look at the players he has to work with. Brad Ausmus won the division in 2014, just like many other managers would have, given the players. A more experienced manager would have gone further, so it's great to have a good manager in the playoffs. But the Tigers are not expected to go to the playoffs any time in the near future, so why have Hinch on the Tigers? What exactly does he bring to the table that any other mediocre manager would not be able to bring? Why is he cherished so much that the thought of Harris bringing in someone else is so beyond absurd that we cannot even discuss it?

He rolled over when his players were cheating in Houston. It's par for the course.

Lange should have pitched the 8th and the 9th. The restricted one inning only reliever pitching is an old school strategy that managers like Hinch should have evolved from. He was smart enough to use his closer in the 8th inning, but too dumb to leave him in. Lange only threw 12 pitches, what is Hinch protecting him from? The thing that isn't being discussed enough is the blown umpire call of interference on Kreidler that cost the Tigers a run. Why didn't Hinch argue the call more? I know he was upset by it, but he didn't show any fire on the field. I said it a few weeks ago, these are the things that are going to get Hinch fired.

As soon as Hinch has a bunch of players who cheat, they win.

In 2019 the Tigers started 12-10 and finished with 114 losses.

Despite the outcome, I stayed the whole game. And I plan on torturing myself again and seeing them later on this year. I'll let you know when so you can place your bets on another blowout game.

I'm going to the game today. First time going to Comerica in about 5 years. Exciting to see a game in person again.

There's basically four factors for WAR that get added together: offense, baserunning, defense, and positional adjustment. On FanGraphs, they basically take wOBA and adjust it to batting runs for that section of the calculation. wOBA factors in walks, HBP, singles, doubles, triples, home runs, etc. The exact situation of when these hits occur doesn't matter. A home run in the first inning in a 0-0 game is worth exactly the same as a home run in the bottom of the ninth with the score of 5-5 or 10-0. Win Probability (WPA and RE24) factors in specific situations, and the result gets added/subtracted, but this stat is not used in the calculation of WAR. I have seen arguments that this stat should be heavily weighted when determining MVP because it directly shows who has affected the team's winning, as opposed to WAR.

Since he's my Tiger, I'm going to have to defend Lange there. Meadows should've caught that.

Glad to know Hinch can manage a bullpen.

It's not the number of games that he loses, it's how he loses them that will determine it.

I don't think there was a lie. Your quote was very vague in Hinch's involvement. I do believe he was in the room when they decision was made and that he expressed who he wanted to be hired. However, I still fail to see the sense of loyalty between Harris and Hinch in the fact that Harris will feel obligated to keep Hinch on as the manager. If Hinch doesn't impress Harris with his managing this year, I think he'll fire him.

HInch had all Spring Training to find a consistent lineup and we had three very radical lineups so far. Why is he still managing like it's Spring Training?

I'm not rooting for that. I want the Tigers to win and if Hinch does that, then it's all good. I just don't have much confidence in that.

I also cannot find any information on Hinch's involvement in the hiring process. I cannot find any information that suggests that Harris is going to be loyal to Hinch. I found this, which suggests that it was all Chris Ilitch in the hiring of Harris: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/09/19/tigers-hire-giants-gm-scott-harris-president-baseball-operations/10428932002/

I don't know, I'm not behind closed doors. I'm just questioning how much of an impact Hinch had in the hire of Harris.

Is this really true or was it just all PR and the media telling the fans what they want to hear as opposed to what really happened?

I think this will be the last season for Hinch as Tigers manager. They already replaced Avila and several coaches. The next logical replacement is the manager. Plus, I think Harris will want to be involved in getting the guy to lead his team and not someone else's leftover. I know it's only three games and one series, but Hinch didn't show me anything on why he should be the one to lead this team. Although I wasn't a big fan of Hinch to begin with.

Ohhh, you said hitter, not player. My mistake.

Nate Robertson wore glasses.

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #14 – Matthew Gregory Vierling Similar to third base, the Tigers have multiple options for left field, including Matt Vierling, Kerry Carpenter, Akil Baddoo, and Eric Haase. The final roster decision could come down to Carpenter or Baddoo*, almost assuring that Vierling will get an opening day roster spot. Vierling played six different positions last year with the Philadelphia Phillies, including all three outfield spots, third base, second base, and first base, so his versatility will come in handy. He’ll likely get more playing time than a typical bench player as manager A.J. Hinch likes to mix and match his players (there’s also a possible righty/lefty platoon situation here with either Carpenter or Baddoo). Vierling did play in 117 games last year with 357 plate appearances, which is more than a typical bench player. Career ML stats: 2021 – 77 PA | .324/.364/.479 | 2 HR | 5.2% BB% | 26% K% | 121 wRC+ 2022 – 357 PA | .246/.297/.351 | 6 HR | 6.4% BB% | 19.6% K% | 81 wRC+ Sherman had an unsustainable .420 BABIP in 2021, which led to good fortune. In 2022, his BABIP was a more reasonable .290. However, there is evidence that his luck was flipped in 2022; he had a xBA of .279 and an xSLG of .408, suggesting that he has more power than the results show. In the minor leagues, Vierling had an ISO of .141, including a .188 ISO in 95 plate appearances in AAA last year. In the Majors last year, he only had a .105 ISO. His hard hit rate on batted balls was 34.1 percent, slightly better than league average (30.2 percent). His career Major League walk rate is 6.2 percent, which is way below his rate in AA (11.8 percent) and AAA (10.3 percent), so it’s reasonable to assume he’ll improve on this number. His strikeout rate of 19.6 percent was similar to his 18.2 percent in the minors, so there’s probably not going to be a big improvement in strikeouts. Finally, he does have some speed, stealing 22 bases in A-Ball in 2019 and 15 bases between AAA and the Majors last year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see double digits again in 2023, especially if he is frequently used as a pinch runner late in the game (not to mention the bigger bases). Being a right-handed batter, he naturally hits better against left-handed pitching: Vs. RHP – 256 PA | .228/.285/.339 Vs. LHP – 178 PA | .307/.343/.423 If Vierling struggles early on, I can see a strict platoon situation for awhile. Vierling is entering his age 26 season, a prime age for a breakout year…that is if everything comes together (spoiler alert: it rarely does). He has some Major League experience and doesn’t really have more to prove in AAA. If he can get his walk rate up to where it was in the minors and his luck evens out, he should be at least an average hitter for 2023. If all else fails, he should still end up being a quality utility player, considering he’s at least an average defender. *Baddoo was indeed sent down to AAA Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 296 AB | .258/.316/.395 | 7 HR | 33 RBI | 9 SB | 23 BB | 65 K ZiPS DC – 325 AB | .239/.297/.353 | 6 HR | 30 RBI | 9 SB | 24 BB | 74 K THE BAT X – 337 AB | .260/.312/.399 | 7 HR | 36 RBI | 11 SB | 23 BB | 72 K ATC – 334 AB | .254/.309/.384 | 7 HR | 34 RBI | 9 SB | 24 BB | 74 K FGDC – 324 AB | .249/.306/.374 | 7 HR | 33 RBI | 9 SB | 25 BB | 73 K RotoChamp – 332 AB | .256/.308/.386 | 7 HR | 34 RBI | 10 SB | 24 BB | 73 K CBS Sports – N/A ESPN – 393 AB | .254/.311/.384 | 9 HR | 42 RBI | 15 SB | 31 BB | 86 K My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – N/A 2022 Actual – 325 AB | .246/.297/.351 | 6 HR | 32 RBI | 7 SB | 23 BB | 70 K 2023 Prediction – 340 AB | .250/.319/.385 | 8 HR | 32 RBI | 11 SB | 34 BB | 79 K

I wish MLB the Show would release a PC version. There hasn't been a good PC baseball game since MVP Baseball 2005.