Shelton

The tiebreaker dictates no such thing because there is no need for a tie to broken at this time. You are projecting a tie nine from games from now to order the teams. No need to do that. Essentially and factually, there is a tie. It’s right there in black and white.

Just a gut feeling, Eddie. I could try to rationalize why I think it’s worse. To be fair, the other methods are also projecting team quality, just with different inputs. When FG season-to-date method and bref SRS method both spit out similar odds, but the FG default based on zips/steamer is a big outlier, it makes me think there is something baked into the FG projection that is more slow to adjust. I do find it interesting that all the scribes just default to the FG odds and ignore the bref odds. But I also dislike FG in general these days for a number of reasons, so I’m likely allowing my bias to creep in.

Nah, just kidding. I didn’t actually parse all of that. I think what you are saying is that it’s hard to predict how each game will go, which no one disputes. Use whatever method you want to determine your own sense of what is likely to happen and to what degree. I prefer the baseball reference method that looks at the past 100 games and adds a regression factor. I don’t much like the FanGraphs method that is based on zips+steamer. The coin flip method is fairly clean and not bad, especially when it comes to this caliber of team. FG’s “season to date” stats is similar to the bref method I think.

Agreed

But they don’t decide the playoffs after 153 games, so the tiebreaker isn’t active yet. The fact is they are tied. The tiebreaker is just another way of settling a tie after 162 games, as an alternative to playing a single head to head game 163 (which, as we know, is not necessarily going to lead to a better result). Before the tiebreaker, you weren’t happy with the tie either. If only the tigers had won one of those earlier games against the twins. They would be 2 games up and they would hold the tiebreaker. Anyway, we aren’t behind by one, or .5, or whatever. We are tied. If we win one more game than the twins, we will win the spot. Because we are currently tied.

It doesn’t happen all the time. It happens some of the time. For instance, some percentage of the time. Almost like a probability.

It’s the same as saying buddy, pal, bro, to people that aren’t actually your buddy, pal, or bro. There’s nothing in it.

Last year’s playoff game was a unique situation, so I’ll put that aside. There are few great players that have come through this city and had fairly long careers, and been traded while still near their peak. JV and Chauncey come to mind, though. There have been others that left via free agency, which I think is a different story (Max, Sergei, Suh). And then you have the special situations like Barry and Calvin who chose to quit rather than continue playing for their toxic franchise. Booing can be a gut reaction in the moment or a premeditated message. In this case, I can’t fathom making a plan to go to the first game of this new season to boo a former franchise icon like Matthew Stafford. I honestly don’t get it. Go ahead and rationalize why it’s ok to cheer madly for JV of the Astros and Mets, or Chauncey of the nuggets, but I don’t really think it’s much different.

2012 Tigers were 3 back on September 18 and finished 3 games up. We’ve waited this long to have the chance to be upset at September losses. I’m going to let it play out quite a bit further before declaring the season over based on a single game.

I was referring to announcing Mize and starting Mize and then unleashing Skubal a couple batters in on a lefty heavy lineup (as an example; don’t quote me on some weird reverse split or something). As to why openers are not more common, I suspect it is as simple as you suggest. Your best starters are probably better than your mediocre relievers, and it’s also tough to have enough of a right/left distribution to be able to do it too often. The first inning is inherently low leverage, that you aren’t going to typically use your best RP, where they are clearly better than the SP option that would follow. So from roster management and personnel standpoint, it still feels like it will remain limited to using an opener ahead of your back end of the rotation types or worse, to try to give them whatever boost you can get by being able to find the right lineup pocket.

double post

The tv broadcast very recently had the stats grouped by the type of pitching strategy and distinguished between traditional start, opener game, and bullpen game. I think these distinctions have been clear from the beginning once Mize and Reese and got hurt and Jack was traded. I have not paid any attention to what Hinch specifically calls it, as it is irrelevant, and I can’t imagine that anyone in the league cares either. I do think it’s been interesting to follow lately. I always found it kind of silly that a team was expected to be so forthcoming about their strategy in advance when it comes to pitching, but not necessarily with the lineup. For a long time it didn’t make much of a difference because the traditional rotation made such news obvious. But there is really no reason you should ever make your opener/bullpen use known in advance. Folks can find out when the lineup is posted. And yes, I know that cynically we need to acknowledge that MLB requires advance notice of the lineup for use with their gambling partners. I know that bothers a lot of folks. I recall that over a decade ago Lee (I think) suggested a pitching scheme without the use of a traditional rotation, and instead a group of bulk reliever types, and that it would obviously require some team to try it first before it were widely adopted. I think we have seen over the past five years or so that many teams are willing to use a version of this in their willing adoption of openers and bulk relievers. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m still waiting for it to become commonplace for a team to announce a traditional starter and then pull him after a batter or two and insert a different guy. A team did that against the dodgers in the playoffs a few years ago, but everyone saw through it, including Dave Roberts, because the starter was going on short rest. I want to say it was Miami during the Covid year.

Preseason 2021 Tork Skubal Mize Manning Greene

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s tweets around 4pm reminding everyone about Flaherty’s no-trade clause.

I’m sure you remember that we already had this tongue-in-cheek discussion about 15 years ago.

I agree. The context makes clear what the number represents. Similarly, context would also allow you to refer to OPS, BA, OBA, SLG just as the digits. Even using the decimal at all feels overly formal. But if one must insist on including the decimal in a number that is never spoken to include “point,” I don’t think it’s the end of the world either to include the zero before it. Interestingly, at least to me, when it comes to a sub-1 ERA, the zero feels almost necessary. The “point” is also traditionally spoken. I guess my point is that WHIP is the only accurately named and presented traditional rate stat.

If you place the decimal before the digits in OBP, it also is not a percentage.

If I were an orioles fan, and my team said no to a Skubal for Holliday straight up trade, I would be furious. You are not serious people.

You guys are being way too nice to this troll from Baltimore.

Walt was a good friend. There isn’t much I can add that has not already been said. He was incredibly smart and a great family man. He loved being a Marine. He was straight and to the point and so funny. He packed a lot into his tragically short life. I miss him a lot.

That’s right.

The 2009 Tigers were 34-31 and leading the division by 2 games. The 2012 Tigers were 31-34 and four games back. What I’m saying is that we are probably going to get swept in the World Series again after Skubal gets rocked in game 1. But that’s better than losing game 163.

Thank you for confirming my suspicion. Not the first time you were wrong. Correct. Those days are gone. You’re welcome, everyone. A lot of work to establish my bona fides.

Hey, I gotta know, did Tork do the pizza celebration after his first home run of the season 40 games in while trailing 9-1 in the 9th?

Nice win. Go Lions.