mtutiger

What I will be curious to see is that with the passage of time, if there's improvement with prospects who get called up as we get further into the Harris era than we have seen currently. Even now, the crop of guys getting the call are guys that were acquired and largely developed while Avila was in charge. That will change in a year or two... even Jace Jung, who was drafted under Avila, has mapped more closely onto Harris' time in the organization

Would not surprise me that in a hypothetical where he goes somewhere else, he breaks out. I also agree with you that, in and of itself, it could be as much about TORK as about the coaching staff here.

The fact that the Royals were active in free agency looms as well, though like the Rangers last year, they aren't where they are today (whether it's lasting or not) without the performances of their younger core. Same thing with the Rangers last year.... they don't make that run without Josh Jung and their other homegrown talent. The Tigers just haven't seen the same level of production from hitters that have come up through the system to-date.

I had them at 82-80 iirc, and they are a couple of games behind that pace. Not totally surprising to me either. It seems like everyone is taking fire here (mostly Harris, but now Hinch and the coaching staff as well), but at some point, it's on the players. The younger players, like Torkelson, for the Tigers to really take that next step, their advancement was a prerequisite. IE. Not something that could be shortcut. And they largely haven't done it.... we've seen a few hot weeks here and there, but it's largely been ephemeral. Until it happens, or until an alternative emerges (either through better performances, trades for different players, free agency next year or through the farm system), those kinda are the breaks at this point.

Javy Baez is something else when playing in Arizona.... just wish he could do it everywhere else!

Yeah, it's more boxscore than anything... as awful as they've been offensively production wise this year, they are better than that 2022 version.

He's coming off of injury and AJ isn't going to expose him in a noncompetitive game. That's my guess

It's a much different team now, but it's more the reminder that even the bad offenses can experience a dead cat bounce from time to time. There's still some upside here though.... Tork and Keith turning things around would make a huge difference on this teams trajectory.

Skubal's efficiency along with the run scoring may make this one of the easiest games AJ has ever managed.

The main thing that scares me about tonight is that there hasn't been a ton of home run power.... it reminds me a little bit of the Miggy 3000 game in that regard from a couple of years ago. (although they have at least had more extra base hits tonight) https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET202204231.shtml

Bob Brenly now speculating that you'd think they got the playbook lol

Damn, that kid just got Torked lol

Wow....

I really think they've found something in Wenceel Perez....

As bad as the hitting has been to start the year, there was always a glass-half-full view where Tork (and Keith) weren't likely to continue to be as bad at the dish as they have been to date. I need to see more, trust but verify, but even before the homer on Sunday, both with the bat and the glove, it's been apparent that Tork has been playing better. Just need to see more consistency

They badly need Tork to get going, and he chose a good moment to do something.

I will never understand why our fambase hates Matt Vierling so much...

They are two games above .500 and have a positive run differential. All despite multiple players not playing to their potential. You'd think we were talking about the 2019 team with the way people talk about them.

Ump show baby

The relative lack of hard hit rate differentiates this year from last year, IMO.

I don't know what his ceiling is at this point.... but I do think he is capable of turning it around. Regardless, I don't see how he recovers his standing with the fanbase even if he does turn it around. To borrow a phrase from contemporary politics, it's appears to have gone beyond "frustration" into "negative polarization" with a lot of folks, at least on Twitter IMO

Frankly, I hope he's not listening to anybody on Twitter.... the amount of anger he generates, geez, even if he turns it around I'm not sure he'll ever be accepted here.

My expectations was that I would hate the entire kit, so the fact that I only really hate the hat and think the actual jersey is solid seems like a win overall lol

I could have lived with the "MC" abbreviation as well.... but just writing out an entire word on a baseball hat, I just cannot get around that

I just can't believe the hat.... it just gives me serious "Washington Football Team" vibes.