mtutiger

People hate beating the horse dead on the Miguel thing mostly because of its inevitability, but one area where he hurts that isn't talked about enough is the Harris/Hinch emphasis on matchups/versatility. We can debate the effectiveness of the strategy all we want, but last night was a good example of the limits of it, with Baez out and an injury to Carpenter, having to carry Miguel takes a situation where options are stressed and makes it even worse.

It's too early really to quanitfy the impacts, hence why Florida suggests to take a wait and see approach, but the thing about long term demographic trends is that trends don't necessarily last forever. And flash points do happen and alter trends. I can only give my perspective as someone who lives in one of these states by saying that politics wouldn't be a reason to move, but it's getting to the point now where it's a real negative when you throw it in the hopper with all the other considerations.

It's not even the younger, more development pieces that pissed me off last night.... like, I get that it's going to be up and down with all of the younger players like Tork, Greene, Baddoo, Vierling, Maton, etc., but they are having to dedicate two of their lineup spots to Miguel and Schoop, both of whom have track records and both of whom have continually demonstrated that there's no more juice left in the tank at this point. And both of those guys' fingerprints were all over that loss last night. Schoop is probably on borrowed time at this point and will likely be gone sooner rather than later, but Miguel? I know we have to do the farewell tour and all, but there's gotta come a point when the lack of results start to matter, right? I don't expect this team to contend or to even be good, but that doesn't excuse the result or make it any less frustrating.

Luke Gold (2022 5th Round Pick) had a go-ahead Inside the Park HR as well.... Hasn't done anything to date really so nice to see.

I actually like Asa Hutchinson, he'd be the most acceptable GOP candidate (even above Sununu), but unfortunately his brand of conservatism isn't going to fly with today's GOP primary voter.

Don't the players have some agency in all of this? AJ isn't out there taking ABs....

I get the bigger picture stuff. But in the micro, even with them being bad, that was a winnable game and they didn't get it done.

Hinch doesn't get a free pass. I just don't think this is the biggest reason why they lost tonight's game. It is unrealistic and unsustainable to ask your pitching staff day in and day out to hold teams to less than 4 runs. It's not an excuse for Shreve or Hinch, but this offense walked more than 10 times and had the bases loaded with less than two outs on three occasions tonight... and walked away with four runs to show for it. No matter how you cut it, that is unacceptable. Better teams would have cashed in on those opportunities and had kept the game competitive, if not won it, despite the failure of the bullpen or management of it.

Probably a good thing the NFL Draft is on to distract folks, because this has to be the most infuriating loss of the season, at least it is for me. It's probably more common than I realize in the moment, but taking over 10 walks in a game and losing has to be very uncommon. But totally achievable for this crew lol

Just cannot do it and expect to win. Like, you can point the finger at AJ or Chasen Shreve all you want, but a better offense scores more than seven runs tonight.

36 LOB... 36

Oh I know, but **** happens in baseball. It all gets some blame. My only point is that you can't score less than 4 runs a game and expect to win consistently. Particularly against good teams

People will put a lot of heat on AJ for leaving Shreve out there, but don't forget the offense.... a better offense has at least 6 runs right now with how this has played out, not 4

The Orioles announcers comparing Torkelson's struggles to Ryan Mountcastle

Man, Zach Mckinstry is really growing on me... just a real gamer

That 2nd inning looms large... happy they have some cushion, but they needed more than just one run last inning

Jeez, finally!

Would it kill them to drive in a run here?

That's probably where I am as well. Not even saying that the hypothetical happens, I doubt it.... but I do think this division is pretty bad, so it adds a level of uncertainty to the mix.

lol

I know people are discounting the possibility because the entire fanbase is jaded about this team and it's prospects, but given the tire fire that the division largely is, what happens if this team manages to find itself within shouting distance of first place approaching the deadline? Like, <5 games out? E-Rod should be traded in any circumstance, imo, but that's an interesting counterfactual. And I dont know that it's entirely out of the realm of possibility, especially if Tork and/or Greene start producing as we want them to.

Should be noted that Brady Singer has been pretty awful this year, fwiw.

This is exactly right.... fans wring their hands (understandably) about Tigers 1st Round Picks specifically dating back to when Avila first started, both in terms of how they have panned out and in terms of who was selected (ie. Jackson Jobe). But it only tells part of the story. But the bigger, more fundamental problem comes down to the fact that they haven't found much past the first round either.... the Cleveland Guardians are an excellent example of an organization that hasn't had much success picking in the first round yet has had success identifying and developing ML talent; you have to go back to Triston McKenzie in 2015 to find a player who has had success up to this point in the major leagues. But they have also found and developed talent past Round 1 that has come to the big leagues and performed.... the Tigers have not. Hopefully Harris along with the other PD/scouting hires help change that culture.

Aside from the ****tyness of it all, it's yet another piece of evidence that it's just bad politics.

This is a really interesting thread and kinda mirrors a little bit of how I've been thinking about our situation as a family.... On the whole, Texas has been good to me and in many ways isn't the stereotype that people make it out to be.... OTOH, the politics of this place was a lot more reasonable when I first moved here in 2012 than it is now, where, like other red states, culture war is King. It was easier to ignore and not think about as much back then, nowadays politicians here pass more and more draconian bills that wouldn't have gotten a hearing 10 years ago. All of this despite the state being closer electorally than it was in the past as well. Politics would never be the primary reason to consider relocating, but at the moment, it definitely isn't helping the argument to stick around either.