mtutiger

Play Cameron and Hill in the outfield every single game. Since they are so shorthanded, platoon Clemens and W.Castro. It's not that hard, but Willi's BABIPfest that ended 2+ weeks ago seems to have folks convinced that his bat is useful enough to ignore his inability to play the outfield. I just don't agree.... and looking between the lines, it's pretty clear that it's not happening game after game purely out of desperation. Ill gladly eat crow when Meadows and Greene end up elevated and W.Castro is demoted or not playing outfield. But I'll believe it when I see it.

Come on, really? Sure I'm glad that Willi is happy to play wherever, that doesn't mean that the Tigers should just play him wherever, nor does it absolve Al or AJ or whoever from criticism when the decision doesn't work out. Even with as bad as the offense has been, you can't just put a guy with a .640 OPS in a position he doesn't know how to field. I can't see how to countenance it

With respect, eat it Suzyn

Major kudos to Brieske for this start... not an easy place to play and not an easy lineup to face. And pitched his best game of the year. Too bad he wasn't backed by competent offense

With Vest and Foley pitching as they have been and with Cisnero and Alexander on the way back, Joe oughtta feel a little nervous.

Old Joe makes an appearance at Yankee Stadium this afternoon lol

At least they'll get better defense lol

This is true. They did just come off of shutting down the Angels... still frustrating tho

I love Cody, but he's just wrong here... it's not realistic to expect pitchers to throw a shutout every game. And often times the Tigers force their starters to do that.

Still pretty impressed by the start for Brieske here... just completely failed by the offense so far

Brutal brutal O

Gonna be a shame that Beau's reward for his best outing as a professional will be his fifth career loss and an 0-5 record.

Really not sure they have much choice but to ride this out...

Dont want to jinx it, but this is the best Brieske has looked all season... only real mistake was the cookie FB to Judge (even the Stanton double wasn't that bad of a pitch)

If Brieske can start landing that slider more consistently, he's gonna be more competitive

What he may lack in raw talent, he makes up for mentally. His ability to bounce back and recover is impressive... nothing phases him.

Hope Brieske took care of his pitch tipping problems lol

This discussion really hinges on how much of an asset one thinks Castro is with the bat and whether the risks in the OF are worth it versus running Hill out there more frequently. From my perspective, it'd be one thing if he were producing like, say, Ozzie Albies. But as it is, the downsides outweigh the upsides. They just do

You're right, of course.... but the calculation is that his bat is worth the risk that comes with him playing outfield.

I honestly don't know who is driving Willi getting all the reps he's getting at the moment - I'm open to the idea that it's Al and not AJ driving it at this point. But he's already cost them one game this season in the outfield (in Houston)... at one point does the lack of defensive ability counteract whatever he brings with the bat? I feel like these conversations just sort of downplay the importance of defense, even on a team with as poor of production offensively as the Tigers.

In other words, the experiment would be continuing. And it shouldn't. At least in Detroit anyway...

Am I wrong in thinking that even when Meadows/Greene are up, there will still be a chance that Willi will be on the 26 man roster and getting OF reps? I get that the high amount of exposure is because of injuries, but some of it too is clearly by choice as well (from Al or AJ or whoever). Particularly when better options defensively exist.

Maybe, but Willi was still getting reps in the outfield while Meadows was on the active roster.