chasfh

There have been walls and other barriers along crucial parts of the US-Mexico border for some number of decades now.

Indeed I was!

And then there’s this, which seems much better than Republicans could have hoped for.

The price on Candelario ticked down a little tonight.

I can tell you from experience that the line drive to center field is the toughest play for me. I have both frozen on the hit to gauge it and saw it fly way over my head, and broken back toward the fence only to have to shame on the brakes and come in and watch it bounce in front of me.

I assume you’re in Detroit area? If you can pause your directv like a dvr, you might be able to pair it up with a smartphone app like Audacy, which I believe you can also pause.

That 1973 OPS+ was 92, which would make him one of the leading hitters on this year’s Tigers.

What source are you getting the game from?

Skubal was named as one of the players available for trade, and I’m betting he’s pissed about it, which is probably why he was so short with the beat press the other day when asked about it, and maybe even the pressure of knowing this might have been a factor in his throwing shit all over the dugout after he was yanked the other day. It would not surprise me to learn that everything he’s heard about any of this is from the media, and that no one except A.J. and the coaches are trying to manage him on the issue. Skubal may not necessarily want to be traded, but as a named player in the article, he’s got to be wondering to some degree what the future of this organization is, and perhaps whether he wants any part of it. And even if he ends up staying after all, being named like this in such an article stings hard, and the Tigers are going to have to work hard to soothe him and make him feel as if his future in Detroit is bright after all. That might be a pretty tall order.

Did he or didn't he? (I wouldn't click on the link ...)

Between this, and especially recent comments by Chafin and Skubal, I'm starting to wonder whether guys are marking their calendars dreaming of the day they can get the hell out of here. After all, "unnamed executives" have been quoted in the press as having been told by the Tigers that every single player is available in trade, which basically confirms that the organization is complete and utter train wreck. Who would want to stick around wasting what's left of the precious time remaining in their career on that?

In their defense, everyone had Casey Mize 1/1, so they can hide behind the cloak of conventional wisdom on this one. 🤷‍♂️

If they're not trading for impact bats first, they are continuing to do it all wrong.

Gotta kind of wonder whether he believes tying up media companies in litigation will forestall Justice investigating it.

The splitter was always his out pitch and, not for nothing, it's also the pitch that put him on Meister's table. What are the chances he can use that pitch after he recovers from surgery? And if he doesn't have that pitch, what are his chances at a decent career, at least in the Tigers' system?

Let him.

I am so weary of going through the phase where every player we touch turns to shit.

His last few years with the Cubs portended this. That said, when he is on the field, he still rakes.

He was a bit of a mirage when he first started. A lot was made of the “Tigers record” he set in his first seven starts, with two or fewer earned runs while pitching five or more innings: https://stathead.com/tiny/GUkDa When you look at the stats surrounding it, though, you can see the gold paint starting chip away. Only one outing as long as six innings; giving up almost a hit an inning; fewer than 7 K/9; and ERA almost three, which is by far the highest of any pitching who started his career with the same kind of streak stretching even four games. Plus, if you look under the hood a little deeper, you can see his FIP was almost a run higher than his ERA, and his xFIP was a half a run higher than that. All of this comports with his Statcast card: So none of this should surprise. I don’t think we’ll miss him much when he finally goes. Perhaps unless he catches on with the Rays … 😏

Since June 20, Candelario is slashing .289/.366/.506 for a wRC+ of 149, so if the Tigers think Candy is toast here, they couldn’t have wished for a better time to sell him. If any position player were to move, he might be the one, although Eric Haase, who’s also killing it lately, might make for a good backup catcher and DH for a bubble team, too.

Color me cynical, but I will believe any if this only once it actually passes and the things being talked about here actually start happening.

Hmmm

Completely unsurprising with this guy, but did you read the Free Press story on this? https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/27/detroit-tigers-andrew-chafin-against-toronto-blue-jays/10168673002/ Get a load of this part: Would Chafin considering getting vaccinated if the Tigers traded him to a team pushing for the postseason, knowing that could mean pitching in meaningful games in Toronto against the Blue Jays? "We'll see what happens," he said. "If the situation calls for it, maybe." So as long as he's on the Tigers, no way he gets the vax. But if he's dealt to an actual contender? Yeah, he can be talked into it. What a complete choad.

I did enjoy the reference Saul made when Jeff started casting doubt on the whole burglary plan during the practice run, saying the whole thing sounds crazy: "Do you know what's crazy? A 50-year-old chemistry teacher walks into my office; the guy is so broke he can't pay his mortgage. One year later, he's got a pile of cash as big as a Volkswagen."

That occurred to me, too, and to your point, I found the fly episode just so excruciating that I couldn't help but FF just to get through it already. But I wouldn't be so quick to write this off as a filler episode just yet, because it goes to the heart of a very real issue for Jimmy/Saul/Gene: no matter where in the country he goes, there's the danger that someone will recognize him from his ABQ days. That's something I'd already been wondering whether they would address, and how. "Gene" got away with it this time because the elaborate setup of the store burglary (they called it a "robbery", but it was really a break-in and I didn't see any force or coercion being used) was all designed to checkmate Jeff the cab driver, who'd made him in an earlier episode. Jeff can't narc on "Saul" now, because "Gene" has got him dead to rights on multiple felonies worth decades of time, particularly since Jeff is on mall video in the act. So, I'm thinking the whole idea that "Saul" is always one step from being made again is going to come up at least once more, and who knows, maybe Jeff will come back and have a hand in the series' final resolution, whatever that may be.