casimir Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, Toddwert said: yeah I can see them trying to stretch out Keith's arm and make him work at 3rd and keep Jung at 2nd It appears like that might be a possibility. The thing with Keith that has been seen and mentioned on here before is that it seems like it takes him a bit to get his bat acclimated to a higher level of competition after promotion. So, given that history and given that he might still be working back that arm strength that he had before his shoulder injury, I'm hoping the Tigers give him rope at 2B this season. Work through the offensive growth this season, get the arm strong, and then he's a legit everyday bat next season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 15 hours ago, chasfh said: I do like Benetti's work a lot, though, and I think he is a smart and engaging guy on air, and I'm also open to the idea that he can make Petry, Monroe, and Gibson better—although none of them appear to have the same arch, snarky sense of humor he has, and which Steve Stone could work well off of. The younger Kirk Gibson that was paired with Josh Lewin would have been a pretty good fit for Benetti, IMO.... but unfortunately, time and health has had a major impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 12 minutes ago, mtutiger said: The younger Kirk Gibson that was paired with Josh Lewin would have been a pretty good fit for Benetti, IMO.... but unfortunately, time and health has had a major impact. Yeah, I really liked Josh Lewin as a PxP guy and the pairing of Gibson with him. I was sad to see him go. I have no idea what was behind that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) 2 hours ago, casimir said: So, given that history and given that he might still be working back that arm strength that he had before his shoulder injury, I believe this is it. Obviously we don't have all the medicals, but the some of the reporting has referenced that the kind of shoulder injury Keith had can take a couple years to resolve completely so I get the impression they have not given up on the possibility of him playing 3b permanently, but there may some kind of markers for his arm health they will look for before they risk playing him there. Edited February 15 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 28 minutes ago, chasfh said: Yeah, I really liked Josh Lewin as a PxP guy and the pairing of Gibson with him. I was sad to see him go. I have no idea what was behind that. The Ilitch family can be very vindictive. Rumors when Lary Sorensen left were that he made a joke about a family member. It was a sudden departure in the middle of the season. Later on when we learned about his alcohol issues it makes more sense, either he said something, or was just drunk all the time. But I could see a scenario where they didn't like his schtick, wasn't enough of a company guy. Jim Northrup was too critical of the team. Al Kaline would have survived as a color guy in today's world. He would get on the players a lot. They want their on air talent to sunshine and all about marketing and promotion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) On 2/14/2024 at 7:24 AM, chasfh said: At least when he’s not off doing a MAC women’s basketball game on ESPN3. I know this is a joke, but his peripheral duties are pretty much limited to... College basketball on Fox/FS1 (Mostly Big Ten, Big East, Pac 12). He did do a women's game last week, but that is because Fox is really publicizing Caitlin Clark. They have put their top crews on some Iowa WBB games. Fox/FS1 national baseball coverage. Most Saturdays, shifting to Thursdays once football season rolls around. Fox college football coverage. Saturdays in September. Westwood 1 National Radio Coverage NCAA Tournament in March. So we likely get Dickerson on TV most Saturdays (Maybe Friday if it is a tough travel situation), and then toward the end of August on Thursdays and Saturdays. The Tigers have a few national games. May 6, FS1 vs. Guardians (not exclusive) May 20, FS1 vs. Royals (not exclusive) July 8, FS1 vs. Guardians (not exclusive) August 18, ESPN (Little League Classic vs. Yankees) Plus probably 2-4 Apple games. I believe the Peacock deal wasn't extended. I don't believe the weeknight FS1 games are exclusive, meaning they are available on BSD. Edited February 15 by Edman85 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) 5 hours ago, Edman85 said: I know this is a joke, but his peripheral duties are pretty much limited to... College basketball on Fox/FS1 (Mostly Big Ten, Big East, Pac 12). He did do a women's game last week, but that is because Fox is really publicizing Caitlin Clark. They have put their top crews on some Iowa WBB games. Fox/FS1 national baseball coverage. Most Saturdays, shifting to Thursdays once football season rolls around. Fox college football coverage. Saturdays in September. Westwood 1 National Radio Coverage NCAA Tournament in March. So we likely get Dickerson on TV most Saturdays (Maybe Friday if it is a tough travel situation), and then toward the end of August on Thursdays and Saturdays. The Tigers have a few national games. May 6, FS1 vs. Guardians (not exclusive) May 20, FS1 vs. Royals (not exclusive) July 8, FS1 vs. Guardians (not exclusive) August 18, ESPN (Little League Classic vs. Yankees) Plus probably 2-4 Apple games. I believe the Peacock deal wasn't extended. I don't believe the weeknight FS1 games are exclusive, meaning they are available on BSD. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think it's cool that my team has a PBP announcer with the credibility to be a national media figure like Benetti. Edited February 15 by mtutiger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 57 minutes ago, mtutiger said: Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think it's cool that my team has a PBP announcer with the credibility to be a national media figure like Benetti. There's a reason Shep wasn't getting national games (Although he did do a couple B1G basketball games back early in the season when there was football and even volleyball overlap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 5 hours ago, mtutiger said: Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think it's cool that my team has a PBP announcer with the credibility to be a national media figure like Benetti. I think you are in the majority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 We’re all gonna love Benetti behind the mike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 17 hours ago, Edman85 said: There's a reason Shep wasn't getting national games (Although he did do a couple B1G basketball games back early in the season when there was football and even volleyball overlap) He's done a couple of studio pre/post games for Piston games this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 42 minutes ago, casimir said: He's done a couple of studio pre/post games for Piston games this season. Shep is not a terrible PBP guy per se. He probably mangles his syntax a little too much to ever be top flight, but that wasn't his main problem in the Tiger booth. It was the terrible unnatural quality of interaction with his analysts that pulled the tiger broadcasts down more than anything else. If he never has to work with another ex-major leaguer he might get somewhere. Of course if he'd ever had a good analyst to work with it might have helped - he did do best with Gibson, even in Gibby's diminished state, and that sort of proves the point. He didn't have great analysts and he didn't elevate the analysts he had. Edited February 16 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 His biggest issue was really not being knowledgeable about baseball. It showed in the way he passed along incredibly mundane stats as super interesting. Maybe that is on the production staff for giving him those mundane stats in the first place. It will be interesting now that two of the best in the business are in that chair this year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Edman85 said: His biggest issue was really not being knowledgeable about baseball. It showed in the way he passed along incredibly mundane stats as super interesting. Maybe that is on the production staff for giving him those mundane stats in the first place. It will be interesting now that two of the best in the business are in that chair this year. I always wondered if the he was really not knowledgeable or if he was too reticent about appearing to 'show up' his booth mate. We've heard Shepherd on local radio for years and he never struck me as not being up to speed. So I'm not sure he is/was as baseball dumb as he made out to be, but he adamantly refused to initiate any baseball knowledge of his own - the only thing he would do is ask the player about some aspect, and it then never went beyond where the player went. IOW to my reading, Shep was never willing to play equal in the booth and assert that he knew anything of his own. So I guess either way, it doomed him - and whether he didn't have the background or just wouldn't bring it doesn't matter in the end. Or another way to put it is that it's fine and proper for the broadcast pro to always yield to the player/analysts superior knowledge of the *play* of the game, but no reason he can't take ownwership of knowing the broader aspects of the overal *game* just as well as the player. Shep would not or could not ever do that. Maybe Bob Costas is the example I'd think of. Probably no player has near the encyclopediic knowdledge of the game's history he does, and when he works a ball game he is never apologetic about knowing more than his analyst about many things. And it works. You learn from Costas about the game and you learn from the player about the play. Edited February 16 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddwert Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 13 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: I always wondered if the he was really not knowledgeable or if he was too reticent about appearing to 'show up' his booth mate. We've heard Shepherd on local radio for years and he never struck me as not being up to speed. So I'm not sure he is/was as baseball dumb as he made out to be, but he adamantly refused to initiate any baseball knowledge of his own - the only thing he would do is ask the player about some aspect, and it then never went beyond where the player went. IOW to my reading, Shep was never willing to play equal in the booth and assert that he knew anything of his own. So I guess either way, it doomed him - and whether he didn't have the background or just wouldn't bring it doesn't matter in the end. Or another way to put it is that it's fine and proper for the broadcast pro to always yield to the player/analysts superior knowledge of the *play* of the game, but no reason he can't take ownwership of knowing the broader aspects of the overal *game* just as well as the player. Shep would not or could not ever do that. Maybe Bob Costas is the example I'd think of. Probably no player has near the encyclopediic knowdledge of the game's history he does, and when he works a ball game he is never apologetic about knowing more than his analyst about many things. And it works. You learn from Costas about the game and you learn from the player about the play. could be as simple as he isnt that big of a baseball fan so he wasnt really into all SABR stats? He always struck me as a sports guy while modern baseball coverage makes you have to be into the stats or a former player.... I dont now just throwing it out here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Toddwert said: could be as simple as he isnt that big of a baseball fan so he wasnt really into all SABR stats? He always struck me as a sports guy while modern baseball coverage makes you have to be into the stats or a former player.... I dont now just throwing it out here Yeah - hard to know just from the fan end. But I do remember an occasion or maybe two, when Shep happened to work a game without an ex-player and I was struck that he was much better. I remember commenting about the difference here at the time. Edited February 16 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 On 2/3/2024 at 6:09 PM, oblong said: My visual take on Tork from being at the games is he has no range. He makes picks that look good but that isn’t enough. He’s a liability on the field. For you: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/jeff-seidel/2024/02/16/detroit-tigers-spencer-torkelson-grown-mentally-thick-skin-home-runs-spring-training/72620080007/ Quote Why did a generally competent fielder — remember, the Tigers were confident he could shift to third base coming out of college — suddenly struggle defensively? Maybe he got lazy during the days of the elaborate infield shift. “My first instinct was, any ball to my right, just get to the bag,” he said. And his range shrunk. When he finally realized it, it was the middle of last season, the first with the new rules banning the shift. It was hard to improve playing every day. So, he's back working on expanding his range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Keston Hiura is what you hope Keith and Jung do not become. Top 10 prospect a few years ago, strong rookie year, not much since then. Had a big in AAA last year and is a low risk signing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermojo Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Tigers sign Keston Hiura to a minor league deal. Seems like the opposite of a Harris type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Opps, I posted this in the Spring Training thread... 😔 I do like the risk. As mentioned 'Maybe we can help him get better'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Hiura has never really had a position, so he should fit in well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1776 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 8 minutes ago, Tiger337 said: Hiura has never really had a position, so he should fit in well. Optionality is key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holygoat Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 On 2/15/2024 at 4:51 PM, Edman85 said: There's a reason Shep wasn't getting national games (Although he did do a couple B1G basketball games back early in the season when there was football and even volleyball overlap) Shep's decent calling basketball games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 When they were shopping pre injury Boyd a few...several? years back, Hiura was high on my list of guys they should target. Had a nice AAA season. Might be a 3B hopeful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longgone Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 17 minutes ago, Shinzaki said: When they were shopping pre injury Boyd a few...several? years back, Hiura was high on my list of guys they should target. Had a nice AAA season. Might be a 3B hopeful? He’s got a lot of swing and miss, probably too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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