04/06/2026 7:40pm EDT Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

[casimir]

9 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

This team is going to struggle with run prevention 3 out of 5 nights.

Maybe, maybe not.

9 hours ago, Tigermojo said:

Everybody getting sloppy. 

Yes, especially defensively.  And it's not just this game, its been going on so far this season.

[monkeytargets39]

I can live with a degree of platooning, but can we stop taking the bat out of the hands of guys who are swinging well (Keith/Carp) and start doing it more with Javy/Rogers/Tork?  When there’s a righty in we aren’t jumping at the opportunity to pull those guys out, but God forbid a lefty comes in.

[gehringer_2]

12 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I can live with a degree of platooning, but can we stop taking the bat out of the hands of guys who are swinging well (Keith/Carp) and start doing it more with Javy/Rogers/Tork?  When there’s a righty in we aren’t jumping at the opportunity to pull those guys out, but God forbid a lefty comes in.

yeah - Hinch just doesn't like playing shorter term trends very much, he believes in the strength of longer samples. That's always a debatable question. I don't think it's deniable that some players do sometimes hit a higher (or lower) level for week or a month when their past average performance really isn't the best predictor. But the problem always is how to know exactly when one of those streaks starts or ends. One of the reasons baseball managers who can make a difference are rare.

Baseball is maybe the most measured/measurable and statistically catalogued sports, but you always run into the fundamental limit on the assumption that the guy you measured Monday is really the same guy on Tuesday. Some players are very consistent, some aren't, a guy may not have slept well, he may be worried about his relationship, he may be coming down with a bug or have a slight physical deficit. There are a million big and small things working against the assumption that the player is a constant, while the player himself is doing everything he can to be a constant. As long as real people are playing the game that tension will always be there.

BTW Tork has reached in 7 of his last 12 PA in the last 3 games - mostly on the strength of 5 walks, so he's coming around a bit at least on plate discipline.

Edited 4 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

8 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I can live with a degree of platooning, but can we stop taking the bat out of the hands of guys who are swinging well (Keith/Carp) and start doing it more with Javy/Rogers/Tork?  When there’s a righty in we aren’t jumping at the opportunity to pull those guys out, but God forbid a lefty comes in.

Carpenter is not hitting well and has no history of being able to hit LHP.  You can make a case for Keith batting more often often against LHP.  

 

[tiger2022]

57 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I can live with a degree of platooning, but can we stop taking the bat out of the hands of guys who are swinging well (Keith/Carp) and start doing it more with Javy/Rogers/Tork?  When there’s a righty in we aren’t jumping at the opportunity to pull those guys out, but God forbid a lefty comes in.

That's been a problem since Hinch got here.  He would probably pinch hit for in their primes Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Barry Bonds if a lefty came in.

[tiger2022]

46 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Carpenter is not hitting well and has no history of being able to hit LHP.  You can make a case for Keith batting more often often against LHP.  

 

It's tough to get better if you never get the chance.  And it's not like Jones or whoever they throw in there are just all star caliber studs just hanging out on the bench.

[monkeytargets39]

53 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Carpenter is not hitting well and has no history of being able to hit LHP.  You can make a case for Keith batting more often often against LHP.  

 

Right, but he can occasionally hit a HR off a lefty, which is probably equally as likely to happen as Javy or Jones hitting one regardless of the pitcher

[Tiger337]

16 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Right, but he can occasionally hit a HR off a lefty, which is probably equally as likely to happen as Javy or Jones hitting one regardless of the pitcher

Baez hits lefties pretty well, but hasn't faced them much this year.  

[Shades of Deivi Cruz]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I can live with a degree of platooning, but can we stop taking the bat out of the hands of guys who are swinging well (Keith/Carp) and start doing it more with Javy/Rogers/Tork?  When there’s a righty in we aren’t jumping at the opportunity to pull those guys out, but God forbid a lefty comes in.

"This is the spot Hinch game-planned for Jones, and so Jones has been preparing all game to face this guy in this spot."

Jones strikes out.

"So anyway..."

[Tiger337]

25 minutes ago, tiger2022 said:

It's tough to get better if you never get the chance.  

Most players don't get better in their platoon splits though.  If you let all the lefties that can't hit lefties a chance, you'll lose a lot of games figuring out that they'll never hit them.  

[kdog]

They haven't faced a lefty starter all year...right now he's giving Vierling, Baez, etc at-bats until that picks up.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

Most players don't get better in their platoon splits though.  If you let all the lefties that can't hit lefties a chance, you'll lose a lot of games figuring out that they'll never hit them.  

yup - there is always a tradeoff risk. You'd love a guy that plays great D like Parker to be able to stay in the game, and his track record is still pretty short - could he keep his platoon split reasonable? Who knows? How much are you willing to risk to find out? Always the question.

I think this is a place were the new pitcher simulation pitching machines can make a difference maybe. A hitter can go dial in a variety of LHP and practice against the pitch breaking away and maybe show his manager he's progressed enough to merit a shot. It should reduce the level of unknown at least some.

It is objectively true that some guys can hit pitchers from both sides with only insignificant splits. It's rarer for lefties, but to my mind it's so valuable when you find it that it's worth spending at least some effort to look.

You should have a some kind of idea by the time a guy gets through the minors, and it's when a guy who has handled pitching from the other side in the minors isn't given a shot in the majors that I'd question it the most.

Edited 2 hours ago by gehringer_2