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 yesterday at 03:26 PM 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 yesterday at 05:40 PM by gehringer_2

[tiger2022]

3 hours 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.  

While im not a huge believer in Colt Keith, he's 24 and Hinch is already pulling him against lefties.  I'd rather have him up there than Jones, a guy who has trouble hitting against everyone.

[chasfh]

22 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

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

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.

😉 

[chasfh]

20 hours 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.  

To his point, Colt has a future and Carp really doesn’t, so if Hinch always sits Colt against LHPs, he better be darn sure Colt’ll never ever hit them, because it’s going to limit what we’ll be able to get from Colt during his career; and also, last night was the second time in three games we got hamstrung having Jahmai bat against a RHP late after pinching for Colt at DH earlier. He struck out swinging both times. We risk that becoming a potential game-plan by opponents.

Fun fact: Colt had a better OPS+ against LHPs than RHPs in 2024.

[Tiger337]

22 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

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.

 

How is a fan to know better about these things than Hinch?  If a player is sick or has a slight injury which may affect his performance,  Hinch is going to know that a lot better than a fan.  And even a sick or injured player can have a big day.  Rennie Stennett gor 7 hits in one game with an injured ankle.  If Hinch goes more off of long-term trends than other managers (and I don't know that he does), maybe that is the right approach.  As a fan, I definitely think looking at long-term trends is the best way to go because we don't know enough to do otherwise.  It would be like an amateur trying to time the market.  

[Tiger337]

10 minutes ago, chasfh said:

To his point, Colt has a future and Carp really doesn’t, so if Hinch always sits Colt against LHPs, he better be darn sure Colt’ll never ever hit them, because it’s going to limit what we’ll be able to get from Colt during his career; and also, last night was the second time in three games we got hamstrung having Jahmai bat against a RHP late after pinching for Colt at DH earlier. He struck out swinging both times. We risk that becoming a potential game-plan by opponents.

Fun fact: Colt had a better OPS+ against LHPs than RHPs in 2024.

Right, I did say that he had a point about Keith and I do think Keith might get his chance.  Personally, I weould like to see keith get a shot at being a full-time player, but I just don't think I am in a better position than Hinch to make that decision.  

Edited 6 hours ago by Tiger337

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

Right, I did say that he had a point about Keith and I do think Keith might get his chance.  I just don't think I am in a better position than Hinch to make that decision.  

Neither am I, but we can still speculate on it! 😃

[Tiger337]

10 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Neither am I, but we can still speculate on it! 😃

I hope he gets a shot, but he has not shown much power and doesn't really have solid position, so it's possible that this is what he is.  Johnny Grubb and not Travis Fryman.  

[gehringer_2]

21 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

How is a fan to know better about these things than Hinch?  

No arg there. That was sort of my point about why good managers are rare and valuable. It's easy to have a long resume (say like Trammel) and get a managing gig and just try to always go by the numbers or by a 'system' (like his reliever rotation idea), but a good manager does have to have sort of 6th sense about his team and players that goes beyond the data. I didn't mean to imply Hinch wasn't as good as anyone at it, just making the point that that is always the manager's biggest challenge - and where his decisions can have the most impact, especially in such a data driven environment where it's always easy to justify "I was just following the numbers"

Edited 6 hours ago by gehringer_2