04/07/2026 7:40pm EDT Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

[gehringer_2]

Strkle one to Riley was a ball

[IdahoBert]

The umpire is just awful

[gehringer_2]

 

 

tying run on the bases....

[Crazy Cat Gentleman]

well, that's what happens when you wait till the 9th inning to mount a threat.

[chasfh]

Awww, maaan …

[IdahoBert]

Loss. Oh well

[Tigermojo]

Boo

[gehringer_2]

LOL - Spencer apparently loves batting 7th, on base 10 of his last 16 PA.

[IdahoBert]

[gehringer_2]

This April is looking too much like '24. I liked last year's better.

[Tigermojo]

Last place weeeeeee

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, Crazy Cat Gentleman said:

well, that's what happens when you wait till the 9th inning to mount a threat.

I thought maybe the tide had turned when we got past Riley in the order, but foiled again.

[IdahoBert]

Last place in the Central… The only place to go is up!

[Crazy Cat Gentleman]

11 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

Last place in the Central… The only place to go is up!

optimist

[papalawrence]

Greene and Tork 11 games in and 0 HR.

[gehringer_2]

15 minutes ago, papalawrence said:

Greene and Tork 11 games in and 0 HR.

Until tonight Riley only had 7 Ks in 43 PA, which is a decent reduction. Unfortunately all his other results have a reduction as well. 

We've heard a lot of talk about Riley having worked on a lot of stuff in the off season, but so far the upper cut swing doesn't look real different to me.

Edited 17 hours ago by gehringer_2

[SoCalTiger]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

LOL - Spencer apparently loves batting 7th, on base 10 of his last 16 PA.

I'm not sure but he doesn't hit well with RISP so maybe the pressure is just not his thing. In 2006 Leyland did well putting power bat in the 8th spot so maybe keep him down there. 

[SoCalTiger]

So is Kevin McGonigle our best hitter already ? Serious question . 

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

So is Kevin McGonigle our best hitter already ? Serious question . 

well that's what we have all been hoping for! And seriously, on this team 'best hitter' was not a very high bar to clear. But he's still trailing Keith's start by ~40 OPS pts though he's passed Keith in most counting stats (also has ~13 more PA). Assuming this is the real McGonigle and not just the charged up version that will run down in a month - which is admittedly a huge assumption - I think he and Colt are as likely to be the highest OBP guys on the team as anyone else. And McGonigle may hit for more power. Colt has shortened his swing so much he has almost no hip rotation, he's really sacrificing power potential for contact right now. Maybe as he gets comfortable with the new stance he'll start to use his lower half more.

[Shades of Deivi Cruz]

7 hours ago, SoCalTiger said:

I'm not sure but he doesn't hit well with RISP so maybe the pressure is just not his thing. In 2006 Leyland did well putting power bat in the 8th spot so maybe keep him down there. 

Tork is anti-clutch.

.207 with runners in scoring position

.172 career average with runner on second

6-62 with bases loaded or on 2nd & 3rd

[chasfh]

I don’t see Tork with a long term future here at all, and Riley is 50-50 at best. Our best hope to get anything out of Tork is a trade with the Angels.

[theroundsquare]

Torkelson is an MVP candidate! 

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I don’t see Tork with a long term future here at all, and Riley is 50-50 at best. Our best hope to get anything out of Tork is a trade with the Angels.

Tork is what he is, a low average guy who can put the ball in the seats and has learned to play 1b somewhat above average. I would put it that from a team building perspective, replacing him is not as high priority as shoring up the OF and replacing Torres and Baez in the short term (and KM looks like one of those) but that it's fairly likely someone will come along with a better bat but a glove that won't play in the majors where it played in the minors and bump him out of his gig - for instance a Max Anderson type, though I'm not sure Max in particular is a good enough example  of his 'type' to do it himself...

Riley I'm more worried about. Seems like a guy who isn't bringing his brain to the table in his career thinking.

Edited 6 hours ago by gehringer_2

[NorthWoods]

18 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Tork is what he is, a low average guy who can put the ball in the seats and has learned to play 1b somewhat above average. I would put it that from a team building perspective, replacing him is not as high priority as shoring up the OF and replacing Torres and Baez in the short term (and KM looks like one of those) but that it's fairly likely someone will come along with a better bat but a glove that won't play in the majors where it played in the minors and bump him out of his gig - for instance a Max Anderson type, though I'm not sure Max in particular is a good enough example  of his 'type' to do it himself...

Riley I'm more worried about. Seems like a guy who isn't bringing his brain to the table in his career thinking.

One thing I like about Clark is that he strikes me as a vocal, rah, rah type.   That might be the kind of thing this team needs.  None of the leaders on this current team seem to be that type.

[Tiger337]

6 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

One thing I like about Clark is that he strikes me as a vocal, rah, rah type.   That might be the kind of thing this team needs.  None of the leaders on this current team seem to be that type.

So, he could be our Kirk Gibson?  I am not a big fan of flashy players, but I agree the team is very bland.  I don't know that every team needs a vocal leader (sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't), but from a fan's perspective, a little variety would be interesting.