05/14/2026 1:10pm EDT Detroit Tigers at New York Mets

[monkeytargets39]

4 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

Side question... if when there's a lock out for much or all of 2027, will the minor leagues still play? 

Any ones not on a 40-man could still play

[kdog]

8 minutes ago, casimir said:

Agree, mixed bag.  Some hits.  Some misses.  We thought the minors was going in the right direction.  I don’t know, is it?

How much of the pitching lack of health fall on Harris’ responsibility?

I can't really answer that...probably not much.

[monkeytargets39]

6 minutes ago, kdog said:

I can't really answer that...probably not much.

Doesn’t feel like we’ve really developed any pitching under Harris though.  The entire minor leagues are just littered with no-upside pitchers at every level and it spills onto the 40-man roster when we end up with inevitable injuries.

[monkeytargets39]

[kdog]

5 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Doesn’t feel like we’ve really developed any pitching under Harris though.  The entire minor leagues are just littered with no-upside pitchers at every level and it spills onto the 40-man roster when we end up with inevitable injuries.

pitching development has been a problem.

[casimir]

29 minutes ago, kdog said:

I can't really answer that...probably not much.

It’s not a direct impact, but it does roll up under his umbrella.  I don’t know, I could be wrong, but it seems like the Tigers have a high rate of pitching injury.

[kdog]

Tigers won the first two road games of the year..are 5-19 since. They been swept by Arizona, Minnesota, and now New  York(0-10).

[IdahoBert]

I didn’t even check the schedule and thought this was a night game so I missed the whole thing.

I got up early and watched the Giro d'Italia on HBO and ate a good breakfast. Went for a 2 mile walk at the Idaho Botanical Garden and came home blissfully unaware this game was occurring.

Then did some shopping, ate a late light lunch, then some ice cream, and I’m glad I missed all this.

Now I’m re-watching Pluribus - my favorite parts - for the umpteenth time. I could get used to this. 

[IdahoBert]

By the way, good for Gage Workman! 

[gehringer_2]

at the rate they are giving up runs, the offense hardly even matters. They might as well get over all their slumping before the pitching (hopefully) becomes competitive again.

[lordstanley]

I’ve been in Taiwan and Japan the last week and I believe the Tigers have gone 1 for Asia while I’ve been here. But one pleasure has been the all-night indoor batting cage a 5 minute walk from our Shinjuku hotel. $3 for 25 balls. Baseball not fastball or softball, unlike the cages near me back home. It is humbling to see how stiff my swing looks on video though. 

Edited 15 hours ago by lordstanley

[Tenacious D]

When in the hell is someone going to start the 2027 MLB Draft thread?

[monkeytargets39]

2 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

When in the hell is someone going to start the 2027 MLB Draft thread?

I’m all for an “Oops All Pitchers!” draft right now

[IdahoBert]

All the Pistons have to do is lose tomorrow in Cleveland to make my entire sports world crap - with the exception of men’s UCI cycling where I don’t really care who wins unless it’s Wout van Aert or Matteo Jorgensen. 

[chasfh]

17 hours ago, casimir said:

Agree, mixed bag.  Some hits.  Some misses.  We thought the minors was going in the right direction.  I don’t know, is it?

How much of the pitching lack of health fall on Harris’ responsibility?

Only one of this top crop of prospects has graduated, and on that measure, it’s looking pretty good so far.

[chasfh]

17 hours ago, kdog said:

pitching development has been a problem.

We are less than a year out from “Chris Fetter is a genius”.

[ICroupier]

Was at the last 2 games of the series, and some things really struck me seeing them in person:

-- This is one of the worst defensive teams I've ever seen. Outside of McGonigle and Dingler, there's not a single guy who seems comfortable or a natural at their position

-- This team has no identity. I get that with Skubal out that hurts, but there's not a single player, or team skill, or part of the lineup that opposing teams are concerned about or even aware of

-- We need a full relief pitching overhaul. These guys are throwing batting practice out there, and I wouldn't be opposed to burning it all down and starting over 

 

[NorthWoods]

13 hours ago, lordstanley said:

I’ve been in Taiwan and Japan the last week and I believe the Tigers have gone 1 for Asia while I’ve been here. But one pleasure has been the all-night indoor batting cage a 5 minute walk from our Shinjuku hotel. $3 for 25 balls. Baseball not fastball or softball, unlike the cages near me back home. It is humbling to see how stiff my swing looks on video though. 

I'd be more embarassed by only clearing the mat by a foot vs a stiff swing.    😉

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

We are less than a year out from “Chris Fetter is a genius”.

coaches, managers, GMs, all geniuses until they're not.  

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

coaches, managers, GMs, all geniuses until they're not.  

Well, not all of them ... 😉 

[Tiger337]

11 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Well, not all of them ... 😉 

No, a lot of them aren't, but the ones that are viewed as geniuses by fans tend to fall out of favor over time.  There are very few that are universally admired throughout their whole career.  

Edited 1 hour ago by Tiger337

[chasfh]

Just now, Tiger337 said:

No, a lot of them aren't, but the ones that are viewed as geniuses by fans tend to fall out of favor over time.  There are very few that universally admired throughout their whole career.  

Agree with this, and I believe there must be some Murphy's law corollary somewhere stipulating that the greater success a front office achieves, the less the team needs to recede in order for them to get fired. After a string of championships and finals, a GM will get ****-canned for his team crapping out in the early rounds twice in a row.

[chasfh]

58 minutes ago, ICroupier said:

This is one of the worst defensive teams I've ever seen. Outside of McGonigle and Dingler, there's not a single guy who seems comfortable or a natural at their position

Looking at defensive stats in Fangraphs:

The 2024 Tigers were a legitimately elite defensive team. Last year we were by most measures barely above average. In 2026 we're on pace to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The projected OAA of -87 would be historically bad. Even accounting for small-sample noise at six weeks in, the direction is unmistakable.

This is more of a range problem, than an error problem. The fielding percentage has dropped some (.986 → .986 → .983), and errors are on pace for a normal season (~99), so we're not making dramatically more mistakes on batted balls we get to. We're simply not getting to as many batted balls. Team zone rating (RZR) for 2026 is .795, down significantly from last year (.815) and 2024 (.804).

Where the collapse is coming from:

• Tork is the single biggest culprit, -4.7 Def, -3 OAA, -7 DRS in 358 innings. First base is supposed to be a defensive non-event, but Tork continues to actively cost us runs there.
• Wenceel in RF has flipped from a plus defender (+2.7 Def in 2025) to a significant negative (-4.6 Def, -4 OAA) in 2026
• Riley in LF has been a consistent negative (-3.9 Def, -2 OAA) and his numbers have been poor for two years now, so this isn't new. But it does factor in.
• Kevin at SS and 3B is a combined -2.0 in Def across 355 innings. He's a rookie finding his defensive footing, and the metrics reflect it, although we all know he won't long-term at shortstop anyway.
• Carpenter in RF has been poor in limited time (-3.5 Def, -3 OAA in 150 innings).
• Hao-Yu Lee at 2B and 3B is a combined -2.3 Def, also a young player.

There are some bright spots:

• Dingler behind the plate continues to be excellent (+5.9 Def, +6 DRS, +5 FRV in 272 innings), on pace for another elite defensive season.
• Gleyber Torres had been a genuine surprise at 2B (+0.9 Def, +2 OAA, +2 FRV) before going out, and was better than expected from a player not known for his glove.
• Matt Vierling in CF (+1.2 Def, +2 OAA) and Parker Meadows in CF (+1.0 Def, +1 OAA) have been fine in their center field work.

The story is that our defensive identity was built around our infield athleticism and outfield range, and both have deteriorated, partly through personnel changes, partly through young players who haven't found their footing yet, and partly through positional mismatches. The 2024 team was exceptional—this one is looking like a genuine defensive liability, which matters a lot for a pitching staff that relies heavily on ground balls.

[Tiger337]

34 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Looking at defensive stats in Fangraphs:

The 2024 Tigers were a legitimately elite defensive team. Last year we were by most measures barely above average. In 2026 we're on pace to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The projected OAA of -87 would be historically bad. Even accounting for small-sample noise at six weeks in, the direction is unmistakable.

This is more of a range problem, than an error problem. The fielding percentage has dropped some (.986 → .986 → .983), and errors are on pace for a normal season (~99), so we're not making dramatically more mistakes on batted balls we get to. We're simply not getting to as many batted balls. Team zone rating (RZR) for 2026 is .795, down significantly from last year (.815) and 2024 (.804).

Where the collapse is coming from:

• Tork is the single biggest culprit, -4.7 Def, -3 OAA, -7 DRS in 358 innings. First base is supposed to be a defensive non-event, but Tork continues to actively cost us runs there.
• Wenceel in RF has flipped from a plus defender (+2.7 Def in 2025) to a significant negative (-4.6 Def, -4 OAA) in 2026
• Riley in LF has been a consistent negative (-3.9 Def, -2 OAA) and his numbers have been poor for two years now, so this isn't new. But it does factor in.
• Kevin at SS and 3B is a combined -2.0 in Def across 355 innings. He's a rookie finding his defensive footing, and the metrics reflect it, although we all know he won't long-term at shortstop anyway.
• Carpenter in RF has been poor in limited time (-3.5 Def, -3 OAA in 150 innings).
• Hao-Yu Lee at 2B and 3B is a combined -2.3 Def, also a young player.

There are some bright spots:

• Dingler behind the plate continues to be excellent (+5.9 Def, +6 DRS, +5 FRV in 272 innings), on pace for another elite defensive season.
• Gleyber Torres had been a genuine surprise at 2B (+0.9 Def, +2 OAA, +2 FRV) before going out, and was better than expected from a player not known for his glove.
• Matt Vierling in CF (+1.2 Def, +2 OAA) and Parker Meadows in CF (+1.0 Def, +1 OAA) have been fine in their center field work.

The story is that our defensive identity was built around our infield athleticism and outfield range, and both have deteriorated, partly through personnel changes, partly through young players who haven't found their footing yet, and partly through positional mismatches. The 2024 team was exceptional—this one is looking like a genuine defensive liability, which matters a lot for a pitching staff that relies heavily on ground balls.

I have long thought that range is one of the most underated things in baseball.  Range is to run prevention what getting on base is to run scoring.  

Edited 44 minutes ago by Tiger337

[kdog]

And Tork doesn't hit enough to justify his abymsal defense. Baez is an athlete and he can cover either SS or CF at an adequate level. That allow Kevin McG to play 3rd(another black hole).