05/18/2026 6:40p EDT Cleveland Guardians at Detroit Tigers

[casimir]

[IdahoBert]

Valdez, and if you don’t have Sportsnet or mlb.tv, this game is apparently on FS1. I can’t say I’m actually looking forward to it. My enthusiasm has waned a tad bit. 

[IdahoBert]

I do have that jacket which my wife bought me for Christmas in 1987 shortly after we moved to Boise Idaho. We got it at an ordinary sporting good store on the outskirts of town where we lived. The Tigers were a BFD back then, even in the backwaters far away from Detroit. I have to admit that the jacket fits me a tad bit tight these days.

[IdahoBert]

Also today May 18, 2026 - is National No Dirty Dishes Day, National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, National Cheese Soufflé Day, National Smile Day, ... so let’s spend our day smiling no matter what. 

[chasfh]

I have the same feelings about Valdez that I do about Miggy: I don’t like what I know about the person, but I’ll root for the outcome, because he’s on my team.

[Shelton]

Which team had the most recent series win? Tigers or Pistons?

Technically, it’s the tigers, because their last series win occurred Sunday night, May 3. The Pistons played Sunday afternoon that day when they beat the magic. 

[kdog]

Stats:
The Tigers have a 74 Rc+ in May...dead last in AL in slugging..dead last in Fangraphs WAR.

The pitching will eventually stabilize. This is the offense..nobody is coming to save it aside from Gleyber coming back and producing more.

Javy will help with defense and removing an unnecessary platoon guy...Tigers keep punting a decision on what Tork is..but they still need him to be average and he can't consistently do it.

Carpenter regressed and is hurt again..Greene, McGonigle, and Dingler are good. They don't have enough mid players. The rest of the team just drops off to awful.

Edited yesterday at 02:40 PM by kdog

[Tigermojo]

We've seen this the last couple years as well. Lose Carp, Gleyber production down because of hernia and the rest of the offense declines. They have a bunch of average hitters which is tough for opposing pitchers. Lose one or two pieces and everything falls apart. Seven good hitters is tough to navigate. Four not so much.

[kdog]

7 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

We've seen this the last couple years as well. Lose Carp, Gleyber production down because of hernia and the rest of the offense declines. They have a bunch of average hitters which is tough for opposing pitchers. Lose one or two pieces and everything falls apart. Seven good hitters is tough to navigate. Four not so much.

They don't have enough diverse hitting profiles. They have productive hitters...or hitters who hit for contact and have no pull power(Keith)...or a guy who had 5 good games and then is brutal the rest of the time(Tork).

Both of these guys have no defensive value to offset their hitting inconsistency.

Edited yesterday at 04:13 PM by kdog

[Motor City Sonics]

It's all about pitching and we've been brutalized with injuries, but Mize came back very strong,  Melton's pitching at Toledo now (maybe 2-3 weeks away from a start here).  Skubal might be pitching by Father's Day and Old Man Justin needs it to be warm so that brittle body doesn't break down.  3 80-degree days are not enough. 

[Sports_Freak]

6 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

Also today May 18, 2026 - is National No Dirty Dishes Day, National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, National Cheese Soufflé Day, National Smile Day, ... so let’s spend our day smiling no matter what. 

No joy in Mudville. Our basketball team got trounced in a game 7...at home!! Now, all eyes and attention are on our baseball team...they better straighten up in a hurry...no...no joy.

[Sports_Freak]

4 hours ago, kdog said:

Stats:
The Tigers have a 74 Rc+ in May...dead last in AL in slugging..dead last in Fangraphs WAR.

The pitching will eventually stabilize. This is the offense..nobody is coming to save it aside from Gleyber coming back and producing more.

Javy will help with defense and removing an unnecessary platoon guy...Tigers keep punting a decision on what Tork is..but they still need him to be average and he can't consistently do it.

Carpenter regressed and is hurt again..Greene, McGonigle, and Dingler are good. They don't have enough mid players. The rest of the team just drops off to awful.

Its pretty sad when we consider getting Javy back will be an offensive improvement. Vierling to RF, Javy in CF and Perez to the bench?

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

It's all about pitching and we've been brutalized with injuries, but Mize came back very strong,  Melton's pitching at Toledo now (maybe 2-3 weeks away from a start here).  Skubal might be pitching by Father's Day and Old Man Justin needs it to be warm so that brittle body doesn't break down.  3 80-degree days are not enough. 

Pitching hasn't really been our problem, other than when Flaherty pitches. Scoring runs is our main issue, followed by our defense, or lack of.

[kdog]

7 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Its pretty sad when we consider getting Javy back will be an offensive improvement. Vierling to RF, Javy in CF and Perez to the bench?

Javy is a defensive improvement...yes it is sad that he's also an offensive improvment..but he doesn't solve their slugging problem.

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Pitching hasn't really been our problem, other than when Flaherty pitches. Scoring runs is our main issue, followed by our defense, or lack of.

it is ironic that they actually have weathered the pitching injuries in surprising fashion. If they had just hit a little they would have able to stay above water so far.

[kdog]

 

 

[Sports_Freak]

Putting guys who may get on base in front of a red hot Riley...good idea.

[chasfh]

5 hours ago, kdog said:

Stats:
The Tigers have a 74 Rc+ in May...dead last in AL in slugging..dead last in Fangraphs WAR.

The pitching will eventually stabilize. This is the offense..nobody is coming to save it aside from Gleyber coming back and producing more.

Javy will help with defense and removing an unnecessary platoon guy...Tigers keep punting a decision on what Tork is..but they still need him to be average and he can't consistently do it.

Carpenter regressed and is hurt again..Greene, McGonigle, and Dingler are good. They don't have enough mid players. The rest of the team just drops off to awful.

You say nothing is coming to save it, but the problem is not that we don't have enough good hitters—it's that we have good hitters, or at least hitters we are relying on, who are slumping.

McGonigle is good, but his numbers in May are worse than the team's overall numbers. Colt Keith is slipping badly. Hao-Yu Lee is hitting like a AAAA player. Carpenter and Gleyber are not delivering their April wRC+ for us this month as they did last month. The guys down the roster are delivering about what they were expected to, if not exactly hoped for. And Tork is just torking the **** out this month.

I think we can count on some bounceback from the guys slumping. Even Tork is probably not as bad as 43 wRC+, but you know how streaky the guy is.

 

 

[theroundsquare]

driveways are positively soaked at 15 and woodward

[gehringer_2]

31 minutes ago, theroundsquare said:

driveways are positively soaked at 15 and woodward

This one is moving fast though. Already looking bright in A2

[monkeytargets39]

Just walk Ramirez,  every time.  

[Sports_Freak]

Severe storms...probably moving out by game time. We had some real crazy winds though...

[NorthWoods]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

it is ironic that they actually have weathered the pitching injuries in surprising fashion. If they had just hit a little they would have able to stay above water so far.

As we get all that pitching back we could end up with a surplus if they stay healthy.   Maybe there's a deal out there for some hitting in a few weeks.

[NorthWoods]

 

[Sports_Freak]

23 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

As we get all that pitching back we could end up with a surplus if they stay healthy.   Maybe there's a deal out there for some hitting in a few weeks.

Lol...never trade pitching. I mean, who? Mize? You wont get much for a pending FA. Melton? Untouchable. Flaherty? Lol...you try to trade him...at his salary and his results? He's worthless.