08/07/2026 10:15p EDT Detroit Tigers vs San Francisco Giants

[casimir]

[casimir]

Might as well win this game.

[kdog]

Tigers were 12-28 on the road after losing in Houston on June 28th..they are now 26-32..They have won 6 consecutive road series.

[chasfh]

9 minutes ago, kdog said:

Tigers were 12-28 on the road after losing in Houston on June 28th..they are now 26-32..They have won 6 consecutive road series.

So ever since Houston, their road record is ... it's ... they're ... wait ... let's seeee ... 12 ... 26 ... that's ... 32 ... subtract ... carry the one ... no, wait, I got this ... it's ... oh, who cares, it sounds really good.

[kdog]

I'm not diving into the splits..but I figure their pitching has been mostly good the entire time. The offense is catching up.

Here's the real question, were all of the losses in leveraged situations a fluke, bad luck? Can they have a normal reversion to the mean and close a few tight game when it matters? If they can, then the run differential will matter and they will win the division.

Their defense has improved to mediocre over the course of the season..if you are looking for another reason for the surge.

Edited August 7 by kdog

[monkeytargets39]

1 hour ago, kdog said:

I'm not diving into the splits..but I figure their pitching has been mostly good the entire time. The offense is catching up.

Here's the real question, were all of the losses in leveraged situations a fluke, bad luck? Can they have a normal reversion to the mean and close a few tight game when it matters? If they can, then the run differential will matter and they will win the division.

Their defense has improved to mediocre over the course of the season..if you are looking for another reason for the surge.

There was definitely some fluke there…

 

but we aren’t running out lineups with Perez, Jones, Short, Vierling, Workman, and Rogers like we were in May.  Our offense is substantially better now that it’s mostly healthy which is making for less tight ball games that the bullpen has to try and maneuver around.

[kdog]

4 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

There was definitely some fluke there…

 

but we aren’t running out lineups with Perez, Jones, Short, Vierling, Workman, and Rogers like we were in May.  Our offense is substantially better now that it’s mostly healthy which is making for less tight ball games that the bullpen has to try and maneuver around.

And Carpenter, who was legit terrible.

[Motor City Sonics]

Why do people think the Tigers are headed towards Pitching Chaos again?       We have the main 3 right now with Melton-Valdez-Montero.    Jobe is coming back tomorrow - and yes, for his first 3 or 4 starts will be kind of treated like an Opener, but that's how they started with Melton and he can throw 90+ now.    And isn't Jack Flaherty coming back relatively soon?   

Do we ever get a home start from JV - for the emotional moment?     If they are in a really tight race, which is likely, can they afford to start a battered and broken JV just to make people cry?    I don't think they can do that. 

[Motor City Sonics]

1 minute ago, kdog said:

And Carpenter, who was legit terrible.

Oh yeah,  Don't want him back.  McStinky's been killing it the last few weeks.   I'd rather have him in Right.     I don't think there is any chance they start the clock on Hope this year.   If he's on the 40 during the lockout, he can't continue playing.    That's why the Max Clark call up could bite them a bit.  

[monkeytargets39]

1 minute ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Oh yeah,  Don't want him back.  McStinky's been killing it the last few weeks.   I'd rather have him in Right.     I don't think there is any chance they start the clock on Hope this year.   If he's on the 40 during the lockout, he can't continue playing.    That's why the Max Clark call up could bite them a bit.  

For that reason, I don’t really see them adding anyone else to the 40-man barring a ton of injuries.  No reason to add Max Anderson for example.

[Motor City Sonics]

[Nate7474]

7 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Oh yeah,  Don't want him back.  McStinky's been killing it the last few weeks.   I'd rather have him in Right.     I don't think there is any chance they start the clock on Hope this year.   If he's on the 40 during the lockout, he can't continue playing.    That's why the Max Clark call up could bite them a bit.  

I am not sure that Hope starts the year with the Tigers next season. I see him getting the Max treatment and playing in Toledo all year unless he makes it extremely obvious he can play almost everyday like McGonigle did but in RF. Carp among others are still under cheaper contracts for next year so I think they will go that direction to start. 

[Motor City Sonics]

8 minutes ago, Nate7474 said:

I am not sure that Hope starts the year with the Tigers next season. I see him getting the Max treatment and playing in Toledo all year unless he makes it extremely obvious he can play almost everyday like McGonigle did but in RF. Carp among others are still under cheaper contracts for next year so I think they will go that direction to start. 

What does Next Year even mean?    I mean, do I think he starts with the team if the season starts in March/April?  Probably not, unless he is clearly better than any other option.   But the chance that next year starts in March or April is ZERO.  Absolutely ZERO.  If we can bet on that, I'd bet on it.      It's more likely that the start of next year will mean July 2027 or  March of 2028 and if he's already played a half season or full season at Triple A - he will be here unless he absolutely stinks it up, and most indications are that he won't.  

[kdog]

Carpenter's main issue is durability. He goes on the IL twice a year and if basically out two months.

If he was just a no walk/big power guy, that would be fine. But he has to be on the field.

[Motor City Sonics]

But I don't know what happens with minor league players.  If they are a part of the CBA, don't they have to sit out too, or are they on another plane.   Like they are part of the CBA, but I am pretty sure they won't get a vote.  And if that's the case, then they should keep playing.   It's all such a mess.  I hate it all.     The owners and players are all so wealthy that sitting out a full season will barely effect most of them.  So a full-season lockout, which I think is more 51 than 49 at this point will absolutely destroy area businesses that rely on that baseball foot traffic.   So, we all know who really gets hurt here.  Anyone but the players and owners. 

[diaspora04]

Evans was a favorite.  A pal lives in the house Evans used to own in Grosse Pointe, and I have been there.

[theroundsquare]

hoping for a rob deer cameo 

[chasfh]

6 hours ago, kdog said:

I'm not diving into the splits..but I figure their pitching has been mostly good the entire time. The offense is catching up.

Here's the real question, were all of the losses in leveraged situations a fluke, bad luck? Can they have a normal reversion to the mean and close a few tight game when it matters? If they can, then the run differential will matter and they will win the division.

Their defense has improved to mediocre over the course of the season..if you are looking for another reason for the surge.

This is the question I have been asking since people have been giving Scott Harris low grades for, among other things, "building a bad bullpen" in this here thread. I pointed out that by batted ball metrics based on walks, strikeouts, homers, and quality of contact, such as xERA and FIP and xFIP, our bullpen has been actually above average. But our bullpen has also faltered in late leverage situations in highly visible and memorable ways.

Which raises the question: is this failure in high leverage situations a structural issue that can be planned and controlled for, or just the bad luck of bad outcomes at the wrong time? "Planned and controlled for" is the operative phrase here. Should Harris have known upfront this bullpen would falter like so in high leverage and not low or medium leverage, and if so, how could/can he know this beforehand so he can prevent it from happening in the future? Or can he only pull together the best pitchers he is able to who can prevent base traffic and runs, and hope they do so at least as well in high leverage situations and medium and low leverage situations? These are real questions, not rhetorical.

[casimir]

5 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

This man knew how to grow a mustache.

[chasfh]

4 hours ago, kdog said:

Carpenter's main issue is durability. He goes on the IL twice a year and if basically out two months.

If he was just a no walk/big power guy, that would be fine. But he has to be on the field.

Carpenter is pretty much what everyone seemed to think Colt Keith was fated to be: a LHH with irreconcilable platoon splits and an iron glove. The difference is Colt is 24 playing corners on the dirt and has a future, and Carpenter is 28 playing corners on the grass—when he plays out there at all anymore—without so much of a future.

By the way: Colt;s LHP splits are the worst they've ever been: .130/.167/.130 slash, with a wRC+ of -20. Yes, that is minus twenty. Yikes.

Edited August 7 by chasfh

[casimir]

4 hours ago, kdog said:

Carpenter's main issue is durability. He goes on the IL twice a year and if basically out two months.

If he was just a no walk/big power guy, that would be fine. But he has to be on the field.

I thought trading him last offseason would have been wise given his issues with durability and defense.  I don’t know what kind of market or return there would have been.  But it seemed like that would have been his peak value to do so.

I think going forward the best way to use him would be as primary DH and occasionally play LF to give Greene a DH day.  And maybe it’s occasionally play RF to give Greene a DH day with the RF moving to LF depending upon what the RF situation is.

[chasfh]

Just now, casimir said:

I thought trading him last offseason would have been wise given his issues with durability and defense.  I don’t know what kind of market or return there would have been.  But it seemed like that would have been his peak value to do so.

I think going forward the best way to use him would be as primary DH and occasionally play LF to give Greene a DH day.  And maybe it’s occasionally play RF to give Greene a DH day with the RF moving to LF depending upon what the RF situation is.

Since all Carpenter can do is bat against RHP, if he were to get traded, it's probably as a throw-in on a multi-player deal (think Gage Workman), or for cash considerations. Or, if it is for a player, it's a flyer on relief help.

[kdog]

They are going to get that test against Cleveland next week. We will see if they can win low event games. 

[casimir]

Just now, chasfh said:

Since all Carpenter can do is bat against RHP, if he were to get traded, it's probably as a throw-in on a multi-player deal (think Gage Workman), or for cash considerations. Or, if it is for a player, it's a flyer on relief help.

I would think he’s got more value than cash considerations or as a flyer for relief help.  But it might be only for a RP given that he’s essentially a part time player.

[4hzglory]

Yeah, Carpenter definitely would bring more than cash or as a throw in.  He’s only 1 yr removed from having the 2nd or 3rd highest OPS against right handers to either Judge or ohtani (or both if it’s 3rd)