6/3 7:05 Tigers @ Yankees

[Tenacious D]

20 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

the outcome for tonight, that you can take to Vegas, is a 6-3 Tigers victory.  And if you're gonna pick a stick, make it be Schoop's.  thank me later.

This didn’t age well.  I’m sorry to anyone who selected Schoop and lost any money.  I will have a sure fire prediction for tonight’s game to make up for this.

[mtutiger]

5 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Austin and Riley being unavailable is why the “experiment” is happening in the first place!

Maybe, but Willi was still getting reps in the outfield while Meadows was on the active roster. 

[RandyMarsh]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Austin and Riley being unavailable is why the “experiment” is happening in the first place!

I wouldn’t call it an experiment, anyway. I would call it making do with what little depth we have.

Yep, on top of that Baddoo turned into a pumpkin, Reyes got injured and Grossman has been terrible/injured.

[mtutiger]

7 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

Yep, on top of that Baddoo turned into a pumpkin, Reyes got injured and Grossman has been terrible/injured.

Am I wrong in thinking that even when Meadows/Greene are up, there will still be a chance that Willi will be on the 26 man roster and getting OF reps?

I get that the high amount of exposure is because of injuries, but some of it too is clearly by choice as well (from Al or AJ or whoever). Particularly when better options defensively exist.

Edited June 4, 2022 by mtutiger

[RandyMarsh]

1 minute ago, mtutiger said:

Am I wrong in thinking that even when Meadows/Greene are up, there will still be a chance that Willi will be on the 26 man roster and getting OF reps?

I get that the high amount of exposure is because of injuries, but some of it too is clearly by choice as well (from Al or AJ or whoever). Particularly when better options defensively exist.

The team definitely believes in Willi I will give you that, but I think if everybody was healthy he may still be on the roster but I don't think we would be seeing him nearly that much. He may start here and there to give a guy a breather or used as a pinch hitter if need be but I think that would be it. I do think it's worth noting that even though he only has a .660 OPS that is some 100 points higher than majority of the guys on the team. 

[mtutiger]

1 minute ago, RandyMarsh said:

The team definitely believes in Willi I will give you that, but I think if everybody was healthy he may still be on the roster but I don't think we would be seeing him nearly that much. He may start here and there to give a guy a breather or used as a pinch hitter if need be but I think that would be it. 

In other words, the experiment would be continuing. 

And it shouldn't. At least in Detroit anyway...

[chasfh]

26 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

Maybe, but Willi was still getting reps in the outfield while Meadows was on the active roster. 

Infield is full up, especially with Harold on the roster, and DH and catcher positions are taken. As long as we need Willi’s bat—and we do at the moment—and as long as actual outfielders are hurt and few and far between, the options of where to put Willi in the field are limited.

Once Meadows is fully healthy and Riley arrives in Detroit, and once the bats of slumping regulars get untracked, then the calculation regarding Willi changes. If Hinch is regularly sitting either one of those guys in favor of Willi after that, then I’ll be more willing to hop aboard your bandwagon.

In the meantime, and I’m not canonizing Hinch by saying this—I do think he gets far too harshly criticized here for dealing as best as anyone can with the shitty roster hand he has been dealt.

 

[gehringer_2]

40 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Austin and Riley being unavailable is why the “experiment” is happening in the first place!

I understand the need when Hill was out, but I simply would not put play Willi in the OF if I had Hill, Cameron and Harold available, and Hinch does now, so last night was more of an option than a need.

[mtutiger]

3 minutes ago, chasfh said:

In the meantime, and I’m not canonizing Hinch by saying this—I do think he gets far too harshly criticized here for dealing as best as anyone can with the shitty roster hand he has been dealt.

 

I honestly don't know who is driving Willi getting all the reps he's getting at the moment - I'm open to the idea that it's Al and not AJ driving it at this point. 

But he's already cost them one game this season in the outfield (in Houston)... at one point does the lack of defensive ability counteract whatever he brings with the bat?

I feel like these conversations just sort of downplay the importance of defense, even on a team with as poor of production offensively as the Tigers.

[mtutiger]

4 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I understand the need when Hill was out, but I simply would not put play Willi in the OF if I had Hill, Cameron and Harold available, and Hinch does now, so last night was more of an option than a need.

You're right, of course.... but the calculation is that his bat is worth the risk that comes with him playing outfield.

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, mtutiger said:

I honestly don't know who is driving Willi getting all the reps he's getting at the moment - I'm open to the idea that it's Al and not AJ driving it at this point. 

But he's already cost them one game this season in the outfield (in Houston)... at one point does the lack of defensive ability counteract whatever he brings with the bat?

I feel like these conversations just sort of downplay the importance of defense, even on a team with as poor of production offensively as the Tigers.

I’m not downplaying defense. It’s not my fault Willi is playing out there. All I’m saying is AJ’s options are limited.

That said, if you want to throw Harold, Hill and Grossman and nobody else into the outfield game after game until we get actual outfielders back on the active roster, I won’t object.

[chasfh]

Ladies and gentleman, your Detroit Tigers roster as of June 4, courtesy of MLB.com.

Take your pick.

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

As long as we need Willi’s bat—and we do at

do we? That is the thing. He was hot for one series in Oakland. Since then he is 227/274/303 in is last 75 PA. I don't play him in front of Hill for that. That's what Willi has been, a streak here and there but not much reliable production. If he were an asset with the glove, sure I play him and take the streaks when they come, but not when he is liability the rest of the time.

Let's watch and see if he gets sent out with Meadows and Greene back. I'm tempted to wager he won't be even then. They are addicted to the guy.

[Tiger337]

Willi Castro is a bad player.  He shouldn't even be in the majors.  Every player gets hot for a few games if he plays often enough.  He is not an asset either offensively or defensively.  

[RandyMarsh]

Only Jomboy would pick up on something like this, he was the first to publish and breakdown the Astros trash can cheating scandal. Perhaps the Yankees didn't notice it and all this was a coincidence but if not I hope AJ and Co. see this and correct it. 

[mtutiger]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

do we? That is the thing. He was hot for one series in Oakland. Since then he is 227/274/303 in is last 75 PA. I don't play him in front of Hill for that. That's what Willi has been, a streak here and there but not much reliable production. If he were an asset with the glove, sure I play him and take the streaks when they come, but not when he is liability the rest of the time.

Let's watch and see if he gets sent out with Meadows and Greene back. I'm tempted to wager he won't be even then. They are addicted to the guy.

 

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

Willi Castro is a bad player.  He shouldn't even be in the majors.  Every player gets hot for a few games if he plays often enough.  He is not an asset either offensively or defensively.  

This discussion really hinges on how much of an asset one thinks Castro is with the bat and whether the risks in the OF are worth it versus running Hill out there more frequently.

From my perspective, it'd be one thing if he were producing like, say, Ozzie Albies. But as it is, the downsides outweigh the upsides. They just do

Edited June 4, 2022 by mtutiger

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

do we? That is the thing. He was hot for one series in Oakland. Since then he is 227/274/303 in is last 75 PA. I don't play him in front of Hill for that. That's what Willi has been, a streak here and there but not much reliable production. If he were an asset with the glove, sure I play him and take the streaks when they come, but not when he is liability the rest of the time.

Let's watch and see if he gets sent out with Meadows and Greene back. I'm tempted to wager he won't be even then. They are addicted to the guy.

To be honest I did not look up how Willi has been doing in the last couple weeks, but yeah, maybe not so much.

I still say this is what you get when you overload the roster with eight infielders and two outfielders. 

[BBFCFM]

1 hour ago, RandyMarsh said:

Only Jomboy would pick up on something like this, he was the first to publish and breakdown the Astros trash can cheating scandal. Perhaps the Yankees didn't notice it and all this was a coincidence but if not I hope AJ and Co. see this and correct it. 

That was a good watch, thanks for posting.  

[SoCalTiger]

5 hours ago, casimir said:

I just want something insightful.  The Toledo Walleye have a female broadcaster for some of its TV games, and she understands the game, can pick up on the action, and communicates it well.  If she had pink hair and a nose ring, it wouldn't affect her broadcast at all.

No doubt you are correct and I am not evolving in this matter. I should keep an open mind. 

[sabretooth]

On 6/4/2022 at 10:02 AM, Tiger337 said:

Willi Castro is a bad player.  He shouldn't even be in the majors.  Every player gets hot for a few games if he plays often enough.  He is not an asset either offensively or defensively.  

Yeah, I agree with this.  He may be young enough to figure things out, but he pretty much sucks as an MLB player this time in his career.

[chasfh]

10 minutes ago, sabretooth said:

Yeah, I agree with this.  He may be young enough to figure things out, but he pretty much sucks as an MLB player this time in his career.

Believe it or not, Willi has now been in the system five years, including three pre-Hinch, during which he suffered at the hands of development personnel who weren’t knowledgable enough to even develop a complex about how inadequate at development they were.

Willi might possibly be too far gone to fix well enough to be a major league regular, but he’s also probably a year too young to completely give up on the idea. Best option I can think of is, once the other outfielders come back, give Willi the rest of the year at Toledo (or Erie!) for an extensive development regimen that includes outfield reps—one last gasp to turn him around. If he doesn’t show significant enough improvement a year from today, DFA him.