Detroit Tigers 2013 Season

[TribeFanInNC]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Harper surprised me a little bit - I've never thought much of him, always thought he was overhyped, but maybe he does deserve some of the accolades he's been getting.

He is overhyped to an extent as people treat him like he has won 3 MVPs already. But he is doing what he is doing just 2 years out of high school, so it bears attention. If this is his floor, then his ceiling could be very high.

[cephasjames]

After the AS game, it's good to know the Tigers will have home field advantage in the Series this year.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

After the AS game, it's good to know the Tigers will have home field advantage in the Series this year.

Optimist. :P

[RandyTiger]

Alright, they finally posted the starters for the Friday game:

Tigers: Sanchez (7-6, 2.93) vs the Royals' Santana (5-6, 3.37).

[DamPenguin]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Optimist. :P

Yeah I'm excited also after the AL winning the All Star game. Barring injuries we appear to have the chips in place to win it all. Benoit is doing great so far as the closer. Smyly has been a stud all year. If Rondon can come around our bullpen should be good enough. Now we just have to be more consistent and if Verlander can work out his kinks we'll be the team no one wants to face.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Alright, they finally posted the starters for the Friday game:

Tigers: Sanchez (7-6, 2.93) vs the Royals' Santana (5-6, 3.37).

Woohoo! That means Verlander pitches at the game I'm going to in Chicago, Thursday, next week.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by DamPenguin

Yeah I'm excited also after the AL winning the All Star game. Barring injuries we appear to have the chips in place to win it all. Benoit is doing great so far as the closer. Smyly has been a stud all year. If Rondon can come around our bullpen should be good enough. Now we just have to be more consistent and if Verlander can work out his kinks we'll be the team no one wants to face.

I have to respectfully disagree on the bullpen in part. The 'pen is just one injury (either Smyly or Benoit) away from becoming a train wreck.

Reed and Putkonen are so-so, Rondon is unreliable until he learns to pitch instead of hurling the ball as hard as he can, Alburquerque and Coke are utter disasters. That just leaves the two rocks. If something happened to either, either short or long term...

Same goes for the offense. If Miggy or the Prince go down... do you really think Martinez or someone else can replace those numbers?

Throw in the fact that they don't seem to have any fire and the coach has the emotional range of an ice cube most days.

I'd feel a little better about their chances with some help in the 'pen and a few other guys (like Avila) stepping up their game offensively.

Originally Posted by cephasjames

Woohoo! That means Verlander pitches at the game I'm going to in Chicago, Thursday, next week.

I'm jealous! Do give us a report on what you heard and saw, please.

[CONN CHRIS]

I agree completely with Randy except to say that this pen is already a wrecked train trying to stay on the rails not a train wreck waiting to happen.

They need two competent arms that can replace Coke, Alburquerque or Rondon. If you put a gun to my head, I'd say of the three, keep Al, put Rondon back in the oven and send Coke where ever you send horrible relief pitchers that you no longer want any part of.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

send Coke where ever you send horrible relief pitchers that you no longer want any part of.

You send them to the NY Yankees for a couple million bucks and a draft pick.

[DamPenguin]

After all my negative posts I was just trying to be optimistic, lol. Thanks for bringing me back down to earth.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by DamPenguin

After all my negative posts I was just trying to be optimistic, lol. Thanks for bringing me back down to earth.

Didn't mean to drag you back down, man. Just tell it like it is, without the bloody rose-tinted glasses. To me, it doesn't matter if you're negative or positive, as long as you're a realist and see things the way they are. To be otherwise is foolish and asking for trouble.

There's a lot of positives about this team - when they're on fire, they can out-hit and out-pitch any team in either league. The problem is, as you noted, they're inconsistent, have some major issues with the 'pen, and they don't have the killer instinct (read: desire and fire) to really bash their way through things.

The '84 Tigers didn't have much in the way of big guys like Miggy or Prince, but they had fire and heart. It wasn't any one guy that got them there - it was the team, working together, playing with those traits.

I think that's the biggest differences between this year and the '84 team. The 'Bless You Boys' gang had a manager (Sparky) who knew how to manipulate his players into playing their best and had emotion. I can't really say the same about Leyland.

I'm not gonna question his game decisions - he's on the spot and has to make last-second choices, something we don't have to do (and could we make choices with any better results in his spot?) - but I do question his management style. Yes, he can bring a team with the proper talent to the playoffs (any manager can), but it takes someone special to put them over the hump.

He ain't that guy.

So stay realistic, dude, and speak your mind.

[RandyTiger]

Oh, if you guys want an overview of the Tigers stats (or in-depth, take your pick), check out ESPN's Stat page for the Tigers.

There's enough stuff there to satisfy almost any fan (except the die-hard sabermetric dudes). I can lose myself there for hours, just looking at the numbers.

[DamPenguin]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Didn't mean to drag you back down, man. Just tell it like it is, without the bloody rose-tinted glasses. To me, it doesn't matter if you're negative or positive, as long as you're a realist and see things the way they are. To be otherwise is foolish and asking for trouble.

There's a lot of positives about this team - when they're on fire, they can out-hit and out-pitch any team in either league. The problem is, as you noted, they're inconsistent, have some major issues with the 'pen, and they don't have the killer instinct (read: desire and fire) to really bash their way through things.

The '84 Tigers didn't have much in the way of big guys like Miggy or Prince, but they had fire and heart. It wasn't any one guy that got them there - it was the team, working together, playing with those traits.

I think that's the biggest differences between this year and the '84 team. The 'Bless You Boys' gang had a manager (Sparky) who knew how to manipulate his players into playing their best and had emotion. I can't really say the same about Leyland.

I'm not gonna question his game decisions - he's on the spot and has to make last-second choices, something we don't have to do (and could we make choices with any better results in his spot?) - but I do question his management style. Yes, he can bring a team with the proper talent to the playoffs (any manager can), but it takes someone special to put them over the hump.

He ain't that guy.

So stay realistic, dude, and speak your mind.

Not much left for me to say when you consistently hit the nail on the head with statements like that above. '84 was such a great year and such a special team. How time goes by... just wishing we can win it again. Sucks after being pretty much the favorite in 2006 and last year only to blow it. Would love to see the look on Mike Ilitch's face as he holds the World Series Championship Trophy.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

I'm jealous! Do give us a report on what you heard and saw, please.

Oh, I will.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Yes, he can bring a team with the proper talent to the playoffs (any manager can), but it takes someone special to put them over the hump.

He ain't that guy.

This is where I stand on Jimmy too, he just doesn't know how to spark that fire in the clubhouse and fire is what this team really needs. The only way to get it now is from the players but I don't see any of them wanting to step up to that job.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

This is where I stand on Jimmy too, he just doesn't know how to spark that fire in the clubhouse and fire is what this team really needs. The only way to get it now is from the players but I don't see any of them wanting to step up to that job.

The perfect guy for this job would be Miggy, but that's just not the kind of person he is. He's close-mouthed and prefers privacy, which is pretty understandable. Some of the "reporters" that have interviewed him have been pretty nasty in the past, especially about the drinking/driving incident(s). I seem to remember reading a piece about him some time back, his struggles growing up, family, reporters, but I cannot remember where.

Martinez is another guy who could do the role - a few years ago, before he got hurt, he was the "glue" of the team. Did that disappear when he injured his knee? Whatever happened to that?

What they need is a young guy with enthusiasm to spark them, someone like Gibby - now that was a player who played with grit and emotion! Bet he would do the same thing as a coach, all the Tigers have are a bunch of boring old farts.

If they don't make it this year, I really hope they go in a different direction with the coaching staff for next season, because that nucleus is going to be around for at least 1 more year, before they start losing people like Scherzer to FA.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

The perfect guy for this job would be Miggy, but that's just not the kind of person he is. He's close-mouthed and prefers privacy, which is pretty understandable. Some of the "reporters" that have interviewed him have been pretty nasty in the past, especially about the drinking/driving incident(s). I seem to remember reading a piece about him some time back, his struggles growing up, family, reporters, but I cannot remember where.

Martinez is another guy who could do the role - a few years ago, before he got hurt, he was the "glue" of the team. Did that disappear when he injured his knee? Whatever happened to that?

What they need is a young guy with enthusiasm to spark them, someone like Gibby - now that was a player who played with grit and emotion! Bet he would do the same thing as a coach, all the Tigers have are a bunch of boring old farts.

If they don't make it this year, I really hope they go in a different direction with the coaching staff for next season, because that nucleus is going to be around for at least 1 more year, before they start losing people like Scherzer to FA.

I know Gibby's tied up with Arizona, but if Detroit could somehow get him as manager, I think he would definitely bring that much needed spark.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

I know Gibby's tied up with Arizona, but if Detroit could somehow get him as manager, I think he would definitely bring that much needed spark.

Think we can get Dombrowski to trade Leyland for Gibson? Throw in Coke as an added incentive for Arizona!

[RandyTiger]

Royals 1, Tigers 0. [Boxscore]

Summary: Tigers shut-out to start the 2nd half.

Pitching: Despite pitching a quality game, Sanchez was on the losing end of a pitching duel against Santana. Going 6 innings, Anibal gave up 4 hits and 5 walks (season-high) while striking out 3. His record goes to 7-7, 2.85 ERA, 1.19 WHIP.

Coke came in at the start of the 7th, and he lasted 2/3 of an inning, giving up a single and striking out one. Record: 0-5, 5.76 ERA, 1.48 WHIP.

Rondon took over, and man, he was impressive in his 1.1 inning stint, striking out 1 in the process. His control was spot on, as 11 of his 15 pitches were strikes. Record: 0-1, 5.23 ERA, 1.55 WHIP.

Offense: They must be tired from all that partying they did during the ASB. They only managed 2 hits and a walk, with Hunter and Dirks with the singles and Peralta the walk.

Next game: Tigers (52-43, 23-24 away) @ Royals (44-49, 23-22 home), 7:10 Eastern. TV: FS-D. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Verlander (10-6, 3.50) vs. Shields (4-6, 3.21).

This ain't the way we wanted this to start.

[RandyTiger]

Royals 6, Tigers 5. [Boxscore]

Summary: Verlander struggles as Tigers drop another close one; now 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

Pitching: Whatever bedeviled JV in the first half continues to rear its ugly head as he struggled in this one, managing just 5.2 innings, surrendering all 6 KC runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. Clearly, something is out of whack, but he continues to maintain it is because his mechanics are a little off and not a health issue. If that's the case, let's hope he figures it out soon, because this team needs him to be on top of his game if they are going to win the division title.

He was obviously credited with the loss, so his record goes to 10-7, 3.69 ERA, 1.37 WHIP.

Alburquerque took over in the 6th and delivered a flawless performance over the inning he pitched, striking out 2 as he did so. Record: 1-2, 497 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, with 42 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.

Smyly finished off the game for the Cats with 1.1 innings, surrendering a single and getting a punch-out. Record: 4-0, 1.86 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, with 59K in 58 IP.

Offense: The Tigers performed a bit better this time around, collecting 13 hits and 3 walks. Unfortunately, only 2 of those 13 hits were for extra bases, both of them doubles. It was almost enough to win, but 'almost enough' won't help here.

Martinez went 3-5 (.260) with his 20th double and 51st RBI as he continues his hot July streak, and Avila went 3-4 (.185) with his 6th two-bagger and 2 RBI (23).

Fielder went 2-5 (.267) with an RBI (70), and Peralta was 2-5 (.303).

And that's it. The team was 5-14 with RISP and left 11 on base. That dog won't bark, folks.

Next game: Detroit (52-44, 23-25 away) vs. KC (45-49, 24-22 home), 2:10 Eastern. TV: FS-D. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Fister (7-5, 4.02 ERA) vs. Shields (4-6, 3.21 ERA) (Not sure why ESPN had him starting Saturday's game instead of Guthrie. *shrug*)