Detroit Tigers 2015 Season Thread

[CONN CHRIS]

Great series against a great team. Pen looking good!

[cephasjames]

I agree. To go into St. Louis and take 2 of 3 is big. While I would've really enjoyed a sweep, what the Tigers did was top notch.

[CONN CHRIS]

Well, the bullpen still looked good. Silver linings.

[buckeye22]

Go to St. Louis and take 2 of 3 just to come home and lose the first 2 to Milwaukee.


I swear, I hate baseball sometimes lol.

[CONN CHRIS]

Despite the homer that Soria coughed up, the pen is looking good!


Oh the missed opportunity of the Brewers series.

[buckeye22]

I'm not an Avila hater, but the longer he's out and McCann is productive you have to wonder what if any future AA has in Detroit.

I assume at the least he'll be back as the backup, but with his looming free agency and injury history you have to wonder if these are the last few months we'll see out of him. Not just in Detroit, but in general.

[cephasjames]

I'm curious to see how Detroit handles Avila. He's a very good catcher, probably one of the better ones in the game. But he's injury prone, tends to be a liability at the plate, and his price tag is rising (he would be an expensive backup). And then there's also the whole "Tigers Loyalty" thing.

McCann, as of now, seems to be a very solid catcher with the potential of getting better (having Brad Ausmus as manager and Alex Avila to learn from will probably help with that). As of now, McCann seems like a safe and cheap route to go in the future.

And Holaday seems like a good backup regardless.

[RchW]

Hey guys Phil Coke is available. Just sayin'...

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by RchW

Hey guys Phil Coke is available. Just sayin'...

If ever there were a justifiable reason to abuse the power to ban users from this website, this would be it.

[buckeye22]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

I'm curious to see how Detroit handles Avila. He's a very good catcher, probably one of the better ones in the game. But he's injury prone, tends to be a liability at the plate, and his price tag is rising (he would be an expensive backup). And then there's also the whole "Tigers Loyalty" thing.

McCann, as of now, seems to be a very solid catcher with the potential of getting better (having Brad Ausmus as manager and Alex Avila to learn from will probably help with that). As of now, McCann seems like a safe and cheap route to go in the future.

And Holaday seems like a good backup regardless.

Yeah, I guess first we need to see if McCann is truly for real. He looks good, but with less than 100 PA in his career it's too early to tell. But with Alex's history of both concussions and knee problems, I'd imagine McCann is at the least in the plans as a long term platoon option. So already I'd imagine we're looking at Avila as the other side of the platoon, or if everything goes well with McCann, the backup. I realize his dad is the assistant GM, and I realize he's most likely really comfortable in Detroit because of that....but would he take a pay cut to be the backup knowing that SOMEWHERE out there there's probably a team who would need a starter?

It'll be interesting. I still have Avila ranked in the top half of catchers in the majors simply because of his defense and ability to handle the pitching staff. Any offense he gives is a nice bonus, and he's usually good for a couple of clutch homers a year, so I'm good with him. But this injury and the way McCann has responded HAS to complicate things you'd think.

[DamPenguin]

Originally Posted by buckeye22

Yeah, I guess first we need to see if McCann is truly for real. He looks good, but with less than 100 PA in his career it's too early to tell. But with Alex's history of both concussions and knee problems, I'd imagine McCann is at the least in the plans as a long term platoon option. So already I'd imagine we're looking at Avila as the other side of the platoon, or if everything goes well with McCann, the backup. I realize his dad is the assistant GM, and I realize he's most likely really comfortable in Detroit because of that....but would he take a pay cut to be the backup knowing that SOMEWHERE out there there's probably a team who would need a starter?

It'll be interesting. I still have Avila ranked in the top half of catchers in the majors simply because of his defense and ability to handle the pitching staff. Any offense he gives is a nice bonus, and he's usually good for a couple of clutch homers a year, so I'm good with him. But this injury and the way McCann has responded HAS to complicate things you'd think.

I used to like Avila but not anymore. He had a lot of promise and the year he made the All-Star game it looked like he would have a decent bat as well. But now, after the injuries and years put in, I see a guy who is a liability on offense & on the base paths. I like how he handles pitchers but he is exposed otherwise, he probably could throw somebody out stealing if they tripped and sprained their ankle along the way. I don't miss him and sure McCann looks good now after what we have grown accustomed to with Avila. I think just about anybody would look better than Avila at this stage.

[cephasjames]

I am liking how the Tigers have faced some really good teams this year and done well against them. Both St. Louis and Houston they've taken the series they've played against them. KC they're down 3 games to 4, but they're still holding on. That's where a team proves themselves. That and spanking bad teams, which they didn't do with Milwaukee.

[buckeye22]

Originally Posted by DamPenguin

I used to like Avila but not anymore. He had a lot of promise and the year he made the All-Star game it looked like he would have a decent bat as well. But now, after the injuries and years put in, I see a guy who is a liability on offense & on the base paths. I like how he handles pitchers but he is exposed otherwise, he probably could throw somebody out stealing if they tripped and sprained their ankle along the way. I don't miss him and sure McCann looks good now after what we have grown accustomed to with Avila. I think just about anybody would look better than Avila at this stage.

I'm not posting just to start an argument, but this is simply not backed up by fact. His CS% last year was 34....league average was 27. This year it's 33....league average is 31. Fangraphs rates his defense last year as +15.3 runs, which was tied for 2nd among ALL catchers in all of baseball(behind only Salvador Perez). Already in 22 games this year before the injury, he was at +1.3. The man is a good defensive catcher. And because of the defense, he ended up posting a 2.1 WAR last year...right about midpack in the league.

My point? He's not near as bad as some thing he is, but he's certainly replaceable. It's too early to tell on McCann though. As Tiger fans, we've been bitten on small sample sizes too many times already(Chris Shelton? Brennan Boesch? Remember when they were both going to be Gods?). Hold off on McCann until the end of the year....I like what I see so far too, but he could just as easily play right to his scouting reports, which all have him as an above average defensive catcher who likely will never be a full time starter.

[David Watts]

Man 2 crappy starts in a row for Sanchez and now Lobster boy goes on the DL.

[cephasjames]

It's surprising that Sanchez is the weak link in this year's rotation.

[buckeye22]

We manage to steal a bullpen game AND find out JV is going on rehab in the same day!

Gotta get Sanchez going, no idea why he's suddenly giving up so many homers.

[CONN CHRIS]

Very nice game for Sanchez (at last!), just can't win without scoring folks.

[CONN CHRIS]

The A's are in town, time to shake the doldrums.

[cephasjames]

And the Tigers didn't lose last night! It could be a good week.

[CONN CHRIS]

It'll turn around soon.