I am blown away.
This is not what I expected. It's not even what I hoped for.
Our pitching is... dominating.
Let's be honest for a moment. There wasn't a lot certain about our pitching going into this year. You know what you'll get from Fulmer, but he has to stay healthy. Boyd you had a pretty solid idea of, and in the bullpen, your only certainties were Alex Wilson and Shane Greene. The rest? Huge question marks.
Would Zimmermann be the pitcher of the first month of his career with the Tigers? What would new acquisitions Mike Fiers and Francisco Liriano do? Who would get the fifth starter job? And the bullpen was even more unknown.
I almost wonder if all the low expectations and rejection of sorts of the Tigers are making the guys want to prove something. There are zero expectations for this team. That hasn't been the case in years. Maybe that makes a difference.
Our starting pitching is strong. Yes, we're losing, but it's early and unusually cold for this time of year, so I'm not worried about our bats. But our pitching is keeping us in every game. During the spring, based on what I was reading and hearing from Jim and Dan, I was not happy about Fiers and Liriano. They sounded like they were going to be hindrances. Not as such so far. They have turned out two solid starts each.
The bullpen has been quiet incredible. There has been a hiccup here and there, but overall, guys are shutting down the opposing batters. We really didn't know what a lot of these guys were capable of, or they had been so up and down, you never knew what you'd get.
It's early. Pitching is going to go into slumps. But look at how these guys are doing when it's cold and they can't feel their hands or grip the ball. I think there performance in these conditions are very promising for us going forward.
No one is expecting anything great from us this year. I just wonder if these guys have set out to prove the baseball world wrong.
Showing posts with label starters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label starters. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Saturday, January 28, 2017
JV Gets His Ninth Opening Day Nod
He deserves it. Every year, Opening Day should feature Justin Verlander on the mound. The year David Price got it... I was not very happy. One newspaper article said that only Felix Hernandez had more OD starts with nine currently. I'm assuming that stat is only among current players. JV's 9 OD starts are second only to Jack Morris in franchise history. Morris had 11 starts.
27 DAYS TILL OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Why The Tigers Won't Trade Verlander... Or Why They'd Be Crazy If They Did
There's a lot of trade talk - rumors is all - flying around the baseball world right now. Everything is pure speculation at this point, but there seems to be a strong feeling among Detroit sports writers that Justin Verlander and/or Miguel Cabrera will be traded. I would make the case that Verlander isn't going anywhere, if Avila is smart.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. It starts and ends with pitching. We've seen what a great staff can do and we've witnessed what happens when you don't have good pitching. This is same reason it was the better decision to keep K-Rod over Maybin. Right now, we have three rookies and two veterans. Losing Verlander creates an open spot. Who would you replace him with? Greene? That could work, but he has been injured frequently. Sanchez or Pelfrey? Nope.
There isn't anyone to take his place. Above and beyond that, Verlander is a veteran who is young. He has tremendous knowledge and wisdom to share with the rookies who comprise the majority of our starting rotation. That influence alone is tremendous.
I want to keep Verlander and Cabrera. It would be heart-wrenching to loose either of them. But if it really came down to it, and the choice had to be made, I think Verlander would have to be the choice. Now, if Cabrera and J.D. and Kinsler all left, and with Maybin already gone, we'd be sunk. Our batting order may survive without Cabrera but not without all of those guys. Still, that's a different scenario. In the Verlander vs. Cabrera scenario, I really think - in the long run - the best option is keeping Verlander.
As hard as such a decision may be. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. It starts and ends with pitching. We've seen what a great staff can do and we've witnessed what happens when you don't have good pitching. This is same reason it was the better decision to keep K-Rod over Maybin. Right now, we have three rookies and two veterans. Losing Verlander creates an open spot. Who would you replace him with? Greene? That could work, but he has been injured frequently. Sanchez or Pelfrey? Nope.
There isn't anyone to take his place. Above and beyond that, Verlander is a veteran who is young. He has tremendous knowledge and wisdom to share with the rookies who comprise the majority of our starting rotation. That influence alone is tremendous.
I want to keep Verlander and Cabrera. It would be heart-wrenching to loose either of them. But if it really came down to it, and the choice had to be made, I think Verlander would have to be the choice. Now, if Cabrera and J.D. and Kinsler all left, and with Maybin already gone, we'd be sunk. Our batting order may survive without Cabrera but not without all of those guys. Still, that's a different scenario. In the Verlander vs. Cabrera scenario, I really think - in the long run - the best option is keeping Verlander.
As hard as such a decision may be. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
The Sanchez/Pelfrey Dilemma
What do you do with a starter who can't start and you can't trade? Seems like a major problem. Maybe not.
The answer seems pretty easy: you put them in the bullpen. Sanchez was put in the 'pen for a time this past season and did very well in that time. It might be the best he's done since his ERA title year. I wrote a post during the season on my main blog that talks a little bit about this solution: http://smylinggirl.blogspot.com/2016/09/sanchez-pelfrey-to-pen-keep-rookies-in.html
I don't want to rehash all the same points, but what seemed like a great solution then seems to be the best way forward. I'm not the only one who thinks this. One of the Detroit News sports writers wrote this great article that is worth reading: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2016/11/21/mccosky-how-tigers-might-get-most-value-out-sanchez-pelfrey/94223878/
We'll see where the Tigers go. Since it seems so obvious and it worked for us, briefly, in the past, and has worked for other teams, it makes sense to believe that's what the Tigers will do. That's not to say we won't see Sanchez or Pelfrey in the rotation over the course of the season. But at least to start, I hope we see them in the bullpen.
The answer seems pretty easy: you put them in the bullpen. Sanchez was put in the 'pen for a time this past season and did very well in that time. It might be the best he's done since his ERA title year. I wrote a post during the season on my main blog that talks a little bit about this solution: http://smylinggirl.blogspot.com/2016/09/sanchez-pelfrey-to-pen-keep-rookies-in.html
I don't want to rehash all the same points, but what seemed like a great solution then seems to be the best way forward. I'm not the only one who thinks this. One of the Detroit News sports writers wrote this great article that is worth reading: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2016/11/21/mccosky-how-tigers-might-get-most-value-out-sanchez-pelfrey/94223878/
We'll see where the Tigers go. Since it seems so obvious and it worked for us, briefly, in the past, and has worked for other teams, it makes sense to believe that's what the Tigers will do. That's not to say we won't see Sanchez or Pelfrey in the rotation over the course of the season. But at least to start, I hope we see them in the bullpen.
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