Don't Freak Out

I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but...

DON'T FREAK OUT YET!!!!!!

It's only eight games in and, already, the topic of "discussion" is the bullpen. I seriously think that even if we got a bullpen like the Royals had a couple years ago, the sports writers would still complain. I think that all they know now is to worry about the bullpen. I think the fans are conditioned to gripe about our relievers. 

The thing is - and I know you've never heard this before from me - no team will be great at every position. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

You CAN NOT have a superb offense, defense, starting rotation, & bullpen. It's not realistic. One or more of those will be at least average. You can hope for average. But you can't have an above average team in everything. 

If that's what you want and/or, are expecting, then maybe sports isn't your thing. I'd recommend writing fantasy novels. 

Eight games in people. Let's not sound the alarm yet. 

 

A Fresh Start // Opening Day 2017

Opening Day is my favorite secular holiday. 

I know it's not a holiday according to the calendar, but it should be. Baseball is back and it's a fresh start. In the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne says, "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." That's what a new baseball season is like. A clean slate with limitless possibilities. On Opening Day, everyone has a chance at October. 

For some reason, there are those in baseball who seem to think it's necessary to predict who will do what, what the standings will look like, etc. I don't understand this tendency and I ignore all the numbers and predictions for two reasons that are interconnected:

1. There are no major injuries yet. Sure, you might start the year without a player for a little while, but you're not without several key players at the same time like you might be later on. A team with all the potential in the world can't win if they aren't a whole team for prolonged periods of time. 
2. Baseball is finicky. There is so much luck in baseball. Games can be won or lost on a seeing-eye hit, a bloop single, or any other crazy little thing that isn't anyone's fault. A player can get injured on an innocent play. You never know. 

Tigers fans can attest that these things are true, and I'm sure many other teams' fans can as well. It comes down often to who has the least amount of injuries and how many of those injuries are with your pitching. Because, as we all know, it all comes down to pitching.

But we don't need to worry about all that yet. That's all in the future. For now, sit back, turn on your TV or radio, and relax, because....

IT'S OPENING DAY!!!!!!! 

Why Is No One Talking About Trades?

 

The question that plagues Tigers fans: what to do with Sanchez, Pelfrey, & Lowe. 

All three performed badly last year, and for Sanchez, that poor performance goes back a couple of years. Going into spring, all eyes were on them to see how they would perform and what the Tigers would do with them and all the money owed.

Then the monkey wrench got thrown into the gears. Sanchez has actually been doing well in the latter part of the spring. The Tigers worked with him to change his mechanics a bit and it seems to have succeeded in making him a better pitcher. So now what?

Boyd seems like he should be the fifth starter. Are you going to put Sanchez and his paycheck in the bullpen as a long-reliever who (hopefully) won't get much work? What about Pelfrey and Lowe who have shown some resurgence this spring as well?

What I don't understand is why NO ONE is talking about trades. Not the sports writers, not the radio announcers, not the management (at least not publicly). We have been in this situation before with a player that we didn't have room for but was performing well. Bryan Holiday was that player last year. He played really well in the spring, we didn't have a spot for him, so he got traded. You don't get top prospects in a trade like that, but you get something.

It seems to me that, assuming Sanchez continues for the rest of spring to pitch well, some team might be willing to take a chance on him. Again, you're not going to get a top prospect in return, but some team gets a pitcher who just might be good again, and the Tigers don't have to figure out what to do with six starters. Plus, they lose his salary. 

If a team is interested, I don't see a better option, yet there must be something I'm missing if all the people who know baseball better aren't talking about this. Spring Training is almost over, so we'll get answers soon. 

Thoughts On Spring Training & Team USA

Spring Training so far has been disappointing, I'll freely admit. I don't like the fact that we're losing so much, but there are still lots of positives. 

- Nick Castellanos. I've been a fan of him from the beginning. However, he has steadily improved each year that he's played. This spring, he has shown some marked improvements in hitting, baserunning, and defense. He's a big part of our team.

- Pitching. Our starting pitching has been really good. Verlander, Boyd, Norris, Fulmer, and Zimmermann. Sure, there has been some rough patches, but it is Spring Training after all. The bullpen has had a few bright spots too. You may moan and complain that it's a big part of the reason we've lost so many games, but, there are a lot of guys pitching who aren't going to be on the team. 

Most of all, keep in mind that it's Spring Training. We haven't even played all that many games. Is it disconcerting? Yes. Disappoint? Absolutely. But not predictive. 


Team USA
We're on to the second round!!!! Team USA has played some good games so far in the World Baseball Classic. We have a lot of amazing players and our pitching - while not the best of America - is nothing to sneeze at. We have the talent to win, but so do some of the other teams. We'll have to wait and see. If USA gets out, then I want Venezuela to win. They have the most Tiger players :)

Notes From The Dugout

These are quotes from the book "Tales from the Tigers Dugout". The third edition is out now, meaning you get more recent tales! I read the second edition which went through the 2012 season. Really great book for Tigers fans. 


"Alan Tramell didn't really have a chance his last year. I've said it all along, if Guillen and Pudge and Ordonez are out of our lineup on a consistent basis, we wouldn't be worth anything, either. That's the way it is. But people don't want to hear that." ~ Jim Leyland

If tomorrow you could not play, how hard would you play today?

What's really scary with Cabrera is that he is getting better with plate discipline each year, making it harder for pitchers to let him retire himself, as Verlander suggested. (2012)

Who else would crouch down and manicure the mound each inning? Who else would talk to the ball or himself or anyone who would listen? And who else would throw balls back to the umpire with bizarre requests? "That ball has a hit in it," Fidrych said. "I want it to get back in the ball bag and goof around with the other balls in there. Maybe it'll learn some sense and come out as a pop-up next time."

A basic baseball truth: Players decide games. Managers dissect them. ~ Sparky Anderson

I Have A Problem With How The Grading Works

I have the TigersXtra app and it's fantastic. I get tons of articles (sometimes it can be overwhelming) and pictures. It's a great app.

There was an article about Steven Moya and it was talking about his defensive deficiencies last season; a season in which he only played 33 games for us! THIRTY-THREE!!!

I'm sorry, but you cannot judge a player on 33 games. In case you haven't noticed, baseball is six months long. 162 games, plus the post-season (which gets its own records). How in the world can people sit there and say, "Oh, Moya is a poor defender", when they only have 33 big league games to go on? He has never played a full year in the Majors. He's only come up to fill in for an injury or as a September call-up. And may I remind you, Comerica Park is one of, if not the, biggest outfield in the game.

What I have to say to these critics is the same thing I say to critics of Ausmus: If it's so darn easy, YOU go do it. 

The other issue at hand here, is that people are just looking at numbers. Yes, numbers are good, yes they have a very important part to play in the game, but you CANNOT rely solely on numbers. Luck is a huge factor. There are plenty of times where a player almost makes a play and misses by inches (or less). All too often, a hit is taken away by sheer luck that the opposing player happened to be in the right spot. And let's not forget those pesky outs at the wall. 

Maybe Moya does have trouble with defense. I'm not saying he doesn't, but you can't judge him by numbers alone. You have to see him play and you have to factor in that he's only an injury fill-in and a September call-up, at least for now.          

Talk about issues. Talk about where he needs to improve on. That's fine. But the paper columnists can't fix it, so report, make your remarks, and move on. The Tigers will work with him and do what they can. All we can do is watch.

Spring starts....