Justin Verlander Game 5 ALDS

[TrustMeIamRight]

Can't wait for the game on Thursday. Will be interesting to see who the A's put on the mound -- Bartolo Colon or Sonny Gray?

Also -- has Verlander finally turned the corner and become the pitcher he was the last 3 years. He struggled with his delivery for much of the year, which affected his pitch location, as well as his velocity.

The last 3 starts though -- the Verlander of old has shown up. 19 IP 0 ER and 33 K's with only 4 BBs. I know, as a Tigers fan, I can only hope Verlander has turned the corner and is back to his dominating self.

Going to be an extremely fun game to watch on Thursday. Have the Tigers bats finally woke up after taking the last month or so off? If Sonny Gray is on the mound, will he be as dominating against Detroit as he was in Game 2, now that the Tigers have had a chance to see him pitch? Will Oakland buck the trend and finally win an elimation game?

Sucks we have to wait roughly 36 hours to see how it all goes down. I will be sure to put up another RIP Detroit Tigers thread before the start of game 5, just to make sure Detroit's bats stay awake.

 

[Howie115]

Mitch Williams on MLB Network was commenting on how Verlander has been firmly planting that front foot in his last four starts, and it's paid off. He said he looked at video of Verlander in May, and he was "peeling off" his pitches... essentially the equivalent of a hitter bailing out of the box. This costs the pitcher velocity and causes him to frequently be off-target. And that's exactly why we saw JV topping out at 94 MPH, walking a lot of batters, and frequently missing over the middle of the plate. He's not been doing that lately, and let's hope he continues his good mechanics for at least one more game.

 

[SECHATER12]

Can't wait for the game on Thursday. Will be interesting to see who the A's put on the mound -- Bartolo Colon or Sonny Gray?

Also -- has Verlander finally turned the corner and become the pitcher he was the last 3 years. He struggled with his delivery for much of the year, which affected his pitch location, as well as his velocity.

The last 3 starts though -- the Verlander of old has shown up. 19 IP 0 ER and 33 K's with only 4 BBs. I know, as a Tigers fan, I can only hope Verlander has turned the corner and is back to his dominating self.

Going to be an extremely fun game to watch on Thursday. Have the Tigers bats finally woke up after taking the last month or so off? If Sonny Gray is on the mound, will he be as dominating against Detroit as he was in Game 2, now that the Tigers have had a chance to see him pitch? Will Oakland buck the trend and finally win an elimation game?

Sucks we have to wait roughly 36 hours to see how it all goes down. I will be sure to put up another RIP Detroit Tigers thread before the start of game 5, just to make sure Detroit's bats stay awake.

what have u been smoking man? u think just because u started that thread they won? they would of lost if u did not start the thread? like there sitting on the computer looking at sportshoopla and said wow trustmeiamright started a thread we beter get our shit together.

 

[gvsulaker82]

Let the man have his superstitions. You think because a player doesnt shave his beard or cut his hair thats why they win games? Its all fun, i hope.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

what have u been smoking man? u think just because u started that thread they won? they would of lost if u did not start the thread? like there sitting on the computer looking at sportshoopla and said wow trustmeiamright started a thread we beter get our shit together.

SECHATER12,

It is all in good fun. Obviously I'm not crazy enough to believe it actually works, it is nothing more than being superstitious -- Just like players using the same hat all year or not changing their socks or with Detroit's game 5 pitcher, eating Taco Bell before every start.

Obviously hats, socks and taco bell are going to have on bearing on what teams win, but that is nature of players and fans. They are willing to do anything to give them what they perceive as an advantage.

So yes -- I will post once again how the Tigers are done, while congratulating Oakland, even though I will going crazy cheering on the Tigers and hoping Detroit wins 100-0.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Let the man have his superstitions. You think because a player doesnt shave his beard or cut his hair thats why they win games? Its all fun, i hope.

As I stated already -- it IS all in good fun. It is nothing more than being superstitious.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Mitch Williams on MLB Network was commenting on how Verlander has been firmly planting that front foot in his last four starts, and it's paid off. He said he looked at video of Verlander in May, and he was "peeling off" his pitches... essentially the equivalent of a hitter bailing out of the box. This costs the pitcher velocity and causes him to frequently be off-target. And that's exactly why we saw JV topping out at 94 MPH, walking a lot of batters, and frequently missing over the middle of the plate. He's not been doing that lately, and let's hope he continues his good mechanics for at least one more game.

Verlander readily admitted he was struggling with his delivery and being able to repeat it like he had in year's past. The last stretch of games was the 1st time I've seen Verlander actually look like the Verlander of the last 3 years in quite some time.

Now the real issue is -- Verlander hasn't given up a run in his last 20 innings pitched. Unfortunately, Detroit has scored 0 runs in those same 20 innings pitched.

We need the same Verlander in tomorrow's game and a different offense to show up.

 

[broncosmitty]

Now the real issue is -- Verlander hasn't given up a run in his last 20 innings pitched. Unfortunately, Detroit has scored 0 runs in those same 20 innings pitched.

We need the same Verlander in tomorrow's game and a different offense to show up.

They really do owe him one.

 

[Howie115]

We need the same Verlander in tomorrow's game and a different offense to show up.

Amen. Hoping the hitters can pick up Gray's curveball a little better, now that they've seen him, and lay off it more so they can get into more fastball counts.

That's assuming Gray gets the start. I know that still isn't assured.

 

[SoPortland]

Somehow Sonny is the only pitcher to succumb to the we've seen him before shtick.

They're both studs with ridiculous stuff. It's just a matter of who's hitting spots.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Somehow Sonny is the only pitcher to succumb to the we've seen him before shtick.

They're both studs with ridiculous stuff. It's just a matter of who's hitting spots.

So Portland,

Justin Verlander has more starts against just the Oakland A's than Sonny Gray has career starts. Verlander has started 15 games in his career against the A's, Sonny Gray has 11 career starts.

It helps tremendously for a pitcher if a team hasn't faced them before. I'm not taking anything away from Sonny Gray. He is a very talented pitcher. I'm just saying it will help the Tigers to know what to expect from him, now that they have seen him pitch against them.

Just off the top of my head -- Drew Smyly had a sub 2.00 ERA thru 7 or 8 starts as a rookie. He finished the season with a 3.99 ERA.

Michael Pineda had 3.08 ERA thru 18 starts as a rookie and teams hit .198 against him. He had an ERA over 5.00 and teams hit 50 points higher against him in his last 10 starts.

I'm not saying Sonny Gray is going to all of sudden give up a bunch of runs -- All I'm saying is -- Detroit knows what to expect from him and have seen what he has in person now.

 

[Sportsguy9695]

I hope Verlander throws a great game and can get some run support to get the win and move onto the next round

 

[SoPortland]

So Portland,

Justin Verlander has more starts against just the Oakland A's than Sonny Gray has career starts. Verlander has started 15 games in his career against the A's, Sonny Gray has 11 career starts.

It helps tremendously for a pitcher if a team hasn't faced them before. I'm not taking anything away from Sonny Gray. He is a very talented pitcher. I'm just saying it will help the Tigers to know what to expect from him, now that they have seen him pitch against them.

Just off the top of my head -- Drew Smyly had a sub 2.00 ERA thru 7 or 8 starts as a rookie. He finished the season with a 3.99 ERA.

Michael Pineda had 3.08 ERA thru 18 starts as a rookie and teams hit .198 against him. He had an ERA over 5.00 and teams hit 50 points higher against him in his last 10 starts.

I'm not saying Sonny Gray is going to all of sudden give up a bunch of runs -- All I'm saying is -- Detroit knows what to expect from him and have seen what he has in person now.

Almost everything in this post is irrelevant.

And if you're going to play the history card, why are you ignoring all the early exits he's put up?

See 2006
See 2010
See 2011
See 2012

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=verlaju01&t=p&post=1

 

[broncosmitty]

What's the irrelevant part? Those 06 numbers, are rookie numbers.....

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Almost everything in this post is irrelevant.

And if you're going to play the history card, why are you ignoring all the early exits he's put up?

See 2006
See 2010
See 2011
See 2012

What in the world are you talking about? The only statement I made is -- Verlander has more career starts against Oakland than Sonny Gray has career starts PERIOD.

I have no idea why you would post Verlander's postseason stats -- as that makes it look even worse for Oakland, as Verlander has given up 1 ER in his last 23 IP against Oakland with 33 strikeouts. In reality -- he has thrown 23 straight scoreless innings against Oakland, because if i'm not mistaken, Coco Crisp hit a lead off homerun off Verlander and since that homerun, Oakland hasn't scored off him in the last 3 playoff games they faced him.

I said I think it is going to be a good game. I am just hoping that now the Tigers have had a chance to see Gray in an actual game, instead of on tape, that they will be better prepared to face him, as they know what to expect. That is all.

Hell -- for all we know, both Verlander and Gray get bombed today and the game turns into a slugfest. That is why baseball is such a great game -- You never know.

 

[broncosmitty]

I Vslapped 103 Vbucks down on VJV. Plus 20 on the Vunder.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I don't even know what that means, but it makes you sound like a big baller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[broncosmitty]

Big Daddy Fat Sacks.... That's how I Vroll. Swing by the VBookie MikeD, you'll like it. Jhonnys at short btw.

 

[RobBase]

Tigers will win.