A.L. Central Smack 2015

[navamind]

yep. tigers out of it..yup....
that's why royals picked up washed up zobrist.
tigers just keeping it close till miggy returns.

iam more worried about 7-28 through OCTOBER !
not april 20 till now.....reel in the twins first....then breath down the royals neck all through the dog days..
history is on our side..look it up.

Not when your rotation consists of one (albeit very) good pitcher (Price) and four mediocre at best starters (until Verlander proves otherwise).

George brett and freddy patek are not walking out of the dug out

Neither are Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain.

 

[RollingHills]

When I know Mike Pelfrey is pitching, I cringe. He has not won since June 12. ERA over 7 since then. But I thought that way back when he was 4th in AL in ERA. Never liked guys who beat you with 88-92 mph location. No sharpness. Hated Radke and he won all the time.

Against a hot team Pelfrey is in trouble. I hope he wins, pitches great .. but I expect to lose when he pitches. If I were a gambling man, I would bet the house on the Pirates tonight, even with Charlie Morton.

 

[navamind]

When I know Mike Pelfrey is pitching, I cringe. He has not won since June 12. ERA over 7 since then. But I thought that way back when he was 4th in AL in ERA. Never liked guys who beat you with 88-92 mph location. No sharpness. Hated Radke and he won all the time.

Against a hot team Pelfrey is in trouble. I hope he wins, pitches great .. but I expect to lose when he pitches. If I were a gambling man, I would bet the house on the Pirates tonight, even with Charlie Morton.

Thing is, Radke was among the best in the league at limiting walks (career 1.6 BB/9, finished in the top 10 eleven times) and was constantly giving you guys 200+ innings (nine times, finished in the top 10 in IP six times). Radke was a fine pitcher. Whereas, not only was Pelfrey a terrible strikeout pitcher, he's always walked a decent amount of batters.

 

[RollingHills]

Thing is, Radke was among the best in the league at limiting walks (career 1.6 BB/9, finished in the top 10 eleven times) and was constantly giving you guys 200+ innings (nine times, finished in the top 10 in IP six times). Radke was a fine pitcher. Whereas, not only was Pelfrey a terrible strikeout pitcher, he's always walked a decent amount of batters.

I know he was good. Just did not like him. Kind of like the Allman Brothers... friends loved them growing up, great band .. just did not care for them.

I was hoping for a reverse hex, hoping for a Twins win.

 

[navamind]

And Price struggles against a crappy Rays lineup.




"print the world sears tickets"

 

[da55bums]

yep. tigers out of it..yup....
that's why royals picked up washed up zobrist.
tigers just keeping it close till miggy returns.

iam more worried about 7-28 through OCTOBER !
not april 20 till now.....reel in the twins first....then breath down the royals neck all through the dog days..
history is on our side..look it up. George brett and freddy patek are not walking out of the dug out

keeping it close? lol, thanks Couldn't find where the Tigers have come back from 10 down before? could you help refresh me with some dates.

 

[navamind]

FEAR THE TIGERS

 

[da55bums]

The only big questions left, where do Hammel and Price end up? Price to the Dodgers? Hammel to the Yankees?

 

[da55bums]

The Royals kept it close for years then if all it takes is 11 1/2 back...crap we could have been contenders.

 

[SpartyNash13]

Keep telling yourself this team is one trade or one player away from becoming a contender though Dumb-rowski! Keep saying we will be buyers as we sit at 4th in the division now! Let's piss away any chance of a quick retool in the future so we can become bottom feeders for the next decade!

I will have the world's biggest grin when Dumbrowski and Assmus are shown the door so this franchise can rebuild.

 

[RollingHills]

Twins need to pull one out here vs. Pirates...maybe another Mauer HR

 

[navamind]

The only big questions left, where do Hammel and Price end up? Price to the Dodgers? Hammel to the Yankees?

Assuming you meant Hamels. I'd be surprised if Hammel gets traded, just because the Cubs are still in contention.

Yanks are possible, they do have a pretty good farm. I could see the Dodgers getting him.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I have to say I always get a kick out of Korean and Japanese announcers calling homers. I understand minimal amounts of Japanese, even less Korean. Still awesome.

 

[richig07]

yep. tigers out of it..yup....
that's why royals picked up washed up zobrist.
tigers just keeping it close till miggy returns.

iam more worried about 7-28 through OCTOBER !
not april 20 till now.....reel in the twins first....then breath down the royals neck all through the dog days..
history is on our side..look it up. George brett and freddy patek are not walking out of the dug out

It's not that 4/20 through 7/28 makes or breaks a season. It's that it shows that the Tigers have literally been a bad baseball team for the majority of the season, and there's little reason to expect a sudden and drastic change.

I 100% assure you... that the Royals did not pick up Zobrist and Cueto because they're concerned about the 4th place Tigers, who currently sit 13.5 back of them. lol… They picked those guys up because the opportunity presented itself, and they're trying to win a damn world series. I mean, they're running away with the Central. Barring a monumental collapse, it's all but locked up for them.

Yes, the Tigers are only 4.5 back of the second wild card, but that is an extremely deceptive statistic… and I think you know why. There does not exist a team in the AL who is more than 8.5 games back currently. The Boston Red Sox are 44-57… and still only 8.5 back of the second wild card. There currently exists 5 teams that stand in the way of the Tigers and a wild card berth, that they would have to pass. With the Rangers just a half game behind the Tigers. Not to mention, every single one of those teams in front of the Tigers is undoubtedly playing better baseball.

How exactly are the Tigers "keeping things close right now, until Miggy comes back"… as you suggest? They've been fading, and fading fast and hard for quite some time now. Even when Miggy was healthy, the team was not winning. Does having Miggy help the cause? Yes, no doubt… No one would suggest that he's not one of the best hitters in the game. However, the Tigers are not losing games because of a lack of offense. They are losing games because their pitching staff is UTTERLY ATTROCIOUS. Detroit is 26th in team ERA, 25th in strikeouts and 28th in BA against. You're just simply not going to win pitching like that.

I know it sucks dude, and I've been there a lot of times with the White Sox recently, so I know. However, it's time to face the facts man. That team is not built to make a run, and will likely only gradually fall further out of the race, not to mention… further under .500.

But hey… on the other hand, who the hell knows. That 2nd wild card spot is up for grabs, and anyone who gets hot can grab it. I just don't see how that's going to be a team with the pitching problems that Detroit has.

 

[broncosmitty]

Not from the old CBS boards. I've been here for a while and was on the junk ESPN boards before then

Took you long enough to make your way to this board Trudem.

Good to see you man.

But not as good to see as DD selling.

 

[broncosmitty]

I don't get the Zobrist pickup.

 

[Trudem]

Took you long enough to make your way to this board Trudem.

Good to see you man.

But not as good to see as DD selling.

I tend to stay off of the general boards as there are typically too many crazies.

 

[Trudem]

I don't get the Zobrist pickup.

Utility player that can hit the ball. I think its a good pickup personally.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I don't get the Zobrist pickup.

When they are playing him at LF, it confuses everyone. I totally get it (even if I don't think you had to give up Manaea) if you play him at 2B over Infante.

Infante: wRC+: 50
Zobristi wRC+: 125

75 point difference is massive.

 

[richig07]

When they are playing him at LF, it confuses everyone. I totally get it (even if I don't think you had to give up Manaea) if you play him at 2B over Infante.

Infante: wRC+: 50
Zobristi wRC+: 125

75 point difference is massive.

Is the plan to platoon him a bit more against righties? Historically, he's been much better from the left-side. .288 hitter from the left, versus .254.