I'm well aware of his stats. This is the first time I have watched one of his starts and he had relatively low fastball velocity and none of the rest of his arsenal seemed particularly impressive. If he can get results, I'm all for it, I was just surprised to see what seemed like mediocre stuff from a 1st round draft pick at pitcher, especially knowing he has been able to strike guys out. Guess it kind of made me assume he had great stuff and needed to refine it.
I'll gladly admit I was at the very least somewhat wrong about the state of this franchise. Very impressive showing here of recent weeks. Now, I'm still not convinced Pizza Boy spends the money necessary, but it's nice to see the team winning playing young players
So much of the lineup seems set for next year. Maybe an outfielder and starting pitcher would be the only adds. Guessing more likely to get another Flaherty/Canha offseason than a big spend. 1st - Tork 2nd - Keith 3rd - Jung SS – Baez/Sweeney C – Rogers/Dingler LF - Greene CF - Meadows RF – Free Agent DH - Carpenter Util - Vierling SP - Skubal SP - Olson SP – Free Agent SP - Montero SP – Mize/Prospects
Jobe has to be in the rotation. Can’t be wasting pitches until he gets TJ in the minors. Also don’t think Tork is a lock for the roster.
Tork is definitely penciled in at 1B. He’s got too much potential to give up on heading into his age-25 season.
I would be really surprised if Jobe is up in the big leagues before June. They have already stated that he's not skipping AAA, so Opening Day feels like it's out of the question.
Need a big bat to dh/ play 1b if Tork doesn't work Need at least 1 reliable vet SP The Tigers have said multiple times Jobe is going to pitch in toledo before detroit. So unless he gets some starts there at end of season, don't pencil him in for the opening roster
I think they'll go into next season hoping Torkelson has figured it out, but unlike this season I don't think they will do so without a back-up plan in case he doesn't. Even if that back-up plan is having Carpenter learn 1B this offseason.
Barring something unforeseen in the last few weeks, Mize is definitely penciled into the rotation for next season as well. They will use him to hold that 4th or 5th spot warm until Jobe or another prospect is ready.
I want to believe this team is on the verge of turning a corner with these young guys, but it's hard to truly believe that's the case when no matter how we've finished the last 2-3 years under Hinch we always open the next season incapable of scoring a run for the first 2+ months.
After a strong birthday, Tork back to 0-3 with 3 Ks and a terrible defensive play where he played it so badly he didn’t even get an error
I'm worried instead of convincing Illitch to spend money, it's going to give the cheapskate an excuse to ride the hot streak going into next season. It's a very promising stretch, but team still needs help
I don't have the time go back and compare box scores, but I saw on i think it was x a week or so ago that Tork and Greene can never be good at the same time, and I feel like that's been a thing now since I've seen it. Greene HR last night and tork 0-3, Greene didn't play game before when Tork went off. Pre ASB Greene .866 ops Tork .597 ops Post ASB Tork 1.039 ops Greene .586 ops
The part that is frustrating is you can make the case that not spending money on the offense next year isn't a bad decision because you have what should be competent young players at many of the positions. And free agency in general is a pretty bad idea if you're not going out and signing Bryce Harper or Juan Soto. But not all of these young guys is going to make it, and especially not by the start of next year in terms of being ready to contribute fully to a winning team. So how do you attempt to balance that? I'm honestly not sure, because this year you could argue they both failed and succeeded on that part at most of the positions outside of first base.
Stavenhagen has been pushing signing someone like Christian Walker to a 3 year deal. I imagine it would be an investment but not unrealistically so. It makes sense to me but I have zero faith we do much with the offense. I am with you that I think letting the kids have another year of development is fine but I also don’t see how we can enter the year with a black hole at 1B.
I think the potential problem with signing someone like Walker at 1B is that a bunch of our young guys are fringe defenders at various positions and might need to move there. Maybe it's still a good idea in the end, but it is something that needs to be considered with the Jung/Keith duo, especially. In spite of how atrocious the offense was the first 2 months, we're right in the middle in terms of runs scored in the AL for the full season (granted, some AL teams are atrocious) and are creeping closer to league average in terms of wRC+ despite having black holes at multiple positions for months at a time. It's just hard to know how much of it is real with someone like Meadows.
I was going to suggest someone like Walker too. I don't think he blocks anyone on a short term deal and worst case is that Keith, Tork, and Jung all hit so well that all need to be in lineup and Jung doesn’t work at 3b, but having too many hitters doesn't seem like a bad problem. The more likely scenario is that his bat could be used at 1b or DH over the next 3 years. And our payroll is laughable so it shouldn't be cost prohibitive.
Saw something that Meadows is on track to be a 4 win player even with playing at a 700 OPS. I think he has enough power and speed to keep the babip high enough to be a 700-750 regular
I don't really know what position player role they should focus on with FA signings, but what they do (if anything) will tell us some about what they think of the defensive abilities of the young guys, e.g. is there a bona fide 3B in the group? That decision-making depends somewhat on minor league defensive data we don't have access to my knowledge, so I have no idea what I would do in their shoes. I generally agree that not blocking the young guys is a good plan since I think this team is more than a year away from contending unless CLE, KC, and MIN fall apart (seems unlikely they all do). I would sign some cheap pitchers like this year, hope for the best, and maybe compete for a WC if things break right. Would be okay with a longer-term FA if the price is right. I wouldn't block Meadows for 2025, but I can't shake off skepticism about his bat. Hope I'm totally wrong.
The second Tork AB where he goes the other way with the outside pitch is way more encouraging to me than even the HR. That is where he needs to improve.
This game feels like Hinch being dared to try to win a game with the worst non-White Sox pitchers in the AL Central all going at once. It's a miracle we've only given up 2 so far while getting 7 out of Englert, Maeda and Brieske.
I don’t like pinch running for our best hitter with a 1 run lead. If the Angels tie this up in the 9th, I’d like to have Carpenter in extra innings.
This stretch will get us in the playoffs vs. LA - WIN vs. Boston - W 2 of 3 @ Padres - W 2 of 3 @ Oakland - W 2 of 3 vs. Rockies - W 3 of 3 vs. Baltimore - W 2 of 3 @ Royals - W 2 of 3 @ Baltimore - W 1 of 3 vs. Tampa - W 2 of 3 vs. Chicago - W 3 of 3
Really hoping we can sign one of Willy Adames/Gleyber Torres/Ha-Seong Kim this offseason. I think getting a guy who can play SS or 3B is a necessity, and all of them are under 30 and could contribute to a sustained run of success. And then maybe an OF like Tyler O’Neill. Would feel pretty good about things if something along those lines happened.