It sucks. Maybe he’s just tired though. He’s recently engaged, and spent most of the off season traveling.
I don't get why he wasn't in toledo a month ago. Even if the organization still thinks he is a future star, he clearly is all out of sorts and a trip down under the marching orders of "trying to figure it out" before calling him back up makes too much sense. Just baffling he's still here
Well the owner has said publicly he's not ready to spend any more money "yet", and we have to keep up a guy not holding his weight to figure it out here instead of in the minors. At what point does this team get called out for not being serious. Not even trying to compete
We go so many long stretches without scoring that I'm legit shocked sometimes when we actually take advantage of innings like we just did with two runs. Meanwhile Boston has multiple players I had never heard of before this weekend with multi-HR games this weekend.
this would explain why Vinegar Strokes has actively avoided every Spartan tmb meetup in the last 15 years even though he lives in MI I’ve met 10+ of the other guys; he’s never attended despite RalfBully offering him free tickets to many big games over the years
Some more moves coming. Hiura was seen leaving toledo with all his bags, so he is either opting out his contract/being released or being called up as well. Malloy is also not on 40 man, so either Carpenter is moving to 60 day IL or someone like McKinstry is getting DFA'd (or both if Hiura is coming up too)
Hiura coming up would be something else, another high strikeout low batting average player so he’d fit in at least.
I think he had an opt out in his contract, think it's more likely he's gone, especially with tork about to eat up toledo 1B ab. He's also been pretty bad in toledo for about a month
he’s definitely not getting called up. Mud Hens have their 1st baseman of the future now, so no need for him any more.
Latest mock draft from Baseball America is out. Here is Tigers pick and the guys listed just before and after. Not too excited about a pitcher, so hoping they are wrong. Spoiler 7. Cardinals — Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest I realize that I’ve now had Kurtz mocked to the Cardinals in each of the three in-season mock drafts I’ve done this year. Please don’t confuse that with some extreme confidence that I know Kurtz is their guy if he’s available. I don’t. But I do think they’d be excited about his fantastic lefthanded swing, raw power, batting eye and consistent top-end college production. He’s a career .313/.512/.732 hitter with Wake Forest with 61 home runs, a 16.4% strikeout rate and an absurd 24.1% walk rate. It feels like Kurtz’ hitting chops are simply too good to fall this far in the draft, but someone has to. Unlike all the players in front of this pick—sans Cags—he is likely limited to first base. The track record for college first baseman in the first round isn’t great. Perhaps that and his injury history are enough to push him down into this range. 8. Angels — Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas Smith could easily be off the board five picks higher than this. In this scenario, I have him being the second pitcher off the board and sliding to No. 8 with the Angels. If Los Angeles remains intent on drafting a player who can move quickly I think Smith has that potential given his elite pure stuff and the command/delivery improvements he’s shown this spring. His season has been remarkable. A 1.48 ERA through 15 starts and 79 innings with a 50% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and a fastball that’s averaged 95.7 mph from the left side. Yes it’s a college schedule and yes he’s only pitched a complete seven innings once, but here’s the complete list of lefthanded MLB starters with at least 70 innings from 2023 who matched or surpassed that velo: Shane McClanahan, 96.8 Cole Ragans, 96.8 Jesus Luzardo, 96.8 Tarik Skubal, 95.8 Blake Snell, 95.6 Not a bad group. 9. Pirates — Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M For whatever reason, Montgomery’s name seems to show up toward the back of this top tier of college bats, so I have him “sliding” to the Pirates at No. 9. In terms of tools, performance, athleticism and defensive profile I think he has one of the most appealing packages in the class. But he also might have the worst pure contact skills of the group and that could be enough to push him into this range. He’s a career .315/.426/.646 hitter with 61 home runs, a 22.4% strikeout rate and a 13.9% walk rate, a great frame at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds with a 70 arm and classic right field profile and toolset. He’s also been one of the best hitters (hello Jace Laviolette) on one of the best offensive teams in the country while playing in the toughest conference. No matter which college player from this elite top eight tier falls to the back of the pack, I imagine the team that winds up with him will be pretty happy with it. In this mock, that’s the Pirates. 10. Nationals — Konnor Griffin, OF/SS, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss. Griffin probably has more 70-grade tools on his scouting card than any player in this class. That should be enough for him to get popped inside the top 10. For months I had scouts saying that’s where they expected him to go, though recently there’s been some chatter about him potentially sliding. I’m not sure why because his spring performance was phenomenal, he’s young for the class and profiles at multiple premium defensive profiles. Perhaps the pro struggles of other electric athletes and tooled up righthanded hitters from the high school ranks in recent years—Benny Montgomery and Elijah Green come to mind—are creating some doubt about this profile? There are safer profiles available here, like ECU righthander Trey Yesavage or FSU lefthanded hitter James Tibbs III… but will Washington pass up Griffin’s immense upside? I’m not convinced just yet. 11. Tigers — Trey Yesavage, RHP, ECU Injury was about the only thing that could slow Yesavage down this season. He dealt with a punctured lung that kept him off the mound in the ACC tournament and caused a bit of a scare, though it sounds like he should be able to pitch in this weekend’s Greenville regional, where a matchup with Chase Burns is possible. Yesavage has pitched his way into the consensus No. 3 pitcher slot in this class. I’ve yet to hear anyone say that this injury has removed that status. This is about the range where high school pitchers could seem like real options. 12. Red Sox — Seaver King, SS/OF, Wake Forest King is a 6-foot dynamo with eye-popping physical tools via his twitchy hands, pure speed and shockingly good exit velocity data. His top-end exit velocity metrics place him with some of the better sluggers in the nation but he brings 70-grade speed and a chance for solid shortstop or center field defense. Yes, the approach probably needs some refinement but he slashed .316/.385/.594 with 16 home runs, 14 doubles and 11 steals in 58 games. 13. Giants — Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz. It sounds like the Giants were in early and often to see Caminiti this spring, but the top-ranked prep lefty in the class seems to have a large range of outcomes. There were also teams picking in the lower 20s scouting him fairly heavily which reinforces the idea that after the first 10 picks or so teams are all over the place. Caminit has a chance for an elite fastball, he’s exceptionally young for the class and will be 17 on draft day and has advanced feel to land his mix in the zone. 14. Cubs — James Tibbs III, 1B/OF, Florida State Tibbs is the best pure hitter available on the board at this stage. In a down draft class, I think that player has to go in a pretty good spot regardless of the athlete/profile questions. He might be a below-average defender in a corner outfield spot or at first base, but all he’s done is hit throughout his college career. He has hit over .300 each season with FSU, he added more home run power each season—10 then 17 then 25 so far in 2024—and he also has a solid 40-game sample in the Cape Cod League with a wood bat. 15. Mariners — Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State Benge is a strong athlete who scouts can dream on. He’s already shown a pretty strong approach at the plate with a lot of contact skills in two seasons with Oklahoma State. He hit .342/.451/.680 with 17 home runs and as many walks as strikeouts in 57 games. Benge is also one of just three D-I hitters with 15+ homers, 20+ doubles and 10+ stolen bases this season. I wonder if the Mariners would be a team intrigued by Iowa righthander Brody Brecht’s upside here. 16. Marlins — Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State Smith should give Florida State a second first round hitter this year. He has less pure hitting chops than James Tibbs III, but more power upside and a better athletic foundation. The big key for him was cutting his strikeout rate from 28.7% as a freshman in 2023 to 16% this spring. Smith runs well underway even if he’s not a burner and has a chance to stick at third base with a strong arm. 17. Brewers — Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston State Janek started the year at No. 86 on our preseason draft board and has steadily since then. He has now has put himself in a position to be the first catcher off the board. He’s the best catch-and-throw defender in the college class and a surefire bet to stick at the position and be an impact defender there. Plus, Janek hit .368/.480/.714 with 17 home runs, a 16.6% strikeout rate and 14.8% walk rate. There might be less offensive upside with Janek than others in the first round, but there are also few or no obvious red flags in his profile.
So many walks and strikeouts, esp. for a guy with moderate game power. Will be interesting to see what unfolds with him, strange profile. High walk rates like these don't hold up a lot of the time b/c there isn't the power to scare MLB pitchers out of throwing strikes. Bottom two rows are projections from Fangraphs about what his 50th percentile projection looks like, which is actually a pretty decent projection, albeit one suggesting more role player than plus regular. Sometimes these high BB and K rate minor leagues suggest an overly passive hitter who needs to get more aggressive to produce at the MLB level. Moncada is an example of guy who struggles to be aggressive with attacking good pitches to hit.
I’m not sure why they would release someone instead of moving Carpenter to the 60 day, but Kennedy probably sucks.
Edit - misread your post. I think the hope is Carpenter is back quicker than 60 days and Kennedy is a nothing prospect.
.500 and 3.5 games out of the wildcard 60 games in y’all need to stop being such bitches hopefully they pick up a bat at the deadline
Honestly that's what makes it more frustrating to me. The team is good in spots and I feel it's being wasted by a cheap owner and bad drafting of hitters and letting terrible hitters linger on the roster. This team could be good if they were serious about it instead of having an owner he keeps saying he won't spend "yet". If not now, when?
Henning said in later tweet Flaherty getting $150 million this off-season lmao. I remember he said Joba Chamberlain would go like a $50 million contract 10 years ago after two good months
I will say this team is too fucking cheap to pay him so if we could flip him for a nice hitting prospect it may be worth it....just saying
nobody gives up shit in terms of prospects at the deadline anymore. keep him, buy a bat or two, and go for the wildcard