The Super 2 cutoff is either already here or about to pass (it's not really an official thing). Curious to see if we start to see some actual talent from the minors start coming up now. Willi Castro, Rogers and Mize are probably the three main ones I'm thinking of. Mize is through 8 shutout innings on 89 pitches today in AA.
The AAA manager basically said Castro was immature the other day and has a lot of work to do before promoted. We won’t see any of them until July
This is what he said on Castro. But Castro is not a finished product. “He’s doing OK,” Mientkiewicz said. “With Willi, we are just trying to get him to stay engaged for nine innings and to understand what a shortstop has to bring to the table every day. Numbers are OK. It’s just a matter of him, just like everybody at this level, the focus just isn’t where it needs to be. “In the big leagues, you had better be engaged every pitch, or it will make you look bad really fast. He’s not alone. He’s definitely one of the better ones we have, for sure. You tend to nitpick the good ones. We want to make sure when we send him up there, he’s fully aware of what it takes to be a Major League shortstop.” Mientkiewicz saw it recently when the Mud Hens lost to Norfolk in a couple of morning games, getting outscored 18-3. “We had back to back 10:30 a.m. games,” he said. “Our energy level was not sufficient. I said, 'You mean to tell me, if Gardy puts you in a 10:30 game in Detroit, this is what you would give him?’”
That could be a problem, or it could be something an organization says about a player they had zero interest in bringing up before the S2 cutoff date. Probably a little of both, but I'm going to assume the reason they've been in need of a SS for most of the last 6 weeks (and after Mercer gets back, too) and passed over the guy performing better than all of them is more about service time than that players ability to concentrate.
Yeah, I don't think top level defense is a prerequisite for being the Tigers' SS right now. Every report I've ever read on him says his defense should be fine, though. I don't think they'll bring him up with Mercer allegedly on his way back. If he keeps hitting the way he has been in Toledo through two months, though, I'd be shocked if he isn't next up at that spot at some point this season.
Mize with the W today and Garcia with the SV. Let’s hope that happens regularly in a year. Mize final line 8 in 4 hits 0 runs
Newspaper in the DR says the Tigers are signing Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal. Jason Beck says they aren't.
Out of 8 pitchers who have started a game for us this season, he has the fourth-best because Ross, Zimmermann, Soto and Carpenter are all significantly worse. Norris is now at 1.72. Carpenter is 3.21. Soto is 2.63. Those last two are almost impossibly bad.
When do we give Rogers a chance at catcher? He’s 24 years old. You should see if he can hit major league pitching.
Apparently he didn't throw many pitches and they're using him again. At least that's what I saw on Twitter this morning.
This idiot is far from credible, but thought this was interesting. He mentioned we could get Kyle Tucker for Boyd.
I'm all for it if they can get it, but I'll take the under on that potential return. Henning is retired and he wasn't particularly credible while he was on the job
Fadedo's had a weird year. He's made 10 starts. He's allowed 2 or fewer runs in 7 of them, and 5 or more in the other three. The K/BB numbers are very encouraging. Still not sure what to make of him.