Prince Fielder | Conniption Shot

Crippy Conniption Shot

9/14/2015 – This normally wouldn’t qualify as hitting ball into a conniption but I want to say a few words about Prince Fielder.  I was mad at him for the way he played and acted at the end of the 2013 season and didn’t want him back in a Tigers uniform.  However, being two years removed from the ALCS loss to Boston, and my high blood, down somewhat, I’ve forgiven him.  He went through a horrible ordeal in the Tigers clubhouse in 2013.  I hope everything has turned around for him and his family.  It looks like he’s got his hitting shoes on again.

Twins 7 Tigers 1

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , ,

J.D. continues to hit the ball hard and Kyle Ryan looked good in out of the bullpen.  I was really happy with Ryan’s performance because Ausmus had to make another early call to the pen and Ryan delivered 4.2 solid innings.  Ryan and VerHagen just might be long relief options for 2016.

Andrew Romine is a solid utility player that can flash leather at any position and can swing the bat just enough.  I haven’t said enough about him this year.

I’m not sure if anybody else noticed but Nick Castellanos has similar offensive numbers to Minnesota’s All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier.  Nick “The Quick” is hitting, .250, with 15 hrs and 68 rbis.  Dozier is hitting .239, with 27 hrs and 70 rbis.  The homer are way higher for Dozier but he only has two more runs batted in. I know you expect more power from third base but I I couldn’t help it, the numbers just struck me as interesting.

Tigers Split Doubleheader With Tribe

Crippy Baseball

In losing game one JV pitched better than his line although his two walks and hit batter came back to haunt him. He didn’t get hit hard he just ran into some hard luck when a few bloopers found the outfield grass. Of course the offense and bullpen didn’t help him out either.

In game two Randy Wolf only lasted three innings but limited the damage to two runs and the offense and pen came to his aid, the opposite of what they did for JV in game one.

Basically this doubleheader was a microcosm of the 2015 season.

On another note, Miggy is really struggling. Despite hitting the ball hard a few times he looks bad at the plate. In game two he came to bat with the bases loaded twice and struck out and grounded into a double play. As always, it’s hard to complain about the Mighty Miggy but he’s pretty much one of only three reasons left to tune in the rest of this season so when he’s on a bad run it makes the games even harder to watch.

J.D. just might get to 100 RBIs.

Rays 8 Tigers 0

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , , ,

The Tigers failed to complete their first three game sweep since very early in the season.  The Rays absolutely mutilated Tigers pitching and the offense did nothing.  The game was pretty much decided when Miggy struck out in the bottom of the fifth with the score 3-0, with runners on second and third and two out. After that, the Rays added on and the Tigers never threatened again.

I heard a rumor.  Supposedly Ron Gardenhire will be the next Tigers manager. Again, supposedly, it is a “done” deal and will be announced shortly after the season is over. The comments are not too complimentary of the former Twins manager on the site the rumor is posted on.

I’m not sure what to think to think anymore.  Gardenhire was one of my favorite managers for a long time but Sark made me rethink that position. Paul Molitor seems to have done a good job with the same team Gardenhire had problems with. Also, I’m not really sure what to think about the job Ausmus has done. The Tigers have had horrible injuries to key players with no farm system. Ausmus can only call on who he has available.  What else is he going to do?

After the first two months of the season, the Tigers have had two reliable arms out of the pen, Wilson and Hardy.  They had 1.5 reliable starters, David Price and Alfredo Simon. After Price got traded, Verlander became serviceable but Simon fell from half a reliable starter to a quarter of a reliable starter.

The offense has been pretty much feast or famine.  I guess the one thing I could put on Ausmus is the atrocious base running.  The Tigers make so many outs on the bases that it is hard to stomach and it costs them especially in close games.  Also, Dave Clark might be the worst third base coach in the history of baseball. But it is hard to put this abomination of a season on the shoulders of BA.

This team is a mess and I’m not sure a new manager is going to fix anything.  This team seems to play hard for BA for whatever that is worth.

Tigers 8 Rays 7

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , ,

Yesterday, I said the Tigers deserved to be in last place.

Last night, the Tigers deserved to lose. They didn’t.

The Tigers, circa 2015, showed me a stubbornness that you usually find in contenders. That’s not to say this was a Russian Symphony. Nope. This was still  my seventh grade band class.  This was still a cacophony of nonsense.

However, it is early September.  The season has been an abomination. The park was empty, by Tigers’ standards, and there were plenty of excuses to pack this one in and go home but they didn’t.  They wouldn’t. That says something about these players and that says something about Brad Ausmus.

For this post, I have to break it down to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good, nothing new here:

  • J.D Martinez. There is not much more to add.
  • Jose Miguel Cabrera
  • Brad Ausmus for not pinch running for JMC in the 10th. I know it didn’t matter in the final outcome but it did to me.
  • Drew Verhagen. He looks good out of the pen.

The Bad:

  • Rajai Davis’ outfield play
  • Bruce Rondon

The Ugly:

  • Nick Castellanos gets caught looking three times in a row, the last with the bases loaded. Get your head out of your arse. You’re not a rookie anymore.
  • The Amazing Al. This experiment needs to be over.

Nebraska – God Speed!