Doug Fister

Fister Trade A Good One?

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This article, hat tip Nebraska, makes the case and it is hard to argue with.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/04/16/mlb-insider-tigers-greene-making-up-for-fister-trade/25903481/

Fister essentially turned into Shane Greene and two starts in, Greene is SMOKIN’ BALLS!!

This is the most intriguing part of the article:

Dombrowski, though, pulled the trigger the first chance he had, when the Diamondbacks came calling in November and early December. And make no mistake, they wanted Ray. The deal could not have been done without Ray. They liked infield prospect Domingo Leyba, too, but Ray was the prize — and they never considered another Tigers pitching prospect. I had long been under the impression Arizona would’ve settled for another Tigers pitching prospect, since the Tigers have several nice ones, thus continuing to rule the Fister trade an uncharacteristic gaffe by Dombrowski.

“And make not mistake, they wanted Ray.”?  Too much peyote perhaps? 🙂  They can have him.  We’ll take Greene.

Whew!

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The Tigers survived another miserable performance from Ian Krol to take the first of a nine game road trip.

Despite Krol giving up four runs in 2/3 of an inning, the eighth, the Tigers beat the Indians 6-4.

I was at a restaurant, celebrating my birthday, so I was watching the game with the sound turned off. There are a few things that I wished I had an explanation for.

First, why was Don Kelly trying to steal third base in the third inning?  Was this some kind of missed hit and run?  He led off the inning with a double.

I’m a DK fan but WTF?

Second, why did Ian Krol come in to pitch the eighth inning?

Third, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after he gave up back to back singles to lead off the inning?

Fourth, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after Cabrera hit a three run homer?

Fifth, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after Santana cut the lead to one run?

Ausmus is beginning to worry me.  While Krol threw batting practice to the Indians, Ausmus had the deer in the headlights look?

Didn’t he go to Dartmouth?

On the bright side:

  • The Tigers have won back to back games.
  • Freeway Rick was great for six innings.  I would have liked to get at least seven out of him but you can’t complain about six scoreless innings.
  • Victor and J.D. Martinez continue to get it done and carry this team offensively.  I’m not sure how long the ride is going to last with J.D. but I hope the Tigers ride it for as long as they can.
  • Miggy FLASHED LEATHER in the sixth, he started and finished, a 3-6-3 double play.  The finish was sweet.  He dove for the ball but kept his foot on the bag just long enough to get Asdrubal Cabrera called out at first.
  • The Amazing Al pitched a clean seventh.
  • Joe Nathan got his second save in a as many games by pitching a scoreless ninth.

One more thing, at the beginning of the season, I was on the DD band wagon proclaiming his genius.  I should have listened to my gut, my first reaction.  Dave Dombrowski traded Doug Fister for three humpty dumpties.  We’re reminded of this every time Ian Krol takes the mound.

The Tigers, for the second game in a row, were able to win in spite of themselves.

I hope the ship has turned in the right direction.

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Verlander, Tigers Get Smoked in Windy City

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Make it three losses in a row.  The Tigers went down to the Whites Sox last night 8-2.

JV was horrible.  I listened to the game on my iPad.  All I kept  hearing about was even though his line didn’t look good, JV had good “stuff”.  Guess what.  They can take all that good “stuff”, roll it into a huge ball, and shove it up their arse.  I don’t care what kind of “stuff” anybody has.  Baseball teams need pitchers that can get people out.  Right now, few on the Tigers pitching staff can do that effectively and their record shows it.

How’s that Doug Fister trade look now?  Lombardozzi, isn’t even on the team.  Robbie Ray is in the minors and didn’t look great when he up in the show.  And Ian Krol hasn’t exactly been lights out.  I know his ERA looks good but he comes into games where he is supposed to strand runners.  Guess how many he stranded yesterday? ZERO!  He couldn’t get  Brandon “I Money” Inge out  and he’s retired.

I know.  I know.  The Tigers needed another left hander out of the bullpen.  But the caveat to that is that they needed a left hander that can get people out.  If all they need is a left hander then sign me up.  I can come in, throw left handed, and not get anybody out too.  And I’ll do it for the league minimum or less.

By the way, Fister is 5-1 with a 2.68 ERA for the Nationals this year.

The only bright spot from yesterday is Nick Castellanos, whose glove I’ve criticized plenty, flashed some leather last night and seemed like he saved the game in the fifth inning.  Unfortunately, the White Sox came to bat in the sixth.

Basically, the Tigers suck and I’m losing hope that they are going to turn it around.

 

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Tigers Trade Fister for Three Humpty Dumpties

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What kind of a trade is this?  We give you a solid 3rd or 4th starter and you give us 3 guys you don’t want.

The Tigers traded Doug Fister to the Washington Nationals for Steve Lombardozzi, Ian Krol, and Robbie Ray.

Lombardozzi is a light hitting, platoon, player who can play second base and left field.  He’s not playing second base so what is the plan, have him platoon in left with Dirksy?

Ian Krol is a left handed pitcher that former Nationals manager, Davey Johnson, stopped using late in the season because he had a 5.74 ERA after June.

Robbie Ray is another left handed pitcher but he’s 22 and pitched in A and AA last year.

This doesn’t look like a trade that a contending team makes, but what do I know.

At least one scout quoted in an article at MLB dot com, agrees with me however.

Like I’ve said before, my track record on trades hasn’t been that great but I really hate this deal.  The Tigers give up Fister for what Ernie Harwell would call three Humpty Dumpties.

FYI:  This post had to be posted under WTF.

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

TIgers 7 Red Sox 3

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The Puppet Master pulled the right strings tonight.  In an unconventional, but much needed move, Jim Leyland shook up the lineup in hopes of waking up this pathetic offense.

It worked.  At least for today.

Leyland moved the first 7 batters up a spot and put the struggling Austin Jackson in the 8th slot.  The revamped lineup scored 7 runs.

Importantly, Austin Jackson seemed comfortable hitting down in the lineup.  He was on base 4 times with 2 hits and 2 walks.

The only Tiger not to reach base tonight was Prince Fielder.

Victor Martinez continues to rake with two more hits tonight and Alex Avila, although he didn’t get a hit, walked twice and got hit by a pitch.

It was nice to see Iggy chip in today with a hit, an RBI, and flashin serious leather.

Fister pitched well.  He went 6 complete, allowed 1 run on 8 hits, struck out 7 and walked only 1.  He turned it over to the pen, they got the job done, and the Tigers evened the 2013 ALCS at 2 games apiece.

Even with a 7 run lead, after Sunday’s disaster, the bull pen makes me nervous.

The one move I have to take exception with is bringing Benoit in for the 9th.  Smyly retired the last two outs in 7th and got the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the 8th.  He was, in a phrase, ‘”smokin balls”.  I was hoping he’d come out for the 9th.  But Jim Leyland didn’t agree with me.

Apparently, Jimmy was trying to give Benoit a chance to regain his confidence by bringing him in with a 5 run lead.  In my humble opinion, this is not the time to worry about a player’s confidence, it’s time to win ball games.  That being said, it worked out and the series is even.  Kudos in Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

I’d like to extend a Happy Flashin Leather birthday to regular reader Al, who shares a Birthday with former Tiger Juan Gonzalez and FOX broadcaster, Tim McCarver.

Sanchez against Lester tomorrow.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Red Sox 1 Tigers 0

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How much more can the Tigers ask from their pitching staff?  It has gotten to the point where the staff can’t afford to surrender a single run.

JV was “smokin balls” again today.  He had one mistake in 8 innings and it cost the Tigers a game and allowed the Red Sox to reclaim home field advantage.

I believe this is the 5th or 6th time since the beginning of September that the offense have failed to give JV a single run.

Pathetic.

Just when I think I’ve seen it all the Tigers offense reaches new heights of futility.

I understand they are facing good pitching but the hitters have to find a way to scratch out runs.  This Tigers team has proven over and over again that they not capable.

The Tigers had chances.  They had a runner on third with less than two outs twice and couldn’t manufacture a run.

In the 5th, Peralta led off with a double and went to third on an Alex Avila ground out.  Omar Infante, who is now hitting .100, struck out. Dirks followed with a ground out.

The Tigers failed to score.

In the 8th, after an Iglesias K, Jackson walked and went to third on a Torii Hunter single.  Runners and first and third with one out and the Tigers still trailing 1-0.  Things looked good with Cabrera and Fielder coming to the dish.  But Miggy struck out on 4 pitches and Fielder one-upped him with a K on 3 pitches.

The Tigers failed to score.

Pathetic.

It is impossible to win when you don’t score.

Fister vs Peavy tomorrow.

Your guess is as good as mine.

I wasn’t at the game but a frequent reader of this blog said the crowd sucked. However, I didn’t see much to get excited about.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Tigers 8 A’s 6

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Finally, the bats came to life and bailed out the pitching staff which, for the second straight game, was less than stellar.

Doug Fister put in a quality start but I thought it was going to take something spectacular to win this game.

The offense continued its ineptitude through four innings.  However, in the bottom of the 5th and trailing 3-0, the Tigers bats showed signs of life and tied it up on a three run homer from Jhonny Peralta.

After the 5th, the Tigers bats did something they haven’t done in a long time, score in another inning.  In fact the Tigers continued to score with two in the 7tth and three more in the 8th,.  And they needed them.

Max Scherzer relieved Fister in the 7th and got the win.  Max has to get a lot of credit for pitching out of a bases loaded, no out, jam in the 8th to preserve a one run Tiger lead but the jam was his own making.  He walked the lead-off man in the 8th, a no-no in any situation, but even a bigger problem late in an elimination game.

Peralta and Martinez each had big home runs but the biggest hits came from Austin Jackson and Omar Infante.

Jackson, who is in one of the worst funks I’ve ever seen big league hitter in, came through with a single in the 7th to drive in a run and give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.  Prior to his single, Jackson had struck out three more times making it 9 Ks in his last 10 at bats.  Jackson didn’t hit a rocket but it was a much needed hit both personally and for the Tigers as a team.

The Tigers scored their 6th run on a wild pitch in the 8th then Omar delivered a two run double extending the Tigers lead to 8-4.

Joaquin Benoit came in to pitch the 9th and didn’t have his A game.  He made it interesting.  He allowed two runs and stranded the tying runs on base.

I’m a little worried about Joaquin.

I know Miggy is hurt but I’m disappointed in his at bat to lead off the bottom of the 8th.  Miggy swung at a 3-0 pitch and grounded out to third.  I know he can’t run but I was hoping he’d take a pitch or two to see if he could get a free pass.  With the way the Tigers offense has been struggling they can use all of the base runners they can get.

There were a few substitutions that worried me.  In the bottom of the 7th Peralta doubled but was pinch run for by Andy Dirks.  In bottom of the 8th Victor singled and went to second when Andy Dirks walked.  Hernan Perez then pinch ran for Victor.  At this point the Tigers were only up 5-4 and with the substitutions, their two hottest hitters would not bat again if the game went to extra innings.

The moves ended up working out OK.  Perez scored the 6th run on a wild pitch and it is doubtful if Victor would have scored in that situation.

In any case, everything worked out today and game five is Thursday with JV on the mound.  I’m done with predictions, I’ll just have to wait and see.

It’s still “F*** or walk”.

I’m hoping for the best.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Tigers 4 Twins 2

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Whew!  Fister and the pen got it done reducing the Tigers’ magic number to 1.

The Tigers always seem to make it interesting.

Despite scoring 4 runs the offense was pathetic again.  They scored all their runs in the 4th inning but missed several chances to blow this game wide open and take some pressure off the pitching staff.  The biggest blown opportunity was in the second inning when the Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out and couldn’t push across a single run.

Cabrera left 4 runners on base and took an 0-4.  Fielder was 1-4 and left 3 on base.  Matt Tuiasosopo and Alex Avila each took ohfers and stranded 3 runners a piece.  The bright spot on offense was Austin Jackson.  AJax has been struggling but went 3-5 and drove in the winning runs with a two run big-bingo to put the Tigers up 4-1.

Fister was good, the bullpen was better.  Fistet pitched 6.1, allowed 8 hits, one run, struck out 7 and walked one.

Smyly and The Amazing Al got the final two outs in the 7th stranding Twins at first and second.

Conspicuously, Bruce Rondon was called upon to pitch the 8th and was very impressive striking out the side.  Hmmm does anybody else find it interesting that Veras was brought in to pitch the 8th?  Maybe the Puppet Master isn’t getting the warm and fuzzies from Veras either.

The Tigers are getting nothing offensively from left field.  If they can clinch tomorrow perhaps they should start Jhonny Peralta all three game is left in Miami and see what they’ve got.  Offensively, it is hard to imagine doing any worse than the platoon of Dirks, Tui, and DK.  (Hat Tip Rossie for this suggestion).

I’ll say this one more time, WTF is up with this offense?

Scherzer goes for number 21 and the division tomorrow.

Get it done!

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Royals 1 Tigers 0

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This was a tough loss to take but no that surprising.  Both Fister and Santana pitched like aces but the “top rated” Tigers offense could not produce a single run.

I understand that Santana has had a good season and pitched well tonight but with the money the Tigers have invested in their offense it is not unreasonable to expect better.

This game has it’s share of leather flashin.  Royals’ short stop Alcides Escobar made several nice plays.  Torii Hunter threw a seed from right field to gun down Chris Getz trying to take third on a fly ball in the top of the 8th.  Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila teamed up to cut down Eric Hosmer trying to score from third and a ground ball in the first.  And the play of the game was a relay from Alex Gordon to Alcides Escobar to Salvador Perez to cut down Prince Fielder at the plate to end the game.

Objectively speaking this was a really well played game.  The only problem is that the Tigers offense couldn’t come up with a single run.  This seems to be the story of the last two seasons, no consistency on offense.  They score a lot of runs one game then go into hibernation for a week. It is very frustrating and sometimes painful to watch.

There are two plays in particular I’d like to address.

  1. In the bottom of the sixth Iggy led off with a bunt single.  At this point it was obvious runs were going to be at a premium.  I was hoping the Tigers would give Iggy the green light to try to swipe second.  I’m not big on bunting a guy over from first to second but I am a fan of the stolen base.  Instead, Jackson followed with a fielders choice then Hunter and Cabrera flew out to end the inning.  If Iggy could have stolen second he could have gone to third on Jackson’s ground ball and scored on Hunters fly out.  Instead the Tigers settled for nothing.  I understand speed is not the Tigers game but Iggy does bring this dimension to the team.  This would have been the perfect time to try something new instead of just going to the plate and taking your hacks against a pitcher that’s been dominating you.  I could have lived with Iggy getting thrown out at second.  But I can’t live with doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
  2. In the bottom of the 8th Miggy came to the plate following a Hunter double.  This put Hunter a second with two out.  Cabrera then ended the inning with a ground out to second base on the first pitch.  I know it is hard to complain about Miggy but he has been horrible the last few weeks and I’m not sure it is all injury related.

On the bright side Fister did pick off Emilio Bonifacio at first base in the top of the third inning.  With pick offs and runners thrown out at second the Tigers seem to be making strides at slowing down the opposing team’s running game.  Now if they could manufacture a run or two of their own they might have something.  Still with this lineup they really have no excuse for being shut out ever, let alone, 11 times this season.

Let’s see if Max can get is 20th win of the season in the rubber game tomorrow.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Royals 5 Tigers 2

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After scoring 16 runs the first game of the series the Tigers scored just five the final two games.  As a result, they lost the weekend series and the season series to the Royals.

As we have noted here several times, the Tigers cannot manufacture runs.  When they are not pounding the ball it is difficult for them to score.  It is difficult for them to win.  Couple that with sub-par pitching 3 of the last 4 games and we have a recipe for disaster.

I know, statistically, the Tigers have the best offense in baseball.  However, these numbers are skewed.  The Tigers put up huge numbers in a game or two and then do relatively little for the next week.  If we take this series with the Royals, the Tigers scored 21 runs in 3 games for an average of 7 runs per game.  But like Mark Twain said, “there are lies, damn lies and statistics.”  Upon closer examination we see the real picture.  16 runs the first game, 3 runs the second and 2 runs in the third.  If we take just the last two games, the Tigers only scored 2.5 runs per, hardly enough to win.

The Tigers have gotten away with streaky offense most of this season but that was due in large part to the pitching.  But now the pitching needs to be picked up and the offense can’t find a way to score with consistency.

The Tigers have positioned themselves to win with a specific formula, pitching, defense, and homers.  When any of these three elements are lacking the Tigers struggle to win.

In the first game of this series Tigers announcer Rod Allen marveled at how the Tigers continued to grind out at bats with the score well in hand.  Over the last two games, we didn’t see a lot of grinding, unless you count grinding to a halt.

Alex Avila threw out Lorenzo Cain, the second consecutive base runner the Tigers have thrown out, in the second inning.  Iggy hit a homer in the 3rd to give the Tigers the lead but that was about all there was to cheer about for Tigers fans today.

Much like JV, I’m not sure what to make of this team, but my hope of the 29 year drought coming to an end this season is fading, and fast.

Let’s see what they can do in Chicago.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural