Fernando Rodney

Just About Unwatchable…

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

that’s what the 2013 Tigers have become.  This team BLOWS!

Rick Porcello started, went 6, and gave up 3 earned.

After Miggy tied the score at 1 in the top of the 4th the Rays came right back with 2 in the bottom to take the lead for good.  I hate to blame coaching, especially at the major league level, but I’m wondering what in the sam hell Jeff Jones says when he visits a pitcher at the mound.  Does he offer any useable advice?  It sure doesn’t seem like it.

After 3 straight singles loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 4th, out comes Jones for a confab with Porcello.  It was obvious, Ricky was trying to induce a ground ball for a double play to end the inning.  Ricky was pounding the bottom of the zone but Lobaton and Escobar weren’t biting and Ricky wasn’t getting the strikes called.  It seems obvious to me, who knows nothing, that Ricky needed to change the eye level or move the hitters off of the plate, but no, he just kept throwing the same pitch in the same location.  When Lobaton finally got one that caught the strike zone he singled in a run.  Escobar drove in the second run by walking and seemed to have no intention, whatsoever, of swinging the bat.  During Jones’ visit what was he saying, “we need to get a ground ball here Ricky”.  Did he have anything productive to say?  I guess perhaps he did but Ricky wasn’t listening.  Luckily, Porcello got Matt Joyce to line into an inning ending double play.

Next it was the offenses turn stink up the place.  They loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the 7th and couldn’t score a single run.  Apparently, the Tigers are now the worst hitting team in baseball, in terms of runs scored and batting average, from the 7th inning on.  This shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that follows them regularly.  Even Cabrera and Fielder don’t look like they have good at bats late in games, and if they don’t do it, rest assured, nobody else will.

The 2013 Tigers suck.  They are now either tied, or percentage points behind, the surging Indians who just finished a 4 game sweep of the White Sox.

Honestly, it is getting to the point where I can’t watch this team anymore.  The same shit for the last year and a half.

To really rub salt in the wound, The Crooked Hat came out and got the save surrendering only 1 hit in the 9th, a double to Omar Infante.

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

The Curse of the Crooked Hat

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

Former Tiger, Fernando “The Crooked Hat” Rodney, pitched two scoreless innings and got the win, as the Rays beat the Tigers in 10 innings 4-3.

Justin Verlander pitched pretty well, he went 8 innings and gave up 3 runs, only 2 earned.  The unearned run was the result of an error by Prince Fielder.

I don’t think we saw the “old familiar” JV but he was much better than his last two starts.

Smyly pitched a scoreless 9th but the Rays got to Bruce Rondon in the 10th to score the winning run.

The story of this game, and much of this season, is the ineptitude of the offense in the late innings.  The Tigers scored 3 runs in the 3rd but didn’t really threaten to score from the 4th through the 10th.  The FOX commentators said that the only team that has scored fewer runs in innings 7 through 9 is the Seattle Mariners.  For the amount of supposed firepower this offense has, it sure doesn’t do much late in games.

A feud seemed to be brewing between Miguel Cabrera and the The Crooked Hat after Miggy’s 10th inning at bat.  With a 1-2 count, The Crooked Hat threw a 98 MPH fastball up and in to even the count at 2 and 2.  The next pitch, TCH got Cabrera to swing and miss on an 86 mph changeup low and in.  Miggy was yelling at TCH on his way back to the dugout and while he was in the dugout.  He seemed to be taking exception to the 1-2 pitch.

Personally, I didn’t see anything wrong with what the TCH did, in fact, I wish Tiger pitchers would take note.  Yes, the 1-2 pitch was up and in but it really didn’t come close to hitting Miggy.  It was a purpose/setup pitch.  TCH thought Miggy was a little to comfortable at the plate and decided to remove some of that comfort, and he did.  It worked.  He got Miggy to strike out on a ball low and in.

I’ll take TCH approach every time compared to the way Tiger pitchers allow hitters to lean out over the plate and foul off pitch after pitch, extend at bats, and shorten outings.

If the Tigers can take anything positive out of this loss it should be to employ The Crooked Hat Make Hitters Uncomfortable Tactic.  That’s it.  I just invented and named the pitching philosophy I’ve been begging the Tigers to employ.  I’m calling it the The Crooked Hat Make Hitters Uncomfortable Tactic or TCHMHUT for short.

Another positive out of today’s game was that Victor Martinez went 3 for 5.  None of the hits were clutch.  None of the hits drove in any runs but he got 3 hits and raised his batting average to .231.

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