Comments on: Inge’s Offense

By: The Detroit Tiger Weblog » Blog Archive » Inge on the Offensive

The Detroit Tiger Weblog » Blog Archive » Inge on the Offensive — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 01:01:51 +0000

[...] Way back all of 18 days ago I took a look at Brandon Inge’s offensive contributions. Based on what he’d done so far in 2006, the conclusion was Inge had become focused on the flyball. His line drive percentage was only 10.8%, or nearly half of what a decent hitter should have. The result was an improved home run total, but it came at the expense of his batting average and on base percentage. But all that looks to be changing now. [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:35:17 +0000

Kinda a funny quote in the Freep –

“It seems like if I get a hit, it’s a home run,” said Inge.

By: Matt in Toledo

Matt in Toledo — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 15:12:48 +0000

But if he weren’t somebody who saw himself as a heady player, he probably wouldn’t have been overly burdened by the requirements of catching. I think that’s probably a good argument for saying that he ISN’T a particularly smart player, but not really a good one for saying he doesn’t see himself as one.

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:23:02 +0000

He strikes me as a player that thinks of himself as heady and smart

I don’t think that’s an accurate characterization. He was happy with his switch to 3B because it was less taxing mentally and his hitting improved drastically when he switched to a “See ball. Hit ball.” mentality. He is certainly a superb athlete and that will carry him to a decent career, but I think WYSIWYG as far as the decision-making goes.

By: Matt in Toledo

Matt in Toledo — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 12:45:21 +0000

I’d love to see Inge raise his OBP, too. Even if it is at the expense of his newfound power. Especially since he seemed to be able to will it higher when he was batting leadoff. What REALLY bother me, though, are his mental mistakes. He strikes me as a player that thinks of himself as heady and smart, but in reality just makes a lot of bad choices on the field. (Popups on 3-0, bad baserunning, ill-timed bunts, etc.) I like the guy, but I wish he could “slow the game down” for himself more often.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 02:55:52 +0000

First things first: Inge is the cornerstone of our strong infield defense. He has excellent range and soft hands. He starts more 5-4-3 double plays than anybody since Gary Gaetti. He allows Guillen to shade towards the second-base bag. Talking about trading Inge is nuts.

I agree with previous posters: Inge has changed his approach at the plate, and not for the better. His OBP is much lower than it could be. We have enough power already; we don’t need Inge swinging for the fences.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:42:57 +0000

The Polanco of last year didn’t exactly look like the Polanco of the previous 7 years. I think it’s pretty likely this years Polanco is closer to the real Polanco than last years.

We have to many solo HR’s because we don’t get on base. I don’t think it’s a lineup issue.

By: Mack Avenue Tigers » Blog Archive » Northwest off-day roundup

Mack Avenue Tigers » Blog Archive » Northwest off-day roundup — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 17:44:26 +0000

[...] Detroit Tigers Blog has a nice piece on Inge (d?)evolving as a hitter, one whose batting average and on-base percentage dropped, replaced by isolated power. [...]

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 17:44:24 +0000

I believe Brandon has a good hot streak left. My concerns in order are: 1. Polonco in my view has not looked anything like the Polonco of last year. I thought it could be his back problems at first, now I’m not sure. Will the real Polonco please come out and PLAY.
2. Monroe, where is he? Plays pretty good D, but is far from consistant offensively. Can he reach levels of last year?
3. Shelton? He needs to see the ball and hit the ball. I feel like he can hit the .300 plus average with good power numbers but maybe I’m wrong.
4. Maybe it’s time for a lineup adjustment. Too many solo HR’s.
That’s pretty much it for the offense. If every hitter comes alive reaching expected levels in the second half, we won’t have to hope that the pitching can duplicate their first half.

By: Joey C.

Joey C. — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:23:44 +0000

His power numbers have been impressive to be sure and he’s definitely come through with some timely dingers. However, in tight games he’s been driving me nuts. It’s fine that he wants to pull the ball, but I wish he’d shorten his stroke a bit when we have crucial baserunners who need to be moved along.

By: Kyle J

Kyle J — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 13:22:10 +0000

Not sure how big a factor it is statistically, but I’d think that Inge improving his OBP would have more benefit than for most #9 hitters given Granderson’s unusually good power numbers for a lead-off hitter.

If Inge finishes the year with 30 HR and 90 RBI in the #9 hole, we won’t have any complaints, though.

By: Brian A.

Brian A. — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 12:25:20 +0000

I’ll third that. Actually it’s something that many people on the team should aspire to. The Tigers as a team have a pretty rotten OBP

http://www.hardballtimes.com/gifs/alteamobpiso.gif

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 04:45:54 +0000

I’d prefer to see Inge get back to the approach he had last year with gap power and a much better on base percentage.

I’ll second that.