Game 2012.44: Tigers at Indians

20-23, 2nd place, 5 games behind Cle.

The Jim Leyland mediocrity meter is at defcon 6, as his career record is now 1,608-1,607. He’s .519 and .454 as Tigers Manager, good for a .533 winning pct. .533 for 2012 would get the Tigers to 86 wins, which may just win the Central. Did you know that JL is the 3rd winningest Tigers manager behind Sparky and Hughie Jennings? JL has a higher Tigers winning PCT than did Sparky. Just some fun facts.

JV on the hill today. You know the drill.

Today’s We Need a Win Berry Badly Lineup Is.

1. Berry, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Boesch, RF
7. Avila, C
8. Peralta, SS
9. Worth, 2B

 

48 thoughts on “Game 2012.44: Tigers at Indians”

  1. So much for the no-hitter watch…now we just get the can-the-Tigers-come-from-behind watch, which has been a somewhat unwatchable show of late.

  2. Little late with the post today, so here are a few other things I wanted to get in there.

    Masterson is very hittable. 1.53 WHIP this year, 1.38 for his career. Allowed 10 ER in 22 IPs covering 4 starts against the Tigers last year.

    1. Boesch should have been out running to 3rd on the ground ball to short. He got lucky the first time, but not the second. Replace Gene Lamont with a scarecrow and we will come out ahead.

  3. The value of good defense is really being highlighted this series. I wonder it it prompts any changes, especially if we get swept.

    1. Hey, don’t worry, Uncle Smokey says “we are a good team.” Plus, we get Raburn back Friday!

  4. Base running error by Boesch ….. bad teams find ways to lose games ……

  5. that was no baserunning error..it was aplay to go on first contact called by the Tigers great leader of men…Peralta could have knocked in that runby hitting it up the middle..but Leyland doesn’t believe in that. Just like he doesn’t believe in hitting behind the runner on second to move himto third. Avila was lucky to move Boesch…

  6. OK, we get to try again, leadoff double…let’s see if we do better this time.

    1. Dirks hits behind, runner, moves him to 3rd, check. Gold star for Dirks. Cabrera’s turn.

      1. And Cabrera brings home runner from 3rd with less than 2 out, gold star for Miguel. If we can keep doing it like that we will get out of this funk.

  7. When things are going badly for a team, it always seems that the umpires join in on the fun.

  8. Sac bunt the guy who has been hitting better than anyone else in the lineup this year? Genius.

  9. hey Quinten Berry thanks forcoming up and lokking like a real major league player…..unfortunately we have Ryan Rugburn coming back so we don’t need you any more

  10. So many wasted opportunities…the signing of Prince Fielder is proving everyday to be a case of misplaced priorities and wasted resources…

  11. Can’t execute a sac bunt and the big bats fail again…They have been the sole reason, that we are about to get swept. Fundamentals and the failure of Cabby and Fielder are the story of this season…They have been up, time after time w/ men on base this season..Yet, we still can’t score more then 3 runs a game…as for the lack of fundamentals, when does Leyland and his staff, get some heat for that…If it was the NFL, the coaches would be blamed for that..He can’t hit a ball, but, when, across the board your team can not execute sac bunts, hitting behind a runner, and basic baserunning…at some point it is an institutional problem and because your payroll and talent has allowed you to overcome it 2 times in their tenure..does not make it insignificant and Jim…by any standard, your team is not a good team. You have some good pitchers…but, there is more to a team then that. Talk is cheap.

  12. This is rediculous. When is Jim Leyland going to start banging some heads together? The needs to start with Prince Fielder. When is this guy going to prove his worth?

  13. good post Chris….its not just bad luck that Smokey has lost 1608 games..its basically the idea that fundementals are not that important to him…he is very consistent at this….thus 1608 losses

  14. I realize that the Tigers are probably going to lose this game, but what Verlander just did in the 8th was incredible. Unbelievable pitching.

  15. JV you deserve better than a loss in this game….3-38 hitting in the series RISP

  16. Swept by Cleveland…The rate of speed to the bottom is increasing by the day…

  17. Outside of Verlander, Tigers have been one of the three worst teams in baseball for a month.

  18. Fire Leyland…he couldn’t motivate the moon to come out at night…..this team sucks..

    1. Jud

      If things continue, Leyland’s gone at the end of the season.
      But not b/4 then. Her’s been managing too long – has multiple post-seasons in his resume, plus he’s respected by MLB honchos.

      Jim may quit before September-end, but he won’t get fired.

  19. Verlander was trying to send a message with his last inning…. I wish we was on the tribe… Good tight game. We’ll see if we (cle) can keep up this little ball.

  20. Berry did more in three days than Rugburn has done all year…hey Quinten you need a ride tonight to Toledo..I am going that way

    1. I suspect, and hope, he’ll be staying with the team at least until Austin Jackson is back. Worth can go back down when Raburn returns.

      1. A Jax is now on the DL. Raburn returns tomorrow.

        Also Marte has been called up and Putkonen sent down.

  21. In response to Vince in MN:

    We have to bring up Henry from Toledo to play 2nd. Also, Delmon is a black hole in the lineup and in LF. He shouldn’t be playing much anymore. Dirks has been moving around a bit, let’s stick with him there. Once AJax comes back, I’d like to see Berry up for a while (assuming Kelly has options) and let him platoon with Boesch in right. Neither has an arm, but at least Berry isn’t pulling a trailer every time he runs.

    We’re stuck at SS and 1B. I’m leaving 3B out of there b/c Cabrera has been fine. Avila will get better.

    1. But Kevin, in bringing up Henry, what do you do with Raburn and/or Santiago? I’m pretty sure they are both out of options, so one would have to be DFA, taking a chance on losing them for nothing. And if Henry doesn’t work out, then what? Delmon is a black hole (and he doesn’t belong in the 5 slot), but what do you do with him, DFA him too? There are only 3 extra position player spots to play with besides Laird, who obviously stays. Unless you can somehow get these black hole guys on the DL, bringing up unproven minor leaguers is a very risky proposition. Eldred is a great example (and one that may be making brass gun shy) – he was (and is still I think) tearing up the IL, but when he was up with the Tigers was a dud, although I don’t think Leyland gave him much of a chance in his short outing. A big part of the problem is that although a large portion of the regular lineup sucks, so does the bench. The offensive personnel just isn’t very well put together – once again we are clogged up with a team that consists of about 5 DH/1B types and they can’t all play those two slots at the same time. They seem willing to cut ties with relief pitchers who don’t perform, but there are a huge number of potential replacements to fill those specialized roles. Not so easy with the position players.

  22. I think the plan is to make Delmon a full-time hole at DH for now, and just deal with it until (if) Martinez returns. I don’t like the plan, but if Martinez’ return does seem likely, I can’t see them pursuing a DH type, and they can’t trade Delmon. Hopefully Boesch/Avila/Peralta start hitting and they can at least get him out of the 5th spot.

    1. In the past 2 weeks, Delmon’s OPS is 0.759, which is in line with his career totals and last year’s performance on the Tigers. That’s not great, but I guess we shouldn’t have expected much better. About an average hitter.

      The big problem is that he blew his trade value, so that’s a loss.

      1. Actually his trade value was highest last Fall after the playoffs. Maybe management could have snookered some other team into taking him after his “breakout” half-season. Unfortunately, I think maybe the Tigers snookered themselves with that idea and now we are stuck with him.

    2. The other thing I find interesting about the Delmon situation is the way Leyland has been using him.

      Ever since the suspension he has been DHing, which is good. But he wasn’t DHing before.

      Was it because Dirks played well in the field while Young was suspended, and changed people’s minds? That would be a good justification, but it is hard for me to believe that Leyland didn’t already know that Dirks was a better fielder.

      So, the only conclusion is that Leyland wasn’t DHing Delmon because he wouldn’t like it, but after the suspension they figured they could make him do what they want. It is a shame that they have to be so sensitive about their employees’ egos.

  23. I hate to see readers go for any reason.

    So how about this DF –

    We’ll spell Raburn’s name correctly for a week, if you’ll make rational baseball points during the same term.

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