Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal’s Inside Scoop + Daniella Bruce talks Tigers

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Ken Rosenthal’s Inside Scoop + Daniella Bruce talks Tigers · Foul Territory

0:00
Speaker 1: They're firing on all cylinders, and I know that probably
0:02
Speaker 1: isn't going to happen for the entire season, and I
0:04
Speaker 1: know they think that that probably isn't going to happen
0:06
Speaker 1: for the entire season, but they've always found ways to
0:08
Speaker 1: fill the gaps.
0:15
Speaker 2: What's at the inside scoop with FT senior insider Ken Rosenthal, Ken,
0:19
Speaker 2: were you like me this morning when you saw Paul
0:22
Speaker 2: Skeens announce that he's going to pitch in the World
0:24
Speaker 2: Baseball Classic and actually react to this differently than almost
0:27
Speaker 2: any other player that's announced this because of where he's
0:31
Speaker 2: at as a player, contract, pitcher, etc. What was your reaction.
0:36
Speaker 3: I was a little bit surprised, only because he's a
0:38
Speaker 3: young pitcher. Of course, we're all worried about him staying healthy,
0:42
Speaker 3: and the Pittsburgh Pirates are more worried than anyone about
0:45
Speaker 3: him staying healthy. But it seems to me this is
0:47
Speaker 3: Skeen's choice, as it should be. It should be a
0:50
Speaker 3: player's choice whether to participate in the World Baseball Classic.
0:54
Speaker 3: The question I have now is how he will be used.
0:57
Speaker 3: I was joking with someone this morning, Okay, be ten
1:00
Speaker 3: pitches his first outing, six days down, then maybe twenty
1:03
Speaker 3: pitches is next outing. Of course, that's not the way
1:06
Speaker 3: Mark de Rosa with Team USA is going to want
1:08
Speaker 3: it to be. That is not the way Skeins will
1:11
Speaker 3: tended to be. But we've seen franchises, all of them
1:14
Speaker 3: for that matter, be completely overprotective of their pitching in
1:18
Speaker 3: the WBC. I get it. It gets a little excessive, though.
1:23
Speaker 4: Ken, what if they trade him this offseason because he
1:26
Speaker 4: has four years of you know, before free agency. Do
1:31
Speaker 4: you think he still plays then? More so, I want
1:33
Speaker 4: to know about a trade and possibility of like setting
1:37
Speaker 4: a ground breaking, earth shattering trade that could propel the
1:43
Speaker 4: Pirates to victory in five years, which is the next
1:46
Speaker 4: GM's job.
1:47
Speaker 3: Well, it's been what six years under this regime, We're
1:50
Speaker 3: gonna wait another five. If I were a Pirates fan
1:54
Speaker 3: and that trade happened, that would be pretty much it
1:57
Speaker 3: for me. In fact, I would be not surprised Pirates
2:00
Speaker 3: fans already you're saying this is it for me, But
2:04
Speaker 3: I don't expect them to entertain offers for Paul Skiens
2:07
Speaker 3: this offseason or any time in the near future. It's
2:10
Speaker 3: an interesting thing to think about because obviously they're not
2:13
Speaker 3: going to sign him a long term, but they still
2:15
Speaker 3: got him at a relatively cheap rate for the next
2:18
Speaker 3: couple of years and the pre RB years and then
2:22
Speaker 3: the RB years. So now I don't think that's going
2:24
Speaker 3: to happen.
2:27
Speaker 5: Ken, you were talking about fans giving up the Rockies.
2:30
Speaker 5: They've just fired their manager, Bud Black, And we had
2:32
Speaker 5: this conversation last week whether once one goes and they
2:36
Speaker 5: all start going, here's number two already during the season.
2:38
Speaker 5: We also talked about it a little bit on Saturday
2:41
Speaker 5: before the game that we did together.
2:43
Speaker 6: But what's happening in Colorado we've talked about.
2:45
Speaker 5: We also talked about it yesterday with one of the reporters,
2:47
Speaker 5: like what's next? I mean, the owner is gonna stay?
2:50
Speaker 5: Is he gonna get a new gym? Is you gonna
2:52
Speaker 5: you know, It's like, what's the direction in Colorado?
2:57
Speaker 3: AJ That's a question that no one in the industry
2:59
Speaker 3: can seem to an answer because they operate on their
3:02
Speaker 3: own planet. And I've often said this, They're in a
3:04
Speaker 3: parallel universe from the rest of the industry. They do
3:07
Speaker 3: their thing, and no matter what else is happening in
3:11
Speaker 3: the rest of the industry, they're going to continue doing
3:13
Speaker 3: their own thing, their insular. They hire from within, They
3:16
Speaker 3: rarely go outside. Even this higher is from within. Though
3:19
Speaker 3: it's a smart hire because Warren Schaffer was in their
3:22
Speaker 3: minor league system as a coach and manager for ten years.
3:25
Speaker 3: He knows a lot of these guys that are up
3:27
Speaker 3: in the big leagues right now. But that's been their
3:30
Speaker 3: nature over the years. And I don't know what the
3:33
Speaker 3: answer is there other than a new owner. But if
3:36
Speaker 3: the new owner or the current owner i should say,
3:38
Speaker 3: wants to actually make some substantial changes, yes he would
3:42
Speaker 3: bring in a young, hotshot GM from the outside and
3:46
Speaker 3: try to figure out how the rest of baseball is
3:48
Speaker 3: doing it and maybe try to do it himself.
3:52
Speaker 4: Is there ever a case where Major League Baseball looks
3:54
Speaker 4: into their actual effort to be competitive because it's not
3:59
Speaker 4: necessary about the spending. They have spent some, but it's
4:04
Speaker 4: a it's a something to look into about like competitiveness,
4:08
Speaker 4: because this is why we had the CBA, so we
4:10
Speaker 4: follow rules, but we're also a competitive league.
4:14
Speaker 3: Eric A couple of ways to answer that. We've seen
4:16
Speaker 3: the Union over the years file grievances against teams that
4:19
Speaker 3: aren't spending. The Rockies were not one of them. As
4:21
Speaker 3: you mentioned, they will spend from time to time. The
4:24
Speaker 3: commissioner cannot legislate against poor management. Now MLB will step
4:30
Speaker 3: in in the cases of financial mismanagement. We saw that
4:33
Speaker 3: with the mccourts. They effectively forced McCourt out, forced him
4:37
Speaker 3: to sell. But if MLB was going to kick out
4:41
Speaker 3: owners for not managing their teams correctly, I don't know
4:43
Speaker 3: how many we were We talking about five, ten, fifteen.
4:48
Speaker 3: They can't do that. These owners are entitled to operate
4:50
Speaker 3: their franchises as they see fit as long as there
4:54
Speaker 3: are not financial things going on that are improper.
4:59
Speaker 4: All right, let's go to the Met starting pitching. Is
5:01
Speaker 4: this a long enough history with David Stearns to say
5:05
Speaker 4: this guy just finds pitching and he doesn't have to
5:08
Speaker 4: spend a ton of money on it.
5:12
Speaker 3: Big question.
5:13
Speaker 4: Eric.
5:13
Speaker 3: It's two years with the Mets, for sure where this
5:16
Speaker 3: has been a successful strategy. They've done it with Holmes
5:18
Speaker 3: and Canning. This year we haven't seen montas yet, of course,
5:22
Speaker 3: so that has not been a success. But last year
5:25
Speaker 3: with Mania and Severino, for sure, they have been successful
5:29
Speaker 3: under Stearns doing this. Part of that is not just
5:32
Speaker 3: due to their ability to identify the right pitchers, but
5:35
Speaker 3: also to enhance their abilities once they get to the Mets.
5:39
Speaker 3: The Mets have been really good at this making people better.
5:42
Speaker 3: Griffin Canning is exhibit A right now. So I don't
5:47
Speaker 3: know that I would say for sure David Stearns has
5:50
Speaker 3: it figured out. I don't believe David Stearns would tell
5:52
Speaker 3: you he has it figured out. But his clear preference
5:55
Speaker 3: is not to go big on starting pitching. And when
5:58
Speaker 3: I say big, I mean three or four years beyond
6:01
Speaker 3: that in a term, and then of course huge money.
6:04
Speaker 3: They've done that to a degree, huge money with Verlander
6:07
Speaker 3: and Scherzer. But Sterns's way is different than that ultimately,
6:11
Speaker 3: and we'll see if it can be a year after
6:15
Speaker 3: year thing. To me, you're taking a chance if you
6:17
Speaker 3: do it that way, and occasionally you have to maybe
6:20
Speaker 3: go into the market and get I don't know the
6:22
Speaker 3: best picture available. But they are succeeding with this, and
6:27
Speaker 3: they also have prospects coming. So credit to the Mets
6:30
Speaker 3: and credit to Stearns for developing pitching in a way
6:34
Speaker 3: that other teams are not doing it at a seemingly
6:37
Speaker 3: reasonable price and keeping their payroll in order. From that perspective,
6:42
Speaker 3: that's payroll is not in order from other perspectives.
6:47
Speaker 5: Ken, we were there in Queen's on Saturday night when
6:51
Speaker 5: they played the Mets played the Cubs, and we discussed
6:53
Speaker 5: the Mets starting pitching. I know you're talking about montass
6:56
Speaker 5: if he ever comes back. I'm and I and all
6:58
Speaker 5: these guys. But the one thing in David Stearns, how
6:59
Speaker 5: he does this with a bullpen? But can they sustain this?
7:02
Speaker 5: Because they have one of the worst innings per start
7:05
Speaker 5: in the National League. Can they maintain this and can
7:07
Speaker 5: their bullpen survive having to cover almost four innings per game?
7:12
Speaker 3: That's a good question, and certainly we're going to find out.
7:16
Speaker 3: And I'm not totally convinced about this rotation just yet. Anyway, again,
7:20
Speaker 3: we have not seen montas yet. We've not seen Mania
7:22
Speaker 3: this year, though Manaiah last year certainly in the second
7:25
Speaker 3: half proved a point. Clay Holmes converting from the bullpen
7:29
Speaker 3: to the rotation. How many innings is he going to
7:32
Speaker 3: give you, Kodei Senga, is he going to stay healthy
7:34
Speaker 3: all season? Or McGill and Peterson and Canning going to
7:38
Speaker 3: keep pitching at a high level even in shorter bursts,
7:42
Speaker 3: So ultimately they might need a starter at the deadline,
7:46
Speaker 3: and I would not be surprised if that's the case.
7:48
Speaker 3: They've got some youngsters, Brandon Sprote being chief among them,
7:51
Speaker 3: who could come up and give them something. But at
7:55
Speaker 3: some point, AJ, you're right, this might reach a tipping
7:57
Speaker 3: point where they need more innings from rotation. I will
8:01
Speaker 3: give you a name, and I'm not saying this guy's
8:04
Speaker 3: going to be traded, because I think his team wants
8:06
Speaker 3: to contend, But the equivalent of a Zach Eflin or
8:09
Speaker 3: Nathan Valdi, even at a higher level, I don't expect
8:12
Speaker 3: either of those guys necessarily to move, but they're both
8:15
Speaker 3: stable innings type guys, and beyond that, they're quality major
8:20
Speaker 3: league pictures. So yeah, the Mets probably could use someone
8:23
Speaker 3: like that and might ultimately go for someone like that. Guys,
8:27
Speaker 3: I gotta jump you, guys.
8:28
Speaker 5: We'll course, of course, Ken's got to go. Right when
8:31
Speaker 5: I was gonna ask me the most important question, ask me, No,
8:34
Speaker 5: he did his best postgame interview of all time on
8:36
Speaker 5: Saturday the Dans and now he's got to go.
8:39
Speaker 6: It's weird how that always works out with Ken.
8:42
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Speaker 2: see site for details. Tiger's TV reporter DANIELLEA. Bruce joining
9:45
Speaker 2: us right now on foul territory. Danielle, great to have
9:47
Speaker 2: you on the show. Thank you for the time. Tell
9:49
Speaker 2: us about what you're seeing so far this year with
9:51
Speaker 2: the gritty Tigers coming off last year's incredible run.
9:55
Speaker 1: The Tigers so far this season has been the story
9:57
Speaker 1: of the guys that we were coming into the season, right,
10:01
Speaker 1: Like Spencer Torkelsen, what was he going to give us?
10:03
Speaker 1: Hobby bay As, Casey Maize who right now is on
10:06
Speaker 1: the fifteen day injured list with a hamstring injury.
10:09
Speaker 7: But what were all of those guys going to give
10:11
Speaker 7: this team?
10:11
Speaker 1: Because the belief in the organization was that they were
10:14
Speaker 1: going to get better from within.
10:15
Speaker 7: For the most part.
10:16
Speaker 1: They bring in Glabor Torres a couple of other arms,
10:18
Speaker 1: but for the most part, they're going to get better
10:19
Speaker 1: from within. And we've seen that Spencer Torkelsen has already
10:23
Speaker 1: hit ten home runs, which was his season total last year.
10:26
Speaker 1: He's leading the American League with thirty three RBIs at
10:28
Speaker 1: the moment. So just seeing a lot of really great
10:31
Speaker 1: improvements from some of the guys that left some question
10:34
Speaker 1: marks for us heading into the spring, and so far
10:36
Speaker 1: they've been really fun to watch, and obviously watching Trek
10:39
Speaker 1: scoople pitch every fifth day is a treat here in Detroit.
10:43
Speaker 4: Wait, you said from within, like, this is how they're
10:45
Speaker 4: supposed to be build. Is that what they told you
10:47
Speaker 4: at the end of spring training? Because in the offseason
10:50
Speaker 4: they were going after outs, pregnant and gave a pretty
10:53
Speaker 4: good offer. That seems like somebody from the outside to
10:56
Speaker 4: add to what they already have. What was that reception like?
11:02
Speaker 1: Also, Yeah, I mean I think fans were a little
11:05
Speaker 1: disappointed that Bregman ultimately didn't choose to come to Detroit.
11:08
Speaker 7: That's natural.
11:09
Speaker 1: You heard the booze last night when the Tigers played
11:11
Speaker 1: Game one of the Red Sox series.
11:13
Speaker 7: But I think that, at.
11:15
Speaker 1: Least for me and from within, there's guys that can
11:17
Speaker 1: play third base on this team.
11:19
Speaker 7: So I don't think anybody was Maybe there was a
11:22
Speaker 7: little worry.
11:23
Speaker 1: I don't want to say they weren't worried, But there
11:24
Speaker 1: are guys that can fill that role, and there are
11:26
Speaker 1: guys that can play that role, and we've seen that
11:28
Speaker 1: it's been a bit.
11:29
Speaker 7: Of a platoon.
11:30
Speaker 1: Matt Vierling was pegged for one of the guys that
11:32
Speaker 1: would play over there, but he started the season on
11:35
Speaker 1: the injured list. He's on his rehab assignment now, so
11:37
Speaker 1: he's getting closer to getting back. But we've seen Andya
11:40
Speaker 1: Banyez play a pretty good third base. Jase Yung his
11:43
Speaker 1: bat struggling a little bit at the major league level,
11:45
Speaker 1: but we've seen a decently solid third base over there.
11:48
Speaker 1: And I think Zach McKinstry also takes some time in
11:50
Speaker 1: hobby Baias has taken some reps over there. So yeah,
11:53
Speaker 1: you don't have that everyday third baseman. But I don't
11:56
Speaker 1: think the fact that Bregman didn't sign here means the
11:59
Speaker 1: Tigers didn't have leaf in some of the guys that
12:01
Speaker 1: they have in their system. They also wanted another right
12:04
Speaker 1: handed bat Daniella.
12:06
Speaker 6: First of all, I want you to understand something.
12:08
Speaker 5: I know you have a cool plant, but my plan
12:09
Speaker 5: is bigger than your plant and my plant. This feels
12:12
Speaker 5: jealous that you show your plant and Scott Scott. Scott
12:16
Speaker 5: has taken my plan away from you. This is my
12:18
Speaker 5: emotional support plant, and Scott has moved it out of
12:21
Speaker 5: my shot. So I had to go grab it real
12:23
Speaker 5: quick because my plan is bigger than your plant.
12:26
Speaker 1: If I'm being honest, I tried to like trim that
12:28
Speaker 1: plant up not too long ago because it was getting
12:30
Speaker 1: crazy and I made it look terrible. So honestly, I
12:33
Speaker 1: probably should have taken out of my shot next time.
12:34
Speaker 6: But that it's real. Yours is real, though, Yours is
12:36
Speaker 6: a real.
12:37
Speaker 7: Plants, Yeah, it's real.
12:38
Speaker 2: It was a baller, she's a grinder.
12:40
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, that's that's way different than my plan. My
12:42
Speaker 5: plan is not real. Take you could just pull leafs
12:45
Speaker 5: off this thing, like, look, see I have a leaf.
12:46
Speaker 5: Scott can start fanning me from over here now right now,
12:50
Speaker 5: feed me grapes, Scott.
12:52
Speaker 6: But my question is for Hobby Bias. Hobby Bios is
12:55
Speaker 6: off to a really good start. Is all they had
12:57
Speaker 6: to do? Move them to center field? Was that what
13:00
Speaker 6: ors ago? He got him away from short supset? Just
13:02
Speaker 6: go play center?
13:03
Speaker 1: I laugh with aj Hinch because he keeps telling all
13:06
Speaker 1: of us that Hobby is going to go back to shortstop,
13:08
Speaker 1: and I have yet to see that since the day
13:10
Speaker 1: he started playing in center field.
13:13
Speaker 7: But he's been great out there.
13:14
Speaker 1: And I've talked to Hovey pretty at length about what
13:17
Speaker 1: he feels as different this year, and he really does
13:19
Speaker 1: point to how he's feeling physically.
13:21
Speaker 7: How healthy he feels.
13:23
Speaker 1: I don't even think he expected to feel as good
13:25
Speaker 1: as he does now after having the hip surgery at
13:28
Speaker 1: the end of last year. So once he started rehabbing
13:30
Speaker 1: and realizing that, wow, I feel so much better now,
13:34
Speaker 1: he was able to get back into that mindset of
13:36
Speaker 1: I'm going to get back to where I was, I'm
13:38
Speaker 1: going to contribute to this team, and he's doing that
13:40
Speaker 1: at the plate too. He's been much better from that perspective,
13:43
Speaker 1: and having him in center field has been huge for
13:46
Speaker 1: the Tigers because we just talked about third base. I
13:48
Speaker 1: think heading into the season, everybody was a little bit
13:51
Speaker 1: more concerned about center field because we had three center
13:53
Speaker 1: fielders go down back to back, starting with Parker Meadows
13:56
Speaker 1: in spring, Matt Verling shortly after, and then Wenzel Perez
14:00
Speaker 1: when they played that the series in San Francisco to
14:03
Speaker 1: start the season the exhibition games. So you lose three
14:05
Speaker 1: center fielders right there, and you're wondering what they're going
14:08
Speaker 1: to do out there. You know Riley Green can play there,
14:10
Speaker 1: you know that Zach McKinstry might be able to take
14:12
Speaker 1: some reps out there.
14:13
Speaker 7: Ryan Kreidler filled that void for a little while.
14:15
Speaker 1: But jave Baiaz has really embraced it, and all his
14:18
Speaker 1: teammates describe it as he's playing like a little kid
14:21
Speaker 1: out there. He's playing like he's playing you know, twelve
14:23
Speaker 1: YU little league and really enjoying baseball again. So yeah,
14:26
Speaker 1: Hovey and center has been a huge thing for the
14:29
Speaker 1: Tigers and a big reason why they've found so much
14:31
Speaker 1: success early.
14:33
Speaker 4: A team that's young and having everybody kind of hitting
14:36
Speaker 4: on all cylinders right now, the fear is for me,
14:41
Speaker 4: where's the depth? So do they have depth in the
14:44
Speaker 4: minor leagues that can fill in? Obviously verilin coming back
14:47
Speaker 4: what he did anchoring kind of the three or four
14:49
Speaker 4: spot in the lineup last year was awesome. But do
14:52
Speaker 4: they have the depth or is it only those guys
14:55
Speaker 4: coming off the il that they really have if and
14:57
Speaker 4: when something happens.
14:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they have a little bit more depth
15:01
Speaker 1: in the pitching department than they do right now in
15:04
Speaker 1: the position players. But when you look at that who's
15:08
Speaker 1: on the team right now, like a Justin Henry malloy,
15:11
Speaker 1: and you have the guys like Jace Young who's up
15:14
Speaker 1: here who likely won't be by the time our roster
15:17
Speaker 1: is fully healthy. So those are players that can come
15:19
Speaker 1: back up make a difference at any time, or stay
15:22
Speaker 1: on this team and make a difference. So I do
15:24
Speaker 1: think there is some depth. There are there some players
15:26
Speaker 1: that are in the system that are really exciting that
15:28
Speaker 1: probably aren't quite ready.
15:30
Speaker 7: To get to the big leagues yet.
15:31
Speaker 1: Yes, the guys that are always talked about are the
15:33
Speaker 1: Max clarks and Kevin McGonagall in the system. Tyron Loronzo
15:37
Speaker 1: has been really, really good too, But I think there
15:40
Speaker 1: is going to be some tough decisions that have to
15:42
Speaker 1: be made. And now that you've seen guys play in
15:44
Speaker 1: different positions, I don't know if if depth's quite the issue.
15:48
Speaker 1: Like you've seen a Hobby Baya's play shortstop obviously, and
15:52
Speaker 1: when he's in center field, you've got Tray Sweeney who's
15:54
Speaker 1: playing an excellent shortstop and he's been hitting like crazy too.
15:57
Speaker 1: And then Zach McKinstry just filled in at short the
16:00
Speaker 1: other day and he made some fantastic.
16:02
Speaker 7: Plays over there.
16:03
Speaker 1: So when you look positionally, the Tigers just have so
16:05
Speaker 1: many players that can be moved to different spots that
16:08
Speaker 1: that's where their depth really comes from. And I think
16:11
Speaker 1: the guys that were not going to see as much
16:13
Speaker 1: of once we're a fully healthy roster. They might be
16:16
Speaker 1: in Toledo and they're going to be ready to go
16:18
Speaker 1: whenever they need to get the call up to.
16:21
Speaker 6: Danielle. What's different with Torkleson.
16:23
Speaker 5: I mean, this is the guy they thought when they
16:25
Speaker 5: drafted him one to one, right, and he came in
16:28
Speaker 5: with all the hype.
16:28
Speaker 6: But what's really different about him?
16:30
Speaker 5: Because if you watch him, I mean, maybe some plate discipline,
16:33
Speaker 5: but he looks the same.
16:34
Speaker 6: He's standing the same, he's swinging the same.
16:36
Speaker 1: Is it just a competition and his stance is actually
16:39
Speaker 1: very different.
16:40
Speaker 7: That's one thing that's been working in the off season.
16:43
Speaker 1: So he was standing very wide last year and he
16:46
Speaker 1: kind of narrowed his stance, staggered his feet a little bit,
16:49
Speaker 1: and he calls it a more athletic stance where he
16:52
Speaker 1: feels like he can get to the ball faster, he
16:54
Speaker 1: has a better view of the pitches coming in, he's
16:56
Speaker 1: able to work at bats a little bit better. But
16:58
Speaker 1: he's made his swing a little more athletic, and he
17:02
Speaker 1: talks about that a lot, just how that's really helped
17:04
Speaker 1: him with his timing and get back to feeling like
17:06
Speaker 1: the hitter that he was in college.
17:08
Speaker 7: Because we didn't see that.
17:10
Speaker 1: Through his first stretch in the big leagues, and then
17:12
Speaker 1: he was able to make those adjustments in the offseason
17:14
Speaker 1: and now he feels very consistent, very confident, and like
17:18
Speaker 1: what he's doing now is really working.
17:19
Speaker 5: For him, Okay, because it's hard, I mean his hands
17:22
Speaker 5: and everything. It's hard to see his feet every day.
17:25
Speaker 1: So if you want to take a look at it,
17:27
Speaker 1: if you can look at like a side by side
17:29
Speaker 1: of his stance from last year and what he's doing
17:31
Speaker 1: now with his feet, it's just.
17:32
Speaker 7: A little bit more. It does really look more athletic.
17:35
Speaker 1: Like he described it as, last year, he was just
17:37
Speaker 1: a little bit too wide and it was causing him
17:40
Speaker 1: to not be able to get to certain pitches or
17:43
Speaker 1: where the bat was hitting the barrel. Was a little
17:45
Speaker 1: bit different just because of how his swing was coming
17:47
Speaker 1: through and the way he's standing now feels a lot
17:49
Speaker 1: more comfortable for him, and he's able to see the
17:52
Speaker 1: ball better and make better contact and feels more athletic
17:54
Speaker 1: in the box.
17:56
Speaker 4: Tommy Kainley, what does that nut job who is a
17:59
Speaker 4: huge friend of mine, friend of the show, what has
18:02
Speaker 4: he changed about a bullpen that essentially it was terror
18:06
Speaker 4: scouble and what they call it pitching chaos.
18:09
Speaker 3: No that yeah, that's chaos.
18:12
Speaker 4: Just you just go out and like, what is Tommy
18:14
Speaker 4: Kinley besides the fact that his life is chaos? Changed
18:17
Speaker 4: about that bullpen, Well.
18:20
Speaker 1: The Tigers love to have different looks in their bullpen,
18:23
Speaker 1: and Tommy Kainlee, it is incredible what he can do
18:25
Speaker 1: with the change up. I knew when he was signed
18:28
Speaker 1: reading about him what he was able to do in
18:30
Speaker 1: New York that he mostly used the change up, but
18:32
Speaker 1: it's pretty spectacular that he can get out there and
18:34
Speaker 1: hitters know he's going to throw the change up and
18:36
Speaker 1: they still can't hit it. So he's added some a
18:40
Speaker 1: little bit more stability, a little bit more veteran presence.
18:42
Speaker 1: He just hit his his ten year service time, so
18:44
Speaker 1: he's really good from that standpoint with some of the
18:47
Speaker 1: younger arms that we have.
18:48
Speaker 7: Coming out of the bullpen. But I actually just talked
18:51
Speaker 7: to Trek's.
18:52
Speaker 1: Scooble about Tommy not too long ago, and Tommy came
18:55
Speaker 1: in for Terrek and Trek's last start, and Tommy Kinlee's
18:59
Speaker 1: change up is something Even Trek Skoogle, who has one
19:02
Speaker 1: of the best changeups I've ever seen, says he's dialed
19:06
Speaker 1: in watching Tommy Cainley pinch. Whether it's the metrics or
19:09
Speaker 1: the way that the ball's coming out of his hand,
19:11
Speaker 1: or his mechanics, whatever it is, He's dialed watching something
19:15
Speaker 1: when Tommy Kinley comes into the game. So I think
19:17
Speaker 1: that just says a lot about the level that he
19:20
Speaker 1: pitches at. And for a reliever that throws, I think
19:22
Speaker 1: it's over eighty percent change up.
19:24
Speaker 7: It's pretty spectacular.
19:25
Speaker 1: So he adds a little bit of versatility into the
19:27
Speaker 1: bullpen and the fact that he can he gets guys
19:30
Speaker 1: out with just one pitch, and that veteran presence too.
19:33
Speaker 1: I know that that sounds a little cliche, but I
19:35
Speaker 1: think it means a lot to a team that is
19:36
Speaker 1: really young.
19:39
Speaker 2: Sometimes we get the asks for lightweight hoodies and I'm like, uh,
19:42
Speaker 2: they exist. They're awesome at roeback without a doubt, comfort, lightweight, durability.
19:48
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20:06
Speaker 2: go check out rowback. Okay, we're gushing. I picked this
20:11
Speaker 2: team to have the best record in the American League,
20:13
Speaker 2: so we're on the same page. But it's early. Tell
20:16
Speaker 2: me where the concern level is. When you have combos
20:19
Speaker 2: with aj Hinch. I'm sure he says, hold up, hold
20:21
Speaker 2: up this part of the team I'm concerned about.
20:24
Speaker 1: So where are we at, aj Hinschit doesn't speak like that,
20:29
Speaker 1: I'm telling you right now. When you hear him say
20:31
Speaker 1: he focuses on today's game, he really does, and he
20:35
Speaker 1: will do whatever it takes to win that game. I
20:37
Speaker 1: don't know if you saw the doubleheader in Colorado last week,
20:40
Speaker 1: but he brought up Brewer Hicklin to play in the
20:43
Speaker 1: outfield just for that game because he knew he could
20:45
Speaker 1: get his guys a little bit of rest before we
20:48
Speaker 1: had to fly back to Detroit and play Texas the
20:50
Speaker 1: next day. So he's always strategically thinking about ways that
20:53
Speaker 1: he's going to win that specific game. And even if
20:57
Speaker 1: you ask him about having the best record in the
20:59
Speaker 1: American League, he's going to tell you that they're focused
21:01
Speaker 1: on today. And I think he really has put that
21:04
Speaker 1: mindset into all of his players and that's why they
21:06
Speaker 1: are where they are right now. That's why they went
21:09
Speaker 1: on that run that they did at the end of
21:11
Speaker 1: the season. Of course, everybody's always like, we're fairly healthy
21:15
Speaker 1: right now. We've been able to get through some of
21:16
Speaker 1: the major injuries that happened in the spring. The rotation's
21:19
Speaker 1: fairly healthy right now. Casey Miis is on the fifteen dayil.
21:23
Speaker 1: But you look at that and you know that things
21:24
Speaker 1: are going to come up throughout the season. So I think,
21:27
Speaker 1: aside from just looking at depth and making sure you
21:30
Speaker 1: have guys in the right spots, that would be where
21:32
Speaker 1: the biggest concern is. Jack Flaherty hasn't been pitching the
21:35
Speaker 1: way that we know he can pitch, so I think
21:37
Speaker 1: there's some work there for him to be done.
21:39
Speaker 7: But right now things seem to be.
21:41
Speaker 1: Really going well for the Tigers, and you have guys
21:43
Speaker 1: playing every day like Zach McKinstry. He's always been a
21:46
Speaker 1: big example of somebody who's never played this type of
21:49
Speaker 1: role on a major league team. He hasn't been in
21:51
Speaker 1: the lineup every single day, So just making sure that
21:54
Speaker 1: you're getting him used to that physically is another thing
21:57
Speaker 1: that we hear a lot about.
21:59
Speaker 7: So for now.
22:00
Speaker 1: I mean they're firing on all cylinders, and I know
22:02
Speaker 1: that probably isn't going to happen for the entire season.
22:04
Speaker 1: And I know they think that that probably isn't going
22:06
Speaker 1: to happen for the entire season. But they've always found
22:09
Speaker 1: ways to fill the gaps when it's needed. I mean,
22:11
Speaker 1: we brought up pitching chaos already. The Tigers had two
22:14
Speaker 1: starting pitchers, two true starters when they went into that
22:17
Speaker 1: stretch last year and ultimately made a playoff run.
22:20
Speaker 7: So I don't think they look at it like that.
22:22
Speaker 1: I think they know there's going to be challenges that
22:24
Speaker 1: come up, but this team has been really, really good
22:26
Speaker 1: at figuring out how to deal with them.
22:29
Speaker 5: Danielle, what can they add? Because I think we all
22:32
Speaker 5: are in agreement that this team should make the playoffs
22:34
Speaker 5: and schooball Flaarty, whether it's mis Olsen whoever, the third
22:38
Speaker 5: guy is, fourth guy, and that rotation is.
22:40
Speaker 6: But who can they add? Do they need a reliever?
22:43
Speaker 6: Do they need another bat?
22:46
Speaker 1: They'll always look for arms. I think I don't think
22:49
Speaker 1: you can ever have enough.
22:50
Speaker 5: Pitch every team, though, So I mean like saying they
22:53
Speaker 5: need arm, that's like, well, I need another arm everybody.
22:55
Speaker 1: That's what everybody does, right, And I'm the Tigers were
22:58
Speaker 1: pretty open about looking for right handed bitters during the
23:02
Speaker 1: offseason two and Glaber Torres has filled that role pretty
23:04
Speaker 1: well for the Tigers. He's done a good job, he
23:06
Speaker 1: puts together great at bats, and he's a veteran presence too.
23:09
Speaker 1: But I think that's something that Scott Harris is probably
23:13
Speaker 1: still going to look at as this team gets stronger
23:15
Speaker 1: and if they do start to make a run trade
23:18
Speaker 1: deadline approaches, what exactly are they looking to add. They
23:21
Speaker 1: might need some outfield depth if these guys don't get
23:23
Speaker 1: back and healthy, so that's something you can look at.
23:25
Speaker 1: Manuel Margo is still a part of this organization too.
23:28
Speaker 1: The Tigers added him late after some of those outfield injuries,
23:31
Speaker 1: so he's down in Toledo. But I definitely think that
23:34
Speaker 1: they'll tell you, like you said, they always need arms.
23:36
Speaker 1: That might be the cliche answer, but you'll always want
23:39
Speaker 1: arms to shure up that pitching rotation because the Tiger's
23:42
Speaker 1: pitching is If they can have that locked in and
23:45
Speaker 1: they can score the amount of runs that they have
23:47
Speaker 1: or even less, they're still in a pretty good spot.
23:50
Speaker 1: So I think that will be where they're looking at.
23:52
Speaker 1: But we've still got quite a bit of time until
23:54
Speaker 1: that happens, so you never know what could happen between
23:56
Speaker 1: now and the deadline or now if there is a
23:59
Speaker 1: trade that wants to be made, there's still some time
24:02
Speaker 1: to figure that out. And I think I've learned a
24:04
Speaker 1: lot about baseball in the past couple of years and
24:06
Speaker 1: knowing that if you're looking that far ahead already, you
24:09
Speaker 1: have no idea who's going to be healthy or what
24:11
Speaker 1: the roster is going to look like exactly at that point,
24:13
Speaker 1: So making those decisions this early would be a little crazy,
24:16
Speaker 1: especially when the team is playing that the way that
24:18
Speaker 1: they're playing.
24:19
Speaker 7: They do have some talent within. I think it's real.
24:21
Speaker 7: We're quarter of the way through the season.
24:23
Speaker 2: Danielle, are great to have you on. Thank you for
24:25
Speaker 2: the time. This was really good, And I like how
24:27
Speaker 2: you said real at the end of your last answer,
24:29
Speaker 2: because that's what Danielle has behind her, and we have fake.
24:35
Speaker 1: We need to send you guys a real plant, like
24:37
Speaker 1: what the heck come on.
24:39
Speaker 7: The problem is.
24:43
Speaker 2: We are not very mature, we are not very respect
24:46
Speaker 2: to yourself, we are not very around, so it would
24:50
Speaker 2: not do well no one would you're on the road
24:53
Speaker 2: a little bit. How would you do with a plant
24:55
Speaker 2: in here?
24:55
Speaker 6: I don't want to plan here.
24:56
Speaker 5: I have my plan right, he likes Scott took my
24:59
Speaker 5: plan Awaydaniella, Well, now he took.
25:02
Speaker 4: Away the show.
25:04
Speaker 2: Thanks for watching step Brothers.
25:05
Speaker 6: Danielle. Great to have you on, Thanks for the time.
25:08
Speaker 7: Thank you guys, appreciate you.
25:10
Speaker 2: Make sure you catch Danielle of course on Twitter, giver
25:12
Speaker 2: or follow, but also on the Tiger broadcast. That broadcast
25:15
Speaker 2: is awesome, by the way, your boy Benetti on there.
25:18
Speaker 2: They do a great job and we've got Tiger territory.
25:22
Speaker 2: Karen Steckley, Cody David Hagen who covers the team for
25:24
Speaker 2: the Athletic and does an awesome job. Plus Austin Jackson
25:27
Speaker 2: who's bringing the heat. Check out that show. Wherever you
25:30
Speaker 2: get your pods? Want to pop this tweet in here
25:33
Speaker 2: from Red Sox Stats. Detroit broadcast opens talking about how
25:36
Speaker 2: Splitter being awful and with weird sinker location alrighties first
25:40
Speaker 2: two batters of the game, terrible Splitter smoked sinker to
25:42
Speaker 2: a lrighty in the hot spot, crushed for a home run.
25:45
Speaker 2: Detroit well schooled. Yeah, Hawks had a couple of good ones,
25:48
Speaker 2: but he's had some real clunkers so far this season.
25:51
Speaker 2: So teams that can smack it have a good game
25:54
Speaker 2: plan against him. Right now, Yeah, no, nothing there.
26:00
Speaker 5: You want to throw it. That's where kind of where
26:01
Speaker 5: you want to throw it. If you're throwing a splinker
26:02
Speaker 5: to alrighty. Like I don't know if his is a
26:04
Speaker 5: true split, but like if it's, I'm I don't watching
26:07
Speaker 5: pitch that much, so I'm just going off generalities here,
26:10
Speaker 5: But if he if he usually it goes like this
26:12
Speaker 5: right to a righty, so we go down and in. Well,
26:14
Speaker 5: if you throw your sinker down and in you wanted
26:16
Speaker 5: to come on the same plane, it would makes sense.
26:19
Speaker 5: Like if you're going right on right change, you want
26:21
Speaker 5: to throw it in. You don't want to throw the
26:22
Speaker 5: changeup away because the hitter sees it in, they get
26:25
Speaker 5: excited and then they swing it early.
26:27
Speaker 2: Generally actually craps. From what I know, it's not the
26:29
Speaker 2: problem against Righty's for how I think Lefty's torch him.
26:34
Speaker 4: They were, But his issue is the slider. Nothing's going
26:39
Speaker 4: the opposite way. That's what he feasted on last year.
26:41
Speaker 4: He did an amazing job of that, Like whatever the
26:44
Speaker 4: differential was, I think his differential was like one of
26:46
Speaker 4: the best in the league. Like I don't know how
26:48
Speaker 4: many inches it was, but the difference where sinker and
26:52
Speaker 4: slider started the same spot and they just look the
26:56
Speaker 4: exact same. He's not throwing the slider for strikes. So yeah,
26:59
Speaker 4: any thing in they're able to hit it. But to
27:02
Speaker 4: me that that heat map does in like I bet
27:06
Speaker 4: your your overlie of everybody's heat map with the same
27:08
Speaker 4: type of stuff from this arm angle out here would
27:11
Speaker 4: probably be very similar. They just have to They just
27:14
Speaker 4: can sit on it though it needs to get the
27:16
Speaker 4: slider in the zone more