Latest / Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast / The Javy Baez Magical Run Continues With Walk-Off vs. Boston

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The Javy Baez Magical Run Continues With Walk-Off vs. Boston · Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, Welcome into another episode a Tiger's Territory, part of
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Network, a Detroit Tiger's podcast. I'm Kieren
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Steckley with me as always as a man who was
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: a witness to magic. He is Cody David Hagen.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: How you doing, Kieren?
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: Did?
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Was that the most exciting Tigers game of the year
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: so far?
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: That was the that felt like the most significant Tigers
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: game that didn't have any actual implications that I can
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: remember in a long time, Like, Wow, that's how far
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: I'll go.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I think we I mean, yeah, I guess how you
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: do you define implications? Because there were some games last
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: you know, September that I guess did have implications that
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: were amazing. And we've seen some good ones already this year,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: but I don't think there was one as just outright
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: dramatic as that. You're playing the Red Sox, Alex Bregman
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: is getting booed, Hobby Bias, it's a go ahead, Homer,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: It's a great story, and then it all gets ruined.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Except yeah, battle back. The Gritty Tigs don't quit. They
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: go to eleven innings. Guess who comes up again? Two
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: runners on Javier almgo Baiez and just like we all predicted,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: he's the most electric player in baseball. Like it's twenty
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: eighteen or twenty nineteen or something. Walk off Homer to
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Homer game for Hobby continues to be an absolutely incredible story.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: The ex velocities thing still doesn't make any sense. Man,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: it's improbable it's his greatest magic act yet. But maybe
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: former ball players like Austin Jackson knows something, because this
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: dude just keeps finding ways to contribute, keeps coming up
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: in big moments. This has been probably the most nonsensical
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: storyline I can remember covering, and yet it's also been
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: like one of the most fun things I've watched in
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: my time covering baseball things.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Uh, today's game is really going to be the focus
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: of what we talked about. We had plans to go
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: into the fourteenth to two and Jackson job and respect
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: to that game, which was probably like the best the
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Tigers have played, you know, in a long long time.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: So with respect to that, we'll we'll get to that
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: later in the week. Today just like was like gravity,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: It just sucked everything out, Like I literally had to
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: scrap everything to be like, all right, we're just going
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: We're just going Tuesday basically only because there's we originally
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: were going to talk about pitching chaos, and pitching chaos
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: did occur. However, it's it was just chaos, period, is
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: what is what this game was for the reasons that
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: that that you laid out uh aj Hinch made all
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: the right moves that turned out to be the wrong moves,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: you know, with with the pitching situation, which was kind
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: of funny, and then the moves that he did or
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: didn't make, leaving mckinstrey in there against as essentially a
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: sacrificial lamb in order to get him into uh I
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: assumed this was part of the three day three D
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Chatz is like, you get to the next inning, then
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: he's gonna be on second base? Do you have one
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: of your best runners in there? And it's like there's
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: like all these little things that that we're gonna forget,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: and I don't want to forget them, so I kind
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: of want to get them off the top here so
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: that we don't forget him. Later in the podcast, be
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: like wait, wait, wait wait, Riley Green spectacular spectacular diving
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: catch and left field today, Jase doing a lot of
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: the little things still waiting for that big main thing,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: but doing a lot of the little things, uh that
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: that contributed that they don't win this game without Jase Young.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: That's just fact.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, I want to talk about that real quick, like
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: for as much as this is the Hobby Bayas game
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: is probably defining game as a Detroit Tiger, it's a
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: defining Tigers game, and that they do not win that
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: without Chase Young, who is just going through it at
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: the plate man He's just struggling. He's having a hard time,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: but Jace doesn't like he's probably gonna go down to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: the minor league soon. And yet Jase comes up and
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: he you know, grinds what seven to eight pitches, then
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: gets hit to get a rennund base to set up
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Hobby's first homer. He makes a terrific play running to
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: catch a ball over his shoulder in foul territory. Even
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: in extras like he fields a tough ground ball and
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: the Tigers getting out they didn't turn a double play.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: But you know, a year ago, does Jase Young make
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: that play at all? Or does that ball go into
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: left field and boom game over a big hit in
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: extra innings, you know, stayed with his approach, tough at bat,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: hits a line drive single. Talk to Jase the other day.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I liked his perspective. He brought up, you know, Derek
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Jeter's Michigan commencement speech talking about failure. We Jase is
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: getting a big dose of failure right now, and I
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: don't know if it's gonna turn around. I'm a little
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: concerned about him at the plate and beat time and
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: time again. But man, talk about having the right attitude.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: You talk about believing the whole culture and kindistry thing
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: that I've I've kind of made fun of over the years.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: Jase Young tonight terrific example.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: For sure, for sure, no doubt about that. And aj
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Hinch did a great job post game of pointing out
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: all those things because they are true and they are
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: worth mentioning. Another small storyline, Alex Bregman hit a home
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: run in America, carried the bullpen and left field. It's
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: not impossible, just saying uh, and.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: He's said it time and time again, exactly special.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Torrelson hit a home run number ten on the year, right,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Is that is that correct? Or? Is it eleven?
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Eleven?
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Eleven? Yeah, eleven? Sorry, excuse me, tork eleventh.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Home run on us more than he had all of
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: last year. Yes, and what timeline are we living in?
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Exactly? Exactly And also a small little thing. This was
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: the first time I was gonna tweet this out. I
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: wanted to save it for the podcast. The first time
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: in Tray Sweeney's major league career that he batted sixth
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: in the order. Why I made note of that before
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the game, and he just so happens to come up
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: with two outs in the tenth with the runner on
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: second and deliver the game time. Bas knock little things, man,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: those little things, Those little things. You just never know
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: how it's gonna play out. Obviously, it's a very random thing,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: but something I knowed beforehand, and it played out there too.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: So Tray Sweeney, we haven't really talked about him a ton.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Last time we talked about him, we were like, man,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: he's struggling. Could he be a dark like? Could he
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: be a dark worse candidate? To get sitting down? Dude's
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: picked it up. This guy's been hot. It's got a
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: little pop in the bat, validating you know, the Tiger's
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: decision to trade for him, validating their faith and sticking
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: with him right now. It don't look like Tray Sweeney's
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: going down anytime soon. If ever, he's he's clicking.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: You're right, And again another storyline that we're gonna have
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: to get to that we just don't have. That we
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: just don't. We just can't out of respect to what
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: we just witnessed. But I did have one overarching Javier
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Hovey bias thought Cody, that I'm gonna get to after
• 7:17
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• 8:23
  Speaker 1: All right, coming back here. Yeah, I said a lot
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: of time to think about what I was gonna say
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: about Hobby or Bias, how far I wanted to go,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: and I think I landed on one fascion Cody that
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: I feel very comfortable saying this in mid May, Hobby
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Bias is the Detroit Tigers MVP. He is their most
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: valuable player. He is not their best player, he's not
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: their most outstanding player, but he is their most valuable player. Now,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: how you define value, there's a lot of ways to
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: do that. One of them could be his war right,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: that's kind of a value stat. Well, he leads the
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: team among position players in war and he's a hair
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: behind Trek Scoogle one point seven to one. Point nine
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: entering today, So there's some value there, I would say.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: And then if you look at where he ranks among
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: center fielders in the American League, he leads center fielders
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: in the American League and RBI, he is second in HISS,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: he's second in doubles, type for fifth in home runs,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: and he would be up there on the averages, but
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: he doesn't quite qualify yet. Chances are he's going to
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: get there, but he is among the best center fielders
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: in baseball. Defensively, he is worth two outs above average
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: right now. And by the way, if he was playing
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: third base, he'd be worth two outs above average there
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: as well. So I think he's kind of he hasn't
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: had to do it for the hot corner, I would argue.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: With his bat the way it is right now, he's
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: kind of saved two positions for the Tigers based on
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: what what what what the roster was coming into the
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: season with the Virling, Wentzel and Parker injuries right now.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: To mention, he's also saved Riley Green's back kind of
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: literally one hundred percent metaphorically with having the keeping him
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: out of out of playing center field. And he's also
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: become like the face of this, like the leading Tigers,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Like the grit stuff is good and and and and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: that that was that that still remains, the twenty seven
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: out stuff like still remains. But now you're the leading
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: American League team. So he is the guy that they're
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: talking about on TBS Pedro Martinez, Jimmy Rawlins, Exter Fowler.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: They're doing three game segments about what has gone on
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: with with with Hobby Baias because he has kind of
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: made the Tigers cool, like, you know, like they're like
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: people around baseball respect they're good. But but when Hobby
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: is doing Hobby things, he's made them cool again for
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: the for the national audience, if that makes sense.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: That's actually a great point.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: And so like he's he's in a way a little
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: like one of the faces of the team right now,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: which is obviously what you paid him for when you
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: when you signed him to that deal, you know, four
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: years ago, but that's not what you really got and
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: certainly not and he wasn't even a part of the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: gritty Tigs run into the postseason, right So, but now
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: the Tigers are one of the best teams in baseball,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: and Hobby or Bay is this performing like one of
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: the better players in the sport. So he's a team
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: that opinion.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: No, you're you're right. I mean, I think he's literally
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: the team MVP the War figures. You know, we're recording
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: this very late at night. They haven't even updated yet.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: We're gonna wake up and he's probably gonna be a
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: two plus war player. He's probably gonna be leading everyone
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: on the tie, including Trek Scooble. So literally, that's how
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: valuable he has been. You're right, helping them greatly at
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: two positions of need. We can talk about third base
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: maybe on another episode. He actually hasn't been that good
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: in games played there, and the Tigers are struggling at
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: third base. Otherwise, Oh my gosh. Like to your point,
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Hobby Baia's is a very popular player. He is a
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: very famous player, beloved in Chicago, part of the curse
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: breaking cups Puerto Rico. You know, he has everyone in
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Puerto Rico rooting for him. He played briefly in New York,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: has some fans there. When I write about Hobby Bias Kieran,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: those stories get read more than anything else Tigers centric
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: I do. They get read way more than anything I
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: ever did on Miguel Cabrera. He still has a bigger
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: national brand than Trek Scouble or anyone else or the Tigers,
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: like Schoobls maybe just now getting close to that territory.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Hobby Bias. He's on the cover of MLB the Show. Like,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: you know, that sounds kind of silly, but if you
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: do that, you're pretty famous. And you're right in a way,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Hobby playing well is great marketing and exposure for the Tigers.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: What was it all last September? Who are these guys?
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: And they were a great story, But I don't know that.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: You know, my family back home in Texas was getting
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: amped about Bow Briski and Trey Sweeney and like even
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: we've talked about how Riley Green should be more famous
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: than he is. But those just aren't names or even
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: players who have a style that really moves the needle.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Hobby Bias moved the needle and people know who Hobby
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Bias is. And so if the Tigers are going to
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: continue to play this well and be the darlings of
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Major League Baseball, if Hobby Bayas keeps playing this well,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: I think that can go a long way in terms
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: of just like Brandon, getting people to pay attention and
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: maybe even people outside Detroit like becoming fans of the Tigers.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: That's how magnetic he is. And I've always said, like
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: it's always been one of my favorite players to watch.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Well before the Tigers signed him, he's probably top three
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: most electric players in the league. We've seen sometimes we've
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: seen that we haven't seen as much of it so
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: far this year. It's like we've gone back in time.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, like part of what makes this
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: so fun and interesting and makes you believe in the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: S word in this case is that he's doing it
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. Now, we like we're gonna talk.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: We're talking after a game in which he had two
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: three run home runs. We obviously know that, like the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: power is more behind him than in front of him.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: We all acknowledge that. However, like he does. You know,
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: we're gonna acknowledge the power because he had two hour
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: runs today. So but like on Monday, he's kind of
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: saw and off hits and just kind of doing enough.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Did the exit velo like you know, screw that, you
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: know type situations. The defense we all know speaks for itself.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: The highlights are amazing. And then today not to get lost,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Like I should have mentioned earlier about things not to
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: get lost. He scores a run because he makes the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: heads up baseball play on the backpick attempt at third
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: base and runs inside the baseline legal by the way,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: and causes an Aaron throw. Scores a run. Obviously, you
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: know the game goes in extras. That seems pretty key
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: as well. So like, there's not an element to his
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: game that is not contributing to the Tigers being the
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: best team in the American League, one of the best
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: teams in the American League. What are all the numbers
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: that we bring up all the time to basically be like, yes,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: this team is not no fluke. It's like all these
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: offensive numbers. We'll look at his offensive numbers. They're not
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: winning twenty eight games without hobby or bias. There's not yeah,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and and that and and that's and that says nothing
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: about the intangible stuff that that that you mentioned about,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: like how much the players love him, how much it
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: does for uh for the culture. And you know, aj
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Hinch brought this up today post game, and I think
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: it's worth mentioning a little bit. Is that not every
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: guy of his stature is going to play a new position,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: and I would say fewer of that category of people
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: are going to play a very difficult position in center
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: field for the first time as a professional ballplayers. I
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: don't know if he did it in the minors, but
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: uh as major league players. So that sort of like
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: team first, unselfish and stuff that is cliche that gets
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: thrown out a lot, probably more so than it really
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: is worthy of it, Like this is a case where
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: one hundred percent applies to it, and age brought up
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: saying like, yeah, it's easy to get some twenty three,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: twenty four year old. He's just trying to be in
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: the major leagues to do what we ask. It's a
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: lot harder to do the guy that's got a guaranteed contract,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: that's gonna that that that that check goes out no
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: matter what position he plays, and what is enthusiasm is
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: for it. But he's actually doing all these things, and
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: that part can't be understated as well.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Let's look at the opposing dogout, Karen. Everyone knows what's
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: going on with Rafei Aldvers. Look, I think Alex cor
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: is a really good manager. I think I assume the
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Red Sox have a lot of good things culturally going
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: for them. It seemed like there's a lot of talk
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: about that in spring training, but right now it's kind
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: of a train wreck of drama over there. They're a
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: good team and maybe they're not. Their record currently is
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: not as good as it should be, and clearly there's
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: some friction in that clubhouse or between players in the
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: front office, or players and ownership, or I know all
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: the dynamics, but I know they have a player who
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: doesn't want to change positions. Meanwhile, Haavey Bias has never
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: played a single inning and center field in the major
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: leagues in his life, and it's a little different because
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: he keeps talking about how he's always like dreamed of
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: doing it. But this is why he tried to hammer
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: her home in spring training. Like, I had zero expectations
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: for Havey Bias, but I thought it was compelling and
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: kind of important that he seemed energized in spring that
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: he seemed willing to do different things, that he was
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: not isolated. In fact, he seemed to be interacting with
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: his teammates, and he has his kids around more, and
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: he just seems like more upbeat than ever before. That
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: has translated into him doing whatever the Tigers have asked,
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: had a lot of fun doing it. I think he's
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: learned some lessons good and bad throughout his career and
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: the ups and the downs. He said, you know in
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: the clubhouse Tuesday night, Like I've tried to tell these guys,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: make sure you enjoy it. Sometimes you look back and
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: you think, oh, I should have enjoyed that more. I
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: should have done this differently, can you. I try to
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: remind myself of this job, like I get to see
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: some cool things I don't always enjoyed in the moment,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: so I'm stressed out, I'm worried about work. So that
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: that's like good perspective to hear from Hobvey Bias, who's
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: probably felt that on a level none of us can
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: even fathom. Yeah, I think that is a credit to
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: a j Henshik, credits to the Tigers, and probably more
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: than anything, a credit to Hovey Bias just for having
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: that attitude and kind of accepting where he's at in
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: his career.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And we're gonna and there's there's another sort
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: of like low hanging fruit that I think is absolutely
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: worthy that I that I want to discuss. But first
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  Speaker 1: All right. You know, I was trying to see if
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: I could come up with some sort of or you know,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: multi sport analogy. I've done the Russell Westbrook thing before
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: and I still think that holds pretty true. But but
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: you know what it also is, Cody. It also is
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a metaphor of the city, the
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: hobby or bias situation.
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: Uh.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Like I don't want to like hammer his home and
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: make some Diet drive about it, because again, like that's
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: another national thing that can kind of be cliched but true.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: But like, this is a guy that was literally counted out,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: like Present company included Like like I would say that team,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: like if you look at how they talked about hobby
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: during the off season, it was kind of like we
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: got to figure out how to get the most out
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of hobby. This is surprising to everybody, but it's a
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: comeback that that is still real. Uh and and and
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: so like like the embrace that he is has been
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: getting in you know after tonight will continue to get
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: is gonna be as authentic as hell, and you're not
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: probably gonna make a Netflix documentary about it like they
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: did Trey Turner. But at the same time, like like
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: this is it's real, It's real, like I could like
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: the people will respond to you in this way when
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: you when you, when you give out as much as
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: he cares and produces like he has and has been
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: the same person throughout, which again is another thing I
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: think he deserves credful.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I mean, it's amazing. I don't I don't
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: want to dive too deep into the numbers, but I'm
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: sitting here looking at these numbers. Again, we don't have
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: to listen them all off. You guys, go look at
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: the stat cast page. It's blue. Man, he's the chase
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: rate has gone up, it's back above forty percent. None
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: of this indicates he should continue having success, But here
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: he is. And you kind of mentioned this a while
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: back here, and like, I don't know, I think I
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: think one of the things were maybe doesn't fully encapsulate.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Let's say Hobby Bayas does terrible from today one and
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: he's going to finish the season with like zero point
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: four war or something. I don't know. Man, the Tigers
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: have already won like four games that they don't win
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: without Hobby Baias, Like that maybe will not fully be
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: reflected in whatever happens from here. It's interesting this guy
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: was minus six run value against sliders last year. The
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: one thing Dan Dickerson mentioned this to say, he is
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: seeing less sliders that might be somewhat strategic for when
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: he is playing and pitchers he is playing against. But
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: also he's like playing every day now, so I don't
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: know why he's he's not seeing as many sliders. His
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: swing rate is still slightly the lowest of his career,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: so he is swinging less often. But there's nothing else
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: in his metrics that really presents a huge change other
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: than the bat speed's actually down. I think that tells
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: you he's cut down on his swing, but he's literally
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: not making contact at a higher rate than last year.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Like it doesn't you so you can I don't know.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: I'm staring at this and I don't know, trying to
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: make sense of it. Still not incredibly optimistic that Hobby's
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: going to I mean, right now, he's playing at an
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: all star pace. He's he's probably get MVP votes. You know,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: I don't know that that's going to continue, but I
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: guess I'm I'm done even trying to project it now
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: because this is this is just fun, man, this is
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: just cool. So maybe the hobby lesson, Like I'm just
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: kind of trying to enjoy it.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know there's you know, speaking of lessons
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: that I was trying to think of lessons that we
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: can you know, glean from this, and and one of
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: them is, yeah, sometimes a ballplayer is a ballplayer like that,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: that that will that it might not ring true to
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the extent that we're seeing, but that might be something
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: that we just have to remember with all these like
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: little things. And maybe there's like a point in a
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: time where it adds up to you know, forty plus
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: games into a season. You're at one, you're at two more.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: You know, maybe maybe it's just one of those things
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: that can happen. We just don't recognize it enough. Number one.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Number two, you never you never really know if a
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: guy is all the way there physically, and maybe for
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the past couple of years, you know, I always gave
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: him credit for playing every day, and he obviously plays hard,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: you know, that's just who he is. Like may maybe
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: he really was just like whatever percentage of himself like
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and now we're getting closer to what he could be
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: as a thirty plus year old, you know, middle infielders
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: slash slash center fielder, and and and this is the
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: and this is what we're seeing. This is the result.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Yea, that's another thing too, Kieran. I think, gosh, it
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: was already two off seasons go. But I kind of
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: did a dive, like, is there any historical precedent for
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: a player to be this bad and then return and
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: be good? And I don't remember every example I looked up.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Basically the answer was kind of no, like, if he
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: continues playing this well, it will be unprecedented, or at
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: least anyone else who did that, it was known. They
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: were like battling a major injury, and like you know,
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: it came back from that. So maybe that that now
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: does factor into the Hobby story a little bit more.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: If any of you guys out there can think of
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: an example of a player who was literally as bad
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: as Hobby was and then bounce back, I'm talking for
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: a multi year period, let me know, off the top
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: of my head, I can't think of anyone, and I did.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: I have researched it a little bit before in the past,
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: and there are a couple examples, like Pablo Sandoval a
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: little bit, but he right now if Hovey were just
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: staying this level of performance, I'm not sure there's another
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: example you could compare it to.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: I too tried to look at some examples, and I'm
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: not even gonna say it, because they were so bad.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: I'd be like, oh, what about this person? And then
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I look it up. I was like, no, the lows
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: weren't nearly as low. And then it was a lot
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: more steady than you know, throughout than than what I remember,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: and so it is pretty unprecedented. It's fine to enjoy it,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: while at last it's fine to recognize that, you know,
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: like you know, the question was post post games, should
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: you move them up in the order, and AJ is like,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: I don't I do anything. It is also important to
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: note that like this is he could be like kind
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: of the public face of the team and not be
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: the guy that is relied upon, like to be the
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: the heart of the order. You know, like it's okay,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: it's okay, all those things are okay, and it's okay.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: To yeah, we wouldn't. I wouldn't touch him in the
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: batting order. What what's happening? I was working and a
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: change for easing years. You have some really other good
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: some really good other hitters in the top of your order,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: like you don't you don't eat too And we don't.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Have to spend a whole lot of time on this here,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: but like why is why is why the Tigers the
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: best team in the American League. Maybe it's goes the
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: bottom of their order.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: A lot to do with it. Hitters at the top
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: there were like they I think still lead in the
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: most pitches seen in the first innings of games. I'm
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: not sure. I think bumping Hobby up in the order
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: might hurt you a little bit there, you know, like
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: a glabor like god, he just like they make guys
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: earn it in the first inning and and really from
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: there onwing out. And if you have a Hobby who
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: although generally speaking is that bats are a little bit
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: better this year, like he's still not going to go
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: up there and go six seven pitches very often. You know,
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: when you have other guys doing that throughout the order,
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: maybe that somehow, somehow helps Hobby buys and just just
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: be able to be himself to play.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and and and so not to mention, you know,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: like I said, the Sweeney aspect of it, Dingler done
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: well at the play it obviously like the back the
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: back half of the lineup in this gritty run, you
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: kind of like held your breath a little bit. Mckinstrey
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: would be a guy that you'd be like, you know,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: last season and then now now he's patting three hole.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Uh So, like it's just there's a million stories. Hobby
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: is the coolest one. It's not it's not really about
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: like the Beast or you know whatever, but he's just
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: the coolest one because because he's Hobby and and Matt
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Erling's killing it Toledo. We'll see what that looks like
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: whenever that move is made. Jake Rogers also killed it
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: today of Jason Foley. Unfortunately his season's over with surgery.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: These are things that we'll expand upon, uh in our
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: next episode, because we just had we just had to
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: be we just had to allow ourselves late on it
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Tuesday night early Wednesday morning to be prisoners of the moment.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: So anything else Cody wanted to add before we.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: Get out of here, No, No, I think that's good.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: I think that's the appropriate discussion for this episode. And
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: we will catch you guys next time. We'll talk about
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: a lot more.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: All right, Hope you guys enjoyed that game. I certainly
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: did one of the more memorable games that I can remember,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: in one that I won't soon forget. You can follow
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: us on x formally known as Twitter at Cody Stavenhagen.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: I'm at Kieran Underscore Steckley Pop page at Tiger Territory Underscore, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: You guys on a deal like subscribe five su review
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: if it feels so inclined. We appreciate all of you,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: so for Cody Stavenhagen, I'm Keeran Steckley. Everybody, have great day.