Latest / Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast / Colt Keith, Justin Verlander & More Tigers Takeaways From Opening Weekend

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Colt Keith, Justin Verlander & More Tigers Takeaways From Opening Weekend · Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome into another episode of Tiger Territory. We
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: have ver Helio Castillo with us once again. Raj, how
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: are you doing?
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Doing pretty well? Can't complain?
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, we are going to dive into some takeaways
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: from the Tigers opening series. Since we last talked. We
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: got a win and a loss and overall a series
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: victory in San Diego, five to win in Game two
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of that series, and then the finale kind of looked
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: a little too reminiscent of some games we watched last September,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a three to zero loss. Raj, anything right away that
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: stood out to you from this series.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: They're pitching Kevin McGonagall like a veteran.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: And if you look at some of the rookies, like
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: watching the White Sox rookie, the Japanese player there comedy.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: He's already got comedy.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: He's got three home runs already, Chase the Watters already
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: hitting bombs.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: And then Gone was the third best rookie in this
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: division despite a great start to his career.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and they're and they're pitching him like it's
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: like mission impossible kind of thing. And so that was
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: one of the biggest takeaways I had because they the
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Padres have never seen him before, and they acted like
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: they were they acted like he was just like this
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: tanger vet. And then the way the Tigers are Fernando
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: tatist Junior, I thought was the way they pitched them.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: We'll get to flirty in a second, but I thought
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: he had a really good serious defensively in right field.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: He made a really good diving catch. I think it
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: was on Saturday Night. But the Padres are a team
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: that I think can contend in the NL West. Their
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: bullpen is really that good, but they're they're a little
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: bit of a ruster. But Kima impressed with the Padres.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: I'll be really interested to see how the NL West
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: shakes out through this season. You obviously have the behemoth
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: that is the Dodgers. You have the Padres, who have
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: some star power and a really good bullpen, but some
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: uncertainty in their rotation, and despite Tatis and Machado, I'm
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: not sure I love the depth of that roster a ton.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: You have a team like the Giants, who I don't
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: know what to expect and they're not off to a
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: great start. And then you've got the Rockies. You have
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks who are kind of We're about to see
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: them for three days, so we'll see to strike me
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: as another team in the middle between the Padres, Diamondbacks
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and Giants. I don't really know what to expect.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: And you know, Basquez who pitched yesterday, I thought, did
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: really the velocity increase did help? Of course, did you
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: get some generous straight calls? We'll get to it's a
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: little bit as well, but I thought his stuff will
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: played up pretty well, especially on left handers. He was
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: able to get the Tigers to chase um some really
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: nasty pitches.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: He looked really good yesterday.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really interesting. That was a guy who
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: ranked in the bottom one percent of in wifth rate
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: among MLB pitchers. Is a guy who does not miss bats,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: and he came out and got double digit whiffs and
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: what was the seven or eight punch outs against a
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Tigers lineup that had only two hits that entire day.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: We'll break that down a little bit, but since we
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: just talked about it, those two hits, they both came
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: from Cole Keith, of all people, a guy who several
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: people myself included, have been kind of optimistic. Could this
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: be a breakout year? For him in his third MLB season.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: This is a guy who's historically been a slow starter,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: at least in his first two years actually even going
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: back to the minor leagues, kind of started slow at
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: every level, and a big goal for him this year
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: was to get out of the gates a little better.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: So far, he's doing that. He's four for nine. It
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: took him twenty one at bats to get to his
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: fourth hit last season. He also has two walks, two strikeouts.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: But it's already struck me that just visually, his swing
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: looks a little different. It's kind of struggling to put
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: it into words, but I think you mentioned Roches. His
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: stance seems a little more upright. Something about the batpath
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: is different too, and has follow through almost looks like
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: he's cutting himself off. He's a little bit horizontal through
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: the zone maybe, and we'll get to some of the
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: data on that here in a second. But whatever he's doing,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: it's actually working quite well so far. What have you
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: seen and what are you expecting from cold Keith?
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: It looks like today he's looking he's standing deeper in
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: the zone in the batter's box, but he looks very
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: more upright. But that is not a lot more quiet.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: And then though I noticed how to follow through versus
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: kind of like an upper cut, it's more like it
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: looks like a flatter path through the zone, and maybe
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: that's allows allowing him to cover more of the ball.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: The eggs of velocities are really.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Promising too, because that was something that the bat speed
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: and the exit velocities weren't on par for what we're
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: seeing in the minors. They seem more what he wants
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: to do now. And I really think that him also
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: defensively going into the third, going to the third base,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: making that play he made on I think it was Saturday,
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: coming in doing a little job.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: See the bat speed right there is exactly what seems like. Yeah,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: And somebody was talking about this with me about perhaps
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: he's a little deeper in the box, but it just
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: looked he looks more rigid. It's just he's standing almost
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: straight up, or he is standing straight up. It's just
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: almost I can't explain it, but it just looks at
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: his hands a little different when he tilts his bat
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: a little up.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: It is interesting that he does look somewhat rigid, which
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: I don't love. I'd probably like to see him look
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: a little more athletic. But if he's off to a
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: good start, we'll take that. And getting more bat speed
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: in a way is a sign of athleticism. You're right
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: for a big, strong guy. He's never generated great bat
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: speed or great exit velocities. But if you're not watching
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: on YouTube, we have it up on the screen. His
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: average bat speed last year seventy miles per hour so
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: far this year seventy three point eight. That's a pretty
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: noteworthy increase. And then the attack direction in his swing.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: This is a little bit of a small sample. He's
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: been hitting some balls to the pull side, but maybe
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: it speaks to kind of that horizontal path or what
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing visually and has followed through. He's kind of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: cutting it across the zone a little bit more, it
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: seems like to me. So those are gonna be some
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: things for us to watch going forward with Colt. But
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I think just the simple facts, he's off to a
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: nice start, the bat speed is up there, there are
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: some reasons to feel encouraged, some reasons for the people
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: who were picking the cold Keith breakout year to uh
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: to put a feather in their cap at least through
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: all of three games.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think they The power is gonna like we
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: were talking about this with Dylan Niggler the other day,
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: that the power he's gonna naturally run into some based
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: off his swing path. And the padres are very good.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Some of them, like Michael Kane for example, those guys
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: have some really good He was facing some really good pinchings.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, King's really good and the bullpen is
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: really good.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: So their Zona series, they don't have any lefties in
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: their pen at all, so it'll be interested. This is
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: a chance for Keith to really kind of show and
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: he's already familiar with Arizona playing out there. I think
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: he grew up playing out there, so this will be
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: a good opportunity for him.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred per. Let's let's move on to another
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: topic that a lot of people are talking about, and
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: that's Kerry Carpenter in the leadoff spot. He said, lead
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: off in all three games. He is a whopping oh
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: for eleven, two walks, six strikeouts. I think this has
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: been a controversial topic from the first time aj Hinch
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: ever hit carry Carpenter leadoff, simply because Carrie doesn't profile
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: as your prototypical you know speedy scrappy leadoff man Carry
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Carpenter is a power hitter. Now, I think this is
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: an interesting conversation because there's a lot to it. We
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: are seeing more teams bat guys like this leadoff. Aaron
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Judge hits lead off a lot for a while Sho
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: heo Tani like for some teams it is a way
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: to simply get their best hitters the most at bats.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: For the Tigers, look, we've seen it unfold a couple times.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: We definitely saw it unfold in the postseason. It's a
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: way of forcing decisions on the other manager early in
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the game. Are you going to leave your righty starter in?
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Are you going to bring in a lefty in the
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: fifth inning or sixth inning? Because if so, Aj Hinch
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: will gladly flip Carry Carpenter with Jami Jones or someone else.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: And that has been a game changing decision point at
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: a few times, had a few different points already. But
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: you look at some of the numbers, You look at
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: the simple fact Carry Carpenter had a sub three hundred
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: on base percentage last year, and there's reason to knock it. Rush.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: How do you feel about Carry Carpenter as a lead
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: off theer.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I you know, he's more of a corner outfielder profile.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: I think that when you think about him being in
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: right field or what he sometimes plays left and as
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: you mentioned, he's not that not the tiger steel bases anyways,
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: but he's not that kind of guy that has that
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: kind of power and when you have those speed rather
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: but when you were coming off basically what your hamstrings
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: are shredded poor assentially from the way it was described
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: in some cases, Yeah, that's gonna that might be a
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: bass clogger. You look at station station baseball versus a
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: guy who can get around quicker, and you know, I
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: get it. He can work the counts, but lately he
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: just he looks his time looks a little off. You
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: want to maximize his plate appearances because that's what obviously
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: the top of the word wants to do.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: But yeah, it sort of get it.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, I'd rather him at this
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: point maybe go towards maybe back clean and maybe BA
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: five for six, just because you also want to keep
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: him healthy too. I mean, if he's doing a lot
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: of that running early on, if you have your second
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: and third, if you have your guys hitting him aboard.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: You don't want to have something happened to his hamscreen again.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: So I know that's me being a little overcautious about
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: his hamstring. I know he said he's healthy, but you
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: just you never know.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna say I don't think his position in
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: the batting order is going to affect his hamstrings. At
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: least it shouldn't. If he's getting on the bases and running,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: that's a good thing, and it doesn't really matter where
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: he's hitting. I don't think the Tigers are going to
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: have him attempt to steal more just because he's the
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: leadoff hitter. Again, I think we get caught in this idea,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: that this kind of antiquated idea that the leadofficer has
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: to be fast, has to run the bases. The Tigers
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: clearly don't look at it that way, but I would
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: be fascinated to know what their analysts of this lineup THEAH.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Then I think the sheer numbers when you look at Carrie,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: even when he's going great, isn't isn't the hugest on
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: base percentage, taking walks type of guy, and he certainly
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: was not at times last year when I think his
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: hamstrings led to him kind of coming out of his
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: swing and then coming out of his approach. Someone like
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Glabor Tourist could profile better in that spot, but that
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: depends on your lineup construction and how you want to
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: split your rights and lefties. Again, I think aj Hinch
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: loves it because of that nineteenth that bat, that fourth, fifth,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: sixth inning decision point that might be tough to assign
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: a real statistical value to. So I don't know. We've
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: seen it work. We have seen this alter the complexion
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: of playoff games. Clearly, Carrie is going to have to
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: swing it better than he did through the first three
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: games to stay in that spot. He's off to a
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: cold start right now. There's no way around that. But
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: I do think he's a good enough hitter. It's not
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: always going to be this way. I would also say,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: if Kevin McGonagall continues to look anything like he is
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: looking right now, you could easily flip those two or
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: at least make some adjustment in the order where McGonagall
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: ends up being the one in the leadoff spot. I
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be shocked if him in a month or two.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: That's how we're seeing it more often.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it makes sense.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: And that's kind of why I'm saying maybe after tork Send,
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: maybe you have him batfit for six, because then that
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: allows McGonagall to the same maximize mcgonagall's opportunities to get
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: another extra bad or two for sure.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: All right, well, we are going to take a quick
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: break and hear a word from our sponsors, and then
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: we will be back with much more on all things Tigers.
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: AJ.
• 11:40
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• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Right, Roger. We're back with a little bit more and
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: we'll get some more takeaways and analysis from the opening series.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: But first let's spin it forward a little bit. Monday's
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: series opener in Arizona kind of a big deal because
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: a guy named Justin Verlander is going to be on
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the mound for the first time in his return with
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: the Tigers. We've already gone through a lot of emotion
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: and Cinnamon and Verlanders use the term full circle like
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: twenty eight times, but this one counts, and I think
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: it's going to be a little different when he starts
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: at home at Camerica. It's gonna be a little different
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: for everyone glued to the TV, and I think for
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Verlander himself on Monday, just because it's real. He'll be
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: wearing the Tigers uniform and everything that happens in that
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: game is going to matter. A lot of people are
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: going to be locked in. What's it going to be
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: like for you seeing Verlander back on the mound as
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: it's like, you.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Know, as a as a fan, because I mean, growing up,
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: I watched him in in that two thousand and six
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: series when the Tigers were relevant for the first time
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: in my adult life, and watching him having a rookie
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: pitcher be effective and going, wow, this is what an
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: actual farm system guy looks like on a major league team.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: That was mind blowing.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: And then just musty JV the no hitters all that is,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: And then I have to go as analysis, go Okay,
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: all right, what is he gonna bring to this rotation?
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: So I have to look at it two different ways.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: But the fan and part of me is very excited
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: see this happen. Man, I think he is going to
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: help out with this rotation, and the analyticals sign of
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: me is also going, Oh.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: See how Marte is gonna do against him? You know
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: that's gonna do that. But no, I'm I'm stoked for him.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: And I know next Sunday is going to be the
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: bigger stage, but Arizona's no slouch, and I think this
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: is going to be a opportunity for Tiger fans of
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: a newer generation that didn't get the chance to see
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: him here his last season here twenty seventeen. See him
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: kind of look a little you know, it's a little
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: and pepper going and I think fans will be excited
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: for it.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Well, I'll have a story up on the athletic Monday,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I spent the last day in San Diego just kind
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: of asking a few guys, what have you learned from Verlander?
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: What has surprised you about Verlander so far? And almost
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: all the answers were pretty similar. I think his early
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: impression on this younger clubhouse has been guys are a
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: little bit uh surprised. You're just kind of mes with
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: how meticulous he is, how much at age forty three,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: in the twilight of a Hall of Fame career, he
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: is still like dead set on getting better. There was
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of talk about that in the spring, just
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: watching him throw his first bullpen that took thirty minutes,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: and he was talking to Dylan Dingler or Chris Fetter
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: after almost every single pitch. It sounds like behind that,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: behind the scenes, that has not changed. He's asking guys questions,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: how do you throw this pitch? How do you do that?
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: He said, He's adopted pretty much Tarek Scoobel's entire routine
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: at this point. So he has followed through on his
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: promise to learn from the younger teammates just like they
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: might learn to him. Guys like Jake Rogers have enjoyed
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: just sitting down and talking ball and kind of picking
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: his brain because he has so much knowledge. And then
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: we've also learned he drinks more coffee than any human alive,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: according to Trek Scoobel, who likes some coffee himself. He
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: also said Clayton Kershaw is a big coffee guy, So
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: maybe there's something with Aces and their coffee. But that's
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: kind of some of the things we've learned. Those concerns
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: about like how Verlander is going to mesh on a
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: young team, what's that going to be?
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: Like, I don't know.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: So far, it seems, you know, so far, all systems
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: remain good. Verlander remains very cheerful, very upbeat. Now I
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: think the question is like how is he going to perform?
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Because one of the things I don't think we made
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: too big of a deal of it, given Verlander's stature
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: in the game, given how he likes to ramp up.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: But he was not that good in spring training. The
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: era was had some crooked numbers in there, and he
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: gave up seven home runs. The fastball in particular really
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: got pounded. Talking to Verlanders asking him how he feels,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I think he's looking forward to the
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: adrenaline of a game that matters, kind of kicking in.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: But he basically said, hey, we'll see. I think he's
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: aware he's not quite where he wants to be with
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: all of his stuff. Maybe though the regular season can
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: amp him up a little bit and help some things
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: click into place. Roger, there anything in particular you're hoping
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: to see from Erlander on the Mount.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: I'm open to that he gets that first pitch strike
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: and established that pretty quickly, because that was something in
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: spring training I noticed he looked he labored a little
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: bit getting that first pitch strike. So if he can
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: establish that early on against Arizona, I think they'll they'll
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: blode well for him because the secondary is, I think
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: play up very well's system matter of getting that first pitch,
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: establishing the strike zone, and keeping Arizona off balance. And
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: I think he's more than capable of doing that. The
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: numbers in San Francisco second half of the season indicate that.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: And so, but yeah, first pitch strike is most As
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: much as that sounds a cliche, but it's definitely true
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: in his case.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Totally all right, Another topic I wanted to hit on
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: the ABS Challenge system. There are some Tiger fans losing
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: their minds on the internet. Boys Twirklesen and Kevin McGonagall
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: early on did not challenge called the strike threes that
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: looked like they would have been balls had they challenged it,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: And to me watching that is like, I think everyone
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: is still learn this. Talking to aj Hinch, talking to
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: the guys, it doesn't sound like there's some edict to
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: not use your challenge early in the game. I think,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: in fact, they were encouraged to use it in leverage situations,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: situations with runners on base like the Tourglesen call where
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: he did not challenge to work himself was like, that
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: was actually an ideal situation when we want to use it.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: But it's a reminder, like you have to challenge. You
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: have to tap your head within two seconds and there
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: is no time to think, to process to take a
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: pitch and say, all right, I think that was a ball,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: but okay we have runners on bass. Oh there's two outs. Okay,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna challenge, Like, no, that's too late. It has
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: to be instinctual. So maybe I think a learning lesson
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: for Torglsen for some of these guys more than anything
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: we did see McGonagall use a challenge later in the game.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: He wasn't right on that one and got wrung up. Anyway,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: how are you feeling about the abs? As anything else
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: surprise you or stood out to you along those lines.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: You know, with the case with Torkalsen, what stood out
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: to me was like as soon. I mean he was
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: taking off his shin to meet his tint guards down immediately,
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: and a lot of fans were like, oh, that's what
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: his first mine was thinking. Look, the ball's coming hand
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: in a ninety odd hours, odd hours, miles an hour,
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: that's gonna happen. It's the game moves so fast. That's
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: not like, of course, when you look at the replays,
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: easily for any of us to go, well, it was
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: clearly it was a ball. But for him, he's close
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: to the plate and he could have gotten that or
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: it looks like a strike to him. In the case
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: of McGonagall, he's been he's been really active at spring
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: training calling the abs and this is something he was
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: I know, he didn't get a chance to do this,
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: and they were doing this a lot into Toledo last year,
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: so he didn't get a chance to do win double
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: a so he's new to the suit process as well,
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: So actually, you know, Crush, I'm sorry he did then,
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry he didn't Lakeland. I'm sorry he did that
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: in Lakeland a few times. Time to think about it,
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: but either way, regardless, it's I think it's just gonna
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: for Tiger. I think the Tiger's just get a habit
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: of doing it, that's all it is to it, and
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: just going recognize me get up to the play going okay,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: runners on and and seeing how the umpire has been calling. Like,
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: for example, was it Suarez the day for the Reds
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: got two calls back to back, se be out there
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: and try to ring them up twice. It's like noah, ah,
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: and he was.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: I think that these.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Players trying to get more familiar with the situation as
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: they come up to that bat. So it's just a
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: matter of practice.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Really. I know it's this was game.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: If this was like game seventy five or later in
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: the season or whatever the case is, that I'd be
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: a little more mad. But in real reality, this is
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: a second third game of the season, and it's just
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: a matter of them getting in the habit of doing it.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and again, this is not to make excuses like
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: should twork have challenged that? Just like on the surface, sure,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: but again like everyone in the league is still kind
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: of feeling this out, still kind of learning it, and
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: even though they had all spring, it's a little bit
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: different when it counts when there's stuff on the line.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Even Torque said, like another thing you learned, okay, like
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: that was a like that is a little more helpful
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: strike zone feedback. This thing is going to create a
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: lot of different wrinkles throughout the season. I mean, we're
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: gonna see ejections from guys tapping their heads when they're
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: out of challenges, or tapping their heads to show up
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the umpire. We're going to see guys. We're probably gonna
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: see arguments over dude hesitating a second then tapping, then
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: not being granted the challenge. And it's like it's someone
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: literally going to be sitting there with a stopwatch to
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: see if this was in two seconds. I love it
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: for all, Like, I think it adds a little bit
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: more drama, and I think it's gonna add some storylines
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: throughout the season. It's been entertaining. It's helping more calls
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: be made correctly. So I'm in favor of it, But
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's fair to get too worked up,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: especially at this point, Like you said, over if someone
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: did or didn't challenge for a reminder of how kind
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: of randomness is. Javi Baiez was the first Tiger with
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: a successful ABS challenge, which, given a strike zone judgment,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have been on my bingo card.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: No, not my Bingo card either.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: The difference now too is like you just look at like,
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: for example, it's literally just the game of now benches.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I mean you look at some of those strike zones.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: Where the ball just just covers that part right there,
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: and you're just going, like you think about it in
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: the grand scheme of thing, it's almost like a fingernail
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: or a barely finger. It's it's remarkable how much how
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: close it is. And so again for how fast the
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: game moves. And for them they even the catcher to go, okay,
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: that was a strike. I forgot to got yours name
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: for Saint Egel multiple times.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I think it was pretty accurate. Yeah, he was accurate
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: quite a bit.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and a lot of ripple effects with catchers too.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: A lot of debate does this make framing more important
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: less important? Doesn't matter at all. Some catchers think it
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: could make framing more important because you're still trying to
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: deceive the hitter into using a challenge early in the
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: game and things like that. We are going to hear
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: a lot more about this, and I think talk a
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: lot more about it. Anything else you wanted to note
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: on the ABF.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: The was it cold? Was it? Who was it? There's one?
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: It was the last one that it was the cold
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: keep one right? That was in the No. No, I'm
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: sorry I was taking a well, there was no but
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: the Kevin mcgaga one in the ninth inning? Was was
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: that the ninth inning or like, there's a bat? Yeah,
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: that was the last bat that was. You know that
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: that's an ideal time right there. I think that's when
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: the Tigers realized, like that they can start getting comfortable
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: with it. And I guess really it's just a matter
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: of when does it If the Tigers catchers haven't called
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: the knee, I don't think they have.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Have they yet? Rogers, I think we had one. I
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: think it was okay they I haven't seen the Tiger
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: catchers be.
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: My memory, yeah, but I yeah, that's I'm really gonna
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: be intrigued how this the throppool effect will be the
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: rest of the week as they get towards home opener.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: How many more times are gonna start start getting active
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: with it?
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Sure, all right, we got to get our producers on this.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: The Tigers have made three challenges, they have won one,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: they have lost two. So the McGonagall lost one, Javey
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Baias got the win and then the other loss. Gotta
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: be that instance you were noting, but I don't remember
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: who it was, so we are idiots. I feel fitty
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: too practice. We'll say it was cool, Keith. That sounds
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: right to me. All right, let's move on to some
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: things where hopefully sound a little bit more like we
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: know what we're talking about. Connor Sebolt made his Tiger's debut,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: and I think both you and I were pretty iffy
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: on this move, especially given it came at the expense
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: of Dylan Smith losing his roster spot on the forty
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: man and even Brennan Hannafy getting optioned again. Sure enough,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Connor Sebolt comes out and looks really good, and he
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: went fifty pitches in a losing effort, helped preserve a
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: little bit more of the bullpen. I want to see
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: more of this guy before I make any grand declaration.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Obviously the results were good. Now they picked him up
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: large part because of the amount of whiffs he got
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: in spring training. He had only I think four whiffs
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: on twenty three swings, so he wasn't getting a lot
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of whiffs. But just looking, you know, the fastball was
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: getting seventeen inches of induced vertical breaks, so it was
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: carrying really well. The changeup was getting nineteen inches of
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: horizontal movement, which is pretty elite. I went and looked
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: at the stuff plus grades, and look, you need a
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: little bigger sample for these things to mean anything. But
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: through one game, Connor Sebald was like off the charts.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: He was really nasty. Even the slider. Something about the
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: angle or spin of that slider must really grade out well.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Because his stuff plus grade was one twenty two. It
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: had never been higher than ninety four in his prior
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: major league stints. So some of the changes he's made
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: to his arm angle and bumping the velocity seems to
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: make a big difference. Maybe this helps explain why the
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: Tigers liked him so much. We know they like pitch modeling,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: we know they like sometimes making decisions, particularly pitching wise,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: based on what the computer is telling them through all
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: of at least one game. Hey, a good start to
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the counter, siebel Era, if we can call it that.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he gained, Yeah, he's got He's gained three inches
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: on his IVB on in his fastball and his change up.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: So I had that Velossiti jump and he was five
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: for six and first pitch strikes. That's great, but as Yeah,
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: the bad news though, just four whiffs on twenty three swings,
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: so he's gonna definitely need some more swings on that
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: for that.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: So he gave the bullpen much needed.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: Relief because I know for a fact that it seems
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: like Inches did not want to go back and try
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: to use the same guy as he did over the
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: week or last two days. So yeah, it goes to
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: show the Tigers will scout anywhere for pitching. It doesn't matter.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: It could be the Northeast, it could be Mexico, it
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: doesn't matter. They're always paying attention. And that's something that
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: I definitely could appreciate because they are. It was when
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: they went when I saw the ra and everything, You're
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: just going, Okay, what's going on here? But they know
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: again they always have something out there that we don't
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: know have and the knowledge the data would have you.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: But yeah, it's a solid outing. I'm just gonna wait
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: and see. I'm not going to They put him in,
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: and heinch handles his bullpen. He always puts them in
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: situations for them to be successful. He never puts them
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: in like a rough spot. And I think that was
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: a perfect time they put him in, especially after the
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: Flairty struggled and gave the bullpen a much to your
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: night off.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I kind of laughed when he entered the game.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: It was a pocket where there were three straight right
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: handed hitters. It could have been a nice pocket for
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Brendan Hannafie if he were there. He wasn't there, so
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: it was kind of like, all right, let's see how
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: this goes. And then again sure enough, steball great performance.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: It was actually one of several really nice bullpen outings,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: especially in the second game of that series. We saw
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Kyle Finigan looked good, the splitter again looked good and
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: miss bats like it did last year. Then Kenley Jansen
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: another signing that although I get it, I'm worried about
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: his ability to get swing and miss in particular and
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: he looked nasty. We saw him use the sinker a
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: little bit differently, use it to put away guys. He
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: talked about that some What were your impressions of really
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: just the bullpen in this in this series?
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: First and foremost by the way Hannafi allowed a game
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: winning home run to first rush.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, so there we go in the high valley. Yeah,
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: there's ways.
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: In triple A no Gey Jansen looked dominant. I mean,
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: he looked really really good. I like the whole setup
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: with him and Finnegan going in together.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: They gave the Tigers much.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: Needed to shut down San Diego. But his slider, he
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: doesn't use that pitch very often, but he almost used it,
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Like is it kind of the set up the sinker.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: Usually it's the slider's usually your wipe out pitch to
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: get everything. But he used a slider a couple of
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: times in account and I thought that looked like it
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: had some zip on it too. Everything just looked nasty.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: And the downward movement for a guy for a team
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: that's really familiar with him in those years.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: In La So.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: I came away with the fact that if you have
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: either him fast or fin again at the end of
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: the bullpen, especially increasing his splip fingers a slider, slider
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: usage or swift finger usage.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: That pitch when it works works really well, you really
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: have the ability.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: Hinch has he pick his poison essentially, and I like
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: to see what he what they can do against another
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: high caliber offense like that. But if you're able to
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: shut down san aego like that, kudos you for sure.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Finn again will be I think really interesting to watch
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: because he had so much success when he almost doubled
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: his splitter usage after coming to the Tigers last year,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: and then when he returned from the IL and in
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: the playoffs, he wasn't getting the swings and misses he
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: or earned runs and I think three straight playoff games.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: He talked about wanting to incorporate more of the slider
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: because I think the league adjusted pretty quickly to the splitter,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: so they could either sit on that or if you
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: eliminate one of fastball splitter, suddenly you're feeling pretty good
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: against Kyle Finnegan. So he wants that slider to become
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: a little bit more of a legit third option and
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: if hitters have to honor that the splitter then could
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: maybe be even more potent, even if the usage is
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: down a little bit from where it was, say last October.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: Will vest By the way, I know will vest did
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: some work in the off season too as well to
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: kind of continue his upward trend. And I love will
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: vest In, especially in a seventh any situation too, where
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: he can come in in a close game and help
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: breach the for Finnegan and Jansen in the nine. So
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: I like the best new role. I think it's gonna
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: probably change again, but who knows.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: No doubt, things are always changing. A couple more little
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: things that stood out to me. Riley Green not off
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: to a great start one for twelve. He does have
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: two walks and laid off some tough pitches, but three strikeouts.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Had some situations with runners on base where he didn't
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: come through Spencer Torklsen, who did have a huge RBI
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: in that series. Incredible stat though he's only three for
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: thirty in his career with the bases loaded. That includes
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: eleven strikeouts with runners on second and third. He is
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: three for thirty one in his career. This is a
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: guy who has one hundred RBI season. He's a two
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: h six career hitter with runners in scoring position. I
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: don't know if that's coincidence. I don't know if that's mental.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: He has an ability to drive in runs, but it
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: is kind of an and he drove in a big
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: run in this series, and it's off to an okay start,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: but kind of fascinating to look at that. What's now
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: a fairly decent sample of runners in scoring position at
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: bats and he has not been good at all, RUJ,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: anything else on your mind before we get out of here.
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: Really, Labor Torre is good patient at bats. I thought
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: defensively he was.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: He was good. He looks like he's just healthy.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: To get ball at second base.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: And yeah, yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, please do that.
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: But as far as turning the double play from that Hernie,
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: I thought he did. It was a couple of double
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: plays he turned.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: But yeah, the overall he had a really.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: Good, strong presence at the plate, just be able to
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: get some walks, which really he was the only one
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: really outside of I think Cole Keith had a really
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: good series and that buildswell going to Arizona.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. The one thing I would say, like,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: I do think we'll see some more nights like that
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: series finale in San Diego, where this offense just struggles,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: and that doesn't mean it's going to be bad. That
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean we necessarily should yell at Scott Harris. Like
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: even if some of these guys do take steps forward,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: even if Kevin McGonagall is who we think he is,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: we've seen the DNA of some of these hitters, and
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: Riley Green is going to be prone to slumps at
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: times and carry carpenters. I think going to have times
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: where he comes out of his approach, and like, I
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: think that's who these guys are a little bit. That
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean they're not a good team. That doesn't mean
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: they won't have a good season, But I just think
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: something about this lineup is a little bit prone to
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: kind of these droughts and nights where you're only going
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: to have two hits. They might well come back and
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: have a strong series against the Diamondbacks. In the big picture,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: you take two to three against a pretty competitive team
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: to open your season, and that's good. Also from Bravaldez,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I think that this guy makes things look so easy.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: He made his Tiger's debut and we haven't even talked
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: about it, and I think we didn't talk about him
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: enough in spring, and he was terrific all spring. It's
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: because he just goes out there and goes about his work.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: So I just wanted to give him a little bit
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: of a tip of the cap.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: Oh definitely.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: I mean he went out there and it was on
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: the ropes a few times, but then was able to
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: get some good swing miss stuff, and he was used
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: a sinker, as Jason Benettie talked about, get to pounded
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: in the ground and only one walk too.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: So there's nothing he did.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: The hits weren't like the hits that he was able
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: to recover from. Nothing that causes big damn the break.
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: And he gives exactly what the Tigers need, a guy
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: to go six innings. That is the most important things
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: about this rotation right now, Cody, especially if you look
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: at the health of the pitching death in general, you
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: know you have Kayder Montero and Time Madden down Toledo
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: going to split in split outings today. They Tigers need
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: all their healthy starters and the need their horses to
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: go as much as POSSI.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: So for Franbrat to go out there and shove like that,
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: that's huge.
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: And the top two of rotation if those are set,
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: and it just gives me a little bit of cyber relief.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: All right, well, sounds good. Thanks so much everyone to listening.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Thanks again for Roj for pinch hitting for Kieran here.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: Feel free to check us out, follow rog and all
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: his stuff at Tiger's Minor League Report and elsewhere. We
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: will be back with more later this week.