...and the Indians drop out of first

[Warner2BruceTD]

WTF have you been watching? Austin Jackson has been batting over.300 the last 30 games. Leyland has already said Magglio and Inge are going to have to earn their way back int the lineup. Hell he even benched Magglio the day after he returned. I know by the end of the year though Magglio will be back at .280 and be a lot bigger contributor than Casper Wells and Andy Dirks. The only thing I would love to see Leyland do is completely cut out Inge and have Don Kelly be the full time starter. Our lineup is not nearly as bad as it seems to be made out to be. Outside of Raburn I have confidence in every single "regular" starter to come up with a big hit.

If our pitching keeps it up though, scoring runs wont be that big of a deal. Right now our worst pitcher is Max Scherzer and hes 8-2. Our bullpen struggled at first but once we called up Furbush everything settled back into the norm. Al Aberquiq (sp?) may be the biggest surprise for our team. Dude is a K machine.

I don't care what Jackson's batting average is the last X amount of games, the guy simply doesn't get on base very often. He hovers around .300 for his career in OBA. I think a better argument would be, if not Jackson, then who?

And Leyland has turned into a stubborn old coot. It took an injury to not only get Magglio out of the middle of the order, but also out of the lineup. I mean, at least move the guy down. He's been beyond terrible.

Same with Inge. What is he giving you? Try someone else. Leyland has done a bad job this year IMO.

 

[FedEx227]

Jackson career is actually around .338 OBP. Not good but certainly not terrible.

 

[FirstTimer]

Bullpen, bullpen, bullpen.

No doubt.

I just remember going to the Cubs/Sox game that year with my buddy who is a Sox fan and laughing the entire game whenever they showed the White Sox hitters stats on the board when they would come up to hit. It was ridiculous.

 

[FedEx227]

The thing is though, yeah they didn't have high AVG, but they slugged the hell out of the ball they had 200 homers, 4 guys with 20+ homers and 7 with 15+ homers.

 

[FirstTimer]

The thing is though, yeah they didn't have high AVG, but they slugged the hell out of the ball they had 200 homers, 4 guys with 20+ homers and 7 with 15+ homers.

Yeah.

I think Dye obliterated a ball that day.

I can't think of another at or near 100 win team where their predicted/pythogoram W/L was almost 10 games worse(91-71). Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough but it's crazy.

That team was fun as hell though. The Konerko grand slam in that WS was an awesome moment.

I'd put the Pods HR up there too but Buck's (non emotional) call fucking ruined it.

 

[FedEx227]

Yeah.

I think Dye obliterated a ball that day.

I can't think of another at or near 100 win team where their predicted/pythogoram W/L was almost 10 games worse(91-71). Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough but it's crazy.

That team was fun as hell though. The Konerko grand slam in that WS was an awesome moment.

I'd put the Pods HR up there too but Buck's (non emotional) call fucking ruined it.

Check out the 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks

Actual W-L: 90-72
Pythagorean W-L: 79-83

 

[FedEx227]

Yeah.

I think Dye obliterated a ball that day.

I can't think of another at or near 100 win team where their predicted/pythogoram W/L was almost 10 games worse(91-71). Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough but it's crazy.

That team was fun as hell though. The Konerko grand slam in that WS was an awesome moment.

I'd put the Pods HR up there too but Buck's (non emotional) call fucking ruined it.

Fuck Joe Buck the entire White Sox playoff run, fuck Chris Berman too.

White Sox win = The Red Sox quest to repeat as champions has ended.

Buck was especially shit at the end of Game 2 ALCS on Crede's walkoff crying and moaning about the AJ play.

 

[FirstTimer]

Check out the 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks

Actual W-L: 90-72
Pythagorean W-L: 79-83

:jonesy:

 

[FedEx227]

 

 

[spiker]

Fuck Joe Buck the entire White Sox playoff run, fuck Chris Berman too.

White Sox win = The Red Sox quest to repeat as champions has ended.

Buck was especially shit at the end of Game 2 ALCS on Crede's walkoff crying and moaning about the AJ play.

I'd give anything to hear Hawk call a World Series victory. It'd probably bring a tear to my eye.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Jackson career is actually around .338 OBP. Not good but certainly not terrible.

He's at .315 this year, and lead the league in K's last year. I think he's leading the league again this year.

But again, fcor the Tigers I think it may be lack of options. And for 100 years, when managers are in doubt, the CF hits leadoff.

Here is the secret manager cheat sheet for drawing up a lineup:

CF
2B
1B
RF
3B
LF
C
SS
P

How many times have we seen Lyle Overbay hit third, or Corey Patterson leadoff? Its amazing how managers fall into this trap so often.

 

[Sven Draconian]

The Tigers need a bat, badly. Mags might be alright by season end as some sort of quasi-platoon guy with Andry Dirks keeping him fresh.

2B is a wreck.
3B is a wreck.
OF is weak.

Don Kelly? Ramon Santiago? Ryan Raburn? Casper Wells? Lulz.

Counting on Mags and Guillen to contribute probably won't work out. Inge is a blackhole.

The lineup is Cabrera, Peralta, Martinez, Avila. Still not sold on Boesch. Austin Jackson is serviceable (but, probably a 9 hitter).

 

[ThomasTomasz]

The Tigers need a bat, badly. Mags might be alright by season end as some sort of quasi-platoon guy with Andry Dirks keeping him fresh.

2B is a wreck.
3B is a wreck.
OF is weak.

Don Kelly? Ramon Santiago? Ryan Raburn? Casper Wells? Lulz.

Counting on Mags and Guillen to contribute probably won't work out. Inge is a blackhole.

The lineup is Cabrera, Peralta, Martinez, Avila. Still not sold on Boesch. Austin Jackson is serviceable (but, probably a 9 hitter).

So they need a #3/#4 hitter, a lead off batter and someone else to fit in there. Probably not going to happen.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

I think you are seeing the Rockies and Nats getting fed up with guys hitting lead off that aren't getting on base which is why you have CarGo and Werth hitting leadoff for those teams. It may not last all year but I'm sure if I looked it up it was a matter of no production from those spots. That's the only reason I could see taking away those RBI situations those guys would see at the 3-4 slots where they are usually seen at.

Cargo hit leadoff last year until they moved him down the order. Werth didn't, but i can see why they are trying this. What the Nats did to try and provide Werth with some RBI chances was to move the pitcher to the eighth spot in the lineup, and put Bernadina, who was hitting leadoff, ninth.

 

[Sven Draconian]

So they need a #3/#4 hitter, a lead off batter and someone else to fit in there. Probably not going to happen.

huh?

They need a top of the order OBP guy, and someone within the realm of average.

1- Unnamed, high OBP infielder (With Peralta able to play 3B if we pick up a SS)
2-Avila/Peralta
3-Cabrera
4-Martinez
5- Avila/Peralta
6- Boesch (move him based on whatever streak he is on)
7- Mags/Dirk
8- Guillen/Santiago
9- Jackson

That's a better than average lineup and an outstanding pitching staff. Definately good enough to win the central. They just need to find top of the order IF (or, OF with Mags gettin put to pasture).

 

[Buzzman]

I hope to god Guillen doesn't play for us. Guy fucking blows. I'd rather give the out away, it mean less double plays.

 

[Buzzman]

They showed a stat in tonight's game, Austin Jackson has a .375 OBP since the end of April.

 

[bcransom]

The Tigers need a bat, badly. Mags might be alright by season end as some sort of quasi-platoon guy with Andry Dirks keeping him fresh.

2B is a wreck.
3B is a wreck.
OF is weak.

Don Kelly? Ramon Santiago? Ryan Raburn? Casper Wells? Lulz.

Counting on Mags and Guillen to contribute probably won't work out. Inge is a blackhole.

The lineup is Cabrera, Peralta, Martinez, Avila. Still not sold on Boesch. Austin Jackson is serviceable (but, probably a 9 hitter).

I definitely expect the Tigers to make a move at some point to acquire an infielder. There's lots of cheap options out there and the FO's got to be extremely encouraged at what they've been able to do so far with a couple pretty big holes.

 

[Coked Up Elmo]

nothing like a series against the pirates to get you back on track :smug:

 

[Slateman]

I think you are seeing the Rockies and Nats getting fed up with guys hitting lead off that aren't getting on base which is why you have CarGo and Werth hitting leadoff for those teams. It may not last all year but I'm sure if I looked it up it was a matter of no production from those spots. That's the only reason I could see taking away those RBI situations those guys would see at the 3-4 slots where they are usually seen at.

Cargo hit leadoff last year until they moved him down the order. Werth didn't, but i can see why they are trying this. What the Nats did to try and provide Werth with some RBI chances was to move the pitcher to the eighth spot in the lineup, and put Bernadina, who was hitting leadoff, ninth.

As the resident Nationals fan, I have to agree with this.

Basically, Werth is hitting leadoff because
1. They paid him a ton of money
2. He has good On Base Percentage
3. They don't have anyone else who can do it

Honestly, I think he's much more suited as a number 2 hitter. He likes going opposite way, he can hit with two strikes and he's got some speed.

I'd really like the Nationals to trade for Jose Reyes but it won't happen ...