DEEPER DISCUSSIONS

Today marks the last day of Miguel Cabera’s career with the Tigers.  He was simply one of the very best men to don the Olde English D, setting a number of offensive records and winning a bevy of significant awards.

Miggy had a number of years where he simply was MLB’s best hitter.  He was part of the glory years from 2008 through 2016.

But injuries during that time caught up with him.  He last played a defensive position back in 2019 and has DH’d for the past 4 years.  Because of his injuries and their impact on both his defensive and offensive games, his WAR has been in the negative range since 2017.

In addition to his arbitration salary, Cabrera signed 2 contract extensions with the Tigers worth over $400 mill, taking him to age 40.  When you add in the monetary incentives he received for winning all those awards and nominations plus the $8 mill buyout he will get this year, Detroit has paid him somewhere close to $500 mill.

Overall, his salary for each of those 16 years works out to approximately $31 mill/year.

Some of those years were highly productive.  Some of them were not.  There is always a gamble when players receive long-term contracts that take them to what is an advanced age for athletes.

And there has been that question as to whether his salary, which was the majority of the entire team payroll for a number of years, stymied the team from signing other players as well as slowing down the rebuilding process.

If you had it to do all over again, would you have signed Miggy to that 2nd contract extension back in 2014? It was done 2 years in advance and covered the 2016 through 2023 seasons (8 years).  The contract was for an additional $248 mill.

The contract extension offer came in early 2014 after winning back-to-back MVP Awards and the exclusive Triple Crown last won almost half a century ago.

Today’s blog addresses this dilemma and allows readers to share their thoughts in more detail. And hopefully, to actively engage with others by responding to their posts and creating back-and-forth discussion threads. The more the merrier!

For this one blog only, you’ve got 6 sentences max to share your thoughts. Of course, you can also respond to other readers.

TT will supply the ammunition. One thought-provoking question. Several options provided. One hard choice to be selected. One vote.

Ready?

Make sure to come back and check the final results!

FINAL RESULTS FROM A SEPTEMBER TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

From where will the majority of new starting pitchers come?

  • Via free agency  67% 
  • Toledo  18% 
  • Via trades  15%   

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

SATURDAY SURVEY

Tomorrow’s game will be the last one of Miguel Cabrera’s career.

He must wait 5 years in order to be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.  That means 2029 will be his first year on the ballot.

It is widely expected that Miggy will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

The Detroit Tigers, with the exception of Willie Horton and recently Lou Whitaker, have had a policy of not retiring player jersey numbers until they are inducted into Cooperstown.

Sixty players have worn #24 including Mickey Stanley and Travis Fryman.

But should that change now with Cabrera’s retirement?  Or should #24 be left active, potentially for some other player to wear it over the next 5 years?

Make sure to come back and check the final results!

FINAL RESULTS FROM A SEPTEMBER TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

Do the Tigers have a #1 or #2 starter in Manning, Mize, Skubal or Turnbull for 2024?

  • Still too soon to tell.  48%   
  • Yes, 1-2 will become top of the rotation guys.  30% 
  • No, don’t see any of them earning the #1 or #2 slots.  22%   

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

FIVE FOR FRIDAY

by Holly Horning

We head into the final weekend of Miguel Cabrera’s baseball career.  And as such, we will recognize him in various ways through this blog over the weekend.

Today, a recognition of just how terrific a hitter he has been.

I’ve got a list of his 5 most impressive batting stats and rankings.

(Through Thursday’s games)

1. HITS –  3, 170 to finish in 16th place

2. TOTAL BASES – 5,356 to finish in 14th place

3. RBIs – 1,878 to finish in 13th place

4. 3,000 Hits/500 HRs/.300 BA – One of only 3 joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

5. 3,000 Hits/500 HRs/1,800 RBIs – One of 5 that also includes Aaron and Mays.

Is there another impressive stat you’d like to share?


What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • Just how good has Tarik Skubal become?

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

A DELIBERATE DECISION

by Holly Horning

Isn’t it interesting that the majority of Tiger fans were clamoring for a significant Front Office change for years and now that they have it, so many are still complaining?  Even before new GM Jeff Greenberg gets to sit in his office chair, let alone make a single move?

If you’ve been reading the social media threads, it’s mind-boggling how so many expected instant results from Scott Harris.  Believing he should have gotten major results in less than 1 year from a team left to rot for almost a decade.

Or bashing the hiring of Jeff Greenberg before he even moved into his office.

Some said he got the job because he was a “privileged rich kid”.  Maybe that happens to some a single time at the beginning of their careers.  But when 3 MLB teams, an NHL team and Rob Manfred hire you, there is substance and talent.  Especially when other teams keep trying to hire you away from your current job.

They don’t do this because you’re a “privileged rich kid.”

Others wrote Greenberg off because he was coming from a hockey, not baseball, team.  He worked for the Blackhawks for less than 2 years.  He worked in MLB for 17.  Tell us again why he’s not a baseball guy?

The truly talented in any industry have skills that are translatable from profession to profession.  It’s true in any industry and it’s true in baseball.

Then there are those who claim Jeff was a “buddy hire.”  No, that is when Billy Martin hires his drinking buddy, Art Fowler, to be his pitching coach or when recent Tigers kept hiring each other from the Expos to the Marlins to the Pirates/Tigers.  If our new GM was a buddy hire, wouldn’t Scott Harris have offered him a job over the past 4 years when he moved to the Giants? 

Ask yourself if it’s better to hire a complete unknown you’ve never worked with before or someone whose work skills and level of results you have personally experienced?  Someone you know you can work with successfully is always better, isn’t it?

Both men have been mentored by Theo Epstein.  You don’t get better than that.

But it’s the stats from Theo’s baseball family tree that are most impressive.  He has mentored dozens of baseball executives and with the hiring of Greenberg in Detroit, Epstein can now claim that 10 of his underlings are now either GMs or PoBos. 

One-third of them are expected to be taking their teams into the playoffs this year.

It’s not a coincidence.  Other teams are hiring them because they are talented.

Epstein would not have have hired and consistently promoted Greenberg if he didn’t see his skills and potential. Pure and simple.

And one of the reasons why Harris hired Jeff is that they plan on working together.  They are not dividing up the organization with each having their own projects.

The plan is that both will play off of one another.  Scott said “We are going to structure it as a true partnership. We’re not going to divide departments between us. I think we share the belief that two minds are better than one on the most complex issues that are facing the Tigers. We feel this gives the Tigers the best environment to make the right decisions, as opposed to the divide and conquer approach. We’re going to treat it as a partnership.”

In this week’s press conference, Harris said Greenberg will provide new ideas for them to consider.  He added “We got into our fair share of debates and arguments, but we learned a lot from each other.  We both share a deep belief in healthy, challenging debate full of independent thought and full of disagreement. 

“In this game and in these positions, it’s easy to find people who agree. It’s easy to find people who are eager to conform. It’s a lot more difficult to find people who are going to stand up in a room, challenge the room to think differently about a problem and support their position with compelling evidence. I know Jeff is going to do that, and I know it’s going to make our entire organization better.

“Jeff brings a healthy perspective from a couple of different sports and I’m eager to learn from him. I’m also eager to push back like I always do on things to try to make us better.”

If you remember Scott Harris’ initial press conference, he singled out the poor corporate culture of the former Tigers’ Front Office.  A culture in which decisions were insular and new ideas were never discussed.  Those who pushed back often found themselves unemployed.

And it was reported that Avila was not inclusive of the many different departments.  Decisions and moves were made and the departments impacted were not consulted.  Each department worked as an insulated capsule and few of them coordinated with each other.

The new regime will be working in a much different way.

This partnership of which Harris speaks comes from Epstein’s playbook.  A move that all 10 of his mentees have emulated starting with Theo and Jed Hoyer.  In San Francisco, it was Harris and Farhan Zaidi.

Shortly after Harris was hired, I wrote about how this was going to be a year of re-assessment.  A discovery process about what worked, what didn’t and what was missing.

And that it was unrealistic to expect him to hire a GM for the 2023.  It would be premature.

And Harris validated that in his explanation about why he waited a full year before hiring Greenberg.  He wanted to find the right fit.  The right guy with the right skills to get the right results.

In addition to his rationale for hiring Jeff, Harris also pointed to the priority of changing the corporate culture.  If you’ve read any of Theo Epstein’s works, he points to this as the essential building block of a successful organization.

And that means not depending solely upon players who fit the statistical mold.  It’s about creating clubhouse chemistry and finding the right mix of role players.

Even in their best years, with all that talent, the Tigers of a decade ago were sorely lacking in that.

Scott said “Theo was a master at finding value in the margins.  Some of that value was measurable and some was not. He found a way to find the right collection of personalities that would help a team overcome a 108-year curse or the curse in Boston. That doesn’t happen all in measurables. You have to be able to evaluate intangible qualities to build the right mix of personalities.”

And that’s why he hired Greenberg.  It was not a slam dunk or knee-jerk hire.

It was a thoughtful and well-considered decision that took almost a full year of analysis. And a move in which he pulled at least half a dozen people into the decision-making process. 

Harris could have easily hired Jeff a year ago when he was looking for a new job.  But he didn’t.

For a valid reason.

I make no assumptions about hires.  What I do is to look at the facts and background history to see if it makes sense.

And this one does.

But unlike some fans, I’m going to give Greenberg – and everyone else hired by the Tigers – a full year before I form any opinions about how well they appear to be doing.

Afterall, isn’t this how all of us would like to be judged?


What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • A. J. Hinch has quite a sense of humor. What are his lastest jokes?
  • This Tiger just did what hasn’t been done since 2017.

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY

Miguel Cabrera’s 21-year career in baseball comes to an end this week.  There are 4 games left in the season in which he is expected to play.

Sixteen of those years have been spent with the Detroit Tigers.  During this time, he won 2 back-to-back MVP Awards, 5 other top MVP nominations, a Triple Crown, 5 Silver Slugger awards and 7 All-Star appointments.

With the Tigers, Miggy hit a lifetime (so far) .304/ .380/ .510/ .890.  His career slash line is .306/ .382/ .518 /.900.

Cabrera will finish sitting in 16th place in the 3,000 hit club with at least 3,168 hits.  After Ty Cobb, he is the second Tiger in that club and has 161 more hits than Al Kaline.

Miggy holds a number of other hitting records and sits with some of the game’s best.

Unfortunately,  multiple injuries – including a broken foot, core muscle surgery and bad knees – have slowed down his production since 2017.

As a result of both age and injuries, Miggy has held a – WAR every year since 2017.

In all, the Tigers have paid him over $432 mill in salary which does not include bonuses given out for awards.  They will pay him an additional $8 at the end of this year to buy out his 2 option years.  When all is calculated, Detroit will have paid him somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 mill.

Cabrera is universally expected to be a first-round Hall of Famer, going into Cooperstown wearing the Olde English D.

As his career comes to a close and we watch his final games, what are your feelings as a fan?

Don’t forget to come back later and check the final results!

FINAL RESULTS FROM A SEPTEMBER TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

From where will a Tigers’ competitive roster primarily come?

  • Farm system  66%  (146 votes)    
  • Trades  21%  (45 votes)    
  • Free agent signings  13%  (29 votes)


Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

TUESDAY TIDBITS

by Holly Horning

Today, it’s about quick hits – thoughts that hit me as the week goes on as well as connecting the dots re ongoing stories.  Even the quirky.

There will be something here for everyone.

So let’s get to it!  Here are the most interesting topics that hit my radar screen over the past week………..


We keep being reminded how some owners allow their business training to go out the window because they let their emotions take over.  We saw it for years with Mike Illitch.

This year, it was Mets owner Steve Cohen who thought it was a good idea to sign both a 39 and a 40 year old pitcher – Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer – to become the #1 and #2 pitchers for a team determined to win the World Series in 2023.  Both with identical salaries that are also MLB’s most expensive contracts.

Both ended up on the IL multiple times this year.  Both with inflated ERAs and WHIPs.

Part of the reason why the Mets finished well under .500 and were eliminated for the playoffs well before the Tigers.  The Tigers, btw, who have a better record than NY.

After being heralded as the solution to winning, both pitchers became victims to salary dumps.  JV for the second time.

Both ending up with other teams that ironically are also ruled by owners known for using their hearts in building their teams.

Scherzer immediately went on the IL for the rest of the year and is unable to help his team in the playoffs.

The Astros are on the verge of being eliminated for a seat at the playoff table, being swept by the 102-loss Royals and also losing a series to the Oakland A’s.

But no matter what happens this year, the Rangers and Astros (and Mets) are on the hook for another year of paying MLB’s #3 and #4 oldest as well as the most expensive pitchers over $87 mill just for 2024.


On the other hand, 2 young pitchers for the Tigers have come out of nowhere.  Until recently, they were never in the discussion for the Tigers expected rotation.

It was always about Mize, Manning and Skubal.

Now we need to add Olson and Gipson-Long.

Reese Olson has taken multiple no-hitters into the late innings and Sawyer Gipson-Long is turning into a strikeout machine.  In his last game, he fanned 11 hitters and he is the first since Jack Morris (1977) to strike out double digit batters in his first 2 starts.

The 11 strikeouts is a team high this year.  Most impressive is that those 11 came in just 5 innings against 20 batters.  Ten of those SOs were on swinging third strikes. Only 6 balls were put into play against him.  (And for the record, catcher Carson Kelly got rave reviews for how he called that game.)

Both are doing what Scott Harris said needs to be done – controlling the strike zone in order to win.

And it’s the new Player Development department that is already paying off.  Both players have had their deliveries tweaked and their pitch arsenals expanded.  This wasn’t done in the old regime.

As a result, the Tigers’ starting pitchers have allowed 3 runs or less through Friday’s games (16 of the last 18 games) and leading the AL with the lowest ERA of 2.71 and most strikeouts (92) while holding hitters to a .199 BA – the second lowest in the league.


Keeping the focus on pitchers, Eduardo Rodriguez has been struggling since his IL stint.  He’s been battling command issues and giving up more runs and walks.  His SOs are down as well as his velocity.  Last week he had to leave a game early due to a shoulder blade injury.

On Sunday, he pitched significantly better and there is only 1 start left before the end of the year.  Important in his decision about whether to opt out of his contract. He really needs to pitch an impressive game.

His value has gone down over the last month and there now may be a question as to whether opting out will be smart.  His salary next year, should he stay with the Tigers, will increase to $18 mill.

We know from reports that he asked for an additional $20 mill to jump ship to the Dodgers and it’s logical to assume that he would be looking for a yearly salary similar to this figure.  Is it worth the risk to opt out just for a couple million more per year?


The Boston Red Sox are not a very patient group.  It appears that they fire their PoBO every 4 years.  Dave Dombrowski was released just 10 months after winning the World Series.  And now, Chaim Bloom.

While 4 years is just under the average expected rebuild of a team, it was noted that owner John Henry felt that Bloom should have fully rebuilt the team by this year.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, Al Avila was given a full 7 years before being fired.  And now we’re learning that he did very little to put this team on a forward path.

The Tigers historically tend to hang onto people well beyond their expiration date.  Harris and Greenberg have a lot to prove and for once, they have a lot of significant coaching and managerial talent who may not be as patient. Problematic because they are all highly in demand by other teams.

This rebuild is gonna take awhile as we’re learning.  At least 2-3 years will be needed before we can accurately judge those in charge.


It’s been a year of unexpected player surprises.  First, the young pitchers we never heard about until recently.  And Tyler Holton making everyone’s list for a solid Rookie of the Year candidate – although he’s not expected to garner many votes.

But now, Kerry Carpenter has made most analysts’ lists for the top 20 breakout players of the year.

He overtook Riley Greene to put up the team’s best stats, slashing .288/.346/.492/.839 .

Kerry ranks #2 in HRs and RBIs, despite having 200+ less at-bats than Spencer Torkelson, the leader.  But what really stands out is his plate discipline including 60 fewer strikeouts than Torkelson.

Which one of these stories resonated the most with you?


What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • Yet another starting pitcher giving the Tigers’ expanded pitching staff credit for his improvement.

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

GENERAL MANAGER MONDAY

by Holly Horning

Every once in awhile, our regular schedule gets interrupted as big news breaks.  And today, it’s a good thing.

The end of the year brings us another change to the Detroit Tigers’ organization.  A move that has been long overdue.

The Tigers now have a new GM.

Yesterday, I blogged about the hiring of Jeff Greenberg.  His background, his history and the skills he brings to the table.  Most importantly, how he will improve the team.

If you didn’t read it, here is the link:

Now that you’ve read about him, what is your first impression of the hire?

Make sure to come back later and check the final results!


What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • It’s the first of many lasts for Miggy.

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

JEFF, NOT HANK

by Holly Horning

True to his word, PoBO Scott Harris said that he would hire a new GM within a year’s time frame.

The first clue was the report that Harris was close to hiring one and for us not to be surprised if it came before the end of the season.

Thankfully, it happened a couple days ago and put to bed those silly online discussion threads that the Tigers should hire Chaim Bloom.  Silly because Bloom was a PoBO in his own right and this would have been a demotion for him.

Silly also because many believe that the right candidates for the job are GMs who have been fired and now need a new job.  That no one else other than another GM could possibly be a viable candidate.

The Tigers have actually stopped hiring sloppy seconds and are charting their own course for once.  Going after top fresh talent.  Going after the best minds who are of the next generation. Not ones belonging to the past.

Isn’t it always better to poach top talent from other teams rather than hire someone fired by another organization?

Proactive teams, which the Tigers have finally become, don’t hire re-treads.  The majority of them aren’t going to be difference-makers.  The old familiar faces are going to bring in the identical work habits they had with their previous teams.

And teams do not come from a single cookie cutter mold.  Each one has different needs and goals.

So the Tigers ended up once again going outside the box.

Like hiring Jeff Greenberg.  And no, Hammerin’ Hank doesn’t appear in his family tree.  No nepo-baby here.

Ignore the fact that Greenberg came from an NHL hockey team.  He has a solid baseball background.  His skills also translate very easily from sport to sport.

He’s loved baseball from Day One and his father was part owner of both the Texas Rangers and several minor league teams.

Jeff interned for the Pirates and worked for the Diamondbacks and MLB while in law school.  Interestingly, he also has the dual Ivy-League degrees that the vast majority of top MLB execs now have.

He was hired by the Cubs less than 12 months later and spent 11 years with them, quickly rising through the ranks. Both he and Scott Harris were on similar tracks and worked together on many projects as the Cubs rebuilt. 

Jeff was the Director of Professional Scouting, Director of Baseball Operations and finally Assistant GM.  He has 5 years of playoff experience.

He left the Cubs for the Chicago Blackhawks because upward promotion was blocked.  And he departed the Blackhawks because they denied several other hockey teams from interviewing him for their teams.

Unlike the previous Tigers’ Front Office regime, Jeff was in high demand.  Much of it due to his ability to successfully build an analytics department.

That’s what he also did for the Cubs. They said that he “played an integral role” in developing talent that resulted in the 2016 World Series Championship.   He helped create the data systems for identifying and developing talent with Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Scott Harris.  Hoyer said that Jeff was “critically involved in forward-thinking decisions.”

The hire by Harris is not a “buddy hire”.  It’s a hire of someone you know who meshes with your own style of work and goals.  It’s a hire of someone who shares the same goals as you and someone you know who has a compatible work style.

That didn’t happen in Detroit previously.  It was well known that Dave Dombrowski and Al Avila worked very differently from each other and in the end, did not get along.

It’s crucial that your top 2 Front Office leaders are in perfect sync with each other.

Scott said “Throughout this search, it was important for me to find someone who can fit seamlessly into the culture we’re building here. I also wanted to bring in someone with a fresh perspective and new ideas that could challenge us on a daily basis and make us all better as we strive towards our goal of bringing postseason baseball back to Detroit.”

This quote is so very important because it was reported that under Avila, there was no tolerance for outside ideas and that if you weren’t a “yes man”, you found yourself unemployed.

So how will things operate between Harris and Greenberg?  They’re still probably working out exactly how the work will be divided. But they will be syncing their ideas, discussions and decisions.

Analytics will be a big part of it.  Jeff significantly built up that department with both the Cubs and Blackhawks.  A lot of money was poured into each team under him.

And as a Dir. of Pro Scouting, he’s a really good fit for the Tigers.  Especially now that the team has revamped their Player Development Dept and overhauled their amateur scouting.  It’s now time to tackle the pro scouting side.  Let’s label this area as part of “talent acquisition.”

It’s about time the Tigers are addressing this.

So what are my biggest takeaways from this hire?

THE HOCKEY FACTOR – It’s interesting that Chris Ilitch pulled Steve Yzerman into the hiring process of Scott Harris.  Was Yzerman an added voice in the hiring of Greenberg?  Afterall, he’s the hockey guy so he would have intell along with Harris who worked for him.

RE-ASSESSMENT – When Harris was hired, I blogged about how this year was one of “re-assessment” where he needed to spend a season analyzing what was working and what still needed to be done before he made that major hire.  And it appears that this is the case.  He needed to see which skills were most needed in hiring a new GM.

IT’S A REBUILD – We can now put an official name to what the Tigers need to do.  It is a rebuild, which means that Al Avila officially failed at rebuilding this team to any significant degree. There are still miles to go before this team becomes competitive.  Greenberg is known for his skills specific to rebuilding teams which is a major reason for his hiring.

SUSTAINABILITY IS THE GOAL – Chris Ilitch said it a couple years ago.  He wants to create a sustainable team with a top farm system.  Greenberg’s skills in analytics and talent acquisition speak to that.  Say goodbye to a roster chock full of talent for hire and hello to a system that churns out top talent not seen since the days of Trammelll, Whitaker, Morris, Parrish et al.

With a new GM who is adept at talent acquisition, expect that Sam Menzin, the director of baseball operations and professional scouting for the last 4 years is likely to be replaced.

ANALYTICS NEEDS OVERHAULING – There were reports that the Tigers had a poor analytics system that really didn’t work well and wasn’t utilized properly.  And you don’t hire a guy who is known for overhauling and completely rebuilding analytics departments if the system worked well. 

It’s confirmation that the new regime has seen that this department is next on the list to be broomed.  Expect that in the coming weeks, the current head of analytics, Jay Sartori, will be looking for a new job.

THE BROOMING WILL CONTINUE – Theo Epstein practiced and wrote about it.  It takes a full 3 years to tweak your organization until you get it just right.  This will be year #2.  There will be lots of tweaking done to scouting, esp. the professional side as well as refinement of player development.  And this winter, other departments largely untouched like analytics will be broomed.

The year of “re-assessment” will continue into 2024 albeit on a much smaller scale.  Scott Harris has subtly indicated that this will also be a rebuilding year – but on a different level and with a different focus.

But I also believe this will be a year of renovation and reinvention.

It’s about time this happened in Detroit.


What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • This last week could be a make-it-or-break-it for this starting pitcher.

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

SATURDAY SURVEY

The injury woes for Riley Greene continue.  This time, Tommy John surgery on his elbow, after landing on it during a diving catch.

Greene has been out for 3 weeks now.  Earlier in the year, he hit the IL with a left leg stress fracture and missed multiple weeks.

Last year, Riley broke his foot after fouling a ball off of it.  He missed one-third of a season.

There were already plans to move Greene from CF to a corner position.  Parker Meadows is the heir apparent for CF.

Manager A. J. Hinch stated that moving Riley to the corners would help diminish – but not prevent – the potential for future injuries.  However, he did say that the Tigers do not want their player to change his mental style of playing.

But there are questions about Greene’s future and ability to regularly contribute to the Tigers.

How concerned are you about Riley’s ability to avoid going on the IL each year?

Don’t forget to come back later and check the final results!

FINAL RESULTS FROM AN AUGUST TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

How much of the current roster will be left when the Tigers become a competitive team?

  • 1/2  46%  
  • 1/4th  39%   
  • less than 1/4th  12% 
  • 3/4th  3%   

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

  • We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
  • Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?

FIVE FOR FRIDAY

by Holly Horning

Baseball is an ever-changing sport.  Certain ways of playing are left at the curb when better ways and strategies are introduced.

It’s nothing new.  It’s been happening for over 100 years.  It’s just that certain trends disappear so slowly that we don’t notice them until years later.

And the opposite is also true.  New methods are showing that changes to the game can bring back certain stats.

Like stolen bases.  A dying art for decades but now that there is a pitch clock and bigger bases, the SB is finding new life.

But which trends are actually disappearing today?  Trends that are unlikely to return?

I’ve got my top 5:

1. COMPLETE GAMES – Studies that link the number of pitches thrown by 1 pitcher in a single game are linked to an increase in injury.  As are the number of innings thrown in a single year.  But it is also known that once a pitcher goes through the lineup twice, the chances of the opponent scoring on him go up. Pitchers today are way too valuable and expensive for them to be put at higher risk.

2. SACRIFICE BUNT – There are much better ways of advancing a runner than having to give up an out in order to get it.  Especially now that bases have been enlarged, giving the runner a better chance of stealing the base.

3. INDIVIDUAL NO-HITTER – File this under “Complete Game” but it is also tied to arm injury for the pitcher.  (See Turnbull, Spencer.)  Teams are unlikely to sacrifice a starting pitcher’s season and career for that fleeting moment to be able to say he threw a no-hitter.

4. INTENTIONAL WALKS – Much as the team at bat doesn’t want to give up an out by employing the sacrifice bunt, their opponents don’t want to put men on base without the hitter actually earning it.  The universal DH has also added to its demise. But Frankie Frisch said it best: “Oh, them bases on balls.”

5. NO MORE “DESIGNATED” DESIGNATED HITTER – In the beginning, the DH was reserved for the older player who could no longer play defense.  But when your roster can never be deep enough, having a single player whose only job is to hit, is a waste of a roster spot.  For the past 6 years or so, most teams have gone to a rotating DH – selected because of his stats against a pitcher or as a quasi day off to get a defensive player off his feet.

Is there another stat or part of the game that you see is becoming extinct?

FINAL RESULTS FROM AN AUGUST TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

Are the Tigers becoming a better team?

  • Yes, I can see it.  77%  
  • Still too early to tell.  18%  
  • No, they’ve made little to no progress.  5%   

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