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Vegas has them at 78.5 wins this season. I think that would be disappointing, they played good the last 1/3 of last season. Losing their number 1 starter has to contribute to that win prediction.
Not sure how I feel about this team, but as long as they're playing meaningful baseball and in the mix all season, I'll be happy.
Bottom Line: Junior is not like his dad in spending money to win a championship. . . ...
People forget how bad the Tigers were the 1st dozen years of Ilitch ownership so don't worry, when he's in his 80's and they still haven't won he'll spend.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smirnoff
Love "Hot Stove" baseball discussions.
I could see this team touching 90 wins. I could also see it touching 90 losses. It reminds me a bit of last years Lions. Tons of young talent ready to take off and in the pipe but unproven and injury prone. Will they emerge or "have trouble with the curve"? I'm also reminded of the 2006 Tigers where young talent emerged and carried them to the World Series. The difference was the free agent signings had brought in a core bona fide veteran talent like Ivan Rodriguez, Maglio Ordoņez and Kenny Rogers.
The most hyped this year is Keith Colt as in this snippet by the Free Press's Evan Petzold who has boldly predicted him to be rookie of the year. [No pressure kid!]
Colt Keith, a 22-year-old top prospect, is expected to join the Tigers as their second baseman on the 2024 Opening Day roster.
Quote:
Keith hit .306 with 38 doubles, 27 home runs, 60 walks and 121 strikeouts across 126 games last season in Double-A Erie [[59 games) and Triple-A Toledo [[67 games), totaling a .932 OPS. His average exit velocity was 90.4 mph, and his contract rate was 75%.
He won't play elite defense, but his makeup as a complete hitter — a rare blend of contact, power and plate discipline — is capable of carrying him to Rookie of the Year honors in 2024 as long as he stays healthy.
Thank you for the discussion of the Tigers. I foresee a modest
improvement from last year. Fortunately, there are not many
exceptionally strong or improved teams in their division.
Thanks for the comments.
Yeah, any improvement will come from a return of healthy pitchers - Skubal, Mize and Manning - remember how they were the future core? Mize turns 27 in May! Also, they need Keith to provide some pop and adequate defense, Greene to reach his potential, Carp to continue to improve and maybe Jung to reach the majors by mid-season. The bullpen looks like their real strength, same as last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by renf
Lowell is right. Tigers are a huge question mark for the upcoming season. Can they continue their improved hitting? Last year was the first in about four years that they weren't completely overmatched at the plate night in night out up and down the lineup. Getting 25 starts and maybe 12 wins out of Mize would go a long way toward sniffing playoff contention. Odds are low though. He has only had one injury free season out of his six years as a professional.
Tigers in first place leading the AL West! Okay, they squeaked by with a 1-0 small ball win against the pathetic White Sox for the season opener. Even much ballyhooed rookie Colt Keith's first hit was weak off-a-glove fluke. Still the win was good to see and the Tiger pitching, which is looking to be their strong suit, was outstanding.
They failed to add a big bat or two, in the middle of that lineup, and I predict Javy Baez will be released if he has the same year as last. If the pitching holds up, I can see them winning around 80-85 games. Everything has to fall into place though.
I think it will come down to how Greene and Keith hit. Both have the potential to have big seasons. Greene needs to show he can stay healthy and live up to the potential and Keith needs to have a big rookie season. Meadows also looks like he could continue to improve. The rest of the line-up we have a pretty good idea what we have. Expect a lot of low scoring games. The team could really use a star in the middle of the order. Every other team, even in the Central, has one. The starting pitching at Toledo is really good and that doesn't even include Jobe and Madden. Expect to trade pitching for bats next off-season if the hitters don't produce.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid
Baseball? What's baseball? A game that used to be shown on local TV???
Correct! I never thought I'd see the day where you have to pay to watch TV.Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Whalley
Living out of market, I'm more than happy to pay to watch every Tigers game. It sure beats growing up and watching Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Saturday afternoon as the only game on tv.Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Whalley
My dear wife is a baseball nut, so she pays out a hefty sum every year to our cable provider [[Cox Cable, Las Vegas) to get every Tiger game. Well, nearly; the west coast teams black TV out.
I know every Tigers season is long, but a 3-0 start is pretty cool!
I like our new announcer. He's kind of quirky, knows the sport, and his voice is easy to listen to. Not sure how we were a step up from the Chicago market, but they seemed to like the guy. Was watching the game with my sister at family Easter and she said, "It's obvious he's single." "What makes you think that?", I said, having no idea of his status. "Look at his under-shirt. No woman would let their man appear on tv with a yellowed t-shirt like that. Lol, so I googled, and she was right.
Benetti has been around a long time. He does a good job on national football and basketball for Fox. White Sox org. didn't get back to him about his contract renewal so he started looking elsewhere. Carlos Pena will be pretty good also. Now to just get rid of Monroe. At least he'll only do about a third of the broadcasts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bong-Man
Quote:
Originally Posted by 401don
Craig Monroe is starting to give me Rod Allen vibes, with the repetitive cliches. Tork is seeing a "steady diet" of breaking balls, or Green didn't "try to do too much with that pitch. Or, Baez "threw a seed to home plate.
Stack up wins now, they don't ask for them back later in the season.
Having said that, they beat a garbage Chicago team and won against a not so good dumpster fire NYM team. Then they play another garbage A's team. They could conceivably be 9-0 to start but lets see how this team plays against the middle and upper tier teams as the season moves along. The Guardians & Tigers should be fighting it out for the Division this year, hopefully the Tigers overachieve and they add a bat or 2 along the way.
Tigers new play by play guy is great, he needs a better color guy though, Kirk Gibson is brutal - he's not getting better, he's getting way worse.