WEBVTT 00:00:02.569 --> 00:00:05.509 You're listening to The Litterbox, a Detroit 00:00:05.509 --> 00:00:09.570 Tigers podcast with your hosts Chet West and 00:00:09.570 --> 00:00:20.170 Bill Patterson. Here's what's on deck for this 00:00:20.170 --> 00:00:23.039 episode. Riley Green, I'm starting to cheer for 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.039 Riley Green a little more. Players on the wrong 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:28.320 side of 35 and just flummoxing the Tigers. And 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:30.300 every coach out there and they're all examining 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:32.359 his swing going through every piece of it. There 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:34.340 are a couple places that keep the bone in and 00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:41.759 you kind of have to gnaw around it. Litterbox 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:44.859 listeners, welcome back. Another episode here 00:00:44.859 --> 00:00:49.200 of the Litterbox Detroit Tigers podcast. I enjoyed 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.310 watching these games against the halos this past 00:00:52.310 --> 00:00:55.429 week. The outcomes were a little better. We at 00:00:55.429 --> 00:00:57.750 least got two out of three, which is nice. It's 00:00:57.750 --> 00:01:00.409 nice to win a series. We said last week, Bill, 00:01:00.750 --> 00:01:04.069 we got to win series. We want a series that we 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:06.489 should have won. And the halos, you know, they 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:08.569 were they were adding at the deadline, so they 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:12.549 aren't exactly out of it. Few games back. Bill, 00:01:12.629 --> 00:01:14.810 what did you feel? What did you see? I was absolutely 00:01:14.810 --> 00:01:19.170 in panic mode. full anxiety going on after Saturday's 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:21.709 loss. That's what made it fun. I mean, they never 00:01:21.709 --> 00:01:24.349 really sealed the deal in any game early on. 00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:27.069 No, quick recap. We know they took the series 00:01:27.069 --> 00:01:31.230 Friday win, Saturday loss, Saturday and then 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:35.430 Sunday win. But Saturday's lost with the Guardians. 00:01:35.969 --> 00:01:38.590 The Tigers were five games up in the division 00:01:38.590 --> 00:01:41.489 and I wasn't comfortable going to sleep that 00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:43.109 night. I don't think we're going to be comfortable 00:01:43.109 --> 00:01:45.810 for the rest of the season. I don't either. But 00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:47.709 that was the first time I've been - Comfort flew 00:01:47.709 --> 00:01:50.549 out the door past the All -Star break. Yeah, 00:01:51.409 --> 00:01:53.430 I - I - Chet, I've been comfortable and sleeping 00:01:53.430 --> 00:01:56.349 like a baby since, I don't know, the second week, 00:01:56.390 --> 00:01:58.810 third week of April? And now all of a sudden 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:01.849 I'm having night terrors and, you know, Stephen 00:02:01.849 --> 00:02:05.870 - seeing Stephen Kwan in my sleep? I - I don't 00:02:05.870 --> 00:02:08.490 blame you. And by the way, I mean, this is the 00:02:08.490 --> 00:02:12.129 - the crux of baseball, is you got a 162 -game 00:02:12.129 --> 00:02:16.740 marathon. It's not 81 games. It's not 16, 17 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:19.699 games. It's not. You got to go. You're running 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:21.960 a marathon. At some point, you're going to stumble. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.460 And they have. And you're going to fall. And 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:28.099 they have. And you may not get up for a while. 00:02:28.379 --> 00:02:31.139 And they have not quite gotten up yet, maybe. 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:33.000 But we'll see. They're stumbling to their feet, 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:37.139 I feel. Maybe, maybe not. But we had it good 00:02:37.139 --> 00:02:41.379 for months. And now. The challenge can they can 00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:44.659 they finish this long race? I I liked what I 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:47.599 saw except for the relievers again these relievers 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:52.460 this bullpen It's giving me It's giving me hard 00:02:52.460 --> 00:02:55.520 issues. Do you remember years back? I want to 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:00.240 say It was in the mid teens 2015 16 somewhere 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.000 in there. We played the Orioles in the playoffs 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.439 Do you remember this? Yeah, it was the last time 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.240 that Tigers were good before last year. Yes. 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.699 Exactly. Scherzer was still pitching for us. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:16.740 We had Verlander still pitching for us. And we 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:18.719 would get these great starts out of those guys. 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:20.659 And we'd have like a two or three run lead going 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:22.500 into the late innings. And our bullpen would 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:25.460 just nuke it. Every single game of that playoff 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:27.219 series. It was like, oh, here comes the bullpen. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.039 And there goes the lead. And the Orioles win 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.819 again. And we were losing to a subpar Orioles 00:03:31.819 --> 00:03:34.379 team. And we had a better team than them. But 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:37.110 our bullpen could not hold the lead. I feel like 00:03:37.110 --> 00:03:41.169 we may be going down that ugly path again. But, 00:03:41.830 --> 00:03:43.789 hey, we got two out of three from the Halos. 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:48.069 I'll take it. Game one was a close one. Six -five 00:03:48.069 --> 00:03:52.150 Tiger victory. Compliments of A -1, Matt Vierling, 00:03:53.030 --> 00:03:55.990 and a three -run homer in the eighth. I was really 00:03:55.990 --> 00:03:58.650 happy to see Vierling do something finally this 00:03:58.650 --> 00:04:01.349 season. I mean, he won us a game there. Your 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:04.310 thoughts? Players of the game to what you said. 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.400 Troy Melton gets the nod, is the pitcher, my 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:09.099 stars of the game, however you want to phrase 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:10.919 it. And then I'm going to give it to Virling 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:13.560 for the game -winning shot. Outside of that, 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.579 the game ebbed and flowed. It was fun from a 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:20.720 competitive standpoint. And I got to say, the 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:24.259 Halos, as surprised as I was that they were buyers, 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.180 they've been fun to play against this year. And 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:32.639 that being said, Again, the hitting's been erratic. 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:35.660 This is the night that Riley Green finally got 00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:39.339 off the Schneid and got a single, which is nice, 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:42.720 but I am going to segue into something just a 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.779 little bit here. And I want you to chew on it 00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:46.720 while I talk a little bit about the question 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:50.019 you asked me earlier. Okay. And that is I'm finding 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:53.529 this team. It's really difficult for me to find 00:04:53.529 --> 00:04:56.529 a tiger that like who's my tiger? Who do I love 00:04:56.529 --> 00:05:00.110 like who's my guy? And I want you to think about 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:04.850 that Yeah, okay, and I can get me a retort. So 00:05:04.850 --> 00:05:10.269 you were referencing the 2014 Was that the 2014 00:05:10.269 --> 00:05:12.170 playoffs? Is that what I'm and there was the 00:05:12.170 --> 00:05:16.110 division series the Tigers lined up in this order 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:21.160 Max Scherzer against Chris Tillman Okay. Brad 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:26.399 Brack against Justin Verlander. Okay. And your 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:29.879 favorite in mine, the world -beater that is Bud 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:33.500 Norris against David Price and lost all three 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:36.060 games. You would think we'd win those, right? 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:40.279 Just on name recognition. Two out of three, given 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.240 that you have two Hall of Famers and David Price 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:45.939 might find his way in someday with the way... 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.339 the weirdness of pitching these days doubtful 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:50.959 but whatever sure and then you know who the hero 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:55.959 was zack britain was the closer and that was 00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:58.240 a young guy back that was like that was the difference 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.399 or something so anyway now that you've chewed 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.019 on my question let's talk about lovability who's 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:06.860 your tiger who's your guy i am still i am still 00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:09.019 you're gonna love this but i'm still a torque 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:12.850 guy and a colt keith guy Cult is probably my 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:16.310 guy, like my main guy that I pull for. I want 00:06:16.310 --> 00:06:20.810 to see him keep surging. Tork is just, I can't, 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:24.250 I can't quit him. I can't quit him. You know, 00:06:24.529 --> 00:06:26.870 I don't understand it. I see him come to the 00:06:26.870 --> 00:06:28.649 plate. I start cheering for him in my head. Come 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:32.449 on, Tork, do it. And it's sometimes it's maddening. 00:06:32.509 --> 00:06:34.550 Sometimes it's, hey, you got a home run in game 00:06:34.550 --> 00:06:37.689 one. It was a beautiful thing. He's... You know, 00:06:37.689 --> 00:06:39.689 he's just one of those guys I pull for. I don't 00:06:39.689 --> 00:06:41.829 really know why. It's maybe because he's been 00:06:41.829 --> 00:06:45.629 down and, you know, he's the number one overall 00:06:45.629 --> 00:06:48.529 and kind of had a rough go so far and I'm pulling 00:06:48.529 --> 00:06:50.350 for him to pull out of it. I don't know. You 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:52.290 know who's kind of creeping into my I'm gonna 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:54.430 give you a little more after we do the game recaps 00:06:54.430 --> 00:06:57.269 here? Riley Green. I'm starting to cheer for 00:06:57.269 --> 00:06:59.610 Riley Green a little more. And not that I never 00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:01.589 did. I always thought he's a good player. Don't 00:07:01.589 --> 00:07:04.670 get me wrong. But you've heard me talk. I get 00:07:04.670 --> 00:07:06.769 a little frustrated with his approach sometimes. 00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:10.129 I read a great article by Cody Stabenhagen, the 00:07:10.129 --> 00:07:12.769 Athletic Today, about Riley Greene and what he's 00:07:12.769 --> 00:07:14.769 going through right now. I'm going to recap some 00:07:14.769 --> 00:07:17.209 things and throw some stats at you here in a 00:07:17.209 --> 00:07:19.410 little bit when we get off the game recap. I'm 00:07:19.410 --> 00:07:21.069 going to do a whole little Riley Greene section 00:07:21.069 --> 00:07:22.930 for you. It's going to be fascinating. Let's 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:27.790 talk about Melton Ivan. No, you wanted to do 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:29.970 yours? Of course. Did you want to give me who 00:07:29.970 --> 00:07:32.470 you're in love with? Go for it. No, that was 00:07:32.470 --> 00:07:34.930 the biggest point, was that I don't have that 00:07:34.930 --> 00:07:36.350 long a man. You don't have anyone, do you? Meaning 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:38.730 that Riley Green's always been my true heartthrob, 00:07:38.790 --> 00:07:41.990 but I feel like he's... He and I are... I thought 00:07:41.990 --> 00:07:44.529 Dingler was kind of in here. No, Dingler has 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:47.589 replaced it. Yes, I'm saying that. And that's 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:50.629 going to lead into something later on. But the 00:07:50.629 --> 00:07:53.730 rest of the guys that I like outside of those 00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:57.850 two starters, Dingler and Green, are all the 00:07:57.850 --> 00:08:01.689 guys that come up from AAA or utility guys. It's, 00:08:01.689 --> 00:08:05.310 it's Z -Mac, it's Perez. It's the Scrappers. 00:08:05.850 --> 00:08:09.970 Carp. And I am finding it very, very hard to 00:08:09.970 --> 00:08:13.000 fall in love with this team. Because I find the 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.360 guys I gravitate towards either are super streaky 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.040 looking at you Riley Green really in there It's 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:21.740 not his rookier, but it's his first full year 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:25.139 Dylan Dingler and then a bunch of guys that are 00:08:25.139 --> 00:08:29.660 essentially scrappers or utility guys and I am 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:32.820 struggling with it Possibly also because it's 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:34.779 this losing streak, but even when they were winning. 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:39.190 I just couldn't button down who my guy was. And 00:08:39.190 --> 00:08:41.950 that is my most frustrating part as we go through 00:08:41.950 --> 00:08:45.309 the dog days of August right now. I understand 00:08:45.309 --> 00:08:48.149 that. And the baseball season's long. I mean, 00:08:48.289 --> 00:08:51.750 it's just such a long time to sit and glom on 00:08:51.750 --> 00:08:53.590 to like one play. They're gonna burn you a little 00:08:53.590 --> 00:08:56.929 bit at some point. It's just a long season. Stephen 00:08:56.929 --> 00:09:01.070 Kwan never glums me. Boy, there's an infatuation 00:09:01.070 --> 00:09:05.779 there. Stephen Kwan... Your guy he's your guy 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:09.000 in MLB right now the whole league So Troy Melton 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.879 went three point one two hits and a run two K's 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:16.399 no walks He did give up a dinger. I I like what 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:18.659 I see from him and I'd much rather see him starting 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:22.970 then Craig Morton or Paddock although I think 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:25.029 paddocks doing a pretty good job tonight against 00:09:25.029 --> 00:09:28.309 the Sox. So Charlie last I checked so Charlie 00:09:28.309 --> 00:09:30.350 Morton Sorry, Craig Morton. Craig Morton was 00:09:30.350 --> 00:09:33.049 a NFL quarterback for the Broncos. Yeah, I think 00:09:33.049 --> 00:09:36.649 he started that Super Bowl against the Cowboys 00:09:36.649 --> 00:09:39.710 and Charlie didn't do so well Goodness, that's 00:09:39.710 --> 00:09:42.809 a good reference. So many Morton's Johnny Morton 00:09:42.809 --> 00:09:46.169 Charlie for a mile high listeners Yeah, so and 00:09:46.169 --> 00:09:48.649 Kyle Finnegan has been a great pickup so far 00:09:48.649 --> 00:09:51.559 what we thought we were going we knew that Yeah, 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:54.279 that was an easy crystal ball. Yep, easy crystal 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:57.679 ball. So Tarek Scoobel had a kind of an unscoobel 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:00.200 -like game. He was a little ranty. He got a little 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:02.840 ranty on the mound. He didn't like a lot of calls 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:05.929 he was getting. Day after, UMP scorecard showed 00:10:05.929 --> 00:10:08.309 that he probably didn't get squeezed quite as 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:09.830 much as we thought he did. There were a couple 00:10:09.830 --> 00:10:12.210 key pitches that he did get squeezed a little 00:10:12.210 --> 00:10:15.289 on, though. But otherwise, it wasn't, you know, 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:18.330 I think we got the benefit over the Angels in 00:10:18.330 --> 00:10:22.269 that game as far as UMP calls go. So... Okay, 00:10:22.590 --> 00:10:25.850 4 .2 innings, six hits, four runs, six Ks, two 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:30.009 walks. And he gave up two dingers. Which... There's 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:34.590 the problem, Tarik. Not the zone. That was a 00:10:34.590 --> 00:10:36.789 problem. He's allowed to have a little bit of 00:10:36.789 --> 00:10:39.070 a stinker. Yeah, it was a problem all weekend. 00:10:39.330 --> 00:10:41.250 The ball was going out of the yard. None of these 00:10:41.250 --> 00:10:44.929 games were particularly low scoring. So 6 -5 00:10:44.929 --> 00:10:48.669 Tiger winning game one. Game two, slightly different 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:53.450 story. I don't know if I can sit here and tell 00:10:53.450 --> 00:10:57.769 you that I watched all of this game. Got pieces 00:10:57.769 --> 00:11:01.490 of it. I felt really good going into the fifth 00:11:01.490 --> 00:11:05.289 when it was four to four and I think Charlie 00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:09.289 Just stayed in one inning too long What do you 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:12.049 think? Yeah, actually I did tune into this one 00:11:12.049 --> 00:11:15.350 and our guy Charlie slash Craig Morton, which 00:11:15.350 --> 00:11:17.870 is gonna be his nickname going forward Okay, 00:11:18.230 --> 00:11:21.029 I just over four innings pitched four point one 00:11:21.029 --> 00:11:23.269 and this is the weirdest stat line. You're gonna 00:11:23.269 --> 00:11:26.519 see Possibly for a Tigers starting pitcher all 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:32.200 season. Seven hits, six runs, all earned. Only 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.139 one walked. And here's the aberration in it, 00:11:35.220 --> 00:11:39.200 Chet. He struck out 10. What a bizarre. He was 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.679 either unhittable or extremely hittable. One 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:44.740 or the other. There was no in -between in this 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:47.379 one. Two of those earned runs were home runs. 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:51.919 So he threw 90 pitches. So he wasn't really locating 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:55.649 it or dealing. But the weird part is 62 of them 00:11:55.649 --> 00:11:59.509 were strikes and when he was dealing guys were 00:11:59.509 --> 00:12:01.909 swinging and missing But it just didn't happen 00:12:01.909 --> 00:12:05.470 enough. So yeah, I mean the Tiger Raphael Montero 00:12:05.470 --> 00:12:08.509 sighting Tigers did lose we got a Montero sighting 00:12:08.509 --> 00:12:10.610 though. You want one point to give up one hit. 00:12:10.610 --> 00:12:13.789 That's it Man his first outing. He looked he 00:12:13.789 --> 00:12:15.970 was the good Montero You remember this is the 00:12:15.970 --> 00:12:18.409 guy that when he's good. He's striking guys out 00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:20.769 when he's bad He's walking people because he 00:12:20.769 --> 00:12:24.080 can't find the plate Tyler Holton did 1 .1 innings. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:26.320 It was nice to see him bounce back. Didn't give 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:30.759 up any runs. New acquisition Cody Hewer. He was... 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:34.580 not great. 1 .2 innings. He gave up a run. Gave 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:37.360 up a home run. He did have 2Ks, but he also threw 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.059 a walk in there. Had a little bit of a rough 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:42.259 outing, but I think the game was... the game 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:45.019 was kind of... not... it was out of reach, maybe, 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.639 by the time he got around there. Yusei Kikuchi. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.299 I mean, we saw... who'd we see? Kyle Hendricks 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:53.259 in game one, and Yusei Kikuchi in game two, these 00:12:53.259 --> 00:12:55.879 are guys that are kind of past their born on 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:57.860 dating, if you know what I mean. These aren't 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:00.340 supposed to be really tough starters that we 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:03.789 went up against. Would you agree? Absolutely, 00:13:04.370 --> 00:13:07.470 and the weird part about this is when the Tigers 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:10.110 have lost to the Halos this year, if we go back 00:13:10.110 --> 00:13:13.049 when they first played them, the professor, Kyle 00:13:13.049 --> 00:13:15.129 Hendricks, was the one that flummoxed them in 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:18.370 their only loss. And so here you're seeing, again, 00:13:18.610 --> 00:13:22.090 players on the wrong side of 35 and just flummoxing 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:24.889 the Tigers, which is again... I feel like Charlie 00:13:24.889 --> 00:13:28.169 Morton would have just left us spellbound. If 00:13:28.169 --> 00:13:29.929 we were up against him, he would have struck 00:13:29.929 --> 00:13:33.529 out 18 Carrie Wood style must either easy easily 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:36.309 Yeah, I don't understand it. So yeah, so we went 00:13:36.309 --> 00:13:38.230 up against some guys though, you know shouldn't 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:42.029 have been that tough They got us in game two 00:13:42.029 --> 00:13:44.870 kind of I just thought it was sort of a an ugly 00:13:44.870 --> 00:13:47.850 blast four or five innings So my my game balls 00:13:47.850 --> 00:13:50.950 are stars if you okay would go out I'm gonna 00:13:50.950 --> 00:13:54.009 give them on tarot it for pitching 1 .2 and doing 00:13:54.009 --> 00:13:56.940 what he needed to do And then this one's tough, 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.980 but Javi Baez did go three for four and played 00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:03.399 short and center field, which at the end of this 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:07.019 season, like let's picture a high school sports 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:10.620 awards banquet. I don't think the Tigers are 00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:12.200 going to do that. I think they basically clean 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.600 out their lockers and Scott Borges yells at some 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:17.679 people and that's what happens. Scott Harris 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.679 yells back. But if they did have a banquet with, 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.299 like, really bad rubber chicken and mashed potatoes 00:14:23.299 --> 00:14:25.879 and green beans and all that, Javi Baez would 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:29.580 have to get some type of award for doing the 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:33.059 yeoman's work that he's done in two of the most 00:14:33.059 --> 00:14:37.320 difficult positions. He's stayed relatively consistent 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:40.360 with the bat, too. He doesn't hit every game, 00:14:40.419 --> 00:14:43.259 but he's... He had a good game one in this series. 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:45.299 He had a decent game. He had two RBI's in the 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:48.100 first game. He had a good game, too, obviously, 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:52.720 of this series. I mean, he hasn't he's not Javier 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:57.240 Baez good right now, but he's Javier Baez good. 00:14:57.379 --> 00:15:00.639 I'm going to go back to Javi. Excuse me, Javier 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:04.240 Baez. Good. Because are you? Well, I'm looking 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.639 at this and is he back? Is the alter ego back? 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:11.279 I don't know about this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:17.820 for Mr. Baez. But I will say Saturday after that 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:19.960 three for four effort, he was closer to batting 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:24.179 270 than he was batting the Mendoza line like 00:15:24.179 --> 00:15:26.759 he has been the last two years. It's come down, 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:29.000 Chet. I'm talking about Saturday's game. Yeah. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.799 You know, you look at it on base, it's just below 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.799 300. His slugging's, you know, still above 400. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:39.220 And the fact that he's manning these two positions 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:42.820 that are, quite frankly, inexcusable that the 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:46.820 Tigers don't have a center fielder in their organization 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:51.570 at all is just befuddling to me. And that's another 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:54.350 one of my complaints. Can we put game two to 00:15:54.350 --> 00:15:57.289 bed now? Let's let's do game three. What do you 00:15:57.289 --> 00:16:01.570 have for us? This one felt good. Nine five victory 00:16:01.570 --> 00:16:04.409 over the halos. And, you know, in terms of giving 00:16:04.409 --> 00:16:08.230 out stars, this one's pretty easy. Carp homered 00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:11.309 and drove in three to really lead the Tigers 00:16:11.309 --> 00:16:15.450 in that win. And Casey Mize, he really pitched 00:16:15.450 --> 00:16:18.879 a good game. Five innings. Only three hits, two 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:21.120 runs. This is a typical, this is what Casey's 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.659 done. Outside of a stinker or two. This is like 00:16:24.659 --> 00:16:27.000 his typical stat line right here. Five innings, 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:30.759 two runs, five Ks, and I'm done. What jumps at 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.759 me also is the fact that he is now 11 -4 on the 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:39.789 year with a 3 .50 ERA, so he's also been... Fortunate 00:16:39.789 --> 00:16:43.470 or fortuitous or somewhat just lucky. We got 00:16:43.470 --> 00:16:46.029 bad Montero this game If we want to talk a little 00:16:46.029 --> 00:16:48.889 bit about one hide, this is the game the pen 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:51.230 really disappointed me I was like, can't you 00:16:51.230 --> 00:16:53.769 guys just close this thing out for crying out 00:16:53.769 --> 00:16:57.350 loud? Well a nice lead I mean they weren't catching 00:16:57.350 --> 00:17:00.129 up to us and then you got Tommy Canley out there 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:03.409 I I don't know what to do with him. He's keen. 00:17:03.610 --> 00:17:07.869 I must be as bald as a cue ball at this point. 00:17:07.869 --> 00:17:11.470 Gotta be. There can't be any body hair left to 00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:13.789 shave. Like electrolysis level stuff here. Nothing. 00:17:13.970 --> 00:17:16.250 He's got an inning, two hits, a run. He only 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:18.369 threw 11 pitches, still managed to give up a 00:17:18.369 --> 00:17:22.329 run somehow. I don't know what to do with him. 00:17:23.509 --> 00:17:28.950 Again, he's throwing the change up 82 % of the 00:17:28.950 --> 00:17:32.450 time. You gotta really locate it real well to 00:17:32.450 --> 00:17:35.289 be able to be successful with that The problem 00:17:35.289 --> 00:17:38.789 is it's flat and fat in the zone So yeah, it's 00:17:38.789 --> 00:17:40.650 really covering too much of the plate Raphael 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:42.670 Montero did what Raphael Montero does he walked 00:17:42.670 --> 00:17:47.450 three guys? 1 .2 innings it looks like Raphael 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:49.670 Montero was left out there for just an inning 00:17:49.670 --> 00:17:53.690 too long He had which is hysterical when he pitched 00:17:53.690 --> 00:18:01.950 one inning I mean, he went 1 .2. He went 1 .2. 00:18:02.150 --> 00:18:05.250 He went out to the eighth inning and immediately 00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:08.109 walked and gave up runs and they pulled them 00:18:08.109 --> 00:18:11.150 and Vest had to come in and finish it up and 00:18:11.150 --> 00:18:15.829 clean up his mess. So, Vest went 1 .1 with a 00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:18.049 hit in 2Ks. That's, you know, great to see because 00:18:18.049 --> 00:18:19.910 he's kind of been bumped by Finnegan a little 00:18:19.910 --> 00:18:22.230 out of that closer roll. So it's good to see 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:24.730 him in, well, I guess what became somewhat of 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:26.910 a high leverage situation after Montero blew 00:18:26.910 --> 00:18:30.069 up. But, and Canalee couldn't keep a run off 00:18:30.069 --> 00:18:32.390 the board. So two things that need to be talked 00:18:32.390 --> 00:18:36.589 about. Tommy Canalee's ERA is now 4 .96 on the 00:18:36.589 --> 00:18:41.670 year. It is doubled in the last... 32 days and 00:18:41.670 --> 00:18:46.230 then Montero his era is 5 .7. Oh, this is what 00:18:46.230 --> 00:18:48.710 happens when you shop in the bargain bin Yeah, 00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:50.990 you're gonna get varying consistent results, 00:18:51.009 --> 00:18:53.809 which is kind of our that's our mo this year 00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:56.710 It seems inconsistency. So I wanted to touch 00:18:56.710 --> 00:18:59.369 on something with you in regards to some stats 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:03.289 I saw First funny stat I saw today. Have you 00:19:03.289 --> 00:19:05.750 been watching what Carlos Correa has done since 00:19:05.750 --> 00:19:09.089 returning to Houston? It's It reminds me of these 00:19:09.089 --> 00:19:11.670 situations where it's like a player's really 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:14.230 happy to be somewhere. Yes. So their whole level 00:19:14.230 --> 00:19:17.710 of play just rises. I mean, he was batting like 00:19:17.710 --> 00:19:20.509 260 for the twins. He had a couple home runs, 00:19:20.529 --> 00:19:23.309 like six or seven home runs on the season. He 00:19:23.309 --> 00:19:25.410 wasn't lighting the world of fire, especially 00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:27.970 for what he was being paid. Since returning to 00:19:27.970 --> 00:19:32.710 Houston, he has a 405 batting average, six multi 00:19:32.710 --> 00:19:37.329 -hit games in 10 days, a 209 WRC plus. Two home 00:19:37.329 --> 00:19:42.730 runs, and almost a 1 .10 PS. That is a major 00:19:42.730 --> 00:19:47.069 flip. A major flip. And El Tuve, in his three 00:19:47.069 --> 00:19:49.529 game series, he's very happy to have Carlos back 00:19:49.529 --> 00:19:52.109 from everything I hear, they're buddies. Real 00:19:52.109 --> 00:19:54.690 happy to be playing together again. El Tuve in 00:19:54.690 --> 00:19:57.569 a three game set, went six for 11 with two home 00:19:57.569 --> 00:20:01.230 runs, a double. Five RBIs, three walks, and only 00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:05.759 two Ks. I fear Houston right now. Feel like they're 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:08.759 gonna get that that mojo back that they had a 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:12.740 couple years ago pre pre Carlos's departure They're 00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:15.279 gonna be a problem for teams going down the stretch 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.700 They just they just strike me as somebody that 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:20.160 will but what I really wanted to hammer on was 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.299 Riley Green I want to talk to you about some 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:25.759 stats around this guy. Okay What are your thoughts 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:30.839 on Riley Green and? currently currently He is 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:34.240 on pace. He will set the Tigers single -season 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:37.539 strikeout record for a batter. He will. It's 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:41.039 almost impossible for him not to right now. He's 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.099 only like a few away. I think he's got 159 Ks 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:49.519 right now. The record is 182. First trivia question 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:53.700 of this whole segment. Who holds The single season 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:57.400 Tiger strikeout record at 182. Rob Deer. You're 00:20:57.400 --> 00:20:59.660 very close. He's actually a top, he's in the 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:05.019 top five, I believe. Cecil Fielder, 1990. He 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:09.579 also hit 51 freaking home runs that year. Cecil 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:12.380 struck out a ton, also hit a lot of home runs. 00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:15.539 And if you look across the strikeouts, like Mark 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.220 Reynolds holds the all time record at 223. He 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:20.140 had something like 42 home runs that season. 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:24.259 It was 2009. So that's the one that people are 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:27.880 saying, Riley Green's on pace to have 212, which 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:29.960 would put him in the top five or would put him 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:32.140 ninth, excuse me. Sorry, not in the top five. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.599 And so that's that's if things, you know, stay 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:38.500 the same or improve, he's going to have 212 or 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:42.640 less. 223 is the record. If things go south more, 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:46.059 he could get there. He is doing some things to 00:21:46.059 --> 00:21:49.480 keep that from happening. I didn't know this, 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:51.680 and maybe this is more common in this day and 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:55.180 age, but would you be surprised to know that 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:57.259 Riley Green really doesn't take batting practice 00:21:57.259 --> 00:22:01.200 on the field? I alluded to this already in June. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.240 Did you talk about this at one point? Not just 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:04.759 completely glossed right past it? I talked about 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:09.380 how laconic and laid -back he is in warm -ups, 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:11.539 and no, he doesn't take batting practice. He 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:15.640 doesn't shag flies. He can lazily play long toss 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:19.000 with somebody else in the outfield. He is like 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:21.440 he apparently has been working pretty hard at 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.640 this trying to get out of his slump. He does 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:25.900 a lot of work in the underground cage instead 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:28.299 of taking batting practice up top. He likes the 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:30.259 privacy and he likes to go through his routine. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:33.680 so he uses the underground cage instead and they 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.599 have a lot of tech down there now that these 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.619 hitters can use to prep for a pitcher and stuff 00:22:37.619 --> 00:22:40.200 so I kind of get it I think that's something 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:42.299 that's sort of you know players are sort of trending 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:44.740 towards he does currently lead the league in 00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:47.480 case which is why he's doing all this and he's 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:49.740 had every coach out there so all of a sudden 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:52.380 This past week, he's decided to go out and start 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:54.380 hitting outside because he wants to actually 00:22:54.380 --> 00:22:56.859 see the ball off the bat and whatnot. He had 00:22:56.859 --> 00:22:58.859 every coach out there and they're all examining 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:01.400 his swing, going through every piece of it. He's 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:03.079 trying to change his approach as to what he's 00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:05.200 swinging at. He struggles with two pitches. He's 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:07.380 never really struggled too much with a high strike, 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:10.099 but it's the low spinner that's always got him. 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.099 But now the high strike starting to get him. 00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:13.940 And it's because he's trying to kind of watch 00:23:13.940 --> 00:23:16.920 for both. And he's basically said, I can't. I 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:19.380 can't cover the whole thing. So I'm gonna lay 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:21.400 off a one and go after the other and look for 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:23.940 the other one and defend against that, which 00:23:23.940 --> 00:23:26.460 it's good to see he's thinking of this stuff. 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:28.940 AJ Hinch is a little more tough love. He's just 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:30.079 kind of like, you know what gets a guy out of 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.799 a slump? Hitting. He's like, you know what makes 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.640 a player feel good? Hitting. You're not gonna 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:35.799 pat him on the back. You're not gonna do anything. 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:37.720 He just needs to hit. So we got to get him back 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:41.900 in there hitting. He is at a 32 .8 % K rate right 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:46.000 now, which is very high. He is, it's the highest 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.839 of his career. His walk rate, which is even more 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:54.339 concerning, 5 .9%, which is very, very low. That's 00:23:54.339 --> 00:23:57.019 the lowest of his career by almost cut in half. 00:23:57.319 --> 00:24:01.599 His chase rate is 32 .2, which is four above 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:04.299 the league average, which is 28 % chase rate. 00:24:05.059 --> 00:24:09.819 His first pitch swinging, he swings 40 .7 % of 00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:12.259 first pitches. League average on that's like 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:15.460 31 % So I think there's a patience aspect of 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:18.059 this here And I think he needs to kind of hone 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:20.299 in on like what's he looking for up there at 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:22.059 the plate? And I think he's working on that based 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:24.119 on what he's been saying Hinch dropped him to 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:26.099 six in the order Friday night. He responded by 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:29.579 going two for four Hinch didn't hit him Saturday 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:33.000 against a lefty. He is not a platoon guy like 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:35.859 Kerry and Colt Like he is always hit against 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:39.309 lefties. He pulled him against the lefty on Saturday. 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:42.589 And on Sunday, he put him back in the cleanup 00:24:42.589 --> 00:24:45.750 spot and rewarded him with a home run and a couple 00:24:45.750 --> 00:24:48.109 hits. So I think it went two for five on Sunday. 00:24:48.210 --> 00:24:51.829 So maybe some of this stuff is starting to work. 00:24:52.349 --> 00:24:55.450 But the one thing, one stat that stood out to 00:24:55.450 --> 00:24:59.009 me as a whole team, the Tigers have the worst 00:24:59.009 --> 00:25:02.190 walk rate in baseball since the All -Star break. 00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:04.609 What happened at the All -Star break to this 00:25:04.609 --> 00:25:07.230 team? That. I don't have an answer for it because 00:25:07.230 --> 00:25:09.710 you completely threw me for a loop because I 00:25:09.710 --> 00:25:11.910 pulled up all the... I did, didn't I? You had 00:25:11.910 --> 00:25:14.829 everything all ready to go. Yeah, regarding green... 00:25:14.829 --> 00:25:17.569 I didn't prep you for this. So I get, you know, 00:25:17.809 --> 00:25:19.569 off the top of your head. What do you think is 00:25:19.569 --> 00:25:21.569 going on with this? I think the biggest difference 00:25:21.569 --> 00:25:25.750 is that Torres isn't taking as many pitches. 00:25:25.890 --> 00:25:28.890 And I think they're getting bitten in the rear, 00:25:29.029 --> 00:25:31.819 which we have talked about on this. for not having 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:35.900 a true leadoff hitter. And so I think this all 00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:38.279 comes back to Parker Meadows and what a failure. 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.200 And I do mean failure. You are really dropping 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:44.700 it on him. Yeah. He's been an abject failure 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:47.940 to this team all season. A being injured and 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:52.200 B being ineffective. And I would also say that 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:55.480 Matt Vierling's part B of this. If Meadows is 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:59.599 A, Veerling's B, and he's now also joining Meadows 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:02.680 on the injured list, so that means Javi... or 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:06.519 Javier, Baez, or Baez has to man center field 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:09.339 even more. And we still don't have a true leadoff 00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:12.240 hitter. So, you know, again, shame on the organization. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:15.099 I've never been a Parker Meadows guy. I don't 00:26:15.099 --> 00:26:17.160 believe in it. I think three good weeks last 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.619 year in the, you know, tail end of the season, 00:26:19.859 --> 00:26:21.380 four good weeks, whatever you want to call it. 00:26:21.740 --> 00:26:24.259 Doesn't account for his career. And I've never 00:26:24.259 --> 00:26:27.079 been a Matt Verling fan. He is a replacement 00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:29.299 level player. And I don't mean plus or minus. 00:26:29.339 --> 00:26:33.200 He is just. guy he's zero point zero he moves 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.140 the needle in no direction and That's my take 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:41.279 for you on it Torres was doing a yeoman's work 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:44.619 earlier in the season taking a lot of pitches 00:26:44.619 --> 00:26:48.059 Yeah, and he is for some reason become more impatient 00:26:48.059 --> 00:26:51.039 and that is the whole teams just started to press 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.599 a little Yeah, so can I get back to green really 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.960 quick? Yeah, go back to green. What do you know? 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:01.500 I mean his career numbers are alarming in a few 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:05.079 categories. So he came up in 2022, struck out 00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:09.920 120 times. Not good, not bad. Not terrible for 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.299 a guy who's going to hit for some power. Yeah, 00:27:12.299 --> 00:27:14.059 he didn't really hit for that much power there. 00:27:14.299 --> 00:27:18.299 But is the prototypically? Yeah. So next year, 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:24.940 2023, 114 strikeouts. Last year, 156. He's there 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:28.240 today. Here's the other thing. Let's look at 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:37.759 his average 2022 253 2023 288 2024 262 this year 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.299 269 the crazier part is his on -base percentage 00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:47.759 is exactly Where his strikeout level goes so 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:53.940 this year it's at 314 year one 2022 321 the in 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:56.579 -between or Oreo cookie cream sandwich years, 00:27:57.079 --> 00:28:01.240 it was just about $3 .50, $3 .49, $3 .48. The 00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:04.099 only thing saving him this year, and I do mean 00:28:04.099 --> 00:28:07.400 the only thing saving him is his slugging. He's 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:10.599 at a $5 .07 slug, which puts his on -base plus 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:14.259 slug at $8 .21, which is still six points below 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:16.579 where it was last year. He's still hitting the 00:28:16.579 --> 00:28:18.519 ball hard. He's still doing it. Here's the thing, 00:28:18.660 --> 00:28:23.059 though, Chet. His... War has fallen off a cliff. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:28.099 He was 1 .4 his first year, 1 .9, jumped to 5 00:28:28.099 --> 00:28:31.440 .4 last year. You can say the reason the Tigers 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:34.859 were good outside of Tarek Scoobal last year 00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:37.680 was because of him. This year, he has regressed 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.299 to a 2 .1. It's not terrible, but you cannot 00:28:41.299 --> 00:28:45.200 build a franchise around this type of individual 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:48.559 unless he figures it out. Who is he? Like, who 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:52.039 is this guy? Is he last year's 5 .1, or is he, 00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:54.819 you know, every other year's two? Or kind of 00:28:54.819 --> 00:28:58.539 position player? Maybe he's not a utility, but 00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:00.859 he's out there doing it, you know. He got another 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:03.799 hit today, so the game's not over yet, but they're 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:05.619 tied 1 -1 going in the bottom of the eighth here. 00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:07.619 So he's got another hit under his belt, and he 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:11.240 batted fifth today. Torque got a hit. It looks 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:13.759 like Dingler did some damage and got the RBI. 00:29:14.259 --> 00:29:18.160 He got a walk So I I want to be more patient 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:20.319 and what I see at the top of the order in today's 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:22.059 game right now And we're not gonna do the White 00:29:22.059 --> 00:29:24.059 Sox series yet We'll wait till the next episode 00:29:24.059 --> 00:29:27.160 on that but Torres and carp have five K's between 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:28.859 the two of them at the top of the order Well, 00:29:28.859 --> 00:29:31.359 the other interesting thing is that Torres is 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:35.960 batting leadoff today. Yeah So yeah, I don't 00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:38.799 know that he likes that spot No, he's a... We've 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:40.640 talked about this before. He's like a career 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:42.880 two -hitter type guy. Like, I don't know that 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:45.339 that's where he's comfortable. Maybe he's taking 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:48.059 one for the team. I don't know. Well, if you 00:29:48.059 --> 00:29:51.819 go, the third hitter is Perez. He should probably 00:29:51.819 --> 00:29:54.500 be batting leadoff. That's a weird lineup, right? 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:56.920 Yeah, well, no, but because he's a switch... 00:29:56.920 --> 00:29:59.299 He's the only switch hitter they have. So he 00:29:59.299 --> 00:30:03.099 should be batting leadoff. I'm absolutely baffled 00:30:03.099 --> 00:30:06.970 and I'm starting to think that... AJ hinge is 00:30:06.970 --> 00:30:09.529 running out of options as well, which is unfortunate 00:30:09.529 --> 00:30:13.230 and maybe very that may be the case So we we 00:30:13.230 --> 00:30:16.730 got the socks on tap. Okay, let's flip over to 00:30:16.730 --> 00:30:18.910 the next series. We've got the socks on tap It's 00:30:18.910 --> 00:30:21.730 one one right now going into the in the in the 00:30:21.730 --> 00:30:23.950 bottom of the eighth It looks like Finnegan's 00:30:23.950 --> 00:30:26.789 out there in a one one tie So maybe vest gets 00:30:26.789 --> 00:30:29.829 the gets the save on this one if we can get there 00:30:29.829 --> 00:30:33.170 Do you do you feel like the socks have been surging 00:30:33.170 --> 00:30:35.869 lately? Is this their young talent starting to 00:30:35.869 --> 00:30:38.769 play some baseball? They had the second -best 00:30:38.769 --> 00:30:41.490 record after the Guardians up until this six 00:30:41.490 --> 00:30:44.109 -game losing streak, which coincidentally happened 00:30:44.109 --> 00:30:46.089 against the Guardians, who are the best team 00:30:46.089 --> 00:30:48.329 in baseball after the All -Star break. Yeah, 00:30:48.609 --> 00:30:51.410 I mean, I think... The series marked on our calendar 00:30:51.410 --> 00:30:53.930 is it should be an easy getaway, get two out 00:30:53.930 --> 00:30:55.750 of three and walk out. I don't know that it's 00:30:55.750 --> 00:30:57.930 that way they've been playing lately. They've 00:30:57.930 --> 00:31:01.059 been giving everybody hell. So it's not only 00:31:01.059 --> 00:31:02.900 that, it's also how bad the Tigers are playing. 00:31:03.579 --> 00:31:06.299 Basically this series, if the Tigers win two 00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:08.039 out of three, that tells me nothing about this 00:31:08.039 --> 00:31:11.200 team. If they get swept, yeah, there'll be reason 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:12.980 for concern, especially considering what the 00:31:12.980 --> 00:31:14.920 Guardians do. Then they have a four game set 00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:17.200 up coming this weekend, or set coming up this 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:19.460 weekend against the Twins in Minnesota. What 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:23.500 I'm really, really, really curious about is next 00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:27.500 week when they play the Astros. Because that's 00:31:27.500 --> 00:31:30.880 the first like real playoff team. I mean, let's 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:32.819 face it, the White Sox and Twins aren't going 00:31:32.819 --> 00:31:36.480 to the postseason this year. And at that point 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:38.220 in time, that's when I'm going to push the panic 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:40.400 button or that's when I'm going to say this team 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:43.500 will just be fine. It all depends on what happens 00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:45.940 against the Astros. So let's just hang in there. 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:48.839 I mean, we got, it's a long slog. It's a long 00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:51.660 slog. It's a long slog. We'll just hang in there 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:54.579 and see what happens. Food. Oh, yeah. Well, what 00:31:54.579 --> 00:31:56.339 do you have? Do you have something? Yeah. And 00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:59.700 this is outside the ballpark. I did this earlier 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:04.119 in the year. So one of the things that the south 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:06.319 side of Chicago is famous for is not only the 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:08.539 Polish, which we covered well, but they also 00:32:08.539 --> 00:32:12.559 do a pork chop sandwich. And so that is a boneless 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:16.170 pork chop on a Hamburger bun picture a cheap 00:32:16.170 --> 00:32:18.349 hamburger bun, you know, just the kind you get 00:32:18.349 --> 00:32:20.910 at the grocery something soft and easy to get 00:32:20.910 --> 00:32:23.529 white white bread Yeah, no high high and sugar. 00:32:23.529 --> 00:32:26.730 No. Yeah, nothing like that bare bones a pile 00:32:26.730 --> 00:32:30.970 of grilled onions and a slather of yellow mustard 00:32:30.970 --> 00:32:33.569 I am doing research. There are a couple places 00:32:33.569 --> 00:32:35.589 that keep the bone in you kind of have to know 00:32:35.589 --> 00:32:38.130 around it Jeez, that doesn't I would just rather 00:32:38.130 --> 00:32:41.069 go bone. Yeah bone out bone out and be damned 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:45.079 This is a very popular cuisine after the Polish 00:32:45.079 --> 00:32:48.440 or the traditional Chicago style hot dog. It 00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:51.900 is offered at the park. I've not tried one at 00:32:51.900 --> 00:32:54.700 guaranteed rate. It's way too messy and I can 00:32:54.700 --> 00:32:58.259 only have so many onions and talk to other people 00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.579 probably in good conscience. There's something 00:33:01.579 --> 00:33:04.380 about guaranteed rate in the cell and the smell 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:08.410 of onions in the air. There is. Reminds me, literally 00:33:08.410 --> 00:33:11.430 every time I smell grilled onions, like a sauteed 00:33:11.430 --> 00:33:14.589 onion or a grilled onion, it reminds me of guaranteed 00:33:14.589 --> 00:33:18.289 rate field. It takes you back to your first... 00:33:18.289 --> 00:33:19.849 The second you walk in there, it's like, oh, 00:33:19.890 --> 00:33:22.170 the onions are here. Takes you back to your first 00:33:22.170 --> 00:33:26.230 shower in the outfield. It does. Never did it. 00:33:26.410 --> 00:33:28.490 I never did it. You've done it. I've never done 00:33:28.490 --> 00:33:31.690 that one. But I definitely have that grilled 00:33:31.690 --> 00:33:35.730 onion smell in like... Totally relate it to that 00:33:35.730 --> 00:33:38.569 ballpark and then I got to go get up Polish and 00:33:38.569 --> 00:33:40.289 the grilled onions. I got to do that whole bit 00:33:40.289 --> 00:33:42.630 Yeah, it's you already have two dogs steaming 00:33:42.630 --> 00:33:45.170 in your cargo shirt. I guess I mean what's going 00:33:45.170 --> 00:33:47.369 on here? Those are just for extra innings. Those 00:33:47.369 --> 00:33:49.890 are for just you know later on bill. I think 00:33:49.890 --> 00:33:53.029 we've covered it today Yeah, what are your thoughts 00:33:53.029 --> 00:33:56.910 go Tigers? Let's get let's get at least three 00:33:56.910 --> 00:33:58.829 against the Sox. I thought I'd be hoping for 00:33:58.829 --> 00:34:01.809 sweeps But I mean if we can get two series wins 00:34:01.809 --> 00:34:05.200 this series the twin series We're gonna be okay. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:07.880 It's a long run. Show me what happens against 00:34:07.880 --> 00:34:10.539 the Astros. Everybody take a breath. Here we 00:34:10.539 --> 00:34:12.360 go. We're going on the roller coaster for the 00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:14.519 final month and a half here. Enjoy yourselves. 00:34:14.579 --> 00:34:17.219 Enjoy the series. We'll be back to talk at the 00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:19.219 close of this one before they take on the twins, 00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:27.960 hopefully. Have a good one, folks. All right. 00:34:28.190 --> 00:34:30.670 That's gonna do it for this episode of the Litterbox, 00:34:30.750 --> 00:34:33.389 a Detroit Tigers podcast. Thanks for hanging 00:34:33.389 --> 00:34:35.809 out with us. We're Bill and Chet. We'll be back 00:34:35.809 --> 00:34:38.630 soon with more Tigers Talk. If you're enjoying 00:34:38.630 --> 00:34:41.650 the show, be sure to follow or subscribe on Spotify, 00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:45.309 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 00:34:45.769 --> 00:34:48.170 And hey, if you got a minute, leave us a quick 00:34:48.170 --> 00:34:51.369 review. Till next time, go Tigers.