WEBVTT 00:00:02.570 --> 00:00:05.490 You're listening to the litter box a Detroit 00:00:05.490 --> 00:00:09.570 Tigers podcast with your hosts Chet West and 00:00:09.570 --> 00:00:20.129 Bill Patterson Here's what's on deck for this 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:22.429 episode and we've just finished our first margarita 00:00:22.429 --> 00:00:25.640 we're having a second one Keith has been nothing 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:28.440 short of amazing. It was not the smoothest outing, 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.739 but good to see Galeck's laying back out there. 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:32.820 They were just drinking margaritas, eating tortilla 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:35.579 chips by the plateful. We've got less than two 00:00:35.579 --> 00:00:38.200 weeks before playoff rosters are due to be set. 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:45.840 I ate copious amounts of tortilla chips yesterday 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.880 afternoon, and it was sort of by accident. A 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:51.740 little of my own doing. I ended up going out 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:54.000 for a cocktail. A little happy hour cocktail 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.219 with a buddy of mine. Sat out on the porch trying 00:00:56.219 --> 00:00:59.140 to enjoy the end of summer. Got a couple margaritas. 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:01.380 Those slide down real easy. They're very good 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:03.140 at this place. And the next thing I know a chips 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:07.120 and salsa shows up. And I started eating chips 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.819 and salsa like there were gonna be none left 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:13.599 in the world. I went through an entire, this 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:15.200 guy's just sitting there watching me. I'm just 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.640 shoveling chips and salsa. Salsa's flying everywhere. 00:01:18.170 --> 00:01:19.930 I've got it down the front. He just looks at 00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:21.310 me. He's like, did you eat today? I'm like, I 00:01:21.310 --> 00:01:23.530 didn't really have lunch. So I had the whole 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:27.390 plate of chips and salsa and the guy comes back 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:29.390 out and we just finished our first margarita. 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:31.349 We're having a second one. And that guy comes 00:01:31.349 --> 00:01:33.590 back out and he's like, do you guys want more 00:01:33.590 --> 00:01:35.609 chips and salsa? And I looked at where I go. 00:01:35.730 --> 00:01:38.109 Yes, please. Yes. And he brings it out. I said 00:01:38.109 --> 00:01:39.810 it kind of like, yes, please. We're in the middle 00:01:39.810 --> 00:01:41.629 of discussion. Yeah. He said, yeah, bring it 00:01:41.629 --> 00:01:44.530 out. And I kept eating them and this guy sitting 00:01:44.530 --> 00:01:47.209 there looking at me like I've had four chips. 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.319 dipped in salsa in the last hour and a half, 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:52.359 you've had two plates and two bowls of salsa. 00:01:53.099 --> 00:01:56.959 And I got home and my wife looks at me, she goes, 00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:59.719 hey, what do you want for dinner? Nachos? And 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:02.180 I was like, yeah, let's do nachos. So we had 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:04.540 nachos for dinner. I make a whole baking pan 00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:07.019 full of nachos for dinner, ground beef, the whole 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:10.879 works, cheese, queso, you name it. And I eat. 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:13.759 At least another half bag of chips on top of 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.719 that. I have like a tortilla chip adobe forming 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:18.879 in my stomach this morning. I have been up since 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.740 five o 'clock. I cannot. I barely I woke up. 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:23.439 I had that like I can barely breathe. I had to 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.699 roll out of bed. It feels awful. I'm hoping the 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:29.400 coffee does something for me. Anyways, letterbox 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:31.539 listeners, we brought you in a little different 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:35.240 this on this glorious Thursday morning following 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:39.800 a tiger's sweep. I ate too many tortilla chips. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:42.800 Bill got nine hours of sleep apparently and slept 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:44.919 like a baby. I got like five and I feel like 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:49.080 hell. So we've got a ton to cover today. And 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:51.479 like I said, we just came out of a Houston Astros 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:53.479 series that we were kind of hoping we'd at least 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:55.520 win one game based on how we'd been playing. 00:02:56.099 --> 00:02:58.259 And we go out and get a sweep and the Astros 00:02:58.259 --> 00:03:02.159 only score two runs. Two runs through the whole 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:05.620 series. My co -host Bill, how are you on your 00:03:05.620 --> 00:03:07.960 full night of nine hours rest? Probably didn't 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.240 eat two bags of chips like I did last night. 00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:12.990 Now, now, how do you feel about the sweep? How 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:15.490 are you feeling today? It's funny how we each 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:19.050 celebrate in our own different ways. And let's 00:03:19.050 --> 00:03:21.789 just talk about what's been going on because 00:03:21.789 --> 00:03:24.449 I think we're being way too hard on this team. 00:03:25.069 --> 00:03:28.129 That is now four series wins. We have the Angels 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.650 win, we have the White Sox, we have the Twins, 00:03:31.069 --> 00:03:34.469 and a sweep of the Astros who, yes, we were hoping 00:03:34.469 --> 00:03:38.080 for... two games, tops, you know, we knew that 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:41.360 we had scoobs going on the mound and, and actually 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.919 that was the tightest game of them all. But again, 00:03:44.219 --> 00:03:48.680 the Astros are at a historic low. The last time 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:51.240 they had an offensive drought like this, it was 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:57.780 1985. So it's crazy to think just how cold and 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:00.060 almost putrid their offense has gotten right 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:02.060 now. It's crazy to think of how teams just flip. 00:04:02.250 --> 00:04:04.349 Yeah. All of a sudden. I mean, the Astros were 00:04:04.349 --> 00:04:08.069 one of the hotter teams a month ago. Where were 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:10.090 we then? We were looking at the series as like 00:04:10.090 --> 00:04:13.490 a huge pivotal series in a season for us. Right? 00:04:13.830 --> 00:04:16.949 Yeah. The only saving grace for the Astros right 00:04:16.949 --> 00:04:20.089 now is that they're competition in their division. 00:04:20.389 --> 00:04:22.529 The Mariners and Rangers have both gone stone 00:04:22.529 --> 00:04:26.069 cold. But this isn't an Astros podcast. This 00:04:26.069 --> 00:04:28.910 is a Tigers podcast. And I've got two players 00:04:28.910 --> 00:04:31.029 that I really want to give shout outs to. So 00:04:31.029 --> 00:04:34.529 let's give the accolades right off the bat. Colt 00:04:34.529 --> 00:04:38.589 Keith has been nothing short of amazing in terms 00:04:38.589 --> 00:04:42.730 of his OPS is the best on the team and is top 00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:44.850 three in the major leagues the last 60 games. 00:04:45.189 --> 00:04:49.370 He is the leadoff hitter that I have dreamt about 00:04:49.370 --> 00:04:53.949 and wanted all season. He is our version of Stephen 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:57.170 Kwan, except for he can play more positions than 00:04:57.170 --> 00:05:01.149 Stephen Kwan. So I have to give a kudo and a 00:05:01.149 --> 00:05:03.910 shout out to Colt Keith for that. Player number 00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:06.990 two, who I just don't think it's enough recognition, 00:05:07.110 --> 00:05:11.269 even though we called it very early. Spring training 00:05:11.269 --> 00:05:14.029 in this podcast, we said he would be your starting 00:05:14.029 --> 00:05:16.110 catcher and we said he would be a player that 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:19.170 you'd love. Number 13, the catcher's number for 00:05:19.170 --> 00:05:22.819 the Tigers, because formally worn by my personal 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:27.399 favorite Tiger Lance Parrish Dylan Dingler is 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:30.740 going to have the best war if all if the season 00:05:30.740 --> 00:05:33.360 ended today outside of Tarek scubal on this team 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.560 and for a player playing in his first full season 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.579 He has been nothing short of amazing and those 00:05:39.579 --> 00:05:41.899 are the two position players that I want to give 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:44.199 credit to I've got some pitching credit, but 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.180 I wanted to hear your thoughts right now I think 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:49.579 we need to do a Dylan Dingler appreciation pot 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:51.939 at some point in time. Just sit down and go through 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:56.180 the Dylan Dingler effect on this team. He has 00:05:56.180 --> 00:06:00.459 been the one constant all season long. No real... 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:03.360 Slumping off. No real drought. He doesn't even 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.339 have the highest OPS on the squad He does I believe 00:06:07.339 --> 00:06:09.579 currently if he's not there He's close to having 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:11.819 the highest batting average or he's really close 00:06:11.819 --> 00:06:14.600 from like one or two depending on the day But 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:16.560 he's he's a catcher and we haven't seen a lot 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.660 of catching at this level for the Tigers in quite 00:06:19.660 --> 00:06:23.360 some time He did DH in this series, which is 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.759 I mean kudos to him He's looking at him like 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:27.480 you've had his hot I got to get you in the line 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.879 of how often do we say that about you know catchers? 00:06:29.980 --> 00:06:33.120 outside of maybe the Rushman a year ago or whatnot. 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:38.000 But it's the Keith thing. If Colt Keith is handsome, 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:42.100 Dylan Dingler is sexy. They're both fantastic. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.759 I don't know why that just popped into my head. 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:46.240 That was the way I was kind of looking at it. 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:48.439 Like Colt Keith plays a nice, tidy ball game, 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:51.339 right? He has great plate appearances. He works 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:53.540 a count better than anybody. And not to say Dingler 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:56.800 doesn't, but Dingler just provides that. Charge 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:58.839 in that pop when you want it like he'll just 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:00.980 come in all of a sudden and start raking Kind 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:02.860 of reminds me the way carp was toward the end 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:04.779 of last year a little bit. Yeah, that's a good 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:07.180 analogy I actually think it was a combination 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:11.300 of corn tortillas mmm, whatever they fried them 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:14.459 in the excess amount of sodium your body's dealing 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:17.790 with and a little bit of tequila shooting up 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:19.870 to your brain. It could be that. Yeah. Yeah, 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:21.029 that's what I think. It could be that. Yeah. 00:07:21.509 --> 00:07:23.790 It makes hell of a mixture, which I'm still trying 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:25.870 to get over as I drink my coffee here this morning. 00:07:26.889 --> 00:07:29.949 The other side of this is we got to see. So I 00:07:29.949 --> 00:07:32.990 mean, we had game one as a blowout and nothing. 00:07:33.449 --> 00:07:36.209 And it was a great way to start this whole series 00:07:36.209 --> 00:07:39.829 off. No complaints whatsoever. Might be my favorite 00:07:39.829 --> 00:07:42.290 win of the season. And I know there's recency 00:07:42.290 --> 00:07:45.250 bias. But it was one of those games that just 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:48.350 felt complete. Everybody contributed. Even the 00:07:48.350 --> 00:07:52.029 guy that I'm harshest on, Trey Sweeney, showed 00:07:52.029 --> 00:07:55.129 up. I mean, Trey Sweeney shows up after we bash 00:07:55.129 --> 00:07:57.370 him for a month, right? And he's done this now 00:07:57.370 --> 00:07:59.490 in a couple of games and I'm not getting excited 00:07:59.490 --> 00:08:02.689 yet, okay? He had a couple even hard hit balls. 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:07.000 by Statcast Metrics. His average is creeping 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.579 up to 209, which is sad in one sense, but we're 00:08:10.579 --> 00:08:12.120 getting a few points, right? Yeah, give him a 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:15.779 golf clap for that. But he has had a couple of 00:08:15.779 --> 00:08:17.540 good games lately, and you know what he did in 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:19.480 this game, your favorite play, he hit a triple. 00:08:20.139 --> 00:08:22.939 Which, let's just take a moment. I think it's 00:08:22.939 --> 00:08:25.720 his second or third one of the season. The other 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.519 thing, and maybe we need to be hard on these 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:32.769 guys, Jack Flaherty. Just... I think he pitched 00:08:32.769 --> 00:08:35.889 his magnum opus for the 2025 season. I think 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:38.029 he pitched his magnum opus for the last three 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:40.330 seasons. I mean, seven innings, three hits, no 00:08:40.330 --> 00:08:43.169 runs, one walk, nine Ks. We have not seen that 00:08:43.169 --> 00:08:45.789 Jack Fleary and that curveball was vicious. I 00:08:45.789 --> 00:08:48.809 mean, filthy. It was as though he was angry at 00:08:48.809 --> 00:08:50.669 the world, went out there and took it out on 00:08:50.669 --> 00:08:53.860 the Astros. Beautiful game. Troy Melton. We had 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:55.879 a Troy Melton sighting. Troy Melton sighting, 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:58.379 one inning, nothing across, one strikeout. I 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:00.179 am loving everything I'm seeing from this guy, 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:02.419 whether he's starting or relieving. And we had 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:06.279 an Alex Lang sighting. Alex Lang, back to the 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:10.100 mound. Gets his inning of work in. Gave up two 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:12.879 hits, a walk, got a K, did it in 20 pitches. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:14.779 It wasn't the smoothest thing on the face of 00:09:14.779 --> 00:09:18.009 the earth, but. He loaded them at one point. 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:20.789 Yeah, it was not the smoothest outing but good 00:09:20.789 --> 00:09:23.570 to see Galeck's laying back out there but also 00:09:23.570 --> 00:09:26.769 don't want him to fall into just the pit of our 00:09:26.769 --> 00:09:29.350 Below average bullpen at times. So hopefully 00:09:29.350 --> 00:09:31.350 we see better things from him going forward your 00:09:31.350 --> 00:09:33.690 thoughts It was good to see his full sleeve of 00:09:33.690 --> 00:09:36.190 tattoos out there throwing hard. Yeah, he is 00:09:36.190 --> 00:09:38.309 a swing -and -miss guy He is desperately needed 00:09:38.309 --> 00:09:42.399 in this bullpen. So let's hope that out in one 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:44.000 was just getting some of the rust off because 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.059 it had been, you know, quite some time since 00:09:46.059 --> 00:09:48.500 he had last pitched. The thing I wanted to bring 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:52.220 up in it previews game two as well. But it goes 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:56.700 back to Dylan Dingler is the word of like the 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:00.600 baseball insider word of Monday and Tuesday was 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.399 tunneling that flurry was tunneling that scubal 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.000 was tunneling. So the hitter comes up to the 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.519 plate, the hitter previously, whether it was 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.879 the last inning or or the previous batter gets 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.960 out on a slider or a breaking ball just in the 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.340 zone and so they're expecting to see something 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:21.779 like that and then the fastball comes in foreseen 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:24.240 locations perfect and then the next pitch is 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.500 a slider then the next pitch is a slider and 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:29.379 the batters were guessing in both games and a 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:31.649 lot of that credit not only has to go to Jack 00:10:31.649 --> 00:10:33.990 Flaherty and Tarek Schubel, but it really needs 00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:36.590 to go to Dylan Dingler, who's framing. And again, 00:10:36.629 --> 00:10:39.110 for the uninitiated, that is where the catcher's 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:41.450 setting up the pitcher's location behind the 00:10:41.450 --> 00:10:46.190 plate. He was master class in both of these outings. 00:10:46.370 --> 00:10:50.090 And I just have to give a huge shout out. Not 00:10:50.090 --> 00:10:53.169 only is he hitting, and to your point, Chet, 00:10:53.350 --> 00:10:56.330 AJ Hinches used him on multiple occasions this 00:10:56.330 --> 00:10:59.519 season as either a DH or a pinch hitter. days 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:01.960 that he is scheduled to be off to get some rest 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:04.220 because as we all know catching is extremely 00:11:04.220 --> 00:11:08.899 hard on anybody's body and I just Again, the 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.940 Dylan Dingler appreciation train needs to continue 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:14.980 rolling Because I don't know that either of those 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:17.600 starting pitchers have the success they have 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:22.039 in either game one or two without that When we 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:24.799 talk about tunneling, just to go back to what 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.220 Bill had brought up there a minute ago, folks, 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:32.379 this is baseball 101, the term tunneling refers 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:34.759 to what a pitcher is basically disguising their 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:38.580 pitches. So a curve ball and a fast ball or a 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:40.519 slider, usually it's with a slider and a fast 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:42.940 ball, coming out of the hand look identical. 00:11:43.210 --> 00:11:45.309 They come out of the same slot, the ball travels 00:11:45.309 --> 00:11:48.250 on the same arc or the same path to the plate, 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:51.029 but the slider will break off at the last second, 00:11:51.129 --> 00:11:53.110 whereas the fastball will stay flat, of course, 00:11:53.190 --> 00:11:55.269 or move a little bit, depending on the type of 00:11:55.269 --> 00:11:57.129 fastball being thrown, but that's tunneling. 00:11:57.309 --> 00:11:58.809 So you're tunneling the pitch, you're throwing 00:11:58.809 --> 00:12:00.509 it down a tunnel at the last second, it shoots 00:12:00.509 --> 00:12:01.889 out of that tunnel and does whatever it's going 00:12:01.889 --> 00:12:04.549 to do and surprises the batter. It's a great, 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:07.090 pitchers work on this to disguise what's being 00:12:07.090 --> 00:12:09.440 delivered. Obviously, if you're going to throw 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.860 a slider and you can't disguise it and the batter 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:13.679 knows it's coming out of the hand, it makes it 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:16.120 a lot easier on them to pick that up. Game two, 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:17.779 you want to jump over to that one? Because that 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:20.500 was kind of a, that was a playoff atmosphere. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.840 It really was. One -nothing Tigers, but 10 innings. 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:27.639 Comerica was rocking that night. This is what 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:29.659 happens when you get two pitchers at the prime 00:12:29.659 --> 00:12:31.299 of the game. Hunter Brown is one of the best 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:33.279 pitchers in the American League. Speaking of. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:37.440 Can we poop on the previous regime just a minute 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.100 here? Connor Brown is a local kid, went to Wayne 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:43.299 State, and I believe he was a fifth round pick 00:12:43.299 --> 00:12:46.440 of the Astros. He was on the Tigers' radar, but 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:50.159 our former illustrious management staff neglected, 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:53.139 despite the fact that the Tigers were his boyhood 00:12:53.139 --> 00:12:56.610 train. team and dream to pitch for, to draft 00:12:56.610 --> 00:13:00.769 him in any way, shape or form. So Al, Avia. Avia 00:13:00.769 --> 00:13:03.029 rhymes with tortilla, by the way, which are still 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:06.070 baking in my system right now. I just want to 00:13:06.070 --> 00:13:08.470 throw that out there. You getting a little gurgle? 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:11.690 Percolating. Chet might be hitting the Pepto 00:13:11.690 --> 00:13:15.029 today, folks. Yep. Anyway, where I was going 00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:16.250 to go. Sorry, I didn't mean to break your thought. 00:13:16.570 --> 00:13:18.570 No, where I was going to go on that is just a 00:13:18.570 --> 00:13:23.230 1 -0 win. And that is 10 innings. It was exceptional. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.279 Hunter Brown has had a long path here. He's had 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:27.940 injury stuff. He's had some stuff going out the 00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:31.120 Astros and he's finally kind of showing that 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:34.659 promise that he had earlier on as a prospect. 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.220 And you got to see two guys at the top of their 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:40.379 game going against each other. This is what the 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:42.059 playoffs are going to be like guys. I mean, this 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:45.259 could be. That had a feel a playoff pitching 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.539 matchup feel to it of a game one of the playoffs 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:50.539 where the bats were just kind of like afraid 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:52.860 to come out of the cage and the pitchers were 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:54.820 just keeping them pinned down and then finally 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.960 of course we get a The one run that scores in 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.840 the 10th inning is basically a bases loaded walk 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.039 and you want to talk about Fitting for a game 00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.759 like this that that would happen Well, this goes 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:09.200 back to game one though and the fact that because 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:12.929 Flaherty was so good that the Astros had to go 00:14:12.929 --> 00:14:15.269 to their bullpen early after a weekend where 00:14:15.269 --> 00:14:18.669 their bullpen was beleaguered and battered. And 00:14:18.669 --> 00:14:20.750 so they really didn't have a lot left in the 00:14:20.750 --> 00:14:22.990 tank. The only complaint I have for the Tigers 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:26.090 in game two is when the Astros' beleaguered bullpen 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:28.649 did come out, once Hunter Brown had finished 00:14:28.649 --> 00:14:30.909 his day, the Tigers really couldn't do a whole 00:14:30.909 --> 00:14:34.429 lot against him. I do have to give kudos though. 00:14:34.970 --> 00:14:37.769 Guess who's getting on base again at a high clip? 00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:41.309 Whom? That would be Glabar Taurus. Yeah, I had 00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:43.110 a feeling this was coming. He was the hero. He 00:14:43.110 --> 00:14:46.610 was the hero in the 10th. Somebody else has now 00:14:46.610 --> 00:14:48.950 eight walks in his last seven games, and that 00:14:48.950 --> 00:14:52.009 would be Riley Green. So the Tigers are taking 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:54.850 more pitches, which I also think this discipline 00:14:54.850 --> 00:14:56.850 plate approach is helping them very well. This 00:14:56.850 --> 00:14:59.169 is what they were doing in the first half. Exactly. 00:14:59.389 --> 00:15:01.090 Discipline plate approach. And now we're back 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:03.230 to that. We had our... We had our, you know, 00:15:03.389 --> 00:15:05.769 our drunk monkey month of not doing the right 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:07.429 thing at the plate and acting like an idiot. 00:15:07.529 --> 00:15:09.490 And now we're back to taking pictures. They were 00:15:09.490 --> 00:15:11.370 just drinking margaritas, eating tortilla chips 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:14.350 by the plate full all of July. I couldn't swing 00:15:14.350 --> 00:15:15.990 a bat right now. I know. I think I would tear 00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:19.309 something in my gut. What I would say is I, and 00:15:19.309 --> 00:15:20.710 I want to ask you this question. I want your 00:15:20.710 --> 00:15:23.720 opinion on this. I don't know if you watched 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:25.460 all the way through the 10th inning, but Caleb 00:15:25.460 --> 00:15:28.740 Bort was the unlucky reliever who walked three. 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:33.139 He unlucky or unskilled reliever who walked three, 00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:37.580 he relies heavily on the sweeper. OK, and the 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:40.740 sweeper doesn't really end up in the strike zone. 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:43.679 He had, I believe, a three, two count or he had 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:45.940 gotten to three balls and one strike or something 00:15:45.940 --> 00:15:49.379 on Torres, and he gets this final pitch and Torres 00:15:49.379 --> 00:15:52.100 is up there. waiting on it and you can tell Torres 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:53.639 is like it's either gonna be down the pipe or 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.639 it's gonna sweep and be out of the zone and I'm 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:57.779 gonna get the walk and we're gonna win and the 00:15:57.779 --> 00:16:02.000 he threw the sweeper on the 3 -2 and I'm sitting 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.179 there and my wife was watching with me Charlotte 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:06.080 and she played softball in the day so she kind 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.440 of knows it's gone she goes why not throw the 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:10.600 strike there and make the guy get the hit like 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.100 why not put it over the plate See if you can 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:15.519 get the guy to hit into a you know ground out 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:17.960 or fly out or something and I agree with that 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.100 I sat there saying I said I'm like why wouldn't 00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:22.820 you I mean what like what's what is the upside 00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:25.740 of throwing that sweeper if Torres knows if he 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:28.399 throws the sweeper It's a ball like why not put 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.799 it over the plate Maybe even jump from the surprise 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.059 them with a fastball up and in or something like 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:36.379 I don't know it your thoughts I think it's safe 00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:39.320 to say you married into the AJ Hinch mindset 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:41.940 tree. We've always known. My wife reminds me 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:43.899 of AJ Hinch all the time, let me tell ya. Yeah, 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:45.759 we know that you all kicked your coverage in 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:47.500 every way with Charlotte, and this just proves 00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:49.700 it yet again. It's another exclamation point, 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:51.980 so kudos, Charlotte, you are correct. But you 00:16:51.980 --> 00:16:53.720 would agree, right? Throw a strike there. See 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:55.940 if you can get him to drown out, fly out, like, 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.700 you know, you raise your percentages. I think, 00:16:57.700 --> 00:17:01.460 I think. Gleiber knew he's like if this thing 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:03.720 doesn't look like a flat fastball down the pipe 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.359 I'm not swinging and it would swept way out of 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:09.960 the zone any rate one nothing win ten innings 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:13.539 exciting we got to game three seven two ball 00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:16.829 game tiger win and turk scubal Tuesday became 00:17:16.829 --> 00:17:20.950 the first pitcher to record 200 K's in 2025. 00:17:21.289 --> 00:17:23.589 We really are just kind of blowing off his accolades 00:17:23.589 --> 00:17:25.549 at this point, which is this affecting him to 00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:27.589 be dominant. I'm sorry. I should have talked 00:17:27.589 --> 00:17:29.549 a little more about Terrence dominance in that 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:31.710 game. Yeah. In the second year in a row that 00:17:31.710 --> 00:17:34.529 he's done that going up against Hunter Brown, 00:17:34.710 --> 00:17:37.720 who is one of his. competitors for the American 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.359 League Cy Young this year, I think, went a long 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:43.319 way towards Scubal repeating as the American 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:45.359 League Cy Young winner. Now, we still have some 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.440 baseball left to pitch. Yeah. Baseball left to 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:50.599 play, but I would say he's in the catbird seat 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:54.809 going forward. Yeah, Scoogle. First to 200Ks. 00:17:55.049 --> 00:17:59.009 And he had 25 swing and misses in this game, 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:02.430 which is... My goodness. ...unheard of. The swing 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.549 and miss rates gotta be through the roof. Benetti 00:18:04.549 --> 00:18:08.170 and Peaches were just... Well, Peaches is loving 00:18:08.170 --> 00:18:10.529 this. Peaches is just like, this is my guy. I 00:18:10.529 --> 00:18:13.589 mean, he was stocking the mound again. And I 00:18:13.589 --> 00:18:16.250 swear, Scoogle's a big boy. They made a comment 00:18:16.250 --> 00:18:18.390 in the telecast. He goes, Benetti said something 00:18:18.390 --> 00:18:20.900 along the lines of, if... You know, they had 00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:24.920 who was the who's the lineman TJ from he played 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:28.680 for the Packers. TJ Lang. Yeah, TJ Lang. He's 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:31.160 Benetti's partner for the preseason Lions games. 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:35.059 Bingo. So he had made a comment that Tarek Scoble 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:37.539 would be a tight end if he played football. And 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:39.720 I don't doubt that. And they have them listed 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:43.559 at 240. I think he's a bigger boy than that. 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:46.569 He's getting bigger, I think. Yeah. All the way 00:18:46.569 --> 00:18:50.329 around, but he's like Tim Tebow size. Yeah. Yeah. 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:54.509 He's a thick kid. So we had an interesting matchup 00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:57.710 in game three. Pramber Valdez comes in, who's 00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:00.650 their number two and is a I saw him as like a 00:19:00.650 --> 00:19:02.690 problem. I didn't think we were going to get 00:19:02.690 --> 00:19:05.329 a sweep with this guy coming in. He's a lefty. 00:19:05.470 --> 00:19:08.769 Which we struggle against he's he had a pretty 00:19:08.769 --> 00:19:11.509 decent 330 something 320 something e ra before 00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:15.309 this game He got lit up. He's a ground ball pitcher 00:19:15.309 --> 00:19:18.589 as well That the tigers typically struggle with 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:21.849 but to your point chet. He had no location He 00:19:21.849 --> 00:19:23.910 was walking guys and when he wasn't walking him 00:19:23.910 --> 00:19:26.750 He was hanging balls in the zone and the tigers 00:19:26.750 --> 00:19:29.170 feasted on I had to do a double I mean, I'm a 00:19:29.170 --> 00:19:31.410 work watching the score and I had to do a double 00:19:31.410 --> 00:19:35.170 take on the The first inning, 6 -0. I was like, 00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:37.430 what? It's like, that's got to be wrong. And 00:19:37.430 --> 00:19:40.589 I look in and it's just, it's a slaughter. Four 00:19:40.589 --> 00:19:42.849 walks. He gave a four walks, seven runs and only 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:46.170 had two K's. And he got his hard hit. I mean, 00:19:46.309 --> 00:19:50.470 they hit the, he gave up 10 or 11 hard hits based 00:19:50.470 --> 00:19:54.329 on stat cast metrics. So these, they were rocking 00:19:54.329 --> 00:19:58.029 him. Dingler had three hard hit balls, Baez two, 00:19:58.349 --> 00:20:01.519 Ibanez had two. Jermai Jones, by the way, Jermai 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.900 Jones really starting to appreciate his work. 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:07.700 Is he an answer for leadoff hitter? No. Okay. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:10.440 Keep Colt Keith there. Okay. For next year, I 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:13.240 think Colt Keith is your starting second baseman 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:17.200 and your leadoff hitter. And we still need a 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.359 everyday third baseman unless you're going to 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:24.019 platoon Wenzel Perez, Andy Mbanaez, and whomever 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:26.240 else there. I mean, Jermai Jones and other of 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:27.740 these guys are like a middling batting average 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:31.319 right now. And he's got an OPS well above 800. 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:33.900 He and Perez are interchangeable in the fact 00:20:33.900 --> 00:20:35.660 that they both play good defense. They'll play 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:38.920 wherever you want them to. And the fact that 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:43.599 their OPS is so much higher than that of their 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:46.460 batting average. And that really is, I guess 00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:47.960 we should probably give a shout out to this. 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:50.500 Baseball's changed immensely in the last few 00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:52.619 years. Don't get a corn chip stuck there, okay? 00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:59.160 I need you as my co -host, buddy. And batting 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.200 average is something now that every pitcher can 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:04.859 spin the ball everybody can throw four pitches 00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:07.579 for sure some can throw as many as six or seven 00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:10.480 getting on base is key and I know it's a you 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.079 know money ball axiom so on and so forth that 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.319 being said the Tigers do it as well as anybody 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.559 in the big leagues and that's why this series 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:20.819 was so important is because we saw the Tigers 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:22.779 of the first let's say two and a half months 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:24.980 of this year up until the All -Star break and 00:21:24.980 --> 00:21:29.180 the other part is This was three key games that 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:32.960 will help the Tigers hopefully get one of the 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:37.140 two buys come playoff time. You do not want to, 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.140 whether you're the Tigers, whether you're the 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:41.799 Yankees, Red Sox, Astros, Blue Jays, whomever 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:45.740 else have to play a three game set against anybody, 00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:49.420 winner take all, either at your park or at somebody 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:52.119 else's park to open the playoffs. And if the 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.809 Tigers can get that buy, I feel real good about 00:21:55.809 --> 00:21:58.230 their postseason chances. A lot better than I 00:21:58.230 --> 00:22:00.910 would if they don't get that by. So that is just 00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:03.730 something that I want our listeners to keep focusing 00:22:03.730 --> 00:22:06.630 on. I know right now the Tigers have a 10 game 00:22:06.630 --> 00:22:10.410 lead in the division. The Red Hot Royals, who 00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:12.430 had previously, they lost yesterday, but had 00:22:12.430 --> 00:22:15.170 won five straight before that, come to town this 00:22:15.170 --> 00:22:17.869 weekend and then they play the Royals again next 00:22:17.869 --> 00:22:21.210 weekend at Kauffman. Essentially, that's a knockout 00:22:21.210 --> 00:22:23.730 series for the Royals. The Tigers can end their 00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:26.509 season by winning both those series. With that, 00:22:27.369 --> 00:22:31.349 I again cannot say how much standing watching 00:22:31.349 --> 00:22:33.890 I will be doing and you will be doing and other 00:22:33.890 --> 00:22:36.829 fans will be doing, hoping and praying that the 00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:41.109 Tigers do get one of these two buys. And I, brother 00:22:41.109 --> 00:22:44.089 -in -law Brett, sent this the other day and I 00:22:44.089 --> 00:22:45.950 started kind of getting goosebumps and getting 00:22:45.950 --> 00:22:49.039 a little excited. Yeah. The Blue Jays are the 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.660 other team. Can you imagine American League Championship 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:54.140 Series between the Blue Jays and Tigers? They're 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:56.859 only four, four and a half hours apart, stadium 00:22:56.859 --> 00:23:00.200 to stadium, Roger Center to co -America. Two 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:03.279 fan bases that used to play each other often 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:06.079 in the American League East. Familiar foes. Yeah, 00:23:06.099 --> 00:23:08.579 I don't think the ratings will be good because 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:11.839 A, Canadian ratings don't translate to Nielsen 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:15.480 ratings like American cities do in Detroit. Was 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.680 part of the worst watched World Series ever against 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:23.299 the San Francisco Giants that is still Secondary 00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:26.319 into the fact that as a fan base we would absolutely 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:28.619 eat it up So that's what I'm hoping for as we 00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:31.519 look forward and we've got a three game set against 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:34.799 the Royals The other issue that I think we want 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.119 to focus on is that the Tigers have an off day 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.440 today They have Thursday off days the rest of 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:41.400 the season. So they are going to be well rested 00:23:41.690 --> 00:23:44.329 They have games in hand against just about everybody 00:23:44.329 --> 00:23:47.109 they play. And they have more off days than I 00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:49.269 believe all the three other teams in Major League 00:23:49.269 --> 00:23:51.650 Baseball. And those three teams are not in the 00:23:51.650 --> 00:23:54.130 catbird seat, sitting on top of their division 00:23:54.130 --> 00:23:58.170 and hoping for a first round bye. So, interestingly 00:23:58.170 --> 00:24:00.190 enough, and you're talking a lot about the playoffs 00:24:00.190 --> 00:24:01.910 right now, so I kind of want to interject and 00:24:01.910 --> 00:24:04.890 bring something up. We've got less than two weeks 00:24:04.890 --> 00:24:09.170 before playoff rosters are due to be set. August 00:24:09.170 --> 00:24:12.789 31st, 1159 p .m. Eastern Time. Anybody who's 00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:14.890 gonna play in the playoffs gotta be on your roster 00:24:14.890 --> 00:24:19.390 at that juncture. The 40 man. The 40 man. Tommy 00:24:19.390 --> 00:24:22.289 Canley was missing in action during this series 00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:24.930 this week. Hasn't pitched since last Friday, 00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:28.930 I believe, against the Twins. He is coming up 00:24:28.930 --> 00:24:34.049 in the news as a possible, possibly his spot's 00:24:34.049 --> 00:24:36.500 in jeopardy. right now in the 40 men. They brought 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:39.660 Hanifee up yesterday, which that whole thing 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:42.059 was mind -boggling. They sent him down. Nobody 00:24:42.059 --> 00:24:44.240 really knows why he got sent down. I mean, it 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.700 was to make room. I mean, there were a couple 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:51.640 of strange roster moves and pitching moves that 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:56.400 happened. We lost a decent reliever from AAA 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.119 that we had to remove and end up losing to the 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:05.630 Nationals. Jackson. Yeah, there's a lot of things, 00:25:05.710 --> 00:25:07.650 not Luke Jackson. It was a different guy. He 00:25:07.650 --> 00:25:09.630 hadn't pitched up at the big club yet, but he 00:25:09.630 --> 00:25:11.930 had potential and I cannot remember his name 00:25:11.930 --> 00:25:16.309 at this point, but I can look it up. But at any 00:25:16.309 --> 00:25:19.849 rate, Kenley, what do you think? Is he making 00:25:19.849 --> 00:25:24.289 the playoff roster? Is he a guy you want on that 00:25:24.289 --> 00:25:27.250 roster? Do you think he can get it back to where 00:25:27.250 --> 00:25:29.589 he was at the beginning of the season? There's 00:25:29.589 --> 00:25:32.009 probably a better way of putting it. No, but 00:25:32.009 --> 00:25:34.869 I do think he'll be on the 40 man You think he'll 00:25:34.869 --> 00:25:37.109 be on the 40 man. So you think he'll be around? 00:25:37.269 --> 00:25:40.990 Well, the alternative is he's 35. He's out of 00:25:40.990 --> 00:25:45.309 options Unless he gets hurt if you don't have 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:47.869 him on the roster Then he's free to go somewhere 00:25:47.869 --> 00:25:52.109 else and I'd rather not pitch Tommy Cannelly 00:25:52.109 --> 00:25:54.690 Then have to go against Tommy Cannelly. That 00:25:54.690 --> 00:25:57.190 was good for the first eight weeks of the season. 00:25:57.410 --> 00:26:00.119 That's my that's my thought OK, all right, so 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:02.779 maybe he stays on the roster in your eyes. So 00:26:02.779 --> 00:26:05.500 what it was is it was a it was a weird move when 00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:07.299 they added Luke Jackson. Maybe that's what you 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:09.500 were getting at. Yeah, they added Luke Jackson. 00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:12.460 They ended up losing Hanafi down to triple A 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:15.119 and P .J. Poolean left. They had to leave the 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.700 organization to make room. P .J. Poolean then 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:19.940 went on to pitch in relief to the Nationals like 00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:23.279 a day or two later. They picked him up. Off the 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.440 wire. And he gets a scoreless inning and looks 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:28.279 great. And he was a guy that was looking really 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:30.799 good in AAA. So this might have been a Scott 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:33.539 Harris bungle here. And when A .J. Hinch was 00:26:33.539 --> 00:26:36.440 asked about it, he's like, what happens happens, 00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:39.500 you know. We got to move along. Yeah. Harris 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:42.559 and company got torched for this. Yeah. And all 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:45.700 sorts of baseball media. The local media wasn't 00:26:45.700 --> 00:26:49.119 as harsh on them as the national media was. Some 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:51.160 of the East Coast writers, Red Sox, Yankees, 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:55.730 Mets. Phillies torched him for it. But thus far, 00:26:56.309 --> 00:26:59.170 I would say Scott Harris, as harsh as we were 00:26:59.170 --> 00:27:03.009 on the dumpster dive, Kyle Finnegan, paired with 00:27:03.009 --> 00:27:06.670 Will Vest, has been nothing but a relevation. 00:27:07.269 --> 00:27:11.970 Great. Yeah. And I have to say, Charlie Morton 00:27:11.970 --> 00:27:15.589 was serviceable yet again. He's not great. He's 00:27:15.589 --> 00:27:17.809 not going to wow you. It was interesting that 00:27:17.809 --> 00:27:21.579 he and Chris Paddock chatted intently for two, 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:23.259 two and a half innings yesterday and the camera 00:27:23.259 --> 00:27:27.039 just kept going back on them. That has been a 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.420 very, very shrewd, let's say, pickup. It wasn't 00:27:30.420 --> 00:27:33.839 sexy. It wasn't ordering the second plate of 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:36.920 nachos or tortilla chips. No, that's not sexy. 00:27:37.220 --> 00:27:38.680 I can tell you that right now. It's getting a 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:42.180 small bowl of chips with really bad paste salsa. 00:27:42.259 --> 00:27:45.940 Probably. that you need to dump salt on to even 00:27:45.940 --> 00:27:49.039 have any flavor. But Charlie's serviceable, and 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:50.319 I think that's what you're getting at. Like, 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:54.640 he's doing the job. And I think Charlie is a 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.500 nails guy, meaning Charlie will come out of the 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:58.339 bullpen, Patrick will come out of the bullpen. 00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:02.759 And so they got guys that AJ can work with. And 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:06.579 I'm not sold on Patek yet, but Martin, I'm good 00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:07.980 with him. You don't have to be sold on them. 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:11.160 I don't know that I am either. I still think 00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:14.420 for what was given up, they were shrewd, smart 00:28:14.420 --> 00:28:18.160 moves. And I went through Prospectus last night 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.079 before I went to bed, my nine hours. And the 00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:25.299 Tigers top prospects remained virtually unchanged 00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:29.380 pre and post deadline. And outside of the Mariners, 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:33.359 they have the healthiest farm system and in MLB, 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:36.839 I'm excited for the fact. The Blue Jays also 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:39.500 have a healthy. I would love to see the Tigers, 00:28:39.700 --> 00:28:42.519 Blue Jays and Mariners be competing at the highest 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:44.559 level in the American league the next few years. 00:28:44.619 --> 00:28:47.599 And if we can just put to bed the Astros until 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.220 possibly the playoffs, their farm system is decimated. 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:54.160 Yeah. Yeah. Everybody's either up at the show 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:57.559 or... Pretty far away. They've had some pretty 00:28:57.559 --> 00:28:59.400 good pickups. I mean cam Smith was a good pick 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:01.920 up for them from the Cubs I they've got some 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.779 young guys. I'm not there. They're not barren 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:08.039 below the no no no or anything now, but they're 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:10.339 definitely not Tom They definitely don't have 00:29:10.339 --> 00:29:13.339 the farm system. I Let's see what happens with 00:29:13.339 --> 00:29:17.380 this KC series I'm expecting two out of three. 00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:20.440 I'm expecting to here we go again We're expecting 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:22.359 two out of three and if we only win one game, 00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:24.519 we're gonna come back as angry hosts again for 00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:27.599 you guys on Sunday. But let's see what we can 00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:31.089 do. Our bats are heating up. Our pitching is 00:29:31.089 --> 00:29:33.809 rounding the corner here, looking like they want 00:29:33.809 --> 00:29:36.549 to be in the postseason at this point, so let's 00:29:36.549 --> 00:29:39.430 see what happens. Let's see if we can cobble 00:29:39.430 --> 00:29:41.089 together a couple more wins, like I said, on 00:29:41.089 --> 00:29:42.890 the way out of this thing. My goal is we don't 00:29:42.890 --> 00:29:45.269 get swept in any series, and we take at least 00:29:45.269 --> 00:29:47.089 one game from each team, and I think the writing's 00:29:47.089 --> 00:29:49.089 on the wall like we've got a postseason berth. 00:29:49.329 --> 00:29:51.049 I don't think I'm jinxing anything by saying 00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:52.890 that it would be very difficult in this final 00:29:52.890 --> 00:29:55.690 stretch to lose a postseason berth. That said, 00:29:56.230 --> 00:29:58.819 there you go. It's out there. Blame me if it 00:29:58.819 --> 00:30:01.920 happens. I expect them to win most of these series 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:06.700 going out. You? Oh, absolutely, yeah. And Prospectus 00:30:06.700 --> 00:30:10.960 agrees with us. Playoff chances are 99 .6%. 99 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:14.500 .6%. Yeah. And we do have all three starting 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:18.059 pitchers named for the weekend. You're going 00:30:18.059 --> 00:30:20.559 to feel good about Friday. Yeah. Casey Mize, 00:30:20.680 --> 00:30:22.220 you're not going to like Saturdays. It's your 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:26.019 guy Chris Batik. And then Flaherty will be on 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:29.359 the Bump Sunday. So mixed bag there. The good 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:32.059 news with this all is that the Royals are to 00:30:32.059 --> 00:30:36.079 be determined because they had to use the bullpen 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:40.079 last night and they pitch today. So the Tigers 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:42.519 are going to come in very well rested. Another 00:30:42.519 --> 00:30:46.380 key thing about the Astros series is, yes, we 00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:52.559 did have a, you know, Great Tyler siding and 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:57.339 in terms of Melton and we did Get Alex Lang back, 00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:00.599 but the bullpen was not taxed by any stretch 00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:03.440 So we're going into this series fresh after that 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:06.720 travel west to a triple -a ballpark in Sacramento 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:09.359 Also into Kaufman Stadium and then after that 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:11.019 the Tigers don't leave the Eastern time zone 00:31:11.019 --> 00:31:13.599 Well, I tell you what we're gonna wrap it up 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:17.579 here. We've given you all sorts of info off this 00:31:17.579 --> 00:31:20.759 past beautiful sweep we had this week. Bill, 00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:25.960 I'm all set. You're all set. Go Tigers. May your 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:33.319 digestive system do its work. Let's hope. All 00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:35.500 right. That's going to do it for this episode 00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:38.539 of the Litterbox, a Detroit Tigers podcast. Thanks 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:40.759 for hanging out with us. We're Bill and Chet. 00:31:40.859 --> 00:31:43.640 We'll be back soon with more Tigers Talk. If 00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:45.920 you're enjoying the show, be sure to follow or 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:49.640 subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 00:31:49.640 --> 00:31:52.480 you get your podcasts. And hey, if you got a 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:56.119 minute, leave us a quick review. Till next time, 00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:56.980 Go Tigers!