WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.099 Tigers just scored in two of the last 27 innings. 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:07.019 My question to you, Chad, is how concerned are 00:00:07.019 --> 00:00:11.000 you? Well, I'm a little concerned. I'm concerned 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.339 for the fact that we are six games into the season 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:17.100 and we're seeing some old habits pick back up. 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:22.420 You're listening to The Litterbox, a Detroit 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:26.480 Tigers podcast with your hosts, Chet West and 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:33.439 Bill Patterson. Welcome to the Detroit Tigers 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.899 litter box. And I'm your host Billy P with Chet 00:00:37.899 --> 00:00:41.520 West. And we are going to talk all things Tigers 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.840 after a interesting but somewhat deflating trip 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.299 out West to Arizona. Tigers come back, Chet. 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.460 They were swept by the Diamondbacks. They are 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:57.560 now two and four, which is the same as last season. 00:00:58.379 --> 00:01:02.039 But boy Chet, we've got a few things that are 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:05.239 just not clicking at this point. Number one, 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:08.659 the Tigers really are struggling to hit. Number 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.340 two, they can't really hit for power. And then 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:14.480 the game they did hit, and they had a commanding 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:16.879 lead because they have had good starting pitching, 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:20.719 the bullpen couldn't pull it out. Chet, what 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.739 do you say about our Tigers thus far? Well, if 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:26.549 you had... Pulled me after the first two games. 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:27.909 I would have said everything was going perfect. 00:01:27.909 --> 00:01:31.109 I think in our previous pod we said it was We 00:01:31.109 --> 00:01:33.730 were glowing about our bullpen. We were glowing 00:01:33.730 --> 00:01:36.569 about our starting staff We were very happy about 00:01:36.569 --> 00:01:38.430 some of the guys that were hitting Kevin McGonagall 00:01:38.430 --> 00:01:42.230 was on top of the world now Our starting staff 00:01:42.230 --> 00:01:44.650 is about the only thing glowing anymore other 00:01:44.650 --> 00:01:48.590 than a one Justin Berlander the bullpen Came 00:01:48.590 --> 00:01:52.760 up out of nowhere blew a game in, Arizona And 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.340 our hitters are back to their old tricks again 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:58.120 Have you seen hobby bias swinging at pitches 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:00.980 four feet off the plate as he did two seasons 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:07.920 ago and beyond? Yes, I have and He is very concerning 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:12.520 Is I think we thought he would be even more concerning 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:16.879 though is the Tigers right now have a league 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:22.509 -leading 60 strikeouts of which 12 of those are 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:25.169 contributed to one player and that is Kerry Carpenter 00:02:25.169 --> 00:02:28.030 I don't know if he was thrown off and I'm asking 00:02:28.030 --> 00:02:32.789 you this by Being the leadoff hitter. I don't 00:02:32.789 --> 00:02:34.849 know why that would throw him off so much But 00:02:34.849 --> 00:02:38.449 Chet he is flailing at the plate as his hobby 00:02:38.449 --> 00:02:42.009 and then Riley Green's not much better. So They 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:46.550 need a lot of help at this point From within 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:52.610 I'm not saying bad green bad Carry bad. Javi, 00:02:53.389 --> 00:02:56.050 I'm starting to wonder if you made a comment 00:02:56.050 --> 00:02:59.129 earlier on, is this his last season in baseball? 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:01.650 If he keeps swinging pitches like this, this 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:04.689 is his last season in baseball. I have no clue 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.069 how you can watch this guy take pitches down 00:03:08.069 --> 00:03:10.710 the pipe. I watched a sequence, somebody had 00:03:10.710 --> 00:03:12.949 posted it to Twitter. I watched a sequence where 00:03:12.949 --> 00:03:15.870 two strikes went right down the pipe and he swung 00:03:15.870 --> 00:03:18.270 at two balls that were two feet off the outside 00:03:18.270 --> 00:03:21.250 corner of the plate. What is he seeing in one 00:03:21.250 --> 00:03:24.030 pitch? That he's not seeing in the other pitch. 00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:26.669 He's just not picking it up. And I wish I knew. 00:03:27.189 --> 00:03:30.310 I think we all wish we knew. He might be the 00:03:30.310 --> 00:03:35.050 guy I pick on this season. Who? Javi. Bayes or 00:03:35.050 --> 00:03:37.169 whatever. We're not calling him Bayes anymore. 00:03:37.229 --> 00:03:38.550 He doesn't get that name anymore. Because you 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:41.750 didn't pick on him last season. He's gonna get 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:43.409 picked on more if he's gonna be in the starting 00:03:43.409 --> 00:03:46.009 lineup as often as he is. We have options for 00:03:46.009 --> 00:03:48.550 shortstop now. I mean we don't have to play him 00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:50.689 there. Wouldn't be interesting though if they 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:53.129 flipped him back to center field and he started 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:56.990 hitting again That would be the greatest. I mean 00:03:56.990 --> 00:03:59.449 that that would be the greatest social experiment 00:03:59.449 --> 00:04:02.169 of all time What did you like from the pitching 00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:04.229 side of things? Can we talk about one or two 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:06.590 positive things from this past? Yeah, I mean 00:04:06.590 --> 00:04:10.430 three games. Okay scoops was great for two stars. 00:04:10.550 --> 00:04:15.310 Yeah, and to be expected I feel like the Tigers 00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:18.250 are almost wasting him and that I would never 00:04:18.250 --> 00:04:21.170 side with his agent Scott Boris. But I would 00:04:21.170 --> 00:04:23.550 say if Scott Boris needed exhibit, you know, 00:04:23.790 --> 00:04:26.370 a on what the Tigers aren't doing to utilize 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:29.110 the best abilities of his client, it would be 00:04:29.110 --> 00:04:32.509 scoring zero runs yesterday, you know, in Arizona. 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:37.149 The other thing that I think was great is Casey 00:04:37.149 --> 00:04:40.889 Mize pitched an absolute gem. And the bullpen 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:43.509 gave that one up. And, you know, it was interesting. 00:04:43.649 --> 00:04:46.509 Our text chain of Tigers fans was talking about, 00:04:46.649 --> 00:04:49.310 wouldn't it be great if Casey Mize could like 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:51.810 pitch like a number two? And he came out and 00:04:51.810 --> 00:04:53.829 did it. He came out and pitched like a number 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:56.430 two. And unfortunately, you know, it's a team 00:04:56.430 --> 00:04:59.250 game. There's multiple phases in this. You know, 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:01.589 you need to hit, you need to hit for power. You 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:03.889 need to play defense. You need to have a starting 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:05.709 pitcher. You need to have a bullpen. And that 00:05:05.709 --> 00:05:09.069 was the bullpen just just letting us down. And 00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:13.310 the other thing that's alarming this year chat 00:05:13.310 --> 00:05:18.529 is how excellent the starting pitching has been, 00:05:18.529 --> 00:05:22.689 but just how unusual the transition has been 00:05:22.689 --> 00:05:25.829 to middle relief and the fact that it has not 00:05:25.829 --> 00:05:30.230 been very seamless. I, I know you wanted me to 00:05:30.230 --> 00:05:32.670 bring up positive. So those are my positives. 00:05:32.670 --> 00:05:35.470 If you want me to glow more about Kevin McGonagall 00:05:35.470 --> 00:05:37.990 and you want me to glow more about Dylan Dingler 00:05:37.990 --> 00:05:43.550 and Colt Keith, I can. I unfortunately, I think 00:05:43.550 --> 00:05:46.870 we need to talk about the fact that Drew Anderson 00:05:46.870 --> 00:05:51.209 was signed. Drew Anderson has had two really 00:05:51.209 --> 00:05:54.170 bad outings at this point with a third appearance. 00:05:54.470 --> 00:05:56.769 If he just left him for the inning, if he just 00:05:56.769 --> 00:05:59.170 let him do the one inning in the game against 00:05:59.170 --> 00:06:03.889 the Diamondbacks, bringing him back out there 00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:07.519 in the eighth was not a good idea. I would love 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:09.819 to ask AJ Hinch what the thinking was. Was he 00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:12.319 saving his pen after Verlander only went three 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.720 and two thirds? The night before, maybe that 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:16.779 was the idea. Drew's rolling. He did great in 00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:18.060 the seventh. I'll throw him back out there. He 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:20.439 got lit up. Walked guys. He looked like the Drew 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:23.579 Anderson in the previous game. So I wonder. And 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:27.540 our guy, any day, any time, any day, any day, 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:29.860 Jesus, he lost that nickname. He got blown up 00:06:29.860 --> 00:06:32.300 too in his outing against the Diamondbacks. So 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.389 since we're not on Twitch, shut. Chet was shaking 00:06:35.389 --> 00:06:37.889 his head. I was shaking my head. I was emphatically 00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:41.430 shaking my head. No, I do believe that it's six 00:06:41.430 --> 00:06:44.790 games and I don't want to go crazy. My fear, 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:47.790 my fear in these six games is we saw a lot of 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:51.149 old habits that have not died. We saw a lot of 00:06:51.149 --> 00:06:53.629 things happening. We saw a lot of Spencer Torkelson 00:06:53.629 --> 00:06:55.569 not hitting with runners in scoring position. 00:06:55.649 --> 00:06:57.829 He has an incredible batting average with runners 00:06:57.829 --> 00:06:59.529 in scoring position. Have you seen this stat? 00:07:00.229 --> 00:07:03.550 Now Spencer Tockelson has about a 100 batting 00:07:03.550 --> 00:07:05.389 average with runners in scoring position over 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:09.930 his career He's something like 6 for 65 Craziest 00:07:09.930 --> 00:07:12.569 thing I've ever seen from one from a first overall 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:15.689 draft pick. Let's talk about the positive though. 00:07:15.689 --> 00:07:19.550 He's hit 30 home runs You know, he does have 00:07:19.550 --> 00:07:26.500 that pop You're asking me of all people who can't 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:29.399 stand Spencer Torkelson to defend him. I'm usually 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:32.379 his benefactor over here. I'm against him now. 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:35.019 Like I'm the public defender that was assigned 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:36.939 the case, you know, going up against. It was 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:39.360 more about hope. I was hoping for something to 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.220 come out of him. Yeah, I mean, you're really 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:45.860 pouring it. You're not an awful first baseman. 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:48.560 He's a he's a good serviceable first baseman. 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.439 He's made some pretty good picks over there. 00:07:51.009 --> 00:07:53.889 And he has had his games where his, and his times 00:07:53.889 --> 00:07:57.209 where his hitting has shown potential, but we 00:07:57.209 --> 00:07:59.910 now have a large sample size on Spencer Torkelson. 00:07:59.930 --> 00:08:01.829 And I think we have what we're going to have, 00:08:02.310 --> 00:08:04.089 which is a guy who doesn't hit in the clutch 00:08:04.089 --> 00:08:07.689 bats about two 40 to two 35 and hits maybe 20 00:08:07.689 --> 00:08:13.129 homers. So you asked me to talk about the positive 00:08:13.129 --> 00:08:16.430 basement. Let's focus a little bit on what the 00:08:16.430 --> 00:08:20.040 opportunity is. I think the bullpen will, will 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.560 have its ups. So it'll have its downs. You know, 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.759 it's a new bullpen. It doesn't really need to 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:27.720 be clicking now. It needs to be clicking later 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:30.040 in the season. So we've got time to work that 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:33.059 out. That would be something I'd put, you know, 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.159 kick the can down the line. Do you want a rose 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:37.080 colored approach to this? Well, no, no, hold 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.519 on. They're getting all the bad out now. Well, 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.679 yeah, that's good too. Here's what concerns me 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.600 though. You cannot have two thirds of your starting 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:49.529 lineup be gaps. And what I'm talking about is 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:53.909 easy outs. And right now, outside of Dingler, 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:57.590 McGonagall, and Keith, Torres, if he decides 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:00.730 to keep the bat his shoulder, you're not getting 00:09:00.730 --> 00:09:04.210 a whole lot from anybody else. And to your point 00:09:04.210 --> 00:09:07.389 with Torque, if he's not hitting for power with 00:09:07.389 --> 00:09:10.549 runners in scoring position, his value to this 00:09:10.549 --> 00:09:16.230 team is basically nowhere. And you put in our 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:18.759 notes here for the show. No power. Where's the 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:21.759 power? I mean, Keith got robbed a couple of times. 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:25.220 Oh, on some hits that came up just, just short. 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:29.039 Can we talk about Colt Keith never probably wanting 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.279 to play home games ever again or away? He may 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:35.240 never play in Arizona. Oh my gosh. He got robbed 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:38.159 twice. That was like so unfortunate. So, you 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.179 know, some of the power might be there, but the 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:42.580 fact is you can't chat to your point. You can't 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:46.500 have three guys providing everything in your 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:48.980 lineup. You need to have that be six or seven. 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:51.419 Yeah, we have one home run in six games. That's 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:55.220 not good. We would have had five or four if the 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:57.360 two Keiths went out and the one McGonagall one 00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.940 that Jackson Merrill robbed him on in San Diego 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:01.779 went out. And that would have been out in probably 00:10:01.779 --> 00:10:04.139 any other park. But I get where you're going 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.259 with this. You got to have power coming from 00:10:06.259 --> 00:10:09.539 like four spots, three spots at least. Right. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:12.940 Yeah. And so we still don't know about Parker 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:15.000 Meadows. We still haven't seen enough there. 00:10:15.139 --> 00:10:17.919 He's been on base more, though, than I would 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:21.179 have expected at this point. He's not a Javi 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:24.940 or Lebar Torres. He's not going to get my Carrie 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:28.879 Carpenter problem at this point. And so I'm going 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:32.440 to transition with this. And this is a question. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.720 I think this is a huge series for the Tigers 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.919 at home. It's supposed to be above 70 degrees 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:42.559 tomorrow. Against st. Louis Cardinals home opener 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:45.259 tickets are ridiculously expensive for Detroit 00:10:45.259 --> 00:10:48.759 check. I know I saw this Yeah, Stanley robbery 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.080 standing room only is going for like a hundred 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:57.500 and forty five dollars People are you know, very 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:01.460 very enthusiastic and excited and I love it You 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:04.799 know, it's it's everything we could want for 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.220 April and the D and the Tigers You're getting 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:10.759 what should be a weaker Cardinals team, too. 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:14.340 With that, I would ask every Detroit listener, 00:11:14.340 --> 00:11:18.860 please leave a Coney Island out for an opening 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:22.580 day eve for Santa baseball. I don't know who 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:25.440 it is. Just I'm picturing him just walking house 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.779 to house, eating Coney's, you know, with that, 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.980 let's talk about the Cardinals. They're not a 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:37.789 great squad and, you know, rebuilding. And here's 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:43.070 the key thing. I love the signing, you know, 00:11:43.210 --> 00:11:46.110 of Framber and the fact that we've got him going 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:49.809 tomorrow against Michael McGreevey. I think that 00:11:49.809 --> 00:11:53.629 favors the Tigers just from a starting pitching 00:11:53.629 --> 00:11:58.070 standpoint. We'll see. I mean, McGreevey, he's 00:11:58.070 --> 00:12:00.129 pitched six innings. He doesn't have an earned 00:12:00.129 --> 00:12:05.669 run and his whips 0 .33. So he could be You know, 00:12:06.009 --> 00:12:07.850 very formidable going forward on that. They have 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:11.269 a very young team. This is the ultimate rebuilding 00:12:11.269 --> 00:12:14.830 job. I mean, you're looking at, I don't know 00:12:14.830 --> 00:12:17.870 that they have guys even close to any guys close 00:12:17.870 --> 00:12:21.389 to 30 at this point. Maybe Alec Burleson. I don't 00:12:21.389 --> 00:12:23.690 even think Burleson is, for crying out loud. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.899 So tomorrow opening day is going to be 1210 Central 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:29.759 Standard Time, 110 for those in the Eastern Standard 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:34.659 Time Zone. Saturday, same time, 1210, 110. You've 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:39.519 got May going up against our guy, Blackjack Flaherty. 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.679 And this one's kind of encouraging because May's 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:48.299 ERA currently is 13 .5. He got blown up. Yeah. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:53.700 Over only four innings. So Flaherty's 4 .15 ERA 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:57.240 looks fantastic. And then I think really the 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:00.580 key to this series is just going to be a lot 00:13:00.580 --> 00:13:03.960 of fun, which is and this is really weird for 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.899 me to say, Chet, Sunday Night Baseball is now 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:10.679 on Peacock not ESPN where it's been for the last 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:13.799 I don't know 30 years Got a special streaming 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:17.259 service for that. It's on Peacock everybody and 00:13:17.259 --> 00:13:21.799 we've got Leahy going up against JV JV's era 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:25.519 is absolutely bloated after his last outing Let's 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:28.179 not talk about that. I like to see a bounce back 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:30.480 I need to see something that resembles a starting 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.320 pitcher in Major League Baseball check Nobody 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:35.879 needs this more than JV. Nobody needs it more 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:39.559 than the fans and JV that I will say this Casey 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:43.240 Mize in his outing Did a lot to take the salt 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.320 out of the wounds from the previous night with 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:49.419 JV All right. So as we transition off this I 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:53.779 have a wager for you. Okay, Kate Upton photo 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:59.549 shots or camera pan ins Sunday night Peacock. 00:13:59.549 --> 00:14:01.870 I'm assuming she'll be in a box somewhere, not 00:14:01.870 --> 00:14:04.889 down by the rail there on the first row, right? 00:14:05.889 --> 00:14:08.490 She usually shows up in a box these days. I don't 00:14:08.490 --> 00:14:10.909 know. She's Grand Rapids Kate. She could just 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:13.509 be meandering with the people. I don't know. 00:14:14.690 --> 00:14:18.629 I'm going to bet we get at least two shots of 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:21.110 Kate throughout the game. If he's pitching well. 00:14:21.629 --> 00:14:25.230 Give me the over on that. What if he's pitching 00:14:25.230 --> 00:14:29.129 poorly? Well, I show her as often. Well, if he 00:14:29.129 --> 00:14:31.110 only makes it, you know, one and two thirds and 00:14:31.110 --> 00:14:33.429 in the note, find out a lot about the peacock 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:36.090 broadcasts here. All right. Thank you for listening 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:39.230 to the Detroit Tigers litter box. We do have 00:14:39.230 --> 00:14:42.409 a sister podcast, Detroit Lions litter box. I'm 00:14:42.409 --> 00:14:45.889 your host, Bill, with your co -host chat. And 00:14:45.889 --> 00:14:54.730 we are signing off. Go Tigers. Go Tigers. All 00:14:54.730 --> 00:14:56.899 right. That's going to do it for this episode 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.940 of the Litterbox, a Detroit Tigers podcast. Thanks 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:02.159 for hanging out with us. We're Bill and Chet. 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:05.080 We'll be back soon with more Tigers Talk. If 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:07.360 you're enjoying the show, be sure to follow or 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.039 subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.899 you get your podcasts. And hey, if you got a 00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:17.500 minute, leave us a quick review. Until next time, 00:15:17.779 --> 00:15:18.440 go Tigers.