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If we can get the bullpen solidified and the top of the line up can figure ouyt how to get on base...we're going to make a serious run.

Flipper wrote:If we can get the bullpen solidified and the top of the line up can figure ouyt how to get on base...we're going to make a serious run.

LMAO

I cannot believe how effing terrible the bullpen has been. Seriously...I don't know how they can possibly keep up this level of incompetence!

Peralta & Avila are surprises. Cabrera, V-Mart, and the starting rotation have been as good (or perhaps better) than expected. But boy the rest of the lineup has been a disappointment and the bullpen has been beyond horrific. I'm happy they've been able to hover around .500 the way they've been playing...hopefully they'll figure some things out in those areas and make a run.

I still think the Indians will come back to earth somewhat as the year goes on. They're clearly a better team than anybody imagined, but I find it very difficult to believe they're an 105 win team, which is the pace they've been playing to thus far. Hopefully the Tigers will play well enough to catch them when they start to falter.

Yeah...the emergence of Alex Avila certainly validated Dombrowski's decision to draft all those catchers last year...

Benoit looked good last night...if Perry and Schlereth can ever gain some semblance of control, we might be OK....if they don't, I think Jimmy might be smoking somewhere else next year.

Don Kelly in the lineup at third again today for Inge. Could this be the beginning of the end for Inge?

Redwingtom wrote:Don Kelly in the lineup at third again today for Inge. Could this be the beginning of the end for Inge?

God I hope so.

I was never as big of a hater of Inge as many people. When he was flashing the gold glove caliber leather at the hot corner I could deal with his offensive futility. It made him about a league average player in my eyes. Now his bat is worse than ever, and he's not even an elite defender anymore...probably average at best from what I can tell.

I don't think Don Kelly is the answer, but he honestly can't be as bad as Inge at this point. Kelly did show some pop down the stretch last year.

The Tigers are a freaking WEIRD team offensively. They've gotten NOTHING from some of the typical offensive positions (corner OF, 3B), but have gotten huge production from typically black holes (SS & C). If Raburn heats up (as he always seems to in July), and they get anything from Jackson/Dirks/Boesch/Ordonez they should be a pretty decent offensive club.

I love the rotation. Verlander/Scherzer is as good as any 1-2 in the AL. Porcello & Penny are a solid 3-4. Coke has been better than expected (although now on the DL). Oliver & Furbush give them a couple young options that should be ready to provide rotation depth as guys get hurt as well.

I don't like the club defensively at all. Jackson is the only guy on the team that is above average defensively, IMO.

And the bullpen...just wow. Benoit looked better the last 2 days...hopefully that is a trend. With their rotation if they got even 3 consistent BP guys they'd be set.

They brought up an interesting stat on Benoit on 97.1 this morning. He's appeared in something like 17 games this year. In 13 of those he's given up no runs. In one appearance he gave up a run. He gave up a kajillion runs in the other three or four.

So...there may be hope for him yet...

Flipper wrote:They brought up an interesting stat on Benoit on 97.1 this morning. He's appeared in something like 17 games this year. In 13 of those he's given up no runs. In one appearance he gave up a run. He gave up a kajillion runs in the other three or four.

So...there may be hope for him yet...

I hope it was just a really rough patch for him there in May, and he can get back to the guy he was last year or April of this year. Easy to forget that he actually started off pretty well.

He is the key to the bullpen.

If their bullpen had pitched well this year they'd be within a couple games of Cleveland at this point.

They said he made a small mechanical change as well.

BTW - Injuns lost 14-2 today.

Bad news for the Central if Austin Jackson and Ryan Rayburn start hitting as they have this last week.

And on a brighter note: I think with the recent hitting (and more than adequate defensive play so far) of the Inge replacements, Brandon has likely lost his starting job!!

Redwingtom wrote:. . . of the Inge replacements, Brandon has likely lost his starting job!!

I blame Gregg Brandon for Brandon losing his starting job.

Verlander's line for the night 9ip 0r 0er 2h 1 bb 12k.....when his curveball is working like it was tonight he's just about unhittable

Flipper wrote:Verlander's line for the night 9ip 0r 0er 2h 1 bb 12k.....when his curveball is working like it was tonight he's just about unhittable

I'm so glad he didn't finish the no-no. We had talked about going up to the game last night, thinking it would be a good matchup of pitchers dueling for 1st place. In the end we decided not to go since it'd be a late night getting home on a Tuesday, and we can just watch the game at home. If I would have missed out on seeing a no-no live, I would have been really upset.

Last night was as dominant as I've ever seen him...pretty surprised he didn't finish the no hitter really...just goes to show how much of it is luck as it is skill...he had much better stuff last night than he did in the no hitter he tossed against Toronto.

It doesn't take much to dominate Indian hitters right now. They'll be lucky to get 10 hits in the series. Carmona going tonight means another Tiger win for sure.

Yeah..the Tribe aren't an offensive Juggernaut, but over his last four starts Verlander has an ERA under 1.00 and he's got a k/BB ratio of something like 8 to 1. He's having an unbelievable run

Flipper wrote:Yeah..the Tribe aren't an offensive Juggernaut, but over his last four starts Verlander has an ERA under 1.00 and he's got a k/BB ratio of something like 8 to 1. He's having an unbelievable run

When JV is throwing the curveball for called strikes the way he did last night he is VERY tough to hit.

What has really impressed me is that he's been throwing a new look lately. That swing back fastball inside against lefties. He was really dominating with that pitch last night. It seemed to sit 92-94 and would cut right back to the inside part of the plate on lefties. They were taking it for called 1st strikes all night long. Combine that with his upper 90s heat, swing & miss change, and unhittable curve and you've got the best pitcher in the bigs for the past couple weeks.

Verlander has always had the best stuff in the AL. More and more he seems to be getting the most out of that stuff. That is VERY nice to see.