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Which Tiger were you most excited to see for the first time?
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00:01Good morning, 97.1. Sun's starting to come up. It's baseball season. John is decked out
00:07in his custom Jansen Tiger jersey. He's got the old English D. Yes. You're going to be
00:12talking about ballpark foods coming up at 835. Okay, that's what's going to be a great
00:18conversation. You're ranking everything from a strikeout to a grand slam. Some new items
00:23at Comerica Park. We'll do that at 835. Tiger expectations all morning long. Number of wins,
00:28the over-under set at 85.5, and just how far does this team go? 248-539-9797. We're going
00:34to drill
00:35down on McGonigal, though. Let's talk about the big story. He makes the club expectations.
00:40Scott Harris says he's not coming here to be the savior, and I think they're doing a good job
00:44trying to keep the pressure off of him. But, John, you can only bottle up the excitement so much.
00:48When you're the betting favorite to win rookie of the year, and you start talking about the guys
00:53that win that award, in the American League, the last three batters to win rookie of the year
00:59were not only very good players, they were the best players on their team.
01:04So, last year, it was Nick Kurtz, who hit 36 bombs and was a five-war player for the A's.
01:11Oh, okay, best player in the A's. What's that saying? How about in 23, Gunnar Henderson?
01:1528 homers, 814 OPS, six-war player, best guy on the Orioles.
01:21The year before that, Julio Rodriguez. He hit 284, he had 28 homers, 25 stolen bases,
01:28was a six-war player playing in center field. The last three American League rookie of the year,
01:34bats are impact guys from day one. So, what's my expectation for McGonigal?
01:39I mean, sky's the limit for this guy. When you skip AAA, you are in that expectation
01:44that you will be an instant impact guy. That doesn't mean he's not going to have
01:47an 0-4-4 day, he's not going to have a two-week slump, but this guy's coming here
01:52to play every day and be a difference maker. Yeah, and it's not just what he can do
01:56at the plate, it's what he can do in the field as well. We've seen him flash the glove.
02:00Now, again, there's going to be errors. There's going to be...
02:03Things aren't going to just be smooth all season long.
02:09I do think that he'll be rookie of the year.
02:11I do think he'll have comparable numbers. He'll be a 4-5 war player.
02:16He's going to be hitting right around 275 for the season.
02:19He's going to be, you know, his OPS.
02:23I do expect to be right around 800.
02:28When you talk about guys that skip AAA,
02:31so Soto is an example, and he was 20 years old,
02:34hitting 30 home runs in the big leagues, five war players,
02:37first full season. Machado, 20 years old,
02:39led the league in doubles, five war guy.
02:42Bregman, I think, was more of a three war his first season.
02:46But these are guys... I mean, three war players are...
02:48I mean, Riley Green and Kerry Carpenter
02:50weren't three war players last year.
02:52So that's why I say, like, there is an impact
02:54that he should have on this team almost immediately.
02:57So where does this rank anticipated Detroit debuts?
03:01Like, if I asked you, like, what are some of your
03:03more anticipated Detroit debuts the last 25 years?
03:05Which names come to mind?
03:06And these could be call-ups, these could be players
03:08they signed or traded for their first game
03:11in a Detroit uniform.
03:12Well, for me, the easy one is Miguel Cabrera.
03:15And you go back to 2008, you know,
03:18just the anticipation of adding a bat.
03:21And it was all the players, and most of them,
03:24if not all of them, inconsequential,
03:26that they gave up to get him.
03:28But it was a huge trade.
03:30And him being able to come in
03:32and then hitting a home run in his debut,
03:35like, he...
03:36That, to me, was probably...
03:39I don't want to say more anticipated
03:41because, obviously, it was a trade.
03:42It wasn't homegrown.
03:43But the impact was felt right away.
03:45And you expected so much more
03:47because he was a great bat to begin with.
03:51Well, yeah.
03:51I mean, he had won a World Series.
03:52Yeah.
03:53He was considered one of, if not the best hitters
03:55on planet Earth.
03:56The Tigers had made the World Series in 06,
03:59and this was seen as,
04:01okay, now we're really going to be in this thing.
04:05And, I mean, they'd made another World Series
04:07and Division Crowns and ALCS.
04:11Yeah, Cabrera's probably the most anticipated
04:13of the last 25, 26 years.
04:17I mean, I was trying to think.
04:19Like, Cade was the number one pick.
04:21Yeah.
04:22And we had waited and waited for a star in Detroit.
04:24Really, I don't know,
04:25since Grant Hill.
04:27And we know how important
04:28one great player in the NBA
04:29can flip your fortunes.
04:31But it was a little bit muted
04:33because of the injury.
04:34I was just going to say,
04:35then you think back,
04:36he didn't hit the ground running.
04:38Right.
04:39Stafford, you get a franchise quarterback.
04:41You want to see what he can do?
04:43Again, it's nothing to do with
04:44what you think of,
04:45should they have won more or not.
04:47Right.
04:47The anticipation of his debut,
04:49you have a number one overall pick
04:50at quarterback.
04:51And there was,
04:53there was a fair amount of anticipation
04:54about Torque, right?
04:561-1.
04:56And we kept asking,
04:58Yeah.
04:59It was AJ still at the time.
05:01It was not,
05:01wasn't Garden Hire.
05:02But like,
05:03when are you going to give him a chance?
05:04When are you going to call him up?
05:05Like,
05:05now, now, now.
05:06Let me ask you,
05:07Torque or Green?
05:08Which do you remember being more excited for?
05:10I was more excited for Torque
05:11because, I mean,
05:13everybody loves home runs.
05:14Yeah.
05:14And that was supposed to be his specialty.
05:16The thing with Green, though,
05:18is like,
05:18his profile as a player has changed.
05:20But coming up,
05:21it was seen as center fielder,
05:23power and speedy
05:24at an inside the ballpark home run
05:25in the minors.
05:27Riley Green's first game
05:28in the bigs,
05:30two for three,
05:30couple walks,
05:32played in center field.
05:33Yeah.
05:34But you're right,
05:35the home run is
05:36chicks dig it.
05:37Yeah,
05:37and number one overall pick.
05:38Detroit debuts,
05:392-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
05:41How about this one?
05:43Rasheed Wallace.
05:44That's from Charles.
05:46Big time trade?
05:47Yeah.
05:48I think there's a lot more anticipated.
05:51This may be the biggest anticipation
05:53for a debut
05:54for somebody that was
05:58homegrown.
05:59And some of it is the build-up
06:01to the Tigers' season.
06:02Hey, it's all in.
06:03We've got to add this bat.
06:04Well, we didn't add a bat.
06:05Well, we may have
06:06actually created our own bat.
06:07Yeah.
06:08I mean,
06:10yeah,
06:10if he's the player that
06:11everybody anticipates.
06:11I know he's not right to add a bat,
06:13but hey,
06:14at the end of the day,
06:15that's a bat.
06:16Okay.
06:16The Tigers love lefty,
06:17righty,
06:18and splits.
06:18They're not the only organization.
06:19And it can matter on the margins,
06:21but it's great when you just have a guy
06:23that can play every day.
06:24Like,
06:24if I have a pitcher who's a righty,
06:26but he gets righties and lefties out,
06:28or Scooble gets everybody out,
06:30left-handed pitcher.
06:32If McGonagall's a left-handed bat,
06:33most pitchers are righty,
06:34and if you hold your own
06:35against lefties,
06:36that's what we've been talking about
06:37is having guys who eventually
06:38become steady everyday players.
06:40Not that you can't still do
06:42platooning and,
06:42you know,
06:43pinch hits and matchups,
06:44but it's nice to have guys
06:45you can count on
06:46and trust day in and day out.
06:49Okay,
06:50what do we got?
06:52If McGonagall is top three
06:53in the order,
06:54it means Hinch highly believes in him,
06:55and we can expect a very good year.
06:57You bat him seventh
06:58if you want no pressure.
06:59I think you could bat him seventh
07:01and expect him to come into his own.
07:03Yeah.
07:04I mean,
07:04I'm not going to sit there.
07:05If he bats seven or eight
07:07and say,
07:07oh,
07:07well,
07:07AJ doesn't believe in him.
07:09What is this,
07:09like Groundhog's Day?
07:10Does AJ see his shadow?
07:11Does he bat the top half of the lineup?
07:12We're going to have six months
07:14of great baseball,
07:14and if he bats in the bottom half,
07:15he's not ready.
07:16Now,
07:16I'm not going to read too much into that.
07:19Brett Hull when he came to Detroit.
07:22Okay,
07:23so I was younger,
07:24but that's at the time
07:25when they're adding a bunch of guys.
07:26Hull,
07:27Robitaille,
07:27Hasek.
07:29You'd have to tell me
07:30who was the most anticipated.
07:32Like,
07:32to me,
07:32it feels like Hasek
07:33would have been the most anticipated
07:35of that group.
07:36Yeah,
07:37I was thinking about that team,
07:38and I thought the same thing.
07:40That was,
07:41like,
07:41to me,
07:41I was still shocked
07:42when they made that trade.
07:43I was like,
07:44the way I found out,
07:45I got to tell,
07:45I think I've told you,
07:46but,
07:46so I was camping,
07:49and I was pretty much off the grid.
07:52You weren't glamping.
07:53So,
07:54no.
07:54So,
07:55come home on a Saturday night,
07:57actually.
07:57I got home like 9 o'clock,
07:58and ESPN News,
07:59I had it on,
08:00trying to catch up on what was going on,
08:02and all of a sudden,
08:02I just see it go along the ticker
08:04on the bottom.
08:05Like,
08:05what?
08:06I was stunned.
08:11Game changer.
08:12Detroit debuts,
08:132-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
08:15McGonagall set to play today.
08:16Let's get to Wyatt.
08:18You're on 97-1.
08:20First off,
08:21thanks for having me.
08:23Second,
08:23I would say,
08:25McGonagall,
08:26today,
08:26he probably goes maybe
08:282-4-4.
08:30Second,
08:30the Tigers,
08:31I'd say,
08:32hit the over
08:33on the win,
08:34on the win total
08:36this year.
08:37And third,
08:38how could you forget about
08:39Hutch?
08:40Come on!
08:43I mean,
08:44sure,
08:44yeah,
08:44there was anticipation
08:45about it,
08:46but I don't necessarily know
08:48that there was this
08:49gigantic buildup
08:50to see
08:52what he was going to do.
08:54I think there was more.
08:55I think in football,
08:56there's more of a known quantity.
08:58I know that there's some
09:00unsettledness,
09:01you know,
09:01does what happened in college
09:02translate?
09:02We've seen busts,
09:03we've seen all that,
09:04but I think there's more
09:06question marks
09:08and more
09:09unknown
09:10coming,
09:11certainly from double-A
09:12to the bigs.
09:13So baseball and hockey,
09:14it's that longer journey
09:16through the minors.
09:17Yeah.
09:17I don't even know,
09:18is there a Red Wing
09:19in the last 25 years
09:21homegrown
09:21that we've been,
09:22like people wanted to see Larkin,
09:24he had a pretty quick rise.
09:27Cider,
09:28but defensemen aren't as sexy.
09:30I don't think he gets enough
09:31credit for his game
09:31because of that.
09:34Raymond,
09:35you guys tell us,
09:36you got to put it in context,
09:38like McGonagall
09:38versus some of these guys,
09:40homegrown call-ups,
09:41and we talk about these guys,
09:44Max Clark,
09:45like we've talked about him
09:47and his eventual arrival
09:49in the bigs,
09:51we've talked about Kevin McGonagall,
09:52we've talked about Berseno
09:53a lot more than we talk about
09:56any of the prospects,
09:58for a lot longer.
09:59So for Hutch,
10:00it was,
10:00hey,
10:01from the draft
10:01until we saw him
10:04was what,
10:05five months?
10:06Five months,
10:07yeah.
10:07And so you just don't have
10:09that same build-up of time.
10:11I would think for the Lions,
10:12it's Stafford
10:12because of the position
10:14more than it is anything else.
10:15Yeah.
10:16And maybe it's just
10:16less mystery.
10:19Stan,
10:20you've been waiting.
10:20It's time for baseball season.
10:22You're on 97.1.
10:24Happy New Year,
10:25everybody.
10:26It is a great day.
10:27As you're well aware,
10:28baseball is my life.
10:30And I think the Tigers
10:32are going to win 90 games.
10:34I think they're going to win
10:35the Central.
10:36They're going to go to the ALCS.
10:38And if the pitching holds up,
10:40they can go to the World Series.
10:42My favorite Tiger is Javi.
10:44And although I have nothing bad
10:47to say about McGonagall,
10:48I think he could be
10:50just an outstanding player.
10:52I think the biggest debut this year
10:55is JV pitching Sunday night baseball
10:58against the Cardinals.
11:00What do you think, Jim?
11:01Easter Sunday.
11:02So your favorite player,
11:04your Tiger,
11:05is Javi.
11:08100%.
11:11100%.
11:12Skubal does have the gravitas,
11:15but when the fans,
11:16when Javi does something good
11:17in the stands,
11:18I mean,
11:19they just go wacky.
11:20It's just so much fun.
11:22My Javi jersey is great.
11:26Okay.
11:26I mean,
11:27they go nuts
11:28because it's few and far between.
11:30We've been begging for it.
11:31I don't want to slam your tiger.
11:32I'm just surprised
11:32that you said Javi.
11:34I'll back you up on this.
11:34Oh, yeah.
11:35The El Mago,
11:36the magician,
11:37the plays that he does make
11:39when he makes them
11:40are electrifying.
11:41Yeah.
11:41To John's point,
11:42though,
11:42if you were far...
11:43Where do you think
11:44McGonagall's going to play?
11:45Is he going to play
11:46third base or shortstop tonight?
11:48Well, he was...
11:48They had him taking some ground balls
11:49at third yesterday, right?
11:51Did I see that?
11:52But I'd imagine shortstop is where...
11:54on that left side for defense.
11:56Well, maybe, right?
11:58But I wonder,
11:59offensively,
12:00the tradeoff would be
12:01you'd rather have
12:02McGonagall and Keith.
12:04So...
12:05Yeah, but who's the DH?
12:07Who's in center?
12:08If Parker Meadows is in center,
12:10then this is...
12:11And maybe Javi doesn't even start
12:13the first game.
12:14Javi will probably play more
12:15against lefties.
12:16Like, again,
12:16they're going to tailor
12:17the lineup to who they're playing.
12:19And by the way,
12:20the first nine games of the year
12:22are all against
12:23right-handed starters.
12:24That's a good note.
12:25I like that for the Tigers.
12:26I think they could go
12:27six and three.
12:28That's a big,
12:29good start.
12:29Lefty-heavy lineup, right?
12:32Helps guys like Parker Meadows.
12:34Yeah.
12:35I didn't expect somebody
12:36to call in and say
12:36their favorite Tiger
12:37was Javi,
12:38because how many times...
12:39I would say
12:40if we took 100 calls,
12:42I don't know
12:43that we'd have anybody else
12:44that would say Javi Baez.
12:45Hold on.
12:45Last year,
12:46I think,
12:46changed the math on that.
12:47Two years ago,
12:48I don't think we'd get a single...
12:49Maybe Stan would be the only one.
12:51Yeah.
12:51After last year,
12:52he had a couple moments,
12:53the walk-off against the Red Sox,
12:55people bitching less
12:56about his contract.
12:58He made the All-Star game.
12:59Well, it's because
13:00there was other things
13:00to talk about,
13:01and he wasn't an everyday guy.
13:03But my point is,
13:04if we did like a survey today,
13:06because he was an All-Star
13:07last year,
13:07and because when he does do things,
13:09they're exciting plays,
13:10I think you'd be surprised
13:11how many people...
13:12Maybe it would be, yeah.
13:12Yeah.
13:13Hey, we could talk about
13:15who your Tiger is,
13:16because I think
13:16it has been Scooble
13:17for a lot of people,
13:18but clearly people
13:19are souring on him.
13:21248-539-9797.
13:23We may mix that in
13:24later in the show.
13:25Again,
13:25taking your predictions
13:26for the Tiger season
13:27and talking Detroit debuts.
13:28It's 97.1.
13:29We may mix that in the show.
13:29We may mix that in the show.
13:29We may mix that in the show.
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