00:00Tigers are the sweep over the weekend. It's great weather.
00:05Sweep the Marlins, put everybody in a great mood.
00:08Everybody calm down. John, at the end of last week, how would you describe the temperament
00:12of Tiger fans? Oh, well, we had, and I know that
00:16hey, just like the first, what, 12 games,
00:2013 games, three games does not a season make. No.
00:23But there were a lot of people, this team isn't going to make the playoffs, they won't even be
00:27500, like all of the things that you would anticipate. People would say
00:31after being swept by the Minnesota Twins, who are
00:35probably going to lose 90 plus games this year.
00:39Yeah, take a picture today. They're in first place. And I had this
00:43thought as well, like, okay, if you're playing a postseason
00:47series, right, you just got swept by the Twins
00:51and you started off with how you think you would start off a postseason series, with
00:55Scoble on the mound, Valdez, and
00:57you go from there.
00:59They couldn't find a way to put bat on ball.
01:01They couldn't find a way to get runners across
01:03the home plate. And it just
01:05was unbelievably frustrating.
01:07And then, the
01:09Marlins come to town.
01:12I think everybody could
01:13just give a collective
01:14sigh, just a sigh of relief.
01:17Yeah. Because
01:20we saw
01:21Scoble pitch yesterday, and he pitched
01:23great. Casey Mize the day before, and
01:25he was good. Like, you start
01:27to put together
01:30some
01:31performances where the
01:33bats match up with
01:35the pitching. It's not Scoble losing
01:37a 1-0 game where
01:39he has a great performance. Or it's
01:41Valdez who, he goes out there
01:43and he, you know,
01:45six runs in the first, the
01:47Tigers, you know, the bats come alive
01:49later, would have been one that they could
01:51have won with a better pitching performance. Like,
01:53the pitching didn't match up with the
01:55hitting, and then over the weekend,
01:57it did.
01:59So, if you can believe it,
02:00I'm cool as a cucumber.
02:02I'm not stressing
02:03right now. I was annoyed
02:05last week, was my word. I'm not
02:07stressed about this baseball team. And there's two
02:09things specifically from the weekend that stood
02:11out to me that were impressive and encouraging.
02:13And it's, it's not beating the
02:15Marlins. It's looking a little deeper.
02:17The first is Kevin McGonigal hits
02:19his first career home run. This guy's a
02:20legit bat. He's the best bat
02:22on this team. A three-hit day on Sunday.
02:25He's hitting .322 for the
02:26year. He's got to flirt with a batting title
02:28at this rate. He's got a 900 OPS.
02:31He's the real deal. He's everything
02:33that was advertised. So, that's a guy they
02:34didn't have a year ago that they do
02:36have now. So, that's
02:38partly why I'm not stressed.
02:40The other thing is Riley Green. And I don't know if people
02:42are paying attention to this. His home run on
02:44Saturday was a 10-pitch battle
02:46where he started 0-2.
02:49Last year, Riley Green
02:50swings and flails and strikes out.
02:52His strikeouts are down this year.
02:55Almost 10%.
02:58His
02:58walk rate is up 5%.
03:01He's more selective.
03:02He's swinging less. This is everything
03:04we wanted from him. He publicly
03:06admitted he needed to be better.
03:08And John, we're seeing him take
03:10those steps. I think he'll
03:12still be a free swinger and have some rough
03:14stretches. But I am seeing
03:16him apply himself.
03:18The words he said, it's showing up
03:20in his approach at the plate. So, if you tell me I get
03:22good Riley Green
03:23and Kevin McGonigal is as advertised,
03:26I'm not worried about this baseball
03:28team. And if you're looking
03:30at pitching, I saw this great stat.
03:32Scoobles start, right?
03:34It's now the fourth Tiger starter
03:36in a row to pitch at least 5-2
03:38thirds and allow no more than
03:40one run. The last time they had a
03:42stretch like that, more than a decade
03:44ago. You've got to go back to the summer of 2013.
03:47This rotation is going to be
03:48fine. And if a couple of these bats are
03:50doing what we need them to do, the team
03:52is going to be fine.
03:54And you, as a fan base,
03:56kind of feel like you're starting to get your swagger
03:58back when Scoobles on the mound.
04:00And, you know, I mean, I know he went, what,
04:02into the fifth inning with no hits.
04:04But at that point, too, he
04:06starts off, you know,
04:093-0, or I'm sorry,
04:100-3 on a batter.
04:12Yeah.
04:13Ends up striking him out.
04:14Mm-hmm.
04:15I mean, it's, it's,
04:16you kind of feel like he's just
04:18starting to play with his food a little bit.
04:21He said, I don't
04:22think he was his best. He's like,
04:24I don't, I don't think I had my best stuff.
04:26Yeah.
04:26And yet he still was flying, cruising.
04:30It's, it's just, it, when you
04:32have moments like that
04:34and games like that
04:36where the hitting matches
04:38with a Scoobles start
04:40and hopefully we get it
04:41again with a Valdez start.
04:44Like, those are the moments
04:45where you're like, okay,
04:47I could see why we were excited
04:49coming into the season.
04:50It's a, it's a, it's a confirmation
04:52of what we thought
04:54this team would be.
04:56It took them a little bit to get there
04:58and I don't think they're out of the woods.
04:59No.
05:00But if you can start
05:02to put moments
05:04and games like that together
05:06and then develop some consistency,
05:08that's where it's got to get to.
05:10It's not just a three-game series
05:11against the Marlins.
05:12They've got a chance to play
05:13against a division opponent
05:14in Kansas City Royals.
05:16It's how are you going to put
05:19back-to-back series together?
05:21I mean, they have a losing record right now.
05:23I'm not oblivious to that.
05:24I just don't want to make too big a deal
05:26out of 16 games.
05:29Right.
05:29By the way, Riley Green,
05:30on base in all 16 of them.
05:32Just another little feather in his cap.
05:33You want to talk about him
05:34being a little better this season.
05:36Getting back to what
05:37kind of player he can be.
05:39Tech says,
05:40the MLB season is a marathon.
05:42It's not a sprint.
05:43People getting bent out of shape
05:44after the first 10 to 15 games
05:46is ridiculous.
05:47It's fueled by 97
05:48won the ticket mostly.
05:50Calm down.
05:50Let AJ figure out the lineup
05:52and the bats will heat up.
05:53Chad in the truck.
05:55Well, it is a long season
05:56and they're going to have 13 games
05:57in 13 days
05:58when they finally
06:00kick things off tomorrow night
06:01against Kansas City.
06:04I like that we get blamed.
06:06Swept one of the worst rosters
06:07in baseball
06:08after getting swept
06:10by one of the worst rosters
06:11in baseball.
06:12It doesn't move the needle
06:13for me much.
06:13I think the team finishes
06:14outside the playoffs,
06:15which is where I thought
06:16they'd be before the season
06:17started.
06:18Unnamed texter.
06:19Is that more of what
06:19you're getting last week?
06:20Yeah, but at least they said,
06:22hey, before the season,
06:24I thought they were going
06:24to be out of the playoffs
06:25and you're going to need
06:27to see a lot more
06:29of what we just saw
06:30over the last three days
06:31to change a mind like that.
06:33So yeah, without knowing the name,
06:34it's an unnamed texter.
06:35I'd imagine if he didn't have
06:36the Tigers in the playoffs,
06:39he had the Royals
06:40winning this division.
06:41Most likely, right?
06:42They were the number two team
06:43in most betting markets.
06:45So then that guy's going to be
06:46dialed into this series, right?
06:48You would think.
06:48If they take two or three
06:49against the Royals,
06:50I don't know if it wins him over
06:51because it's still April,
06:52but like.
06:53Yeah, you want to talk
06:54about a team that's
06:55struggling to score runs.
06:56No kidding.
06:57They got a minus city.
06:58Yeah, minus run differential,
06:59right?
06:59Yeah, I mean,
07:00as much as we've talked
07:01about the bats
07:02and the scoring
07:03for the Tigers,
07:04they've scored 70 runs
07:07and Kansas City's
07:08only scored 54.
07:12Baseball wasn't meant
07:13for today's immediate reaction.
07:15Quick take society
07:16never was worried
07:17for a nine
07:18in the middle of June
07:19and no one would notice.
07:21Odds if Scooble
07:22and Framberg
07:24get shelled
07:24two games in a row
07:25are slim to none
07:26moving forward.
07:27Right.
07:28The only thing
07:28Scooble needs to add
07:29to his resume
07:30at this point
07:30is toss a few
07:32no hitters.
07:33He'll go down
07:33as one of the greatest
07:34of all time.
07:36Scooble went into
07:37the six with a no-no
07:38until Dickerson
07:39said the words.
07:40Two batters later,
07:41base hit.
07:45I think part of the issue
07:46too is
07:48we want
07:49we know
07:50the season's
07:50a marathon
07:52but we wanted
07:52to see them
07:53start with a sprint
07:55and it's
07:56however they start
07:58as we've learned
07:59over the last two years
08:00it's not how you start
08:02it's how you finish.
08:03They started more
08:04of a sprint last year
08:05and couldn't finish
08:06the race.
08:07Two years ago
08:08hey,
08:09they couldn't start
08:09they couldn't find a way
08:10to get out of their own way
08:11and then they sprint
08:12sprinted to the finish line.
08:14So the one texter's point
08:15we are a football society
08:17like one game
08:19means a lot.
08:21One game
08:22you spend all week
08:23discussing.
08:24And there's only
08:25now 17 of them.
08:26Yeah,
08:27but roughly
08:28AJ did the math
08:29on opening day
08:29when he was talking
08:30about his conversation
08:31with Dan Campbell.
08:32He goes
08:32one of his games
08:35are 10 of mine.
08:36Right.
08:37So in baseball
08:37you got to kind of
08:39compartmentalize
08:39stretches,
08:40right?
08:4010 here,
08:4110 here,
08:41a month here.
08:43And if you are
08:44treating every baseball
08:45game like a football
08:46game or even every
08:47series like a football
08:48game,
08:50you're not getting
08:50the proper context.
08:52Well,
08:52and so if we're
08:53going to handle it
08:53like Dan handles,
08:54we heard about
08:55the first quarter,
08:56second quarter,
08:56third quarter,
08:56fourth quarter
08:57of the season,
08:58right?
08:58Now it's all weird
08:59because you got 17
09:00games.
09:01So it's 40 game
09:03sections.
09:04What are they going
09:05to look like 40
09:05games in?
09:06Can they win that
09:07first section of the
09:08baseball season?
09:09And then you take
09:10the next 40 games,
09:12right?
09:13And I guess the
09:13what I'm what I'd
09:15like to make sure
09:16I'm clear on is I'm
09:17looking at how
09:18they're playing much
09:19more than the record.
09:20Now,
09:20if they were like
09:22one in 15,
09:23it'd be something,
09:24right?
09:24Then you're really
09:24digging a hole.
09:25It's going to be
09:25tough.
09:26Sure.
09:27But you're roughly
09:27500 baseball team
09:28and look a little
09:29deeper,
09:30pop open the hood.
09:31Oh,
09:31you like McGonagall?
09:32Oh,
09:32there's some green
09:33stuff.
09:33That's pretty
09:34good.
09:34Your rotation,
09:35we expect it
09:35can be pretty
09:36good.
09:37All right,
09:38then settle down.
09:39Well,
09:39yeah,
09:39but you also want
09:40to see him play
09:40well against division
09:41opponents and,
09:41and hey,
09:42you know,
09:43over five,
09:44over four against
09:45the twins,
09:46not a great way
09:46to start the
09:47division.
09:48It's great.
09:48Even in the midst
09:49of this baseball
09:49conversation,
09:50guys,
09:50you may have
09:51talked about it,
09:51but who's getting
09:51fired by the Red
09:52Wings?
09:53When are we going
09:53to,
09:53when are we going
09:54to talk about
09:55this?
09:55Eight o'clock
09:57because their season
09:58ended to the most
09:58Red Wings fashion
09:59and it's been so
10:00much fun to talk
10:01about it.
10:02Trust me.
10:02Look,
10:02I'm a bit
10:03exhausted,
10:03but when you get
10:04boot off the ice,
10:04I think we owe it
10:05to the fans to give
10:05them a chance to
10:06talk about this
10:07team and Todd
10:08McClellan talking
10:09about this team
10:09was spot on.
10:12We'll get to that
10:12at eight o'clock.
10:13It's 97 one.
Comments