00:00Over the show with some Detroit Lions talk about the schedule, which looks so easy, but these things are misleading.
00:08I did some piston discussion for pretty much the last hour or so.
00:12Is it coming back to Detroit?
00:13If so, why?
00:14If not, why not?
00:16Mixed in some other stuff, but Gators had enough.
00:19You've reached your critical mass moment.
00:23There are referendums.
00:27Times where you just say that's it.
00:30And what is it, Scott?
00:32Well, I've reached my boiling point with certain Tigers on the roster at this point.
00:37The team's not good, and I recognize that maybe I'm doing this out of haste, but I feel we're past
00:43this 40-game mark.
00:44We've seen enough of something.
00:45I'll be the judge of that, whether or not you're doing it out of haste.
00:49Okay.
00:50Zach Short has no business playing in the major leagues for the Detroit Tigers.
00:55I appreciate that he's supposedly a great defensively, but he can't hit and doesn't belong in the majors and should
01:03not be taking up a roster spot right now.
01:06He's got to go.
01:09At this point, I'm looking to change something because the team is struggling offensively.
01:14We know what the problems are with the pitching staff, but that can't be helped until guys get healthy enough,
01:18which should happen as early as tomorrow when Casey Mize might be pitching for the Tigers tomorrow.
01:22But with the lineup, I'm looking at guys like Wenzel Perez and Jemai Jones.
01:28I've had enough.
01:30Okay.
01:30Jemai Jones is supposed to be a right-handed hitting specialist against lefties.
01:35Ain't getting the job done.
01:38He's hitting barely above 200, and he does not have a hit against a right-handed pitcher when he's only
01:45got eight at-bats, but he's hitless against right-handed pitching.
01:48But he's only hitting like 219 or whatever it is, 213 against lefties.
01:53He's got to go.
01:54Wenzel Perez is a switch hitter.
01:57That's why he's here.
01:58He's got the versatility, right?
01:59He can play a little bit in the outfield, and I'll grant you, I think he's maybe slightly above average
02:03as an outfielder, which I like that.
02:05But if you're not going to be able to hit, then just being above average or slightly above average in
02:12defense is not going to be good enough.
02:14Wenzel Perez is hitting 169 on the year.
02:18He's a switch hitter.
02:19Should be advantageous either way.
02:21Well, he's not, because he's below the Mendoza line, which is 200 for those who don't know what the Mendoza
02:26line is in baseball.
02:27He's hitting under 200 against righties or lefties.
02:30It doesn't matter.
02:31At this point, I've had enough, and I'm ready to move on and bring some other fresh blood back to
02:37this team, and I recognize that these are going to be guys at the bottom of your roster.
02:42These aren't guys that should be starting every day, but these three players that I mentioned, they shouldn't be starting
02:48every day either.
02:49So I want to replace that.
02:51And the first move I'm going to make is I want to bring Jace Young back to this team.
02:56Jace Young played briefly with the Tigers this season.
03:00Jace Young looked okay at the plate.
03:01Like, didn't look awful with the other guys.
03:03Look awful.
03:04The three I mentioned looked absolutely awful.
03:06The combined batting average is like 180 between the three other three guys.
03:10Jace Young is at Toledo.
03:12He's got his average up to 270.
03:14More importantly, his OPS is at 860.
03:16Just hit his fifth home run last night.
03:18I want Jace Young back on this team because he can play a number of spots in the infield.
03:23I also want to bring out one of two outfielders they have from Toledo.
03:29Corey Jolks, who is, I think he's 30 years old.
03:31He's kind of been around the league.
03:33Okay.
03:34Been around the league for a while.
03:36But he's got some pop in the bat.
03:37But his on-base percentage is 385.
03:40His OPS is 857.
03:42And he's got six home runs this year, which is tied for the lead with Toledo,
03:46along with the other guy I want to perhaps give a shot to.
03:49And that's Ben Malgary, another outfielder, who is, I believe, 26,
03:54whose on-base percentage is 391 and 888 OPS and also has the six home runs.
04:00Either, both of them, I don't care.
04:02We need new blood in this lineup.
04:04At the very least, I can say goodbye to Zach Short because Zach McKinstry is back and healthy,
04:10so there's no excuse.
04:11I've got the backup to Kevin McGonigal at shortstop if I need him, which is Zach McKinstry.
04:16Let's bring Jace Young back today and have a conversation about bringing one or two more players up
04:23at the expense of Wenzel Perez and Jemai Jones.
04:27I was a big Wenzel Perez fan, and I hope that there's something there.
04:31But at this point, he's not hitting at the major league level.
04:35They've got to send him back down, give him his chance there.
04:37I don't care if they don't have options.
04:39If that means that you lose him, then you lose him.
04:41Because he's not the difference maker on this roster.
04:44He's the last guy on the roster, or the second-to-last guy on the roster.
04:48So as far as...
04:49Am I overreacting?
04:50Well, I mean, what's interesting is you are shuffling chairs here a little bit amongst placeholders, right?
04:57I mean, the shortstop and outfield spots get the boost when Javi Baez comes back eventually.
05:03The outfield spot, corner outfield spot gets a boost when Kerry Carpenter comes back eventually.
05:09Or Parker Meadows, another one.
05:10Who also isn't hitting right now.
05:11Parker Meadows and Baez can help out in center.
05:13Like, there is plenty of...
05:17You are taking replacement players and replacing them with more replacement guys.
05:23Yeah.
05:23And I don't know that any of this dramatically moves the needle.
05:28There is a large probability that Zach Short is not about to turn himself into a great player.
05:39How about good?
05:41I'm working to that, okay?
05:43There is a chance that Jace Young could be good at some point.
05:49Maybe not.
05:50But Short's defined.
05:53Young is not.
05:55So there's...
05:57I like that, okay?
06:01The other two more veterans.
06:05But, you know, what are you losing?
06:09Like, there's a versatility with Perez that I don't know that it's Mal Geary or Jelks brings to the table.
06:18But, you know, I mean, there's...
06:22I don't think you're going to get much protest from anyone.
06:26It's too bad, though, because Perez has had some good moments for Detroit.
06:29Well, he's had moments, but...
06:30Too bad.
06:31I'm saying it's too bad like it already happened.
06:33I think a lot of players have had moments, but it's more than a moment that you have to look
06:39at.
06:39Yeah.
06:39And that's what I'm saying here.
06:41And, look, I don't know if Corey Jelks is going to be the guy.
06:45They got him.
06:46They hired him.
06:47And we saw in spring training that he had some pop.
06:49And he's brought that pop into the regular season with Toledo here.
06:53Jace Young, though, I think that's the easy one for me to say, let's bring him back up.
06:57All right?
06:58He's got...
06:59He was here a couple years ago and clearly struggled.
07:02Hasn't hit his first home run in the major leagues yet.
07:04Got sent back down.
07:06Brought up this year with, you know, brought up and then sent down and brought back up again.
07:10And kind of like a yo-yo a little bit.
07:12But he looks much more prepared at the plate.
07:15And right now, he's at a career high in the minors in terms of what his batting average is.
07:20He's hitting .270, which isn't outstanding, but it's not bad.
07:23Actually, in today's baseball, hitting .270, you'll take it.
07:27With the .860 OPS, you'll really take it.
07:30His on-base percentage is .401.
07:32And he's hitting for power.
07:34And I think it's an opportunity to give a guy an opportunity because he deserves it.
07:40It's not just you're doing it.
07:41You're doing it because he deserves it.
07:43Well, Workman.
07:44Gage Workman worked himself into an opportunity.
07:47And look how that's paying off.
07:48If he can stop throwing the ball away, the Gage Workman.
07:49Yeah, I mean, look, just because Workman did it doesn't mean that others will.
07:52But, you know, Workman's an example of how things, why it's okay to kick the tires and give a player
07:59a shot.
08:00Workman's more like Jace Young in terms of he's been on the prospect list.
08:05And so there was some respect for him as having a chance to be a quality major leaguer.
08:11Now, in a few weeks, the conversation, like if they still haven't done anything, and you mentioned that all these
08:17guys have a chance to come back, whether it's Javi Baez, Kerry Carpenter, they can come back maybe sooner.
08:23I don't know what Baez's timetable is, but Carpenter's may not be all that serious.
08:28And if that's great, then okay, here we go.
08:30But a guy who might still be hanging around here in a few weeks, if the opportunity presents itself, is
08:35Max Anderson, who had been hurt for much of this season, but started his rehab stint a few weeks ago,
08:42did really well in his rehab stint.
08:44Now he's back with Toledo at the AAA level, and it's only eight games, but he's killing it in eight
08:50games with eight RBIs, a couple of home runs.
08:52His OPS is over 1,000.
08:53He's hitting over 400.
08:55And that's a guy who's got a little bit more versatility because he can play the infield.
08:59So we'll see.
09:00I don't know.
09:00I think changes need to happen, and one in particular.
09:04Well, as we sit here and try to kill time and not sink in a central division that isn't particularly
09:12good, they are currently sinking.
09:16And I don't know what the number is when they get to the trade deadline, if they have a healthy
09:20roster that makes them believe that they can dig out of a hole.
09:24Is that number six games back?
09:28And if they're six and a half games back, they're willing to sell?
09:30Is that number?
09:31Because there is a line, right?
09:32There's a line that if they cross it, they may be sellers, and they could be sellers with an elite
09:40piece to sell and other good pieces to sell when you start getting into the always-coveted bullpen arms.
09:46And, Scott, I don't know what that line is.
09:50The way this is trending, they might cross it.
09:54Like when we talked about a couple weeks ago, all right, this season could go one of three ways.
09:58One of them was be sellers at the trade deadline.
10:00They are plummeting right now.
10:02They are, and they need to stay at fault right now.
10:03And they're only four and a half back, but it's not going in the right direction.
10:07What is going to go in the right direction is the pitching staff.
10:11Like I mentioned earlier, the Casey Mize might be pitching tomorrow, might be your starter tomorrow.
10:14They don't think he needs to go and have a rehab start, that he'd be ready to go.
10:20Bo Briskey, it seems like he could be ready to go real soon, too, like within a week or so,
10:25as he's pitching, doing his rehab stints, coming out of the bullpen and doing a fine job.
10:29Troy Melton looks great, but I don't think he can come back until May 24th.
10:34And then Justin Verlander is on schedule.
10:37They put him on the 60-day DL, but it's not because of any setbacks.
10:41It was just roster manipulation.
10:42And he'll be back at the end of the month.
10:45So they are going to get some help there, both in the rotation and in the bullpen, which is, it's
10:53encouraging.
10:54But the lineup right now, they just haven't been putting forth enough runs.
10:59So let's add something to it while you can, because, I mean, what's the worst that's going to happen if
11:05you take Zach Short off the roster?
11:08You've already waved them before, and nobody picked them up.
11:12So what are we doing?
11:142-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
11:16All right, coming up, the big old tub of pretzels.
11:18Question of the day.
11:19That is straight ahead.
11:20In the noon hour, we'll get back to the Lions a little bit in the schedule.
11:24If you missed the beginning of the show, the schedule's something.
11:28We'll get to that today at 12.02 here on Carson Anderson on 97.1.
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