00:00You know, the more we talk about this, the more upset I'm getting.
00:02I can feel my blood pressure raising.
00:04So Riley Green is actually number one in the American League in batting average
00:09and number one in all of baseball in on-base percentage.
00:13He hit fifth last night because a lefty's on the mound.
00:18But wait, Riley's crushing lefties this season.
00:21Like, make it make sense.
00:22This team already has enough injuries.
00:24They're already making it hard enough on themselves.
00:27AJ can't bat Riley Green fifth.
00:30I don't care if it's a lefty, a righty, whatever.
00:34He's got to be near the top of the order.
00:36One, two, or three.
00:38Right.
00:38You want your best bats to maximize their at-bats.
00:42And a great example.
00:43He doesn't come up at the ninth inning last night.
00:50It's, again, I mean, you said it best.
00:52Make it make sense.
00:54I can't.
00:55And here's the thing.
00:56We've covered AJ Hinch's Tigers long enough that I know what he was trying to do.
01:01He had Jemai Jones hitting third against the lefty because Jemai hits lefties.
01:06Well, really not that well this season, to be honest with you.
01:09But he's also put him there because eventually you get the Cary Carpenter pinch hit spot.
01:13But Carp's not even healthy.
01:14And Keith hasn't done squat anyway.
01:17So what are we, we're managing for this, like, super brainiac point that you can get late in the game?
01:26Just give me as many Riley Green at-bats as possible.
01:28Yeah, I said to you in the break, Jim, I don't think there's another major league manager that would have
01:32batted Riley Green fifth in their lineup last night.
01:35I don't.
01:37John, you highlighted, was it five left on base in the eighth and ninth inning?
01:40Yeah.
01:42And it's at a time, too, where, okay, you want your best bats up, you want your clutch hitters up.
01:46And Kevin McGonnell, he hadn't had a hit all day.
01:49He's actually had two strikeouts yesterday, which, you know, kind of, it takes your breath away.
01:53I can't believe he had two strikeouts.
01:55But he gets on base.
01:57So I want you to understand something with the way AJ managed the game.
02:01Five runners left on base in the eighth and the ninth.
02:04Two real chances to score in a one-run game.
02:07Jemai Jones got two at-bats against a righty, and Green got one at-bat.
02:13That's all based on who's hitting three and who's hitting five.
02:16So you can tell me, once the lineup turns over, there are, you know, it's not about who's hitting first.
02:22It is about getting more at-bats, and I think you saw it play last night.
02:25The world where Jemai Jones hits three last night is McGonagall leads off, and then Green hits second.
02:31And you put a right-handed bat in the three spot.
02:33Against the lefty to get an extra base hit, drive home one of those guys maybe they're on,
02:38and then Dangler comes up, clean up, and maybe bops a homer.
02:42Sure.
02:42And all of a sudden, you stack two, three, maybe four runs.
02:45Yeah.
02:46No, it's infuriating when you really put it that way.
02:48Let's get to Ryan in Sterling Heights.
02:50Ryan, good morning.
02:52Good morning, everyone.
02:53How are you guys doing today?
02:54Good.
02:55So I am really hoping that this is going to wake up Chris Harris and Scott, or I'm sorry,
03:03Chris Illich and Scott Harris and have them realize that the past couple seasons has been fool's gold
03:12and what life is going to look like next year when Scooble leaves for the money.
03:19I do think Scooble's going to leave.
03:21I think he's rushing back.
03:23I don't want to say rushing back.
03:24He's racing to come back and prove how healthy and strong and good he is, and he'll get paid
03:29this offseason, and it won't be here.
03:31What will the lesson be for Harris, Hinch, Illich?
03:36They spent a lot of money.
03:39Yeah, they did.
03:40Not on the lineup, though.
03:41No, I know.
03:41Yeah, I mean, this was a case of, just like it was last year, let's roll it back with the
03:49same guys in the lineup other than McGonagall,
03:54and you're getting the same results.
03:57And you guys were talking about having Jamiah Jones as a right-handed bat in the three spot.
04:03But hopefully this will wake him up and be like, hey, we need a significant right-handed bat to put
04:08at the top of the order.
04:10Yeah, it's come up a time or two on this show.
04:14Todd, real quick in Lake Oregon.
04:15Good morning.
04:16You're on 97.1.
04:17Hey, good morning, guys.
04:19The lineup speaks for itself.
04:21There's no doubt about that.
04:22But when you guys are listening, people, and, you know, I realize he's a sacred cow and no one's going
04:28to come hard on him.
04:29But the Justin Verlander tour has been a flop.
04:33I mean, let's be honest.
04:34And no one's going to say that he's not a competitor.
04:36No one's going to say that he's not a Hall of Famer.
04:39But, you know, I got to hear about the last 10 games, what he did last year with the Giants,
04:44and he turned that into about $15 million.
04:47But you know what?
04:48He got a bad hip.
04:49Well, half the people at the Senior Living Center that my grandma lives at got a bad hip, too.
04:55I mean, again, and I realize in this town, once you become one of the elected or the made man,
05:00no one's coming after you.
05:02But let's be honest.
05:03I don't know if it was a publicity stunt.
05:06I don't know what it was.
05:07But Justin Verlander looks really good pointing out in the dugout, like he's telling somebody something.
05:14How about you go out there and gut out a couple games?
05:19I mean, my read on it is that they were the ones that shut him down.
05:23Like, he had said he wanted to pitch on that Easter Sunday and could have, but they, long season, wanted
05:28to play it safe.
05:29I guess the reason I'm not killing anybody over the Verlander thing is he wasn't brought in to save the
05:34season.
05:34No, he was brought in as a fourth or fifth arm.
05:37And it hasn't been that, but we're really going to, you know.
05:40So, they brought him in in response to Reese Olsen out for the year.
05:45Let's get to Heather with the news.
05:46Heather, what's going on?
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