As a subscriber to DirecTV's major-league baseball package, I wonder if I it's too late for a refund? I watched the Tigers last night, and I suspect this is going to be the pattern this season. They looked ready to snap their losing streak, but, in the end, they lost again. That's 11 losses in their last 13, if you're counting. But why bother? They will be well under .500 this year. If they win 80 games, I'll be shocked. They had a players-only meeting on Thursday, then promptly lost again last night.
And against Arizona, they wasted a very good
And against Arizona, they wasted a very good
effort by starter Jeremy Bonderman, plus they booted it around in the field -- again.
Bonderman pitched into the seventh, but he should have been into the eighth. The Tigers gave the D-backs three extra outs, including pop-up miscues by Guillen at third and Cabrera at first. And there was a throwing error by Guillen in the D-backs winning rally.
Defensively, we know they have problems. But these are major-leaguers, and these were not difficult plays by any means.
Another glaring problem is the team's lineup/offense. They can't tack on runs after getting an early lead, and they way it gives up at-bats, well, it's almost high-school in nature. They have one decent inning, then they fire blanks.
Except for perhaps Guillen, Ordonez and Polanco, these guys just throw away at-bats. Granderson, obviously, must adjust and start hitting the ball the other way; pitchers keep working him outside with strikes, then inside with breaking balls. Since his return from a hand injury, he's been very ordinary.
Defensively, the Tigers are stuck. They are what they are. I suspect Guillen and Cabrera will improve, but Renteria is awful at short. On the pop-up Guillen missed, a good shortstop would have called him off. It was a foul pop deep along the third-base foul-line, and that's typically a play for the shortstop, who has the better angle. Renteria, once again, stiffed out.
But on offense, this is not going to change. These guys are big-league hitters who, unfortunately, hit ONLY one way. They don't adjust, they don't make minor tweaks. They hit to their strength -- ONLY -- and you can see this will be a big, big problem.
Now, where's that toll-free number to DirecTV?
Bonderman pitched into the seventh, but he should have been into the eighth. The Tigers gave the D-backs three extra outs, including pop-up miscues by Guillen at third and Cabrera at first. And there was a throwing error by Guillen in the D-backs winning rally.
Defensively, we know they have problems. But these are major-leaguers, and these were not difficult plays by any means.
Another glaring problem is the team's lineup/offense. They can't tack on runs after getting an early lead, and they way it gives up at-bats, well, it's almost high-school in nature. They have one decent inning, then they fire blanks.
Except for perhaps Guillen, Ordonez and Polanco, these guys just throw away at-bats. Granderson, obviously, must adjust and start hitting the ball the other way; pitchers keep working him outside with strikes, then inside with breaking balls. Since his return from a hand injury, he's been very ordinary.
Defensively, the Tigers are stuck. They are what they are. I suspect Guillen and Cabrera will improve, but Renteria is awful at short. On the pop-up Guillen missed, a good shortstop would have called him off. It was a foul pop deep along the third-base foul-line, and that's typically a play for the shortstop, who has the better angle. Renteria, once again, stiffed out.
But on offense, this is not going to change. These guys are big-league hitters who, unfortunately, hit ONLY one way. They don't adjust, they don't make minor tweaks. They hit to their strength -- ONLY -- and you can see this will be a big, big problem.
Now, where's that toll-free number to DirecTV?
1 comment:
You might want to watch another team, like maybe the Twins.
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