Blogcritics Comments on Panic Time in Detroit

Comment by RJ Elliott on Panic Time in Detroit

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:52:13 EDT

Brandon Inge is still the messiah.

Comment by Tony on Panic Time in Detroit

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:36:17 EDT

You can definately make that assertion about Jones, and there are definately are a good deal of closers who are far worse then him, that goes without saying. Jones just isnt championship caliber and neither is the rest of their pen. My point was never that the Tigers are a horrible team. Like I said in the piece, the Yanks of the 1980's won more games than any other franchise in that decade. They just didn't have the pieces in their rotation or their bullpen to bring it home. The team is good, they just aren't championship caliber as they were projected to be. They will crush some teams like they did last night but in the end I don't predict that to be enough.

Comment by Matthew T. Sussman on Panic Time in Detroit

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:52:56 EDT

"You need more then just a fastball once the league gets a book on you, but we'll have to wait and see if he can develope a second pitch to offset his speed." You don't necessarily need to change speeds, but a breaking pitch can be just as effective. I looked at Aquilino's pitching splits on ESPN, and it looks like his out pitch is actually a slider. Fastball and slider -- those were Zumaya's pitches too. (Now, Lopez is 32, so he's not exactly a budding phenom.) "As for Jonsey, yeah he's kept it together thus far but seriously, does any Tiger fan really feel good about that guy closing ball game?" Even though one needs more than the prescribed dosage of Maalox while watching him ... at least I do. At face value, when you hear about a closer who allows a lot of baserunners and is probably last among closers in strikeouts, you'd think he's horrible. But he blew six games last year. 13 other closers blew more than that, some with fewer saves. It's at this point that you basically have to throw out the stats and numbers and just concede that Todd Jones is an old, old man with a slow, slow fastball, and somehow does the job good enough. Of course the other edge to that sword is that he'll have the job until he blows three straight games with a 7-run lead. But this won't be until he's 53 years old. "Forgive my skepticism on his long term prospects but the Tigers have definately had their share of Chris Sheltons and Ryan Rayburns, as have all teams." Understood, but Granderson will be back soon, and Thomas did his job as a replacement player. Furthermore ... Raburn was certainly a shot of Red Bull for them in the second half last year but ... is he really a Shelton-y flameout already? He's still with the team. Shelton never even made it back to the majors a few months after The April To Remember.

Comment by Tony on Panic Time in Detroit

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:43:05 EDT

Totally valid points. In the case of Lopez he has definately put up good numbers. From a pure talent evaluation standpoint (however qualified I am to make one of those) he reminds me of Matt Anderson or, at best, Kyle Farnsworthless. You need more then just a fastball once the league gets a book on you, but we'll have to wait and see if he can develope a second pitch to offset his speed. As for Jonsey, yeah he's kept it together thus far but seriously, does any Tiger fan really feel good about that guy closing ball game? He gave up 64 hits in 61.3 innings last year and in 06 he gave up 70 in 64. That's a little much. Clete is awesome but what does his success say about the Tigers' offense? With a guy nearly replicating Granderson-like stats they still can't generate any offensive fluency. Maybe when Curtis comes back they can find a place for Clete in left, giving them something to work with at the top, but that's up to Leyland. Forgive my skepticism on his long term prospects but the Tigers have definately had their share of Chris Sheltons and Ryan Rayburns, as have all teams. If Clete can keep it up they really could have something nice with the two of them.

Comment by Matthew T. Sussman on Panic Time in Detroit

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:07:58 EDT

Well, it's a two-game winning streak later, and while I thought any winning streak would be the result of bashing and no bullpen relief, consider: � Aquilino Lopez, horrible? His ERA is 0.73 -- One run allowed in 12 innings. ��Todd Jones gave up his first run tonight in six games, moving his ERA to 1.50. Also, Clete Thomas is filling in nicely for Curtis Granderson. He's hitting over .300 in his absence. They've got holes, but when nothing was working in the first two weeks, it's really hard to gauge exactly what their problem is. Maybe their bullpen will actually be very good and the starting pitching will be horrible.