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2024 Season | Series #12 | Tigers @ Guardians | May 6-8, 2024

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Wham with the Right Hand said:
The Guardians had three runners thrown out on the bases in the first four innings. That can't happen in a close, low scoring game. Brennan just got caught stealing on a great throw, but Josh and Freeman made boneheaded decisions that got them thrown out.
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yea this Chris Sabo "run until someone tags you" philosophy, needs corrected
 
Alabuckeye said:
Say Manzardo hits the cover off…for more than a couple games . Kwan returns….heres what i think we know:
1) kwan gets LF back
2) Manzardo stays up and stays playing at the same rate.

I think the adjustment comes from a mix of Laureano or Freeman or Florial. Brennan has provided a measure of safety for himself compared to the others.
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As long as we never again:
1. Play Arias in the outfield; and
2. Use Gaddis in the set-up role.
 
Game 2 preview:

It's the young lefty against the aging righty as Logan Allen goes against Kenta Maeda. Allen is coming off a solid start against the Astros as he allowed 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings. But in his previous four starts he gave up 16 runs in 19 innings so I don't know if that last start was an outlier or if he figured something out.

Allen has a 5.04 ERA in seven starts, a 7.20 ERA at home, and opponents are hitting .274/.838 off him. He's really struggling with no runners on base as hitters have a .404 OBP in that situation. But he's great at getting out of jams with a .154 BAA with RISP and two out.

Allen is easy to hit once you've seen his pitches. The first three times through the order batters are hitting .190, .281, and .419 off him. Two times through the batting order and get him out of there.

Mark Canha is hitting .364/1.273 against lefties. Wenceel Perez, a part-time player, is hitting .357/1.043. And Matt Vierling is hitting .333/.748. Anthony Ibanez is 7-for-17 against lefties. So Allen will have some tough customers to face.

Kenta Maeda, age 36 and in his 8th season after coming over from Japan, is 66-50 with a 3.95 ERA in his career. This year he has a 5.02 ERA in six starts, so that much is identical to Allen. But in his last two starts Maeda has been brilliant with just one earned run allowed in 11 innings after getting drilled in his first four starts. He is averaging just under 5 innings per start.

Right-handed hitters are batting .263/.926 against Maeda; lefties are at .241/.714.

Jose has homered in back-to-back games and Josh Naylor has four hits and two walks in his last three games so maybe the two of them are coming out of their slumps. If so it would be a huge lift for the Guardians.
 
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Wham with the Right Hand said:
Game 2 preview:

It's the young lefty against the aging righty as Logan Allen goes against Kenta Maeda. Allen is coming off a solid start against the Astros as he allowed 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings. But in his previous four starts he gave up 16 runs in 19 innings so I don't know if that last start was an outlier or if he figured something out.

Allen has a 5.04 ERA in seven starts, a 7.20 ERA at home, and opponents are hitting .274/.838 off him. He's really struggling with no runners on base as hitters have a .404 OBP in that situation. But he's great at getting out of jams with a .154 BAA with RISP and two out.

Allen is easy to hit once you've seen his pitches. The first three times through the order batters are hitting .190, .281, and .419 off him. Two times through the batting order and get him out of there.

Mark Canha is hitting .364/1.273 against lefties. Wenceel Perez, a part-time player, is hitting .357/1.043. And Matt Vierling is hitting .333/.748. Anthony Ibanez is 7-for-17 against lefties. So Allen will have some tough customers to face.

Kenta Maeda, age 36 and in his 8th season after coming over from Japan, is 66-50 with a 3.95 ERA in his career. This year he has a 5.02 ERA in six starts, so that much is identical to Allen. But in his last two starts Maeda has been brilliant with just one earned run allowed in 11 innings after getting drilled in his first four starts. He is averaging just under 5 innings per start.

Right-handed hitters are batting .263/.926 against Maeda so I know Vogt will stack the order. Lefties are at .241/.714.

Jose has homered in back-to-back games and Josh Naylor has four hits and two walks in his last three games so maybe the two of them are coming out of their slumps. If so it would be a huge lift for the Guardians.
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Which is why taking that 1st game was so important
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
Game 2 preview:

It's the young lefty against the aging righty as Logan Allen goes against Kenta Maeda. Allen is coming off a solid start against the Astros as he allowed 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings. But in his previous four starts he gave up 16 runs in 19 innings so I don't know if that last start was an outlier or if he figured something out.

Allen has a 5.04 ERA in seven starts, a 7.20 ERA at home, and opponents are hitting .274/.838 off him. He's really struggling with no runners on base as hitters have a .404 OBP in that situation. But he's great at getting out of jams with a .154 BAA with RISP and two out.

Allen is easy to hit once you've seen his pitches. The first three times through the order batters are hitting .190, .281, and .419 off him. Two times through the batting order and get him out of there.

Mark Canha is hitting .364/1.273 against lefties. Wenceel Perez, a part-time player, is hitting .357/1.043. And Matt Vierling is hitting .333/.748. Anthony Ibanez is 7-for-17 against lefties. So Allen will have some tough customers to face.

Kenta Maeda, age 36 and in his 8th season after coming over from Japan, is 66-50 with a 3.95 ERA in his career. This year he has a 5.02 ERA in six starts, so that much is identical to Allen. But in his last two starts Maeda has been brilliant with just one earned run allowed in 11 innings after getting drilled in his first four starts. He is averaging just under 5 innings per start.

Right-handed hitters are batting .263/.926 against Maeda so I know Vogt will stack the order. Lefties are at .241/.714.

Jose has homered in back-to-back games and Josh Naylor has four hits and two walks in his last three games so maybe the two of them are coming out of their slumps. If so it would be a huge lift for the Guardians.
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So we will see Fry and possibly Laureano/Hedges/Arias.

Boyzardo gets to sit and watch tomorrow.
 
In re Manzardo:

Whether its a cup of coffee, or an extended look for a rookie, its always good to get the firsts...good and bad out of the way.

The first hit, the first home run, the first play in the field, the first K, the first error, the first non productive game, the first hot streak, the first slump. Everybody has them. You aren't a major leaguer until you do.

As a newbie, all are positives. They are either successes or they are learning experiences.

Its a long way from Idaho, so I hope Vogt plays Manzardo and the kid gets a hit while his family is here to see it.

********

In re Maeda:

Maeda has had reverse splits the last few years, a complete reversal from most of his career.

He qualifies as crafty.

He usually doesn't throw 90 pitches, and he has been homer prone this year.
 
Kiddo said:
Isn't Maeda a righty? Manzardo should be playing.
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He is a righty, but I assume the comment was based on the fact that righties have hit Maeda a lot better than lefties so far this year.

Not sure what it's like for his career.
 
Maeda has been bouncing back and forth between really bad starts where he gives up three home runs (Texas and the White Sox) and good starts where he goes 5-6 innings allowing 0 or 1 runs (three of them). His last two starts have been excellent; 11 innings, 7 hits, no walks, one run, 10 K's.

Yeah, he's as crafty as they come. His fastball averages 90 and he throws it 25% of the time. The splitter and slider make up 70% of his pitches at 84 and 81 mph.
 
From The Athletic:

The best pitcher you’ve never heard of

We linked Tyler Kepner’s story on Tarik Skubal in yesterday’s Pulse Picks, but upon further inspection, I felt Skubal deserved more attention — because, outside of Detroit and fantasy baseball group chats, I don’t know if anyone knows who this guy is.

Yet he’s arguably baseball’s best pitcher right now:

Skubal is in his fifth major-league season but has been largely anonymous until last year, when he produced a 2.80 ERA in 15 starts for an extremely mediocre Tigers team. The 27-year-old has not been bad since debuting in 2020, but ace quality? No.

This year, it’s changed. He’s 4-0 with a 1.90 ERA. According to FanGraphs, he’s in MLB’s top three of xERA, FIP (fielding-independent pitching) and xFIP, scary-looking acronyms for stats that better evaluate a pitcher’s solo performance.

As Tyler pointed out, if you look at his Baseball-Reference page, he is the model of an improving pitcher. His ERAs started in the 5s and have literally decreased by a numeral every year. Will he finish in the 1s this year? Maybe not. But he might still win a Cy Young.

He’s a big reason the Tigers are a game above .500 in a surprisingly competitive AL Central. “He’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” Aaron Judge said over the weekend. Aaron knows, so you should too.

Fortunately he pitched Sunday so we miss him this series.
 
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