Supposedly Justin Verlander is a top starter. He's not. Not anymore. He's above average on a good day. Makes me think of a Ian Kennedy type.

Posted by sjpoker on 5/26/2016 3:37:00 PM (view original):
Supposedly Justin Verlander is a top starter. He's not. Not anymore. He's above average on a good day. Makes me think of a Ian Kennedy type.

Yeah, I expect a Quality Start every time he goes out to the mound. I just don't expect, but hope for 7 IP, 10 K and maybe an ER.

Posted by d_rock97 on 5/26/2016 4:19:00 PM (view original):

Posted by sjpoker on 5/26/2016 3:37:00 PM (view original):
Supposedly Justin Verlander is a top starter. He's not. Not anymore. He's above average on a good day. Makes me think of a Ian Kennedy type.

Yeah, I expect a Quality Start every time he goes out to the mound. I just don't expect, but hope for 7 IP, 10 K and maybe an ER.

But he has done it a couple times so far. Most recently against ur Phillies ;)

Posted by d_rock97 on 5/26/2016 4:19:00 PM (view original):

Posted by sjpoker on 5/26/2016 3:37:00 PM (view original):
Supposedly Justin Verlander is a top starter. He's not. Not anymore. He's above average on a good day. Makes me think of a Ian Kennedy type.

Yeah, I expect a Quality Start every time he goes out to the mound. I just don't expect, but hope for 7 IP, 10 K and maybe an ER.

Wait, what?

7 IP, 1 ER, & 10K is an ace. Be happy with 6/3/6.

Posted by bad_luck on 5/26/2016 4:28:00 PM (view original):

Posted by d_rock97 on 5/26/2016 4:19:00 PM (view original):

Posted by sjpoker on 5/26/2016 3:37:00 PM (view original):
Supposedly Justin Verlander is a top starter. He's not. Not anymore. He's above average on a good day. Makes me think of a Ian Kennedy type.

Yeah, I expect a Quality Start every time he goes out to the mound. I just don't expect, but hope for 7 IP, 10 K and maybe an ER.

Wait, what?

7 IP, 1 ER, & 10K is an ace. Be happy with 6/3/6.

I don't understand.
7/1/10 is ace numbers. That's what Sale, Kershaw, Price, Fernandez, Scherzer can all do pretty easily. Verlander has done that 2-3 times so far. I still think Verlander is good. But I expect 6/3/6 or better every time he goes out there. I hope he goes Vintage Verlander and goes 7/1/10, which he has done a couple times.
You might already know this, I just didn't understand

Oh I get it. You're hoping for the best. I understand.

The Tigers are sitting at 38-37, sitting 7 games back from the Tigers. Lets look at some of the comments made in the thread and compare them to reality so far...

Dahs - " I realize that the Indians are a sexy sabermetric pick this year, and that they win the division in the Fangraphs projections. But I don't see it. They're rotation is really, really good, no doubt about it.... I don't see how they can really improve all that much without scoring more runs, and I don't see how this lineup can score all that many more runs."

I guess Dahs was right so far. The Indians needed to score more runs. And they have. Close to .75 more runs a game so far.

" I expect Detroit to win more than 84-85 games. "

Not looking good there.

skunk206

"I'm rooting for a 5-way tie at 86-76"

Not happening.

sjpoker

"Got better: Chicago, Minnesota, and the Indians.
Maintained the status quo - Tigers and KC.
Can get better if in contention: All but Detroit

The Tigers have nothing to trade, so what they go into ST with is basically what they will have the rest of the year. So if the competition is better, then Detroit needs an uptick in production. They are an aging roster with injury issues. The guys they brought on are basically replacing production that was there last year.

Hence, I don't see Detroit improving. Therefore they don't make the playoffs. JMO."

Not quite correct so far, but not horrible. Cleveland HAS gotten better. Chicago is scoring more, and is technically 'better' recordwise, but they're still a .500 team. Minnesota sucks. Detroit will - not - make the playoffs.

d_rock

"So with what looks like the weakest lineup in the AL, they (Cleveland) look like last year's Mets depending on starting pitching and an underrated bullpen to carry them to the postseason but unlike the Mets, they won't give up prospects to get them over the hump because they can't afford to lose prospects"

Meh, Cleveland is 13 games over .500 and has significantly improved their scoring.

"Frazier can hit homeruns but he doesnt get on base much and is an average fielding 3rd baseman."

All true.

Can we send the Indians to the NL Central? They're killing us.

Man Verlander got killed in that inning.

Those ******* Indians. Saw a stat today, I was live streaming so I couldn't go back and and screenshot it, caught a glimpse of it though, Tigers are top 5 in every statistical category against teams not named the Indians. Bottom 5 in every category against the Indians.

0-10 against the Indians
44-29 against everyone else.

There are only 5 teams in the AL with multiple .500 sluggers. The Tigers have 5.

Interestingly, though, nobody has exactly 2. 6 teams have 1 .500 slugger, the Orioles have 4, and the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mariners each have 3. Kind of an odd distribution.

Looks like I was wrong about the Indians not trading away prospects.

And if (and I believe they can) the Tigers can win half of Norris' and Pelfrey's starts, then they're easily making the playoffs. Tigers win over 2/3 of their games that JV,JZimm, and Fulmer start. Boyd is probably gonna get sent down.

Kinda insane to see that Tigers starters led all the majors in ERA in July and that was without JZimm. And Pelfrey's fastball is up 3-4 MPH since May.

Need some more throwaway pitchers from the Mets organization, lol.

I feel like Baltimore will drop out of the race with their terrible starting pitching. They have a great offense and even better bullpen, but I feel Boston takes the division, and Toronto and Detroit take the WC's.

d_rock I can definitely say I was off base with the Tigers to this point. They've played well.

Posted by sjpoker on 8/2/2016 8:14:00 PM (view original):
d_rock I can definitely say I was off base with the Tigers to this point. They've played well.

Soz, just felt like being a dick and bragging.

anyone see that JDingerz GW homer? Was at that game. Coolest moment of my life.
My Grandma recorded the game and, man, what a great call.
MLB did a disservice to it cutting the call into a shorter video. What a shame.

Nah, I mean Verlander was pitcher of the month. the last 14-15 starts he's been one of the best pitchers in the game. Truly turned things around. I didn't think he could. The Tigers have won 8 straight. Castellanos has played very well (although he still strikes out way too much). The older players have been All-Star quality. All these are things I figured wouldn't happen.

There's still some challenges. The back end of their rotation has issues. The bullpen isn't a real strength. But they are definitely in it.