2022 Season | Series #15 | Guardians @ Tigers | May 26-29

[CATS44]

We lost last night because of dumb decisions that gave them two runs and took away one from us.

Naylor leaving the bag gave them a single and an extra out that led to two runs. Mailes decision to leave second on a come backer cost us a run.

Pilkington would have given up one run in five IP. I'd take that every time.

Pitching to Miggy in that situation was more than head scratching.

*****

The hate on Amed for last night is misplaced again.

He made a fine play in the hole, and Naylor should have caught it. Think back to Joses play that saved the comeback game. Naylor caught that one and Jose was a hero.

Taking the extra base is what this team does. Just because it didn't work does not make it a bad decision. It was the right decision that didnt end up well.

*******

Morgan is at least as valuable in his role than if he was starting.

*******

Gonzalez looked good at the plate and decent in the outfield. His decision to take second was the same decision that Amed made.

Both hits were on fastballs. He saw 20 pitches....three sliders and one curve. That ratio will change quickly.

*********

It's normal to evaluate a team after 40 games, but because of the lopsided schedule and all the postponed games, I'm gonna wait until we've gone thru the rotation three more times...which will put us at the one third mark and even out the schedule. We will know more then.

Things could look worse by then, or they could look a whole lot better. In any case, we will have a better perspective.

 

[Tondo]

Hitting better? He just swings at everything and hopes to catch enough to get through or bloop in. He's got an awful approach and is a master of getting himself out. I can't watch his ABs anymore, he is what he is and we're better off with Gimenez at SS full time and Miller 2B. Let these guys settle in instead of having to switch positions constantly, for what? To accommodate a 580 OPS bat, who's barely beating Hedgey? And they have his weak ass bat penciled in at #2 again.

Who's better? Anyone who has hope left to get better and will potentially be on the team beyond this season. Almost the entire Columbus lineup qualifies.

 

[Tondo]

No Cats, risking to go to 2B with one out in a tie game late, leaving 1B open so they can pitch around Jose was, is and will always remain a dumb decision. Amed would have been on 3B with 1 out. He was lucky enough one of his myriad of weak ass contact he made blooped in no man's land, going for 2 bases was stupid

 

[sportscoach]

Hitting better? He just swings at everything and hopes to catch enough to get through or bloop in. He's got an awful approach and is a master of getting himself out. I can't watch his ABs anymore, he is what he is and we're better off with Gimenez at SS full time and Miller 2B. Let these guys settle in instead of having to switch positions constantly, for what? To accommodate a 580 OPS bat, who's barely beating Hedgey? And they have his weak ass bat penciled in at #2 again.

Who's better? Anyone who has hope left to get better and will potentially be on the team beyond this season. Almost the entire Columbus lineup qualifies.

Rosario is a notorious slow starter, but he has been one of the better hitters in May. This team in general hasn't been good in May so don't actual target someone who actually has one of the better hitters isn't smart.

Also I'd rather people got out because of being overly aggressive than not aggressive enough. The 1B made a good play and stayed with it while Baez made a very good tag. Manning liked the play by Rosario and thought Rosario was right for his aggression.

 

[Tondo]

640 OPS and 90 wRc+ in May

And he has a 120 wRc+ this season in low leverage PAs, he's been complete trash in medium and high leverage spots, because he's the easiest guy to get out when a pitcher faces a crunch.

Amed Rosario shouldn't be an everyday player and he never ever should hit in the top 6 spots of any lineup. He's just not good, unless you believe empty BA matters, maybe old schoolers like Tito do, and that might be the problem why there are still folks out there that believe he's a "good" hitter. No he's not, because his approach sucks and he produces way more outs than the average ML hitter.

He rode a BABIP fueled 2021 to a 99 wRc+, that's his upside

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

@Wham with the Right Hand

Morgan didn't start because he isn't stretched out to be a starter, at the moment, you have to consider him a reliever... Morgan showed last season he is very good one time through the lineup, but struggles with the second time. He has a nasty fastball-changeup combo, but hasn't shown a great third pitch. Morgan is in his best role right now. If you don't like him being a reliever, then oh well, cause that's how they are using him and that's why Pilk got the start.

As another poster noted, Morgan went three innings on 35 pitches. He could have gone 4 or 5 innings. Did they really expect Pilkington to go 5 or 6?

I would have started Morgan and after 50-60 pitches brought in Pilkington, hopefully to face the bottom of the order.

 

[MadThinker88]

As another poster noted, Morgan went three innings on 35 pitches. He could have gone 4 or 5 innings. Did they really expect Pilkington to go 5 or 6?

I would have started Morgan and after 50-60 pitches brought in Pilkington, hopefully to face the bottom of the order.

You missed the point of my post.
Morgan pitched an inning on Tuesday. He then came back for 35 pitches (which covered 3 innings).

If Tito/ others believed Eli could go longer, they would have left him in the game. Instead they brought in Stephan…

 

[PPark]

IMO Eli Morgan belongs in the pen. His FB and slider play up there. I’d like to see him in higher leverage situations. He’s Doug Jones with better stuff.

 

[sportscoach]

As another poster noted, Morgan went three innings on 35 pitches. He could have gone 4 or 5 innings. Did they really expect Pilkington to go 5 or 6?

I would have started Morgan and after 50-60 pitches brought in Pilkington, hopefully to face the bottom of the order.

Morgan hasn't pitched more than 40 pitches in over a month. He isnt stretched out to be anything more than what he did last night.

Now could they have let him go three innings then brought in Pilk, yeah, but that's not Titos style. Cash in Tampa would have done that...

Morgan this season is a reliever and for better or for worse, he actually may stay a reliever while in Cleveland. We were lacking relievers coming into the season and his numbers last season supported him being a reliever over a starter. He got stuck in the pen out of necessity and his numbers at 2.17 ERA in 17 innings kind of support keeping him in his current role.

 

[Criznit]

Tell me who on the roster is hitting better than Amed right now... I think we need to move on from him as well, but who do we have to replace him?

I think I would replace him with Palacios.

 

[CDAV45]

That 2.08 ERA was due to three scoreless relief appearances where I'm sure Tito brought him in when he had good matchups. In his one previous start he gave up two runs before registering an out.

I'm not down on Pilkington so much as I like Morgan. I think Morgan is a better pitcher at this point than Pilkington and reports are he is stronger and throwing harder than last year. The early returns back this up. Morgan is better and he's right-handed. On paper he was the better choice against this specific team.

In actuality, Morgan retired 9 of the 10 Tigers he faced, hitting the other. Pilkington gave up 7 hits and 4 walks. He retired 10 batters and allowed 11 to reach base.

Yes, Morgan pitched Tuesday. He threw exactly 11 pitches. Prior to that his last appearance was five days before. So he's thrown 11 pitches in the last week.

Right-handed hitters are hitting .268 against Pilkington against .143 for lefties.

The Tigers are hitting .254/.663 against left-handers and .207/.581 against righties. Forget who the pitchers are - I don't get bringing up a lefty from AAA who struggles against right-handed hitters to face Detroit when Morgan had only thrown 11 pitches in the last week.

Also, the Tigers hit lefties much better than righties.

Good matchups? He faced the Giants twice pitching a total of 3 inning and not allowing a run. He then faced the Yankees and allowed 0 earned runs over 2.0 IP. He then pitched 3.1 innings against the Blue Jays and allowed 2 runs. The stat line said he had 3 earned runs last night, but everyone here knows that only 2 of them were earned. Naylor's foul up didn't go down as an error, but we all know it was a mental one.

Pilkington had an off night and he'll need to command his pitches much better for sure, but he's a workhorse and is durable. He is also 24 while Morgan is 26 so I think that in itself makes it a difficult comparison. What I do know is that if we were comparing last season's Eli Morgan to the Konnor Pilkington of now, we would be taking Pilkington every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

[CDAV45]

640 OPS and 90 wRc+ in May

And he has a 120 wRc+ this season in low leverage PAs, he's been complete trash in medium and high leverage spots, because he's the easiest guy to get out when a pitcher faces a crunch.

Amed Rosario shouldn't be an everyday player and he never ever should hit in the top 6 spots of any lineup. He's just not good, unless you believe empty BA matters, maybe old schoolers like Tito do, and that might be the problem why there are still folks out there that believe he's a "good" hitter. No he's not, because his approach sucks and he produces way more outs than the average ML hitter.

He rode a BABIP fueled 2021 to a 99 wRc+, that's his upside

Dammit! I was hoping we could get a good prospect for him and now you're crushing my dreams. Thanks!

I don't hate Amed's aggressiveness on the bases. His ability to run the bases well is the best part of his game. I said it earlier, he's safe at 2B 8 out of 10 times so I didn't mind that. The play in the hole that he didn't make was a good effort, but I think Gimenez makes that play. I know I can't prove that, but I think everyone here probably feels the same.

I'm not sure what Maile's slow ass was thinking. Probably the ball was hit behind him so he should advance. That or he was caught in between and was going to be out regardless.

I don't want to see Gimenez platooned, and if he needs platooned then I want to see him dealt. Skubal's one of the better LHP in the league so giving Andres the night off was probably a good decision. Let's see if Tito continues to sit him against LHSP.

 

[DCTribefan]

We lost last night because of dumb decisions that gave them two runs and took away one from us.

Naylor leaving the bag gave them a single and an extra out that led to two runs. Mailes decision to leave second on a come backer cost us a run.

Pilkington would have given up one run in five IP. I'd take that every time.

Pitching to Miggy in that situation was more than head scratching.

*****

The hate on Amed for last night is misplaced again.

He made a fine play in the hole, and Naylor should have caught it. Think back to Joses play that saved the comeback game. Naylor caught that one and Jose was a hero.

Things could look worse by then, or they could look a whole lot better. In any case, we will have a better perspective.

 

[CDAV45]

I think I would replace him with Palacios.

They don't even need Palacios to replace him with Kwan, Mercado and Clement on the roster. Adding Palacios deepens the OF further and Clement is the utility player so...........

Amed will find a home with another team by the break if not before. The writing is on the wall.

 

[Criznit]

They don't even need Palacios to replace him with Kwan, Mercado and Clement on the roster. Adding Palacios deepens the OF further and Clement is the utility player so...........

Amed will find a home with another team by the break if not before. The writing is on the wall.

Yeah I agree - don't need an actual replacement. Palacios strikes me as having the offensive profile to "replace" Rosario while being better at the plate approach wise. Better in general. Willing to go through the growing pains to find out.