http://www.blessyouboys.com/2014/9/20/6542217/bless-you-boys-podcast-129-detroit-tigers-rod-allen
Bless You Boys Tigers Blog Podcast 129: Rod Allen.
Topics:
Rod Allen interview: Rod gives us a look into his life in baseball, the experience of playing for Sparky Anderson and the 1984 team, tells of the full back story into his on-field 'fight' while playing for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan, his thoughts on the three-man FSD booth experiment, the use of advanced metrics versus what your eyes tell you and his how he sees the final week of Detroit's season.
Wasted opportunity: After sweeping the Indians, the Tigers failed to extend their division lead, dropping 2-of-3 to the Twins while the Royals were taking 2-of-3 from the White Sox. The last place Twins are winning the season series 8-7. If the Tigers end up in the wild card game (or worse), their struggles against the bottom-feeding Twins will be a big reason why.
Rotation set for Royals: After much hemming and hawing, the Tigers finally decided on a weekend rotation. They will skip Kyle Lobstein, rolling with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello. Lobstein will start Monday against the White Sox, David Price getting an extra day off before his next start on Tuesday.
Joe Nathan: After blowing Tuesday's game, fans and media once again loudly called for Brad Ausmus to replace Nathan as his closer with Joakim Soria, who has been used sparingly, let alone in high leverage situations, since his return from injury.
David Price: Despite his solid peripheral stats, the former Cy Young has been a disappointment since joining the Tigers. He's 3-4 with a 4.09 ERA and has had some utter WTF innings, such as his eight run third inning against the Yankees, a four run first versus the Giants and a three run opening frame in Wednesday's loss to the Twins.
Painful losses: Tuesday's game featured what appeared to be a game-winning 3-run home run from JD Martinez, before Joe Nathan and Ezequiel Carrera imploded. Wednesday was an all-around disappointment, David Price coming up small in a big game.
Brad Ausmus: Continues to catch a great deal of heat for his in-game strategy. He's pulling the infield in too early in games, same for bunting, refuses to use the rookies as pinch-hitters in obvious situations, the odd handling of pitchers (pulling a very effective Rick Porcello after 103 pitches Tuesday, letting Soria rot in the bullpen), pulling his best bats in very close games for defensive purposes (if Tuesday's game had ended up tied after nine innings, the Tigers would have been without J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera), and believing Ezequiel Carrera is actually a defensive upgrade.
Anibal Sanchez: Sanchez is throwing off a mound, on track to pitch a simulated game next week, and may return before the end of the regular season. But he won't be stretched out enough to rejoin the starting rotation and appears headed to the bullpen. How would you like to see the Tigers use Sanchez out of the pen?
Middle of the order: If the Tigers don't win the division, it won't be the fault of the 3-4-5 hitters.
Miguel Cabrera has been unreal in September, hitting .469/.507/.844, 1.351 OPS. 6 HR, 12 RBI.
J.D. Martinez has been almost as good, hitting .373/.449/.729, 1.178 OPS, 6 HR, AL leading 17 RBI.
As has Victor Martinez, hitting .383/.456/.667, 1.123 OPS, 4 HR, 11 RBI.
Royals series: Do the Tigers need to just avoid a sweep? Is taking at least 2-of-3 a must?
All that, plus tangents galore!
Upcoming guests:
September 26: Dan Dickerson, play-by-play man for the Detroit Tigers radio network.
