FanPost

Thoughts Before Tonight's Game

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

"God watches over drunks and third basemen" - Leo Durocher


The facts reported below could change dramatically sometime after tonight’s first pitch, so read em while they’re relevant.


April isn’t just the month where hope springs eternal. It’s also about small sample sizes and skewed numbers, where refugees from the Korean League can lead the majors in home runs and last year’s American League Champions can rent some room in last place.

This post is about taking these early season stats for 2017 way too seriously. Plausibiity is at minimum settings. It’s mostly about letting the dream rise up and float where it may, starting with the good things.

WARNING! If you are traditional AND superstitious, do not read the following paragraph. Skip to GoodThing #2.

GOOD THING #1: A glance at Tiger stats indicate that Justin Wilson has a no-hitter going through 6 ⅓ innings and 7 appearances this year. Is it just as special if a relief pitcher tosses a hitless 9 innings that accumulates over 9 or more appearances? I vote yes. I love the idea of an incremental no-hitter against multiple teams.

GOOD THING #2: Julio Iglesias is on a pace to break the record for major league two-baggers in one season, which is 67, set by Eric Webb in 1931, when Herbert Hoover was president. The Red Sox were so impressed with Webb’s achievement that they traded him to the Tigers the following year. If Jose breaks the record (he won’t), it would be a record that stood much longer than the single season home run record. But he won’t, since really, 5 doubles is hard to project over a full season, I guess. After all, he’d first have to catch Mitch Moreland, who has 9 doubles.

GOOD THING #3: Micheal Fulmer, Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd have all gotten off to fine starts in 2017. This is a pattern that could actually sustain itself. If it does, 2015 will more and more look like a necessary reset year.

GOOD THING #4:. The Tigers are on pace to win 108 games. Let’s just assume they will and print up the playoff tix.

WEIRD THING #1: My vote for oddest looking stats in the Tiger lineup so far this year is James McCann. Despite a microscopic .143 batting average, James has an OPS north of .700, thanks to 3 early home runs. If this continues, his numbers will look like those of his backup catcher from last year. But I expect / hope that they will be better than that. In fact, 18-20 HRs are not out of the question for McCann.

WEIRD THING #2: Tyler Collins may look like a default major leaguer and quintessential AAAA player to many, but it’s starting to seem a little odd that he continues to produce offensively better with the Tigers than he does with the Mud Hens.

2015 Mud Hens: PA 218, OPS 662 2015 Tigers: PA 207, OPS .732

2016 Mud Hens: PA 281 OPS .597 2015 Tigers: PA 151, OPS .687

2017 Mud Hens NA 2017 2107 Tigers: PA 32, OPS .827

Granted, stripping down offense to OPS is not exactly comprehensive. Pour as much salt as you want on that. Also granted, the numbers don’t really pop no matter where he plays, but the MLB sample does look serviceable for a 26.8 year old utility player who is now in his fourth MLB season.


OMINOUS THING #1: The bull pen, minus the Wilson Brothers, with maybes to Kyle Ryan and Blaine Hardy, and an incomplete for Joe Jimenez. Let’s not panic, but some angst is appropriate.

OMINOUS THING #2: See OMINOUS THING #1

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.