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Re: Detroit Tigers, Volume 5: The Hank Greenberg edition
Oh, boy. Where to start....
We'll start with last night. Verlander's velocity is down, and it looks like his control is a hair off. I suspect that the effects of all the innings thrown the last 3 years or so are revealing themselves right about now. Now, whether it's only for a few starts, or a season-long thing, or something more, I'm not even going to pretend that I have any idea.
Regarding today:
Every so often, Porcello gets into the middle innings (4th-6th) after cruising early on, and boom, 5-6 runs come in. Today that was the ballgame.
Valverde appears to be shot, both physically and mentally. The velocity is down, and he's got one pitch. It's not too hard to figure out what happens next.
As for the rest of the bullpen, outside of Smyly, Benoit, and (for the moment, subject to change), Putkonen, every time Leyland calls down there, he might as well be ordering Chinese take-out. The bullpen is an unmitigated tire fire. Jim Price mentioned this afternoon that both Villareal and Albuquerque are nearly matching their major league numbers when it comes to strikeouts and walks. Things are not exactly getting better for either one of them.
Chris Davis: I wonder the same thing, but as an aside, the one that really makes me scratch my head is Jason Grilli. After a career of being a long reliever/mop up guy, all of a sudden, at 38, this cat comes out throwing mid-to-high 90's and is pitching like Mariano Rivera?? Sorry, I'm not buying it. That one doesn't pass the smell test.
Oh, boy. Where to start....
We'll start with last night. Verlander's velocity is down, and it looks like his control is a hair off. I suspect that the effects of all the innings thrown the last 3 years or so are revealing themselves right about now. Now, whether it's only for a few starts, or a season-long thing, or something more, I'm not even going to pretend that I have any idea.
Regarding today:
Every so often, Porcello gets into the middle innings (4th-6th) after cruising early on, and boom, 5-6 runs come in. Today that was the ballgame.
Valverde appears to be shot, both physically and mentally. The velocity is down, and he's got one pitch. It's not too hard to figure out what happens next.
As for the rest of the bullpen, outside of Smyly, Benoit, and (for the moment, subject to change), Putkonen, every time Leyland calls down there, he might as well be ordering Chinese take-out. The bullpen is an unmitigated tire fire. Jim Price mentioned this afternoon that both Villareal and Albuquerque are nearly matching their major league numbers when it comes to strikeouts and walks. Things are not exactly getting better for either one of them.
Chris Davis: I wonder the same thing, but as an aside, the one that really makes me scratch my head is Jason Grilli. After a career of being a long reliever/mop up guy, all of a sudden, at 38, this cat comes out throwing mid-to-high 90's and is pitching like Mariano Rivera?? Sorry, I'm not buying it. That one doesn't pass the smell test.
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