They didn’t finish last
Matt Holliday Jersey , or all that close to it.In the end, however, they had the same record as in 2017, and the franchise still seems a long way from contention.“Not everything is going to go perfect. As you know, some things are going to turn out good, some not,” general manager Al Avila said. “I feel we had a good year for the first year of our rebuild. We played with a lot of players that made their major league debuts. We saw some good performances and we saw some that were not as good.”Detroit went 64-98, the same record the Tigers had last year, when they ended up tied for the worst record in baseball. There were a few teams worse than that this season, which may have contributed to the sense that Detroit was exceeding expectations.The Tigers are hoping some of the prospects in their system turn into players they can build around. In that respect, 2018 has been inconclusive. Detroit hasn’t yet been able to bring a significant number of top prospects to the majors.“This is just the beginning. If you think we are young now wait until next year,” said Ron Gardenhire, who was in his first season managing the Tigers. “We’ll see. That’s the goal is to get all these young kids up here and play them. Triple-A is going to be full of prospects. Guys that are knocking on the door.”PROSPECT WATCHOutfielder Christin Stewart, Detroit’s No. 6 prospect according to mlb.com , made his big league debut this season, playing in 17 games. He hit 25 home runs in the minors this year. The team’s top five prospects on that list are all pitchers
Austin Romine Jersey , and they’re at varying stages. Casey Mize, the top pick in this year’s draft, made five starts in the low levels of the minors. Franklin Perez, who came to the organization in the trade for Justin Verlander in 2017, was limited to seven minor league starts this year by injury problems . Matt Manning, Alex Faedo and Beau Burrows have all pitched at Double-A, and they’ll be prospects to watch in 2019.PAYROLLDetroit shed a lot of salary in 2017, trading Verlander and Justin Upton. Victor Martinez’s big contract comes off the books now, but as a rebuilding team, the Tigers aren’t likely to be big spenders in the short term.“I don’t know what payroll is going to look like. It could very easily come down, it could stay neutral,” Avila said. “I’m trying my best not to make it any higher because that’s not where we want to go. It’s my goal to set up the organization’s foundation moving forward for success.”CABRERA’S HEALTHOne player still with the Tigers who has a huge contract is Miguel Cabrera, whose future production is certainly in doubt at age 35. Cabrera played only 38 games this year before being lost for the season because of left biceps surgery.FULMER’S FUTUREThere are times when Michael Fulmer looks like exactly the type of cost-controlled player the Tigers need — but now the 2016 American League Rookie of the Year is recovering from a knee issue. Fulmer’s 2018 showing wasn’t terribly encouraging: He went 3-12 with a 4.69 ERA.BRIGHT SPOTSReliever Joe Jimenez made the All-Star team, although the 23-year-old right-hander did not have a very good second half. Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos had a fine season with the bat, hitting .298 with 23 home runs.“As far as a multiyear contract with Nick, it’s something where we have to
http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , at this point, figure will he be here when we are ready to contend for the playoffs? That’s the big question,” Avila said. “If you are going to tell me over the next couple of years we’re going to be a team that’s going to be going to the postseason, that would be an easy thing to answer and say we want to try to keep Nick around. But right now, we are trying to assess if he could fit.” NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge saw Jose Urena’s plunking of Ronald Acuna Jr. before the Yankees played a day game Thursday, and he felt Acuna’s pain. The reigning AL home run leader knows that with so many big flies comes a risk that some disgruntled pitcher may try burying a fastball in your ribs.“Oh yeah, it’s happened before,” New York’s star slugger said.Throwing at a batter for hitting home runs? That’s what many think Urena did, including Mets broadcaster and former big league first baseman Keith Hernandez, who defended Urena’s plunking of Atlanta’s breakout rookie. Mostly, though, players and coaches around the game seem to want nothing to do with this murky unwritten rule.The Miami right-hander sparked a benches-clearing fracas in Atlanta when he drilled Acuna in the elbow with the first pitch of a game Wednesday. Acuna had homered leading off three consecutive games and gone deep four times in the first three games of the series against the Marlins.Acuna had a CT scan that revealed his elbow was normal, and X-rays also were negative. He was back in Atlanta’s lineup Thursday night against Colorado.Urena claimed he was just pitching Acuna inside and missed his spot with a “bad pitch.” He was suspended six games and fined an undisclosed amount on Thursday.The Braves — as well as the game’s umpires — believed the plunking was intentional. Braves All-Star Freddie Freeman said it “was just completely classless on Jose Urena’s part,” and manager Brian Snitker was near the front of a line of Atlanta players charging out of the dugout toward the mound.“I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like that in a baseball uniform,” Snitker said.At least one prominent baseball voice thought Urena would be right to intentionally drill Acuna, though. Hernandez
Bernie Williams Jersey , the 1979 NL co-MVP, said during the Mets broadcast Wednesday night that in this case, “you got to hit him.”“They’re killing you,” Hernandez said. “You lost three games. He’s hit three home runs. You got to hit him. I’m sorry, people aren’t going to like that. You know, you got to hit him, knock him down.”Hernandez’s words weren’t well received by the Braves. Reliever Peter Moylan tweeted that Hernandez was a “clown,” and Hall of Famer Chipper Jones tweeted that the comments were “waaay off base!”“So by this way of thinking, Jacob deGrom should get drilled cuz he’s the hottest pitcher on the planet? NO!” Jones wrote.Players and coaches around the majors were asked about intentional plunkings Thursday, and it’s clear that Hernandez’s opinion falls among the minority.Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Urena’s pitch “seemed pretty blatant to me.”“It had a bad look to it,” he said.Rays veteran Kevin Kiermaier thinks plunkings have a time and a place. He recalled being a rookie when Tampa Bay unintentionally hit Yankees star Derek Jeter twice in the same game. Kiermaier was the first batter up for Tampa Bay the next inning.“I knew I was going to get thrown at,” Kiermaier said. “Guy ended up missing. I had no problem with it. He got thrown out, whatever.”But Kiermaier also suspects at least one pitcher has thrown at him intentionally because the speedy center fielder tried to bunt for a hit in the first inning of a game, and that experience infuriated him. Kiermaier, who is expecting a child in November, doesn’t want any part of pitchers throwing at him for just playing the game. He called Urena’s pitch “classless.”“You’re hitting good
C.C. Sabathia Jersey , and they want to hit you to hit you, then I got a problem with that,” Kiermaier said.Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said he would’ve preferred umpires leave Urena in the National League game, rather than eject him.“That would have been a little more punishment, because he’s got to bat,” Gardenhire said, adding that “I would be mad enough if I were the manager, I might start (Urena) tomorrow and lead him off just so they can smoke him and knock him out just because he did something so stupid.”Added Angels manager Mike Scioscia, the longest tenured manager in the majors: “Throwing at somebody with intent should not be part of this game.”Retired seven-time All-Star Michael Young said on Twitter that “you don’t drill people for doing their jobs” and “that’s not old school.” He also said the concept of brushback pitches — throwing a fastball inside to scare a batter off the plate and make him uncomfortable — doesn’t work against major league hitters.“You can’t make a good hitter uncomfortable,” Young said. “He’s been there, done that. He’s laughing in his head because your heaters inside are simply teeing him up with a 2-0 count. Then he’s going to torch you.”