There has to be some way to turn this Detroit Tigers team around. The players on this team aren’t bad guys. They are actually all very good in their respective roles, with a few exceptions. So, why does Jim Leyland keep making the same mistakes over and over in an attempt to improve the team? I know I may be repeating some of the things I’ve said before, in other articles on the Tigers, but I can’t help that I’m right when it comes to who sucks on the Tigers team.
1. Letting Nate Robertson start - Nate would be best these days as a relief pitcher, if any pitching were allowed for him. He might be better served in another organization or back in the minors. Jim is nostalgic from 2006, but Nate hasn’t done sh!t for the team since then. He has one of the worst pitching records in the league let alone on the team.
2. Letting Edgar Renteria play in every game - Renteria is either on or off. When he’s on, he’s fly. When he’s off, he’s terrible both on the field and batting. He isn’t that good of a short stop and boggles the ball more than he catches it. He needs to switch things up with Santiago or even Guillen, who wasn’t that bad in the position.
3. Giving Pudge too many vacations - I know Leyland likes giving Pudge Rodriguez breaks because he’s “old” by baseball standards, but Brandon Inge isn’t as skilled as Pudge is (as a catcher) and Leyland often puts Brandon in when Nate is pitching. At least Pudge could try and help Nate out (if that’s possible), but Brandon just has to go with the flow and hope Nate doesn’t suck too badly. Brandon is a much better third baseman.
4. Taking Out Semi-Decent Pitchers too Soon - With the semi-decent pitchers, it seems the minute they make one mistake they’re taken out. Often, this is followed up by Zach Miner or a pitcher who has forgotten the fundamentals of pitching a baseball and the damage is far worse had the original pitcher just been left in to finish the inning.
5. Putting in Pitchers that Suck - Seriously. Zach Miner almost always does damage far worse than the damage that would have been done had the initial pitcher been left in to finish pitching (save for Nate). Leyland needs to build up one heck of an arsenal of pitchers. He needs to trade Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson and Zach Miner for sure. Our bullpen sucks, and maybe if we had better pitching our offense would start doing their jobs better.
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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
Let’s dump Leyland as soon as possible. This guy is now a coaching disaster.
If he can find a way to create dissention in the clubhouse with his musical player positioning and abysmal pitching selections he will.
He was good for two years but now he is just cashing in on past years of fame.
To be honest though Dombrowski did him no favors in the off season trading clubhouse morale for washed up superstars like Cabrerra.
A broke down coach with aging and ineffective players will not get us anywhere good.