the Tigers destroy the Colorado Rockies let's talk about that and much much more all today on lock on Tigers you are locked on Tigers your daily Detroit Tigers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is up everybody welcome back to another edition of lock on Tigers I'm of course your host Scott today is Wednesday September 11th 2024 thank you so much for making lock on Tigers your first listen every single day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast including YouTube part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day today's episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account use code lockon MLB for $20 off of your first purchase welcome in welcome all the Detroit Tigers destroyed the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday evening at Comer park by a score of 11 to zero this was at no point a competitive baseball game and and and I I don't say that lightly right I I don't mean to just say like oh yeah like the final score we crushed them like oh but it was close for the first three Innings and like no literally from like the second Pitch of the game third pitch of the game throughout uh at no point with was this anything other than complete and utter Domination by your Detroit Tigers uh we have so much to talk about on the field clearly uh we also have quite a bit to talk about off the field and this one we got some re sson updates I feel like we give a lot of res souls and updates that aren't really Updates this one seems a little bit more concrete uh we have a big debate that's been going through the fan base that I'm going to weigh in on here and then we will obviously continue talking about this Rocky series and the push for the postseason an 11 to nothing Victory um so as it stands right now I'm recording this pretty much immediately after the game uh the Tigers game that is looks like the twins are going to beat the Angels uh they're they're up four as it stands right now in in my world and uh the Orioles are also beating the right the the white goodness the Red Sox I I got my socks confused there the Orioles are also beating the Red Sox um and so what that will mean then the Padre's don't play till later this evening again all of these games will already be decided by the time you're listening to this so depending on the Mariners outcome there's a chance that Tigers stand alone as the best team to not be in the wild card picture um but if the Mariners win then they will be tied with them and the Red Sox will fall below them um but it doesn't look like they're gaining any ground on Minnesota at least on Tuesday that being said this was still an awesome win this was absolutely fantastic for so many reasons at the end of the day like you can only control what you can control right that that's what my therapist tells me at least right like you can only control your own performance and the Tigers can only really focus on and worry about how they play every day they can't go into every game going oh wow I I I I guess they can hope that the twins lose but there's nothing they can do about it they got to go out there and take care of business and and face the challenge that is in front of them and ultimately they are the better team in this series comfortably they they are comfortably better than the Colorado Rockies who are terrible and they showed it they showed it and that is beautiful because for so long the Tigers were the Rockies right the Tigers were the team that everybody else in the league had this conversation about and it was like all right you're playing the Tigers let let's take care of business you're the better team go on there and get the job done and it's one thing to be the better team on paper it's thing to be the other team be the better team on paper and again look like it so painfully obviously and uh I I you showed it in game one keep showing it the rest of the series I'm actually going to break my own rule here and I am going to say that you should probably sweep this team um I I think the white socks are the only team this year that I've gone into a series or after one game in a series been like all right you should probably walk out of this with three right that was my my rule going into the year was I'm not sure this team is good enough where I should not that they won't sweep anybody they obviously swept the Mariners earlier in the season right like it's not that they won't it's just I'm not going to go into any series demanding or expecting it this I may change my my mindset here a little bit right and look all it takes if they do end up losing to the Rockies one of these games all it takes is the twins losing and you you haven't lost any ground and and really no one's the wiser but like from a again from a pure you can only control what you can control mindset you are so much the better team right now and you're not playing in course you should sweep this baseball team now naturally they they'll lose on Wednesday and this will be hilarious to look back on but if you do sweep them if the Tigers do sweep the Rockies they will be 76 and 71 they're now 74 and 71 going into the weekend 7 6 and 71 and that would be a position where you would you would put yourself in a position to really have some fun here and and genuinely and and truly be in the thick of the Wild Card race now obviously they are in it right now but if if you're 76 and 71 you're five games over 500 and you're probably knocking on the door of the actual third wild card spot and we're not comparing ourselves to other teams that aren't in the playoffs right we're not comparing ourselves to the Red Sox and the Mariners who who aren't playoff teams right now and so I think that that would go a long way so as far as what went right I I mean pretty much everything dog right what 11 to nothing not too much went wrong um this was obviously an offensive explosion we'll start on that side of the ball Parker Meadows with a leadoff home run off of his high school teammate uh which I thought was a pretty cool storyline that the Tigers broadcast in B Sports found out there but um he got on base I think it was four times by the end of this ball game yeah he goes two for three with two walks in a home run his season stats are now like actually not bad which is is so remarkable not only are they not bad I I think their borderline above League average I think that is I think a 744 Ops is above League average this year do you know how unreal that is given where he was at he was hitting like 101 with an Ops in the 400s when he got sent down and he played for like a while that was what like six weeks of sample that was a long sample size that's a lot of of not good abs and he's been so ridiculously good since coming back that he's gonna end the season as an above League average hitter despite over a month of being like the worst hitter in baseball he he he is he is Superman I like I've said it before he is legitimately Superman like what can't he do it's remarkable he continues his hot stretch played great defense in center field as he always does great base running as he always does on top of the walks and the home run in this ball game but uh this was not just the Parker Meadows show again this was an entire team effort 11 runs does not happen just willy-nilly and just because of one player um I mean yeah like literally if you look at the lineup Jace Young and Jake Rogers I think were the only two starters without a hit yeah oh I guess Carri Carpenter as well um but jaay young and Carri Carpenter both Drew walks Jake Rogers was the only person that did not reach base that that's that's one player remarkable offensive performance by this team obviously Riley green really good day at the office two for three with two RBI and a walk Matt beerling two for four with two RB's Colt Keith two for four like Ju Just a a a fantastic perform I know I'm really reiterating and just kind of talking in circles here but like everybody you can point to is like oh yeah like that they had a good day too right like pretty much everybody Trey Sweeney I thought looked good at the pl yet again one for three with a strikeout and a walk good to see him continue to hit the ball well he had a fly out in this game that I thought he got a really good piece of to Carri Carpenter was some good at bats the walk had a sack fly on top of that all around fantastic offensive performance by these Detroit Tigers let's talk about I I I think it's wild to say that the star of the show in this ball game is is the pitching given the fact that they the team scored 11 runs but I think that's probably the case this time around and again that's a testament to how good of an overall team effort it was P Montero th goes a complete game shut out something the Tigers have not had in quite some time we will talk about that and more right after this got to talk to you'all today about our friends over at game time game time is 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lockon MLB for $20 off of your first purchase terms apply apply rather again create an account and redeem code lock down MLB for $20 off download game time today what time is it game time all right everybody welcome back here segment two of lockon tigers appreciate youall for tuning in as always making us who first listen every single day shout out to that every ders that do tune in every day we will of course be back tomorrow recapping game two against the Colorado Rockies talking about anything else surrounding the Tigers organization as well if you make us your first listen make Sully over at lockon MLB your second listen host Paul Sullivan is giving you the best baseball Insight you can possibly imagine as the playoffs Loom and the Tigers are in that playoff picture baby check it out anywhere you get your podcasts including YouTube part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day so talking about what went right in this ball game there there is no denying that it was a great offensive performance but that is is almost overshadowed by the phenomenal pitching performance by by ker Montero that is a a Maddox everybody that is a complete game shut out in less than a 100 pitches fewer than 100 pitches pardon my English there nine innings three hits zero earned runs no walks and five strikeouts I'm having a hard time really deciding I guess which part of this performance was my favorite like what's my biggest takeaway what's the thing that I that I appreciate or like like the most about this performance was it the efficiency because he was unbelievably efficient was it the fact that he threw nine innings when this team desperately needed somebody to go deep into a ball game right give the bullpen a day off huge was it the fact that he had zero walks because that's very high on the list that is way up there folks way way up there zero walks is a beauty or is it the fact that he faced the minimum I you know the Tigers posted that uh that a Tigers pitcher has not faced the minimum since 2011 that is so long ago so much has happened in this organization since 2011 they've made a World Series since the last time a starting pitcher has faced the minimum unbelievable or is it the 17 swings and misses 17 whiffs my favorite pitch I I don't know it's one of two I think that there's really two pitches that made his outing as effective and as efficient as it ended up being one of those was the knuckle curve it was absolutely Stellar he was getting swings and misses on it all outing uh he actually had an over 50% swing and Miss rate on his knuckle curve in this so uh out of all of the swings that were against his curveball over half of them were swings and misses that is phenomenal that that is that is Elite territory for that pitch but I think that the pitch that really is something that I harp on a lot on this show with all starting pitchers all pitchers really in general and is going to be the uh my my favorite pitch of the outing is going to be his fast ball and the reason why is because he had command of it right it wasn't any faster than it normally is it didn't have any more spin than it normally does it didn't have any more ride than it normally does it was located incredibly well he had a 31% called strikes plus whiffs percentage if you're a long time listener to the show that was one of our favorite stats last year I haven't brought it up as much this year um but uh that means that almost one out of every three pitches he threw in this outing was either a called strike or a swing sing Mis strike CS called strikes plus whiff W percentage that's really good that's a really really good number any time you start flirting you know in the 30% with that uh with that number you're talking about a pretty darn good outing in that regard and the fast ball I think is the most versatile pitch and that's why it was so good to see him locate it well right like when it is located well it can get ground balls it can get Fly balls it can get cold strikes it can get whiffs it did all of those things his fast ball got people out in every single possible way you can fathom getting somebody out on a baseball field got a handful of swings and misses right five or six I think on the fast ball alone very good got a lot of weak contact got some some routine fly balls got some ground balls right also got eight called strikes on his fast ball in this outing was really just pestering them low in the zone especially righty right going low in the zone with the fast a lot I I can't say enough good things about this outing I give ker mono all the credit in the world and like it was so weird to me how much people were upset with him I don't know like I I've been very consistent about my opinion of ker Montero since the second he got called to the majors right he's gonna take his lumps he's going to really struggle some outings that that is going to happen but the stuff is good enough where I was willing to take a chance on it when the Tigers were 11 games under 500 and not playing for too terribly much clearly they turned the season around they're now in the playoff hunt and Kar Montero is still pitching for them and now pitching unbelievably incredible not only incredible just from an important standpoint but incredible as far as his performance goes as well and then like I said earlier the Innings is like The Unsung you know storyline here uh the fact that he can give the bullpen an entire day off is is absolutely phenomenal so tip of the cap to CER Montero all the credit in the world nicely done and and that is why you have to have patience in the game of baseball we are so reactionary in in not only just in baseball this is kind of like a society thing um you know you you gotta you got to wait it out sometimes ree Olsen got popped and had a 9 in triaa when he first got called up he's now one of the better pitchers on the team Terk scoble certainly didn't look like this when he first got called up right got to have some patience sometimes and I'm not saying ker Montero is going to turn in to anybody that I just listed he might be a reliever when it's all said and done but it's performances like this that make me think okay it's worth at least seeing what we got in him and continue trying him out as a starter for the rest of this season what went wrong I don't know i i i i this might be the first time I'm genuinely stumped I like Jake Rogers at the plate he went 0 for four with two strikeouts is that I I guess if I had but he wasn't even supposed to start the only thing that went wrong is that the entire team has the flu like that's the only actual thing that went wrong in this game Let's transition into stuff here this was this was the Tigers Jordan Flu Game all right this was the Jordan Flu Game the back against the wall need to win to stay in the playoff hunt the Tigers go out there and win 11 to nothing while allegedly 14 players are having some sort of sickness that they caught in San Diego uh or or in Cal not San Diego goodness gracious I don't know in California on the West Coast Road Trip apparently they they all caught something and now half of the team over 14 is over half of the roster that's ridiculous it's very frustrating actually that's exactly half now in September with the with the September call-ups being what it is Spencer Tolson pulled from this game right before the start of it Andy aanes replaces him he was under the weather not feeling well Dylan dingler was supposed to start this game pulled as well for the same reason boy am I glad that they went out there and won like they did cuz I did not want to come out here and be like oh my goodness we lost the freaking Rockies away from Kors because everybody got sick don't let the flu derail or whatever it is derail what they got going on and they certainly didn't in this ball game uh let's keep the ball rolling here got a few more items in stuff that we got to talk about we will do that right after this 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MLB and you get $50 instantly when you play Just $5 that's code lockdown MLB on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play play $5 you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed prize picks run your game all right everybody welcome back here third and final segment lock on Tigers appreciate youall for tuning in as always making us your first listen every day so stuff okay we talked about the flu hopefully that gets ironed out pretty quickly don't need uh don't need that affecting the playoff run here it's just it's wonderful to be talking like that again right I I again three games in in the amount of time they have left is a lot that that is a that is a lot and I know it doesn't seem like it because they gained so much ground because the twins just keep losing but like that that that's that's a lot of ground in this little amount of time but the fact that it's not impossible it has everybody tuning in and on the edge of their seat and rooting for the Tigers deep into September and and scoreboard watching because there is actually somewhat of a chance is just a beautiful thing baby just a beautiful thing uh few big talking points that kind of circulated the uh the Tigers fan base over the last 48 hours one ree olssen flying out to pitch a bullpen session in front of Chris feder and AJ AJ Finch combining feder and hinch there uh Chris feder and AJ hinch it sounds like they're either going to tell him after seeing him pitch in person that he needs one more Rehab start or he's going to join the team um I don't know when what capacity his last rehab outing was three Innings and the one before that was two so I don't know if they're just going to go from that straight to you know six or seven again um but the I like I don't care like ree Olsen being on this team no matter if it's only like in a couple inning you know long reliever role because they want to you know they don't want to make him a starter right away again or whether it is a starter I don't care just get him back on my Mound because he's one of the best pitchers this organization has to offer so I I am I am awaiting that d nosis and awaiting what uh what the coaching staff thinks when they do watch him but that seems to be the most recent plan he just pitched earlier this week again in Toledo three Innings of shut out ball Big Talk surrounding TK scoble and uh and and what to do with him there's a lot of theories flying around everybody's trying to get you know scoble to to pitch the most meaningful games it doesn't look like the tigers are going to pitch him against the Orioles and reshuffle his spot in the rotation in order to make that happen it sounds like they're pretty keen on him pitching the series finale against the Rockies and then again after the the orial series which will be against the Rays and then that could set him up to pitch one more time there in the final Series against the Chicago White Socks so know a lot of people were trying to do some mental gymnastics there to figure out how they could get scoble to pitch against the Orioles Evan petzel of the freep wrote a whole article about this situation in there he did not make it sound like the Tigers were going to reshuffle anything to make sure scubba was pitching in Baltimore so we'll see what happens right that this organization notoriously holds everything very close to their chest especially AJ hinch when it comes to managerial stuff so we'll see not saying it's a guarantee but from what the people that have sources unlike myself within the organization it sounds like uh sounds like that is not going to be the case so thought that was worth bringing up then we'll get to the big talking point which I don't have too much to say on it to be honest but it is the Talk of the Town outside of the Tigers playoff push is uh I believe the post originated from Mark Ryan of 971 uh who I I follow on social media and and and provides some some some great Sports content in this town um I I believe he was the origin of it if it has a different origin this whole you know uh this whole dialogue in this whole conversation then I apologize but I'm pretty that was the first that that I saw of it um posted a clip from I forget the show which is also bad journalism on my part but I I know that Trevor ploof was on the show Trevor ploof is on as on a few shows so it's hard for me to keep track um but apparently Trevor ploof I believe it was Trevor ploof said that he is friends with Jack flarity and flarity would have resigned with the Tigers if the Tigers would have offered something something before trading him but now that they have traded him his price has gone up dramatically and that that is probably not going to be in the cards and Mark Ryan I believe had posted that this uh I don't know felt like a mistake or maybe said like ouch or something like that or like this sucks to hear something along those lines I'm I'm paraphrasing I'm not quoting him exactly and that started this huge debate about whether selling was the correct move given where the tigers are at abs absolutely yes absolutely yes um this is not a belief in the organization thing this is not like oh my goodness you know you you don't believe in the Tigers and and look at you like they were way under 500 and you didn't say they were going to go on a run and then they did and like you're so wrong yeah I was very wrong I I I openly admit anytime I am wrong I am wrong or at least try to I I do not fear that but I I think when it comes to this situation specifically and the difference between selling or or like buying or standing Pat at the deadline pitching has not been the issue the Tigers have actually gotten phenomenal pitching the Tigers as a team have actually been one of depending on what stats you use if not the best pitching team since the trade deadline would Jack flarity had made a huge difference would I love a picture of Jack Flare's caliber still in the rotation today obviously right yes but you you can't play the the hindsight game here this was a team that was dead in the water that nobody expected to come out of it and the reason they have gotten back into it is not because of the offense the reason they have gotten back into the playoff fixture is because of the pitching also need I remind everybody the guy who's playing shortstop every day was in that trade and and his Ops is now up to 721 that's around League average got off to a really slow start he's been a lot better lately you also got another Prospect that's been has like a thousand Ops down in high single and has been crushing the baseball and if you really like Jack flarity that much if you're really like hey man I I don't care what you say it was stupid right that that that is your prerogative more power to you right I again I I love differing opinions and and and I have absolutely no issue with that more power to you if you are of that mindset he's a free agent in a month right if you are really that Keen on like it was a huge mistake to get rid of him they they they I I wanted to keep him the the the two players we got can can go away I don't care we it was the wrong move he's going to be a free agent in about six weeks you really want him that badly the tigers are going to be able to get him again in in in in no way shape or form do I regret what the Tigers did at the deadline absolutely zero keep winning baby keep winning um you have Tanner Gordon versus Casey M tonight as you are listening to this on Wednesday let's have fun man let's have fun let's get weird let's let's make this as fun and as electric and as entertaining of a September as we have had in quite some time let's scoreboard watch here before I sign off uh the Red Sox still losing the twins are now up six on the Angels highly doubt they make that up so you're going to be three games back probably but depending on what happens to the Mariners Padre's game which still hasn't started 10:00 game over there in the west coast um you you may be standing alone we'll see thanks for making lockon Tigers your first listen every single day shout out to the every dayers that do tune in every day we will of course be back tomorrow peace and love going at TH be dope I'll catch youall then baby go Tigers