well a brutal loss for the Tigers in the series finale against the Rockies we'll talk about that as well as preview what still should be a huge weekend in Detroit all today un locked 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 locked on Tigers I'm of course your host Scott Bentley today is Friday September 13th Friday the 13 2024 thank you so much for making lockon 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 this episode is brought to you by prize pics go to priz picks.com loock MLB and use code all lowercase lock MLB to win $50 instantly when you play Just5 welcome in welcome all everybody happy Friday hopefully we can uh hopefully rather we can send you off into the weekend here with a good show get you prepped for again what still should be a really fun exciting and important weekend at CER Park but first we have to discuss this brutal loss 4-2 at the hands of the Colorado Rockies very very frustrating loss um you know know like they they weren't going to win out right uh but this is against a really bad team when you have your soon to be Sai Young winner on the mound um that that was just a brutal showing given the situation given the scenario maybe it's my fault I I said that they they should sweep maybe that's on me uh I I believe in baseball Jinx is as is so maybe I I should have kept that to myself but this was really a a a man just a kick in the stomach type of loss truly I mean we can get right into it what went wrong we're gonna actually work backwards here okay we're gonna start with the ninth inning and then work backwards because I I I think I think the ninth inning of this baseball game was genuinely one of the the lousiest and worst performances I've seen from this team in quite some time this made me think it was still like June when this team was playing like this all the time and losing games left and right look we can just go chronologically like every single play every single batter that came up something ridiculous happened so you you have fully grooving a sinker right works the count there's nobody on base grooves one just throws a sinker right over the heart of the plate SLA to right field there's a man on base Dylan dingler passed ball they were talking about on the TV broadcast if you bunt there sacrifice the out get a runner in scoring position don't worry one of the worst teams in baseball we'll just do it for you okay so that was awful then there's a blooper to right field The Hitter was fooled on the pitch he like he got beat that was a good and well executed pitch by Foley I have zero issue with with that it's just Jason Foley can't get swings and misses I do have an issue with that I will continue to and so it gets blooped to right field then Matt verling completely botches the play it bounces once I'm assuming there was a crazy spin on it I'm not saying you know he he's a he's a terrible Defender and that's going to happen all the time but golly was that pretty darn costly doesn't even get a hand on it he he's so far away from the ball then next hitter Runner advances from second to Third on a ground ball and then honestly I think the thing that upset me the most that that I don't think very many other people are going to talk about was the decision to throw a slider to Jake cave you're going to throw a righty Lefty CH or slider rather not change up you're gonna throw a righty Lefty slider in that situation with a man on Third and they're trying to get a Fly ball and It ultimately didn't even matter they couldn't score one run in the ninth inning and all it was was a sack fly right it was a fly out all he wanted was a fly out I Jason Foley slider is not that good it's the opposite opposite platoon and I can't imagine he was trying to go back door with it I I I if he was then we need to have a serious conversation about who's calling pitches because that was egregious I think he was trying to get it low and in which is a little bit more justifiable but it was executed poorly because it's not that good of a pitch and and he's a sinker ball thrower but that kind of transitions into FY as a whole which is like that that is what you have to deal with when you have a a high leverage reliever that can't get swings and misses the only pitch in his repertoire that can even get some swing and Miss sometimes is the slider so they have to throw it against the opposite latoon when he's looking for a Fly ball pitch so as frustrated as I am and for as much as I think it's it's absurd to throw that there because in my eyes I would much rather just bring the infield in get a ground ball because you know if he throws the Sinker you can get a ground ball and take your chances on being able to get the guy at home but I I also in the same breath when you have a pitcher that that has Foley's repertoire I know we spent a lot of time on this I'll move on I promise but this is really just me on my soap boox here like I I I understand though at the at the same time I I think it's egregious but I also know that it's the only pitch that possibly could have gotten a swing and Miss there he wasn't going to get a whiff on a sinker to to to a lefty poor execution brutal all around yeah that that pitch pissed me off more than anything else that happened and and that's really saying something because pretty much everything that happened in the ninth inning upset me we haven't even gotten to the bottom of the ninth which was then Riley green fly out Colt Keith draws a walk Matt verling one of the worst at bats we've seen from a Tigers hitter in recent memory given the situation Tolson gets lucky you know the short stop just can't feeli the ball and then Zach mckinstry who you know bless him like I I very fun story for him to turn it around after everybody kind of rode him off and wanted him off the team all of that being said still if I was to rank all of the hitters on this team in order of how much I wanted them up in that situation man on first and third two outs down two mckinstry would be close to last just a dreadful ninth inning Dreadful and then you talk about all the runs you gave up throughout the entire game we can move on from the one inning I can finally again kind of get off my my soap box there like just talked about two that were kind of ridiculous one was a home run home run on a hanging curveball uh from scoel early in the ball game the other was an infield single from Charlie Blackman where Colt Keith makes a great play range wise to go to his right get his you know get the ball just doesn't have the arm strength to uh to get Charlie Blackman out like this was such a frustrating game because all but one of those runs were avoidable but it was even more frustrating because of the offense everything I just said as as frustrated as I am with everything I just laid out to you a at the end of the day this offense scored two runs and had four hits against one of the worst pitching staffs in the entire game of baseball and that is the reason they lost this game putrid offensive performance let's break that down a little bit more we will do that right after this got to talk to you'all today about our friends over at tonel even the most dedicated gym goers can struggle with consistency the commute waiting for weights other people's sweat it makes skipping a workout very tempting with tonal you can choose from thousands of workouts and train away and you actually enjoy and that's at home tonal is the world's smartest and most effective strength training system that helps you get stronger it's powered by Ai and it learns every rep you take more and more so you can deliver workouts personalized just for you it's like having a personal trainer at home as Tona will 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playoff picture again make him your second listen over at lockdown MLB get it on YouTube wherever you get your podcast part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day also had a listener point out that I have not talked and and plugged Jake Jake rma's show uh very often lately was really big on plug plugging it a lot when it first started and then very wrongfully on my end has not have not talked about it as much uh Jake does the locked on Tigers postcast you see that if you listen on audio it's on the feed also on YouTube locked on Detroit sports um great show immediately following just immediate postgame reaction kind of talking about the the ins and outs of the game that just happened itself here we're obviously a little bit more big picture still talking about the game though obviously so great show we'll be with you through weekends and whatnot after every single game so if you're looking for an immediate reaction there definitely go check out Jake show great guy very talented as well so uh talking about what went wrong in this 4 to2 loss to the Colorado Rockies talked about the pitching we talked about the ninth inning the offense is where we left off there before the break um just again just a really putrid performance uh the thing that bothered me the most about the offense was I I was I was yelling at my TV at one point for the love of everything please swing at the first pitch once go rewatch the first three Innings four Innings it was mindboggling how many first pitch fast balls were over the heart of the plate that the Tigers just stood there like a house on the side of the road I was I I I was stunned I I I was completely befuddled and it was the entire lineup it was everybody everybody just stood there and watched these fast balls over the heart of the plate and and and it just drove me absolutely up a wall so and that's something we talked about earlier in the year right earlier in the year we talked about how the Tigers were one of the uh if you were to rank every single team by how often they swung at the first pitch the Tigers were toward the very bottom of that they were they were last for a very large portion of the season and while they got a little bit better they're still very much you know bottom two or three in the league and this game just reminded me of that where it's just like the other team just thinks that they can just throw a meatball first pitch and you know it's gonna you're going to be up 01 and and that's just not how you have an an effectively aggressive and productive offense on a consistent basis so that really drove me nuts gen that that was that was absolutely infuriating the top four in your lineup in this ball game that is Parker Meadows kry Carpenter Riley green Colt Keith four guys who are not only supposed to be the four best hitters in your lineup this year but also four of the the biggest you know long-term pieces that you have arguably the four biggest on offense obviously you know scoble is probably the biggest pitching wise but like offensively the four biggest assets in and most important assets that you have to build around offensively going forward and they had one total hit between the four of them in this ball game one one total hit now the team only had four so I guess that's a quarter of of your production there but that's just not going to cut it against again a a a really rough Rockies pitching staff uh Ryan feltner no disrespect all the credit in the world you know living out my my dream job certainly uh playing Major League Baseball there he's got a career erra of about five and a half and does not strike people out in this ball game he held the Tigers to two runs and had six strikeouts through five and two third got absolutely diced by a guy you shouldn't have you you wasted your Ace and and your future Sai Young winner here just the lack of aggressiveness and it and it got a little bit better as the game went along to be fair to them but man that first half the first half of that ball game was just again infuriating what went right in this ball game this was not all doom and gloom the Tigers did have a chance to win this ball game late this was a tie game late and the Tigers just couldn't take advantage and get over that that hump uh in terms of what went right Sha Gunther continues to impress uh has a 0.82 erra now and I think the the pitch that impressed me the most was that slider to lefties I don't know how a single Lefty hits that and I've said that like three or four times since he's been called up but he he's been incredible yeah sub one erra I think that was his 10th appearance so far of the year he he's looked really really good and and seems to be a legitimate weapon against lefties at a minimum which has value right so good on him good on the Tigers for that find as well then Spencer Tolson one of the only highlights on the offensive side of the ball on on a very quiet day as I put in the show sheet here offensive offense uh Spencer Tolson had a great day at the plate two for three with a walk also drove in both of the RB the only two RBIs that the Tigers would score on the day and the swing he put together on that in that at bat was absolutely beautiful uh worked the count adjusted mid pitch right notice was was sitting I'm assuming slider low and away because that's where he keeps getting bullied because he can't hit him and uh and and noticed that that pitch was not going to make it all the way there that it was a little bit of a hanger and and brought the hands way in way way in and that that was a a worked again a worked count a worked that bat was fing some balls off and pulled the hands in stroked it down the left field line it barely stays Fair absolute beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful piece of hitting from torlon there and yeah was really the only hitter in the lineup today that was consistently a threat at the plate so uh yeah that that's really it for the offense and then you have Terk scoel who continues to be phenomenal goes six Innings four hits one earn run no walks six strikeouts obviously the one earn run was the solo shot to Beck man it's crazy that he's already in the majors to me Beck I remember when he was in college Jordan Beck was a huge Prospect at Tennessee a a huge Prospect like people thought you know going into that season that he was going to be a top 10 pick and then he just didn't have as good of a draft year as people expected kind of play I mean played some second base at one point now he's playing like Corner Outfield there was kind of some questions defensively and uh and he fell to the Rockies I want to say like the comp rounds I I don't think he ended up even being a first round pick but I think he got taken in one of the comp comp compensatory rounds goodness and uh and man I I just I mean he's hitting good on him nice nice piece of hitting there but he's hitting 2011 with a 555 Ops like it just hasn't really worked out now this is we're very early in in the dude's career I'm not trying to write him off or anything yet especially you know if he's only 23 he can find some some luck in Coes that can at least boost the numbers there at a minimum but I just remember how how good you know people thought he was going to be going into that draft here at Tennessee and and he wasn't bad by any stretch but certainly didn't live up to all of it had some injury stuff to deal with as well so wishing him the best honestly uh shout out shout out to uh to Jordan Beck there um okay so Terk scoel is great though sorry ADHD tangent there his fast ball in this outing was really well-located glove side so if you're looking at the plate the right right half of the plate I glove side yeah I just explained that um was located really well glove side so inside to righties he was kind of pin point there but armide he was spraying it all over the place could not consistently hit that up and away to righties or up and in to lefties did hit it a couple of times and did just blow a couple of fast Balls by guys because he has the ability to do that but definitely was something that was a little bit inconsistent in this outing but the biggest inconsistency was the change up I mean my goodness I he was all over the place with the change up today that's probably been his best pitch his fast ball probably is still his best pitch but his change up has easily been his best secondary pitch this season and it's kind of revolutionized him as a pitcher it's pretty brutal in this ball game and not because the the pitch didn't move as much or anything the stuff is still fine it always will be with scoble but um just uh didn't have any command of it whatsoever was spiking it into the ground at one point there in like the second or third inning just completely bailed on it started throwing change or sliders rather but uh went back to it went back to it at again and again and again and did get I think one swing and Miss on it got a couple called strikes but as a whole just didn't really have it um there was also no chance he was coming out of the ball game on a on an injury to his nonthrowing hand I I could have predicted that one from about A Million Miles Away um so yeah like it wasn't his best stuff I I think the thing that's Most Fascinating about him is this was probably like his sea level stuff and yet it was still six Innings of almost shut out baseball and that's just a testament to how incredible Terk scoel is I think the the the point I'll leave this conversation with is is like because this game was close is that justify using him I know a lot of people wanted to push him back at day so that he could pitch against Baltimore like you lost so obviously in hindsight which is not fair to use for these arguments but if we are to that would tell you you don't want to burn your best pitcher in a game you're going to lose anyways I totally understand that but if if we don't just go completely results oriented because that's impossible to predict like it was a close game and and you want a chance to win and ultimately Terk scuba gives you the best chance to do that when he's on the mound more than anybody else on the team so I I don't know it's very very frustrating to use him in a loss against the Rockies when you have Baltimore on Deck I completely understand and I feel the same way um but I I don't know I don't know if People's stance changed or or were reinforc based on the outcome just really sucks that it was in a losing effort because the offense and the defense just decided they wanted to take a day off really frustrating stuff okay let's talk stuff okay frustrating stuff we'll do that right after this gotta talk to you'all today about our friends over at prize picks prize pick is America's number one daily fantasy sports have have with over five million active members prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports because unlike other apps on prize 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MLB on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you 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 locked on Tigers appreciate youall for tuning in as always so let's talk stuff Terk scoble x-rays came back negative that's a great sign he says he should be fine I tend to believe him just a really hard comebacker on his pit non- pitching hand I I'm not too terribly worried about it I think that's you know worst case scenario something he can maybe deal with in the off season but I think he'll probably yeah all steam ahead I'd imagine Riley green with a fantastic catch in this ball game ultimately did not matter but a really really fantastic catch it's just everything he does just terrifies me like he had the one play where like he caught it and then couldn't stop himself and and went into the crowd and then he had this play like everything he just like flails around like everything he does just terrifies me um but incredible plays no less that you're not going to tell him not to make right you're in the the the thick of a wild card race here you're not gonna be like hey take take it easy no it's just I'm I'm gonna you know the the blood pressure is going to get a little bit higher in those moments though um injury updates wi seil Perez is back he took an AB in this game unfortunately struck out to a uh a reliever for the Rockies that was pump in a 100 which is just kind of the the norm these days out of bullpens across baseball but WIIL Perez is back and healthy should get a start or two this weekend I would imagine Ryan kridler sent back down to Triple A to make room for wi seal Perez uh yeah agree with the move I don't think cther offers too terribly much at this point in the season especially with uh with young up and and that will probably mean that verling will play a lot more Third Base down the stretch um when you know when when jaay young isn't but uh good to see wial Perez back took some really good abs for this team in the middle of the summer when not very many people were taking really good ABS so that is a player you definitely want especially over Ryan kler here down the stretch in the middle of a playoff hunt there's also a chance that ree olssen could be back this weekend uh there's some people that are speculating Sunday we'll see what happens CER Montero is currently scheduled to start on Sunday so if he's back by the by Sunday they probably wouldn't add him back to the roster again unless they're going to use him as a reliever until after the weekend um but we'll see he's supposed to be throwing for the team here at the end of the week would love to get a notification that ree Olson was going to be back and uh and would be with this team again whether it's I said this yesterday I don't care whether he's it's as a starter or a reliever just put him on the roster in the last two and a half weeks of the Season here and I will be a happy camper that is a very very valuable asset for this team in these very meaningful games so um we're gonna end by talking about kind of a positive spin on all this obviously very very frustrating loss that that's understandable I I'm very frustrated too clearly the positive spin the positive outlook on this game is at the end of the day like I said at the beginning of the show they weren't going to they weren't going to win out and the teams ahead of Detroit in the standings haven't been playing fantastic baseball obviously the twins took care of business against the twins but like they they were losing some games before that that's why the Tigers were able to make up ground the Royals have been pretty spotty lately um Etc like there there is they're not going to win out either is my point and and if you walk away from this Baltimore Kansas City Baltimore next three series with three Series wins you are certainly going to be in the mix and you're going to be right there and I think we would have been saying that anyway even if they did lose or did win rather this ball game against the Rockies you probably still have to go into those Series going all right we need a series win here so this is a very frustrating loss because you could have and probably should have won but the race isn't just completely dead because of this loss either everything is still in front of you as as uh Aaron Boone loves to say in in New York everything is still in front of you a and you were always going to have to beat some pretty darn good teams to get Within Reach anyways so you got to try and start doing that this weekend th this is this is you know put all your your chips in one basket here you got to go all out these next nine games the tigers are three and a half out with 15 games to play and you don't own the tiebreaker against the twins or the Royals is it likely probably not been saying that this whole time not to be a Debbie Downer but just to to be a realist not likely but it's also not impossible you just have to beat good teams which again you were going to have to do any ways even if you beat the Rockies here now if you lay an egg this weekend then it probably is over but you play the Orioles this weekend you have TBD for the Tigers against Zack effin TBD versus Corbin Burns and CER Montero against Cade poic on Sunday let's have some fun you know let's have some fun let let's let's take two of three let's take two of three make the rest of September matter have a fun weekend hopefully the twins can lose some games to the Cincinnati Reds here and and fill out CER Park man should be a a fine weekend weatherwise let's have some fun let's win some ball games why not us you know why not this is the most important weekend series at cica Park since when I that that's an open-ended qu I I genuinely don't know the last like genuinely important series they played prior to this season as far as you know standings went was the final Series in 2016 against the Braves remember watching that in my my freshman year college dorm room and just brutal I know Jordan Zimmerman pitched in that series and the Braves were awful this is like when they had Freddy Freeman and and then you know like your your local high school team was everybody else like they were they were Dreadful and the Tigers lost two of three and missed the playoffs I think by a game maybe two but it was it was like if they had swept they would have been tied or right there in the mix but that was on the road that was in Atlanta so I'm wondering when the last like super important series probably like right before that I guess but fun times don't lay an egg thanks for making locked on Tigers your first listen every single day shout out to that every day is that du tune in every day we will of course be back on Monday Jake RMA will be here throughout the weekend I I think but we'll be back on Monday appreciate you all peace and love going to ther's dope I'll catch youall then go Tigers