Jon Morosi of MLB Network joins Jim and Jon to discuss Game 2 of the ALDS between the Tigers and Guardians.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00John Marossi, MLB Network, joins us this morning. John, good morning.
00:05Jim and John, happy postseason, my friends. Great to be with you today.
00:10Yeah, happy postseason. It's a new experience for us, I mean new within the last decade,
00:16and there's a lot of people that are really worried about what they saw on Saturday.
00:21How much angst should Tigers fans have right now?
00:26Well, John, my overall perspective and advice is that we as people in Michigan should enjoy this,
00:32because we were not expecting to have playoff baseball.
00:36This is not the team of Verlander and Scherzer and David Price and everybody else
00:45that was supposed to win it all with Miguel years ago.
00:48This is bonus baseball. Now, you've gotten this far, you've beaten the Astros,
00:54so I understand that there's now a little bit of expectation.
00:58You've also got the best pitcher in the world on the mound.
01:01So if you're going to make a run at this thing and find a way to beat Cleveland,
01:08this is obviously a huge game to win, because when Scoogle's on the mound,
01:12it needs to be win day for obvious reasons.
01:15But I think my big picture takeaway is you're going to see a Game 3 at Comerica Park,
01:21postseason game with Detroit in 10 years, and you've got a shot today
01:25because you've got the best pitcher in the world on the mound.
01:28So that's my current vibe. I know I'm a bit removed because I'm in New York
01:32covering the other series, but that's kind of my look at it as I'm keeping an eye on it from afar.
01:38Yeah, but you're a Michigander, and you know kind of the pulse of how this team
01:41has rallied and kind of the mood of the city.
01:44We've been taking inventory on how people feel as well today.
01:47Show of hands in the studio. Must win? Hand up if it's a must win today.
01:51Everybody's got their hand up. John, you agree?
01:54Yeah, I do. And certainly when you consider the big picture here
01:59and why this whole strategy has worked, if you go back to August and after the trade deadline
02:06and the way the Tigers were able to make this run, starting when they had
02:10basically two starting pitchers at the time, Scoogle and Monteiro,
02:14the reason why the chaos strategy worked, and I do think you've got to credit
02:21A.J. Hinch for the strategy and Chris Fetter and Robin Lund, they all did a great job
02:26of devising it, and certainly the relievers and the bolt guys that made it work.
02:31The only reason why the chaos worked is because of Scoogle.
02:36Scoogle is the man who made the chaos possible because you can't do openers
02:42and bolt guys and chaos every day. You need to have a day of consistency
02:48and certainty, and the day of certainty is called Scoogle Day, and that is today.
02:54So I think for that reason, the only way the overall pitching plan works
03:00is if Tarek wins the game today, and certainly there is a scenario
03:06in which he's able to pitch again in this series. You could start game five
03:10on regular rest, but the only way that the math works is if Scoogle wins.
03:16So I agree. Today is certainly a must-day.
03:20From afar, now I know that you're well-connected to Detroit, but in the baseball world,
03:26with where the Tigers are, okay, Scoogle, we know going to the mound
03:30that you're going to get a good performance, and we have that confidence.
03:34At the plate, how much confidence do you have that the Tiger bats
03:38can even give him one, two, or whatever it is in terms of run support?
03:44Well, I certainly think it's similar to what you saw against the left-hander
03:50they faced in Fran Brevaldez in the Houston series. That was a low-scoring game,
03:54and it worked out because obviously the bullpen held late,
03:58and that was, I think, a very key way, a bit of a template of how they're going to
04:04approach this game today, and I guess if you're looking at the bright side,
04:08there's no potential pitcher in this entire postseason
04:12unless they face the Dodgers in the World Series and face Flaherty.
04:16There's nobody that they know better than Matthew Boyd, nobody,
04:20in terms of having a good book of how to approach him,
04:24and Matthew's done a fantastic job coming back to Cleveland.
04:28He's been one of their better starting pitchers since he's joined them,
04:31and I'm just personally thrilled for him because he's such a great gentleman,
04:34and he did so much for Detroit, and he's a great citizen of the world as far as I'm concerned.
04:39So he's an easy guy to root for, but as AJ Hinch said yesterday,
04:43he sort of set that aside for a few hours and compete like heck
04:47when he's on the mound against you, but they're going to know what to do here,
04:52and I also think that the biggest hit of this postseason so far
04:58was for Abanez against a lefty, and so against a lefty,
05:02you get Abanez in the lineup.
05:04Vierling certainly is someone who's become a really important guy.
05:08He's obviously better against lefties than he is against righties,
05:10so I think in some ways facing a lefty here in this situation
05:14is to the Tigers' advantage because I tend to like their lineup against lefties,
05:19and they've already won a game that way this postseason.
05:22So I think for all those reasons, John, I think there's a lot of belief
05:26that certainly this game will go better than the game the other day,
05:31and I guess the final point I'll make on the way the game one went
05:34is it's almost easier to take that loss when it's over in the first inning,
05:38really, than the big poppy home run 11 years ago.
05:43That's a game the Tiger fans are still upset about.
05:46John, why are you bringing that up?
05:48Right. Well, it's the truth.
05:50The game on Saturday, it's amazing how, as a quick parenthetical,
05:54the day that Leland got inducted and his induction was announced,
05:59somebody asked him about a game that he went back and wanted to think about,
06:03and he mentioned that game, so it's still on his mind.
06:05And the point is that Saturday's game was utterly forgettable.
06:09It was over early, and I think it allowed them to utilize the rest of their pitching
06:14in a way that preserved their chance to chase this game.
06:17He's John Marossi, MLB Network. He joins us this morning.
06:21Yeah, you know, I think the key, you've got to get to Boyd
06:24because you don't want to get to that Cleveland bullpen, right?
06:26I mean, so much of this, hey, they worked Valdez out of the game against Houston,
06:30and I think you don't want to work Boyd out of the game.
06:32You've got to do damage while he's in the game.
06:34For as much as he's given to Detroit, maybe you could give him a little more today.
06:37That'd be great.
06:38Well, Jim, that is an excellent point just about the difference.
06:42I do think the Guardians have arguably the best bullpen in baseball this season,
06:48and certainly the most dominant reliever, I would say,
06:51in the entire sport right now in class A.
06:53So when he's entering the game, it almost feels a little bit like Rivera from years ago
07:00where it's just the game's over effectively.
07:04I think you're right that you're going to have to probably do your damage early in the game,
07:08and I do think overall with the Tigers, their bullpen,
07:13they had to get a little creative at different times.
07:15Even in the second game against Houston, obviously it got away from them for a little bit,
07:20but I think by the way that the first game unfolded,
07:24you've got all your best guys there and available to you.
07:27Nobody's really taxed right now.
07:29They're all in a good spot.
07:31I do think it's interesting with the Guardians,
07:34there was always a conversation of Russ versus Russ and what that means
07:38and how it could advantage the team that advances through the wildcard round.
07:43I do think in this case, Jim and John,
07:45that the Guardians were so dependent on their bullpen during the course of the whole season,
07:50and Steven Vogt went to them so often that they were maybe the rare team
07:55that really benefited from having all that time off
07:58because those bullpen guys really did a lot.
08:00I think we even saw on Saturday just how good or how deep that bullpen is.
08:04How is Detroit viewed?
08:09What's the perception of what they've been able to do in the last two months of the season,
08:15winning the wildcard round?
08:17What's that perception around Major League Baseball right now?
08:20It's interesting for me.
08:22Obviously, still living in Michigan but traveling a lot.
08:25People know I'm from Michigan, so they'll say,
08:27Hey, man, your home state team, what is going on over there?
08:30Even people that are working for other teams will ask you for my take on it,
08:34which that's been kind of cool.
08:36It's been a fun experience to honestly have our state back
08:40in the national baseball conversation.
08:42It's been a while.
08:43So from that standpoint, I'm excited about that.
08:47I think that the second piece of it is that they're taken seriously.
08:54They are because we just saw last year's World Series was between the Diamondbacks
08:59and the Rangers, two wildcard teams.
09:01The Diamondbacks had to fight to the very end to be able to get into the postseason,
09:05and in my estimation, there's not a ton different
09:09between the Diamondbacks of last year and the Tigers of right now.
09:12There really isn't.
09:14Looking at the Diamondbacks' lineup last year,
09:17they had Corbin Carroll, you could say, as Riley Green,
09:20and Christian Walker maybe as Matt Vierling.
09:24There's a lot of commonality in terms of what those lineups were built like,
09:28and the Diamondbacks still found a way to beat the Phillies
09:32in a classic seven-game NLCS by winning six and seven on the road.
09:37I think that people I talk to say the Tigers are a great story.
09:41They remind me a little bit of the Diamondbacks last year.
09:44The clear implication being there that the Diamondbacks made it
09:47to the final game of the season.
09:49So now that you're in it, now that you're this far,
09:52there's no reason to feel like you don't belong.
09:55I think the Tigers do feel like they belong.
09:59The thing I love, too, about it, John, is the way they're playing.
10:02The homegrown nature of the team, the continuity there,
10:06they play a little bit like a college team that's having a lot of fun together.
10:10I think that's something that people in Michigan really should be proud of,
10:13that they do represent the city and each other and the game really well.
10:18However this all winds up, I think they've really put together
10:21a very nice run and played the game the right way.
10:24He's John Marossi, MLB Network.
10:26You can also see him with Yankees and Royals on TBS
10:29after the Tigers and Guardians.
10:31John, appreciate your time.
10:33Jim and John, my pleasure.
10:35Always enjoy the conversation and enjoy this great time in sports across Michigan.
10:39We absolutely are. Thank you. It's 97.1.