Speaker 1: We'll see what happens with Hoveybaya is at shortstop. But
Speaker 1: if he's not productive with the bat, or if he's
Speaker 1: not healthy, I worry this could be one of the
Speaker 1: worst defensive infield in baseball.
Speaker 2: Here we go, Cody Stavenhagen, star of Tiger Territory, joining
Speaker 2: us right now. Cody, great to see you, and we're
Speaker 2: going to jump right into business. We've got storylines to hit,
Speaker 2: and of course, if people want to learn more about
Speaker 2: the Tigers podcast, YouTube the whole deal, check out Cody's show.
Speaker 2: So let's hit those storylines please. All right, Cody, here's
Speaker 2: the plan. Can this team run it back? They had
Speaker 2: so much magic but also needed help the Twins collapse
Speaker 2: to even make it to the playoffs. So what does
Speaker 2: the next step look like for them? What about side
Speaker 2: Scooble to back years? Can it be done infield shuffling
Speaker 2: glabor Torres, second Colt Keith to first Spencer turklesin where
Speaker 2: and then young talent for days Riley Green Jackson job
Speaker 2: full season of him in the big leagues and what
Speaker 2: that's going to look like. Let's talk it out right now.
Speaker 2: So Cody, how did they make this magic happen again
Speaker 2: when they're not going to sneak up on teams, are they.
Speaker 1: No. I think, you know, the Tigers are definitely taken
Speaker 1: more seriously than they have been in recent years. I
Speaker 1: think teams know when the Tigers come to town, they're
Speaker 1: going to see some pretty nasty arms. But the challenge
Speaker 1: I think for the Tigers is going to be making
Speaker 1: sure that they can sustain last year's pigeon performances and
Speaker 1: score a little bit more runs. And given the way
Speaker 1: the offseason shook out, they added only one hitter that
Speaker 1: was Glaber Torres. They were in the Alex Bregman sweets
Speaker 1: today until the end, it didn't happen. Now you're left
Speaker 1: really banking on the development of young players and what
Speaker 1: Riley Green was an All Star last year. He can
Speaker 1: continue to get better. Cole Keith hit like two to
Speaker 1: eighty five from mid May one. He can continue to
Speaker 1: get better. But it's still going to be a very
Speaker 1: young line up. The Tigers will continue to mix and match.
Speaker 1: But I really think that's the key, you know, is
Speaker 1: just how much can they hit well? They have more
Speaker 1: guys take step forward, take a step forward. Then they
Speaker 1: do guys take a step backward. You look in center
Speaker 1: field Parker Meadows with dynamic down the stretch. Can he
Speaker 1: produce at anywhere near that level now through one hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty two game season. Shortstops a big question mark.
Speaker 1: But there are some good things brewing here in Detroit,
Speaker 1: so we'll see how it all shakes out.
Speaker 3: Wow, Okay, they're speaking of big things shaking out and
Speaker 3: brewin in Detroit. Terrek Scoble hey won the Sion. He's
Speaker 3: a pretty big deal now, you know they you know,
Speaker 3: Tracy Moore offering for him to come on SNL and all.
Speaker 4: These big deals.
Speaker 3: Can he do it again? Can't Trek school and Jack
Speaker 3: Clarity re and I become the Wonder twins one right
Speaker 3: handed one left handed. Jack Flaherty had the year he
Speaker 3: had and then Scoble win the cy Young again. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think if there's one thing I feel strongly about,
Speaker 1: it is that Scooble can definitely repeat. This guy's really
Speaker 1: become a well rounded pitcher. He pounds the strike zone.
Speaker 1: He throws with plus velocity. He has one of the
Speaker 1: best change ups in the game. He has a slider
Speaker 1: that can miss a ton of bats. He has different
Speaker 1: ways to get hitters out. I think the combination of
Speaker 1: stuff in command is at the top of the league,
Speaker 1: and that if he stays healthy, he's going to be
Speaker 1: one of the best pitchers in the game year and
Speaker 1: then year out going forward. Jack Flaherty, Look, this guy's
Speaker 1: a really good pitcher, has been for a while. He
Speaker 1: had some down years and battled some kind of nagging injuries,
Speaker 1: but really got things together last year. I think Flerity
Speaker 1: can continue to be really good. The question is will
Speaker 1: he be as as good as he was last year?
Speaker 1: Before the trade deadline he had a sub three era,
Speaker 1: missed a ton of bats. We saw the fastball kind
Speaker 1: of fluctuate a little bit down the stretch. He and
Speaker 1: the Tigers have both talked about like his mechanics got
Speaker 1: just a little bit out of whack. Maybe wasn't getting
Speaker 1: as far down the slope as he wanted to, kind
Speaker 1: of cutting himself off in his delivery. So he's got
Speaker 1: some things to sort out to make sure he can
Speaker 1: be consistent throughout the course of the season. But I
Speaker 1: think Flerty will continue to be productive, and I think
Speaker 1: Scooble's a very good bet to repeat as the Young
Speaker 1: Award winner, if not at least a top candidate.
Speaker 4: How's this infield shuffle gonna really really just be successful
Speaker 4: for the Tigers. Gt. Labor Torres said with the Yankees,
Speaker 4: I ain't playing third base. I'm a second basement. So
Speaker 4: clearly he's a second baseman. Colt Keith signed a nice
Speaker 4: little extension before ever really being in the big leagues,
Speaker 4: and now all of a sudden he's a first baseman,
Speaker 4: and Spencer Torkelsen, who they need to produce his home
Speaker 4: run power, is on the bench on a new team
Speaker 4: in Triple A. What's what's happening? And could it be
Speaker 4: something different? Could it end up being something different than that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think if you want to now
Speaker 1: know the concern of the team, you just kind of
Speaker 1: laid it out. We'll see what happens with Hovey Bayas
Speaker 1: at shortstop. But if he's not productive with the bet
Speaker 1: or if he's not healthy, I worry this could be
Speaker 1: one of the worst defensive infield in baseball. Third base
Speaker 1: could be a revolving door. Labor. He's a nice addition
Speaker 1: with the stick. I think even in Detroit people aren't
Speaker 1: giving him quite as much credit for his steady offensive production,
Speaker 1: but he led all second basement and errors and was
Speaker 1: you know, I think negative eleven defensive runs saved last year.
Speaker 1: Somehow the Tigers got worse with their infield defense by
Speaker 1: adding labor, shifting Colt Keith to first base. If you
Speaker 1: look at his body type, he's six three sixty four,
Speaker 1: he's a huge guy. Probably was always going to be
Speaker 1: best suited for first, but he's never played there before
Speaker 1: in his life. Spent a lot of time at third
Speaker 1: before last year. It spent all last year adapting the
Speaker 1: second got better. Hey, now you're moving again. Just watching
Speaker 1: him here early in spring training, it's going to be
Speaker 1: another adjustment. It's going to take some time, and we
Speaker 1: don't really quite know how good Cole Keith will be
Speaker 1: at first base. I think the bat's real, but there's
Speaker 1: some defensive concerns. And for goods, the pitching is as
Speaker 1: a staff, they didn't strike a ton of dudes out
Speaker 1: last year. They have a lot of sinker ball guys
Speaker 1: generate a lot of ground balls, which is good. But
Speaker 1: the infield defense scares me a little bit. And then Torglesen,
Speaker 1: it's a huge question mark. If I had to project
Speaker 1: to the roster right now, I think I would put
Speaker 1: Spencer Torglesen in Triple A. But just being around the
Speaker 1: team these past few days, it seems like the Tigers
Speaker 1: really believe they could carry him on the bench, even
Speaker 1: though he'd have to be a first base DH type.
Speaker 1: He's not playing any other positions. But if his bat
Speaker 1: gets going good enough, he can start against lefties and
Speaker 1: be available for late game at bats on a day
Speaker 1: there's a right handed starter. The Tigers would love to
Speaker 1: carry him. If they can get a guy who's that
Speaker 1: productive with the bat, they would love it. But I
Speaker 1: think he's got he has a lot to prove in
Speaker 1: spring training. There's a chance Spencer torcal Sen isn't on
Speaker 1: this team at all.
Speaker 3: That's my first that's my question before we get to
Speaker 3: the last storyline, is how's he going to handle that?
Speaker 3: Because he was one one, he was super hyped and
Speaker 3: we're only a year away from him being an impact
Speaker 3: bad for them, So how is he handling this? And man,
Speaker 3: it's amazing how you can fall so quickly in baseball.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's I mean, it's been a tough few years
Speaker 1: for Tork. There's the guy who came up with a
Speaker 1: ton of hype, had a really rough rookie season and
Speaker 1: then got things together. Hit thirty one homers. You look
Speaker 1: at the rest of his stat line, he had some
Speaker 1: stuff to figure out, wasn't really hitting for average, didn't
Speaker 1: get on base a ton, didn't play very good defense.
Speaker 1: But it was like, okay, if the floor's thirty homers,
Speaker 1: we can only build from here, right, Well, show up.
Speaker 1: Last year got off to a really slow start, got
Speaker 1: sent down, came back up. He was better, but left
Speaker 1: something to be desired. He's said all the right things,
Speaker 1: and camp he said, look, he gets it. I have
Speaker 1: to prove that I consistently perform. I've honestly always been
Speaker 1: impressed by how Spencer Ttorkalson has handled himself. For me
Speaker 1: as a reporter, sometimes it's been hard, Like, you know,
Speaker 1: I like this guy. He's a good guy. You want
Speaker 1: to have some empathy for a dude who seems to
Speaker 1: be putting in the work, but baseball's just kind of
Speaker 1: chewing him up and spitting him out. Tough to know
Speaker 1: what really goes on in that head. I think there
Speaker 1: have been times he's probably gotten a little bit too
Speaker 1: far inside his own head, both at the plate, both
Speaker 1: maybe worrying about external factors in a way. Maybe, Like
Speaker 1: now expectations are lowered, so could that be a good
Speaker 1: thing for him? That might be something to consider.
Speaker 3: Okay, makes sense. Well, he was this guy that was
Speaker 3: supposed to be a star for the Tigers. Now they
Speaker 3: have some guys Riley Greeneye consider a star. He's probably
Speaker 3: the most known guy on the Tigers behind School as
Speaker 3: a position player. But canon the other guys take the
Speaker 3: next step? Jackson, Joe Young, Parker Meadows, whoever it needs
Speaker 3: to be. Can any of these guys fulfill their potential?
Speaker 3: Because they have a ton of young talent on this Tigers.
Speaker 3: We have even mentioned the bullpen guys that came in
Speaker 3: and dominated for the last month. So can these guys
Speaker 3: take the next step and continue not have like sophomore slumps?
Speaker 1: I guess right. Yeah, that's the blessing and curse of
Speaker 1: a team this young. It's why I thought they needed
Speaker 1: another veteran impact bat. There are some major question marks.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I think col Keith could be a
Speaker 1: guy who takes that step, at least on the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. Parker Nutt Meadows is really dynamic,
Speaker 1: but third base Jase Young has a chance to win
Speaker 1: a spot as a rookie. What is he going to do?
Speaker 1: Where do we even set expectations? Hard to say. We
Speaker 1: haven't mentioned Kerry Carpenter yet, who absolutely crushes right handed pitching.
Speaker 1: Is he going to face lefties more? How much can
Speaker 1: you play him in the outfield? These are all questions
Speaker 1: Tray Sweeney, as see is on the screen right now.
Speaker 1: Is he even going to lock down that opening day role?
Speaker 1: When you have a young team like this, I feel
Speaker 1: like this is what normally happens. A couple of these
Speaker 1: guys meet expectations and a couple of them don't. That's
Speaker 1: probably what I would expect from the Tigers. The question
Speaker 1: is can they win eighty six games?
Speaker 2: Again?
Speaker 1: Is there a ninety win version of this team? I
Speaker 1: think the floor is a lot higher for this year's Tigers,
Speaker 1: But you kind of need all these young guys to
Speaker 1: achieve the best versions of themselves to be a ninety
Speaker 1: plus win team, and that just doesn't happen very often
Speaker 1: in baseball.
Speaker 2: All right, on your way out here, Cody, I'm going
Speaker 2: to have you promote Tiger territory so we can show
Speaker 2: the promo, but also have you tell us about your
Speaker 2: friends on the show and maybe pick your favorite episode,
Speaker 2: like a guest episode, because you've probably had at least
Speaker 2: several guests here. I'm thinking about a couple in my head,
Speaker 2: but I'll let you take it over.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, you guys can go check out Tiger Tan Toy.
Speaker 1: We are doing three times a week now that we
Speaker 1: are in season, my co host Kieren Steckley and former
Speaker 1: Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson. He's a great time. You got
Speaker 1: to check out his stories if you haven't already. It's
Speaker 1: hilarious and if you're looking for a starter episode with
Speaker 1: Trek Scooble, right. One of the things that's been awesome
Speaker 1: about covering Schooble as he's gotten more successful, some guys
Speaker 1: kind of retreated to themselves. They shy away from the attention.
Speaker 1: Schooble's almost like opened up with his personality. So he's
Speaker 1: both a funny and insightful interview. We talked to him
Speaker 1: for thirty plus minutes a couple of weeks ago, So
Speaker 1: I hope you guys will go check it out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's perfect. Also, broadcaster Jason Bennette has been on
Speaker 2: Parker Meadows, was on just recently, so go check it out.
Speaker 2: Cody great to see you enjoy Lakeland,