Happy Monday. We head into the All Star Break with the Tigers farting away a perfectly winnable series against the Minnesota Twins. That hurts. But we can start our week with the promise of the future. Sunday night saw the first round completed and the opinions on Detroit’s selections exist and they are wide ranging. Let’s get to it.
Is there a draft in here?
Round one of the 2021 draft occurred on Sunday evening. The Tigers held the third overall pick and took high school pitcher Jackson Jobe with the third overall pick. Tigers Twitter had and the fanbase, in general, had a wide-ranging response to the pick. With shortstop Marcelo Mayer available, and with the organization particularly lacking at that position no small amount of people were disgruntled with the team passing on him. Word is that the team had a verbal agreement with Jobe and stuck to it. I don’t know what the potential repercussions are of backing out on something like that in regards to how draftees and players view your organization, but I can’t imagine that it makes you look great. By all accounts, Jobe has the potential to be an impact player. It’s a long road to the majors and he’s gonna need a few years to get there.
With the 32nd overall pick the team took Texas right hander Ty Madden which by all accounts was a steal of a pick at that spot.
Check out the front page for everything you need to know about Monday’s events in the draft.
WIlli’s time is up?
Willi Castro, despite his other talents — or the lack thereof — continues to be exceptionally bad at defense. Evan Woodbery at Mlive.com is of the opinion that the Tigers should take a look at the situation during the All-Star break and decide enough is enough for Castro at second base. Jonathan Schoop is the simplest solution to replace Castro, but that leaves a pretty big hole at first base, where Schoop has spent most of his time this season. Candidates on Woodbery’s list include Miguel Cabrera, Renato Nunez, and Isaac Paredes. What this move would mean for Castro is uncertain. The possibility of giving him time in the outfield is mentioned, but I’m not sure how they would find space for him there, or if they would want to. The more likely solution would be using the option the team still has on Castro to send him to Toledo.
Manning optioned
Over the weekend, the team optioned starting pitcher Matt Manning to Toledo. If you’re wondering why the team would send Manning down right after completing one of his more promising major league starts, the answer is pitching depth. Derek Holland — who is just coming off the IL — required some space and Manning isn’t scheduled to start until after the All-Star Break, so Manning was sent to Toledo. Regardless of how Holland fares, we will likely see Manning back up after the break.
Keeping funk out of the rotation
With the difficulty the organization has been facing in the area of starting pitching, and with the success Kyle Funkhouser has had in the two- to three-inning role he has been filling, moving Funkhouser into the starting rotation might seem like a smart move. AJ Hinch doesn’t think so. Funkhouser has been performing well in his current role and Hinch is of the opinion that trying to insert him into the starting rotation is something that should be done with a full season in mind and that the back and forth of jumping between the roles wouldn’t be fair to Funkhouser. It seems like Funkhouser has found his niche and Hinch is going to try as best he can to keep him there.
Turnbull stays out
It looks like Spencer Turnbull isn’t going to make as quick a return to the team as was once hoped. Turnbull had started a throwing program in Lakeland, but was shut down with a return of pain in his forearm. Turnbull has come back to Detroit for a series of tests and the anticipated timeline for his return is now sometime in August.
Christian Yelich’s indignation is awesome
Christian Yelich was tagged out by the first base ump after hitting a single because he turned toward second? Christian was not pleased.
Around the horn
Could shortening the length of the regular season revive baseball? Stars of tomorrow show out in the futures game. Spencer Torlkelson went 1-2 and Riley Greene 2-3. What goes on in draft rooms.