By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
June 8, 2016

This should be an exciting time for Tigers fans. After a rocky start to the season, everything seems to be falling into place. The offense — which on paper is the best collection of talent in my lifetime — has started to live up to the hype.

The starting pitching has finally come around led by Rookie of the Year contender Michael Fulmer, improved performances by Mike Pelfrey and the dependable pair of Jordan Zimmermann and Justin Verlander. 

Not to mention, the crown jewel of last year’s trade deadline fire sale (Daniel Norris) seems to have recovered from a couple of medical setbacks — including CANCER surgery — and based on recent appearances in Toledo, he looks primed to be a key contributor to the team’s second-half push.

Shit, the decade-long nightmare known as the bullpen even looks solidified with impressive work being done in the back end by Francisco Rodriguez and Justin Wilson.

Shane Greene looks capable of handling the seventh inning based on his stuff alone and the complementary pieces — sans Mark Lowe — seem to be settling down.

And at some point in the near future you’d have to think Joe Jimenez will make his Major League debut in Detroit as there obviously isn’t left much for him to prove in the minors ….

Everything is looking up with the team 2.5 games out of first place and in the midst of a five-game winning streak. Even the last two games the team LOST were impressive. They recovered from a 9-2 deficit in Anaheim to tie the game before losing 11-9 in the bottom of the ninth. And they almost pulled a miraculous comeback against one of the best bullpens ever assembled (Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman) last Thursday in a 5-4 loss to the Yankees.

Hell, if GM Al Avila wants to add a piece or two at the deadline next month, he now actually has a farm system with actual prospects another team might want to acquire. The list of Tigers’ minor leaguers improving their value in 2016 includes — but is not limited to — Steven Moya, Beau Burrows, Matt Hall and JaCoby Jones.

So what’s the problem, Mist? Well, the issue with this team potentially rebounding from last year’s last-place finish and qualifying for the playoffs is that the same imbecile who managed the team in the 2014 ALDS to nightmarish results is still at the helm and it appears he hasn’t learned much in the last 2 1/2 years.

Instead of celebrating last night’s impressive come-from-behind victory against the Blue Jays, all I could think of was Brad Ausmus not starting David Price until Game 3 of the ALDS and Ausmus’ horrendous bullpen decisions that led to a Baltimore Orioles sweep.

Because while I was confident that the sabermetric braintrust of the Tigers (led by former Apple executive Jay Sartori, Sam Menzin and Christopher Long) would somehow influence Ausmus into ceasing to make Jim Leyland-esque decisions, yesterday’s game erased all of that hope.

And it all started before the game even commenced when Ausmus decided to rest Cameron Maybin (a completely justifiable decision) and replaced him in centerfield and in the #2 slot in the batting order with Andrew Romine (a completely asinine decision.)

Yep, in the middle of a nice winning streak, Ausmus decided to set the table for Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez with a man who has a CAREER on-base percentage of .294.

And actually, his career .294 OBP looks good in comparison to his numbers so far this season. Romine’s current slash line of .138/.265/.207 is worse than a ton of PITCHERS in the National League.

He actually has a MINUS POINT FOUR WAR, which is almost impossible considering he has barely played but that’s how bad Romine has been this season in limited duty.

So instead of just bumping up everyone one spot in the batting order — which actual MAJOR LEAGUERS could easily handle — the Dartmouth Dummy instead placed Romine in the most important spot in the lineup.

It’s a move straight out of the Leyland playbook. Remember when Don Kelly would fill in for Miggy and Kelly would bat THIRD?!!? Well, this wasn’t much better.

And if you are telling me Cabrera can’t bat second, look across the diamond and notice that JOSE BAUTISTA is leading off. Jose Fucking Bautista. Not to mention that Mike Trout regularly bats second for the Angels.

And then the game started and things didn’t get much better for Ausmus. His first blunder came in the bottom of the ninth inning with Ian Kinsler on second base and nobody out with Romine unfortunately due to bat.

Instead of pinch hitting for the anemic Romine with Maybin, he actually ordered Romine to give the Jays a free out. Even though Kinsler was ALREADY in scoring position with Miggy and the Marts coming up.

Predictably, Cabrera hit a rocket to right-center which would have scored Chris Christie from second base. But good thing Ausmus sacrificed in that situation.

And then the man who was seemingly playing for a tie moments earlier decided to pinch run for Cabrera with Maybin. It clearly wasn’t the dumbest Maybin and Miggy swap ever made, but I have seen the removal of Cabrera for a pinch runner backfire WAY too many times in the past and I am against it in almost all situations.

I mean, what are the chances that a pinch runner in that situation is going to make a difference on a scoring play anyway? I am guessing somewhere around five percent.

The Tigers ended up not scoring the winning run in the ninth so Ausmus’ contribution to the inning was giving Toronto an out and voluntarily removing from the game the best player in the franchise’s history.

As Al Pacino once famously said, “You are here to help us … not HURT us.”

But Ausmus wasn’t done making buffoonish decisions. In the bottom of the tenth inning, the first two batters reached base. So with runners on first and second with nobody out and Jose Iglesias up, Ausmus once again ordered the sac bunt.

Now, in a tie ballgame in the bottom of an extra-inning frame, this would be the correct move 99 out of 100 times. It’s pretty much the only time you should lay down a sacrifice.

But this was the ONE time out of 100 where it didn’t make sense. Why? Because if Iglesias successfully advances the runners, there is one out and an open base with Kinsler coming up. OBVIOUSLY, John Gibbons would walk the Tigers’ second baseman in that situation, leaving the bases loaded for …….

ANDREW ROMINE and his .138 batting average. And if the struggling Romine couldn’t come through in that situation, Maybin would have come to bat — having replaced Miggy an inning earlier — and we found out this morning that Maybin is nursing a wrist injury.

Which is maybe why he didn’t pinch hit for Romine in the ninth, which only further amplifies the original sin of batting the weak-hitting utility player SECOND in the first place.

(I guess a case could be made that Ausmus could have pinch hit for Romine with James McCann had that scenario unfolded, but Ausmus doesn’t like leaving the team without a potential replacement at the catching position and it’s not like McCann is setting the world on fire, either.)

I would rather have taken my chances with runners on first and second and nobody out by letting Iglesias and Kinsler swing away instead of potentially leaving the game up to ANDREW ROMINE.  But that’s just me.

Fortunately for Ausmus — who is still employed only because his predecessor didn’t want to walk over his lifeless corpse — Justin Smoak fielded Iglesias’ bunt attempt and foolishly tried to get Justin Upton out at third. Well, that didn’t go well. The bases were then loaded with NOBODY out and Kinsler ended things moments later.

But none of this changes the fact that on multiple occasions in this crucial game, Brad Ausmus made the mathematically poor decision.

And that pattern has continued today as Mike Aviles is batting SECOND in this afternoon’s lineup. A man with a .296 career OBP and a 2016 slash line of .180/.241/.220.

Because this idiot didn’t learn his lesson from 12 hours ago. And it’s pretty apparent that he hasn’t ascertained anything relevant from the organization’s new sabermetrically-inclined management team.

Just the same mindless maneuvers with ZERO forethought given to thinking two moves ahead of the action.

The only thing scarier than missing the playoffs for a second straight season is this moron in the dugout making decisions in an ALDS.

And just a friendly note for everyone who remembers 2014 …..

Anibal Sanchez is in the bullpen again.