Saturday, March 28, 2009

Could This Be Larry Brown's Revenge?

Both the Pistons and Charlotte won Saturday night, so the Bobcats are just 2 1-2 games behind Detroit for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
There it is: Larry Brown’s chance to exact revenge from the Pistons.
Doubt Brown is thinking that way, but wouldn’t that be something if the Pistons don’t make the playoffs - and the Bobcats do?
Think back to the start of the season. That would have been deemed impossible at the time. Took Richard Hamilton not only coming back, but playing extremely well for the Pistons to beat the lowly Wizards Saturday. Charlotte has won four straight, so Brown’s team is playing well.
This will get interesting. I feel this way: If the Pistons manage to get into the seventh seed for the playoffs, and Orlando beats out Boston for No. 2, Detroit still has a realistic shot at winning its opening-round playoff series.

Random Thoughts

- I don’t know about the rest of the Tigers pitching staff, but I do believe they have the makings of a solid top of the starting rotation in Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Armando Galarraga.

- I’ve got news for first-year Lions head coach Jim Schwartz: Talent can’t be overemphasized. If he doesn’t much of it, he will not win with the Lions. Neither will any other coach.

- Count me among those who feel the Tigers should keep Ryan Perry to start the season. He throws in the mid-to-high 90s, and has pretty good command of the baseball. What else did the Tigers need to see this spring? I wouldn’t keep Rick Porcello to start the season, though. Unlike Perry, he has not seized the opportunity.

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pat,

Good call on Perry. I agree 100%. Like Lynn Henning wrote, the Tigers need his power arm in the pen to start the season to take the place of Zumaya and his seemingly glass body. I hope, for his sake and ours, he can patch everything together at some point and get completely healthy again.

How do you see the Tigers rounding out the rotation with Bondo needing more time? With Miner and Robertson? Kind of a scary thought, isn't it? You make a very valid point about Porcello, though. I just wonder if Miner and Robertson are truly the better choices at this point. We can only hope that Bondo recovers quickly, I guess. You can always patch together the number 5 slot as long as you have a 4 reliable guys ahead of it.

Travis

1:01 PM 
Blogger maddog52 said...

I agree and will take one step further. I'd like to see Perry get the nod at closer early and hold the position for a long time. Much like Papelbon did wit with the BoSox. I think he is much better then both Lyon and Rodney. Porcello I agree I think he needs some more time in the miners. That being said I still think the Tigers missed out on the opportunity to go grab a guy like Derrick Lowe. At least until Robertson, Bonderman, and or Willis are ready to step in.

As far as the Pistons goes. Personally I don't care who they play as I feel if they don't lose they probably will get swepped if not swepped in the second round. I tell you what though the pistons do have a couple of nice peices in place. With the expiring bozos gone at this year I think we can rebound quickly. Though as time goes on I kind of almost like stucky at the 2 then the 1.

2:24 PM 
Anonymous Mike said...

I agree with keeping Perry and not keeping Porcello on the big club, but not because of Porcello not seizing the opportunity.

Porcello is considered one of the very best pitching prospects in all of baseball, and he's only 20 years old. He's never even pitched above the Single A level. And he's considered to have the potential to one day be a Cy Young candidate.

He's just too important to our future. Its not worth risking bringing him up too early for the benefit of the short term.

5:27 PM 
Blogger Pat Caputo said...

Travis,
I like Perry's chances because he not only throws hard and has command, but his fastball comes on a downward plane.
Caputo

5:16 PM 
Blogger Pat Caputo said...

Maddog52,
Perry won't be the closer to start the season, but it won't long before he gets into the role if he pitches well and Rodney falters as expected.
Caputo

5:17 PM 
Blogger Pat Caputo said...

Mike,
Well, Pocello did make it, but it wasn't necessarily because he earned it, but because others did not.
Caputo

5:18 PM 

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