Article: Twins vs. Tigers, 07/02/2012, 6:05pm

[diehardtwinsfan]

Just can't make any judgments at this point. He's 23 and he's got less than a full season's worth of innings above Double-A. He's looked bad, no doubt, but his command is superb. He could very well figure things out at some point. Not unusual for a fresh kid to get knocked around by MLB hitters.

pretty much this, though I wouldn't mind him getting more seasoning in AAA, but given our rotation as it is...

[jokin]

Always nice to win in Detroit.

Too bad we dug ourselves into such a deep early hole with the 13-27 start. If we could have managed to play simply bad baseball instead of putrid baseball in that stretch, we'd be right in the mix and feeling very differently about this season.

I didn't buy into all the pre-season hype with the Tigers. I think a lot of people were so star struck by the big names that they didn't notice some deeper flaws. That said, I think they'll still find a way to win this lousy division and I'd be wary of facing them in the postseason - with Verlander and that lineup, they could be very dangerous.

The Vegas odds put the Tigers chances at winning the AL at 7/1, compared to the White Sox at 12/1 and the Indians at 14/1. The Tigers are drawing in the most fan bets right now, so you are on to something here. Berry has been huge, especially against righties, Dirks is soon to be back and Avila and Jackson just got back. There was even talk that Martinez might be in the mix in September. I think there is a big run coming, possibly a steamroll if they can figure out the pitching situation and possibly pick up another arm or two this month.

[one_eyed_jack]

Just can't make any judgments at this point. He's 23 and he's got less than a full season's worth of innings above Double-A. He's looked bad, no doubt, but his command is superb. He could very well figure things out at some point. Not unusual for a fresh kid to get knocked around by MLB hitters.

---Thanks, Nick, and others who commented. Yeah, I know it's too early to make judgments. There's no way of knowing which way he'll go at this point. I was more just looking for initial impressions and gut reactions based on what you've seen so far. But it sounds like it's been enough of a mix of good and bad that maybe it's premature to start leaning one way or the other.

[one_eyed_jack]

The Vegas odds put the Tigers chances at winning the AL at 7/1, compared to the White Sox at 12/1 and the Indians at 14/1. The Tigers are drawing in the most fan bets right now, so you are on to something here. Berry has been huge, especially against righties, Dirks is soon to be back and Avila and Jackson just got back. There was even talk that Martinez might be in the mix in September. I think there is a big run coming, possibly a steamroll if they can figure out the pitching situation and possibly pick up another arm or two this month.

---I forgot to even mention Martinez, it could be huge if he came back. I was listening to national radio show doing preseason baseball stuff, and they had one of the local Detroit writers on. He said that the loss of V-Mart was going to hurt the Tigers a lot more than people realized, and I think he's been proven right thus far.