This afternoon's lineup vs. 24-year-old righty Luinder Avila (4.86 ERA in 19 games, 10 starts). Avila has a 5.87 ERA as a starter so he'll probably shut us out.
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Colt Keith (L)
3B
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Kevin McGonigle (L)
SS
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Gleyber Torres (R)
DH
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Riley Greene (L)
LF
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Dillon Dingler (R)
C
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Kerry Carpenter (L)
RF
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Spencer Torkelson (R)
1B
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James Outman (L)
CF
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Hao-Yu Lee (R)
2B
Hinch wants to bat Keith at leadoff lately. Keith has a 5.1% walk rate (MLB average is 8.4).
Lee is batting 9th. Whatever, AJ.
Lefty Framber Valdez (4.57 ERA in 20 starts) on the mound for the Tigers. Toss a coin as to what we'll get from him. I'll blame his last start on him being emotionally/mentally distracted after his grandmother's death, but Valdez has a tendency to have blow-up
starts anyway.
At this point, I don't care if the Tigers trade Valdez at the deadline and agree to eat a big chunk of his remaining salary.
One reason Valdez was signed was as a hedge against losing Skubal next year, but Valdez looks more like a #5 starter now than a guy who could take over the #1 spot for Skubal. He'll be a $42.8 million #5 starter next year. Woof!
Peter