Motor City Bengals Podcast

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.This is the final episode of MCB's "Tiger Talk" during the 2015 regular season. On this last show, Holcomb and Pelc share their thoughts on Brad Ausmus sticking around for the 2016 season. As one can imagine, the move didn't make either host very happy.In the second segment, "Tiger Talk" welcomes back MCB Staff Writer Steve Mitzel. The hosts ask Mitzel's reaction to the news about Ausmus and also discuss the latest debacle going on in Washington. On Sunday, relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon and right fielder Bryce Harper got into a little boxing bout. Well, actually Papelbon grabbed Harper by the neck. It was so much more interesting than the shoving match Jose Iglesias and James McCann were in a month or so ago.Finally, to wrap up the first season of "Tiger Talk", Holcomb and Pelc share their postseason predictions. According to our hosts, the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays are clearly the top two teams in the American Le

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.On this episode, the two hosts welcome their first fan onto the show in longtime Detroit Tigers fan Steve Butts, who correctly answered the trivia question to win the signed Victor Martinez ball courtesy of Mizuno. Pelc and Holcomb take turns asking Butts some questions about baseball and what the Tigers should do in the offseason. Once again, Motor City Bengals would like to thank Mizuno for sponsoring the signed V-Mart ball and making the segment with Butts possible.Speaking of V-Mart, in the second part of the show, the two hosts debate his remarks regarding the boos the Tigers have heard over the last year at Comerica Park going all the way back to last season's American League Division Series. Justin Verlander also shared his opinion on the latest boos heard over the weekend. Pelc and Holcomb express their differenting views on the idea of fans booing the home team.Finally in the 'Around the League' segment, Holcomb lists thre

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.On this episode, the two hosts discuss multiple topics regarding the Detroit Tigers, but first, Pelc and Holcomb announce the winner the Victor Martinez signed baseball courtesy of Mizuno. For everything Mizuno, follow their social media accounts listed below and visit their website:Twitter: @MizunoBaseballInstagram: @MizunoBaseballIn the second part of the show, Holcomb and Pelc debate the latest rumors surrounding the Tigers front office regarding the status of Brad Ausmus as manager. A local television stattion in Detroit reported that it is already a foregone conclusion that Ausmus will not be back next season. Tigers general manager Al Avail, however, denied the report and said Detroit is still evaluating Ausmus. Whether true or not, the two hosts argue that this just adds to the three-rin circus that Tigers have been this season.In the final segment, the show welcomes guest start MCB Staff Writer Tom Pollin. With Pollin, the

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.On this episode, the two hosts finally reveal the trivia contest to win the signed Victor Martinez ball. Pelc asks the trivia question in the first segment of the show. If you want to participate, send the answer to MCB_Tigers or search Motor City Bengals on Facebook. For everything Mizuno, follow their social media accounts listed below and visit their website:Twitter: @MizunoBaseballInstagram: @MizunoBaseballAs for the rest of the show, Holcomb and Pelc discuss the reemergence of Justin Verlander and what that means for the Detroit Tigers heading into 2016. The hosts also debate Verlander's last quote about why the Tigers failed in 2015.In the 'Around the League' segment, the conversation moves to New York Mets starter Matt Harvey, who has been the center of controversy for his inability to confirm that he will pitch in the postseason. Pelc and Holcomb share their thoughts on how absurd the idea of Harvey sitting out in October w

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.On this episode, the two hosts are proud to announce again that "Tiger Talk" will be giving away a signed Victor Martinez baseball to one lucky listener. In order to win, listen for a trivia question on the Sept. 8 "Tiger Talk" episode and send us your answer on Twitter or Facebook.The Martinez autographed ball was provided by Mizuno, which is a global sports equipment and sportswear company for baseball and several other sports around the world. As Holcomb explains on the show, they make some of the best baseball equipment in the business. For everything Mizuno, follow their social media accounts listed below and visit their website:Twitter: @MizunoBaseballInstagram: @MizunoBaseballUnfortunately the rest of first segment of 'Tiger Talk' isn't exactly cheery. The Detroit Tigers have lost nine of their last 10 games and have fallen into last place in the AL Central. Pelc and Holcomb discuss the possibility of the Tigers tanking and

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.On this episode, the two hosts are proud to announce that "Tiger Talk" will be giving away a signed Victor Martinez baseball to one lucky listener. In order to win, listen for a trivia question on the Sept. 8 "Tiger Talk" episode and send us your answer on Twitter or Facebook.The Martinez autographed ball was provided by MIzuno, which is a global sports equipment and sportswear company for baseball and several other sports around the world. As Holcomb explains on the show, they make some of the best baseball equipment in the business. For everything Mizuno, follow there social media accounts listed below and visit their website.As for the rest of this episode of "Tiger Talk", neither Holcomb or Pelc believed Detroit still had a chance to make the playoffs, but for those who did, their hopes should have been dashed with the series lost to the Texas Rangers over the weekend. The Rangers are one of the many teams who are in the thick

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with host Dave Holcomb and guest host Steve Mitzel.Despite falling five games below .500, there are some positive takeaways from the last week of Detroit Tigers baseball. For one, first baseman Miguel Cabrera is back on the field. Two, Justin Verlander has returned to form, posting a 1.75 ERA in his last five starts. MCB Staff Writer Tom Zahari started the conversation about why he has continued to watch the Detroit Tigers despite the team falling five games below .500 in his column "Are You Entertained" on Monday morning. Besides Cabrera and Verlander, Mitzel and Holcomb give their other reasons for continuing to follow the Tigers down the stretch.In the second segment, the show moves the conversation to the American League Wild Card race. The Tigers are five games back but as mentioned before, also five games below .500. Do they still have a realistic shot of making the playoffs? If they do, so do the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Ra

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. In this episode, the two hosts debate professionalism versus unprofessionalism.Detroit Tigers owner Mitch Ilitch fired General Manager Dave Dombrowski last week just days after the trade deadline. The news broke on Tuesday, but stranglely, Ilitch told his Assistant General Manager Al Avila on Saturday that he would be replacing Dombrowski. Meanwhile, Dombrowski found out just before the rest of us did on Tuesday.There are reports that Dombrowski was unprofessional during trade talks with the Toronto Blue Jays, but the Tiger Talk hosts don't buy that. Pelc and Holcomb both argue that it was actually Ilitch that should receive a lesson in professionalism.Speaking of unprofessionalism, Detroit Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias appeared to take a play or two off in the field on Friday, and catcher James McCann didn't take too kindly to that. The two exchanged words in the dugout during Friday's game before Iglesias shoved McCann. The cat

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. In this episode, the two hosts completely cover the Detroit Tigers moves at the deadline. General Manager Dave Dombrowski decided to sell and dealt left-hander David Price, left fielder Yoenis Cespedes and closer Joakim Soria in exchange for several prospects, who are already making an impact with the Tigers or their minor league affiliates.In addition to taking a closer look at the trades and the Tigers new prospects in the first segment, Pelc and Holcomb also debate the liklihood Cespedes returns to Detroit in 2016. Although the outfielder has said on numerous occassions in the last month that he wants to stay in the "Motor City", he declided to comment on whether he plans to return after he was traded.It took Dombrowski a long time to decide whether they wanted or not to buy or sell the last week of July, but perhaps in the future, Dombrowski could have even more time. In the second segment, Pelc and Holcomb discuss the pros an

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, it's more of the same for the struggling Detroit Tigers, who have fallen three games below .500 with their latest loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. The pitching has obviously been a problem, but Pelc and Holcomb share their displeasure with the offense, which has failed to score more than two runs in four of the last five games. And speaking of pitching problems, right-hander Shane Greene is moving to the bullpen in favor of Buck Farmer. Tigers fans should not expect much from Farmer, who has posted an ERA above 9.00 in three appearances this season, but Greene has been so bad, something had to be done.In the second segment, the hosts express their final decision on whether the Detroit Tigers should buy or sell before the trade deadline on Friday. As painful as it may be in the short-term, both Holcomb and Pelc believe it is in the team's best interest to give up on this season and look towards building for th

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with host Dave Holcomb and guest host Steve Mitzel. Regular host Matt Pelc was attending to a family matter this week and hopes to return in the next show.The inconsistency of the Detroit Tigers play has been well documented on "Tiger Talk", but there probably hasn't been a great example of it than the past few days. On Monday, second baseman Ian Kinsler hit two home runs with the second coming in the eighth inning to give Detroit a, 5-4, comeback victory. Metaphorically, that game was a peak for Detroit, but the valley was the day before when right-hander Justin Verlander allowed seven runs and didn't make it out of the fourth inning on Sunday. Holcomb and Mitzel breakdown the Tigers emotional roller coaster in the first segment.In the second segment, Mitzel shares his opinions on the All-Star Break, including the Home Run Derby setup and new format. He also expresses his displeasure of J.D. Martinez being left out of the contest.Finally, in the "Around te League" seg

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with host Dave Holcomb. Co-host Matt Pelc is on his All-Star break.On this All-Star edition of "Tiger Talk", Holcomb begins the discussion with the tough weekend series versus the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers won the first game and appeared ready to win the second until the Detroit bullpen yielded seven runs in the ninth and allowed Minnesota to win, 8-6. The Tigers also dropped the next two games behind horrible starting pitching from Alfredo Simon and Shane Greene.In the second segment, "Tiger Talk" returns to a familiar topic in buy or sell? Holcomb presents both sides to the argument, but ultimately concludes that whatever the Tigers decide to do, they should perform it 100 percent.Finally, Holcomb recaps the Home Run Derby and previews Wednesday's All-Star Game in the show's last segment. Reds third baseman Todd Frazier won the derby and each manager announced a starting pitcher for the game.The Motor City Bengals staff would love to hear feedback on this episode.

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, Pelc and Holcomb share their displeasure with the horrible week from the Detroit Tigers. Even though they took two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays over the holiday weekend and then rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners in the first game of the series out west, the sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Justin Verlander's seven earned runs from Sunday left a bad taste in Tigers fans mouths.The most frustrating part of Verlander's start is he does seem to have decent stuff, but he remains stubborn and relies too heavily on his fastball. It burned him for six runs in the fifth inning against the Blue Jays.The worst part of the Tigers week, however, was the fact they lost first baseman Miguel Cabrera to a Grade 3 calf strain. At the very least, Cabrera will be sidelined for six weeks, so the two hosts explain how this injury will effect the Tigers approach at the trade deadline. Does this automatically ma

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, Pelc and Holcomb discuss the month of June for the Detroit Tigers, who are 11-8 with just Tuesday's game remaining. Detroit has continued to play well  against AL Central opponents but still find themselves behind the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins in the division race.The good news is the offense is now awake. Miguel Cabrera hit .388 in June, and Yoenis Cespedes was also over .300. Victor Martinez is back and had a key hit in the, 5-4, comeback victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. V-Mart seems to be the offensive cataylst this team needs. Additionally, J.D. Martinez hit 10 bombs in the month of June.It is key for all these players to continue to hit in this next part of the schedule. Tigers fans probably assume the team will be buyers at the deadline, but honestly, the team hasn't proven they are a true contender. Another prolonged losing streak could force the Tigers to sell and change the c

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, Pelc and Holcomb discuss the strong play the Tigers have displayed within their division and in particular, versus the Cleveland Indians. After Monday's, 8-5, victory, the Tigers are 8-2 against the Indians this season.Unfortunately, that still didn't stop the Tigers from losing two of three to the Cincinnati Reds and two of three to the New York Yankees last week. At two players part of the problem is third baseman NIck Castellanos and starter Justin Verlander. Castellanos has an OPS below .600 this season, so the hosts debate the possibility of him working on his swing in Triple-A. Meanwhile, Verlander's second outing of the season on Friday was quite disappointing. The two hosts discuss that and complain about the fact he threw 117 pitches in the start.It wasn't all bad last week, though, as designated hitter Victor Martinez returned on Friday and went 3-for-6 on Sunday with a home run. His bomb was one of five

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, Pelc and Holcomb praise the Detroit Tigers for winning six of their last eight games, which includes two complete-game shutouts from David Price and Anibal Sanchez in two of the last four games.As great as the pitching has been, no one has been better than Miguel Cabrera. Miggy is hitting .464 with a .892 slugging percentage, three home runs, including two massive bombs, 11 RBI and eight runs in the last eight games. The recent hot streak has Cabrera in the lead for the AL batting title and tied for the AL lead in RBI.What helps is Yoenis Cespedes and J.D. Martinez are also hitting. Martinez has homered in three straight games and four times in the last eight games. Meanwhile, Cespedes has raised his average to .339 and has four home runs and nine RBI in 67 plate appearances while batting clean up.In the second segment, Pelc and Holcomb talk about Justin Verlander's debut start from Saturday and when to expect Vic

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, Pelc and Holcomb breakdown another tough week for the Detroit Tigers, two rehabs outings from Saturday, the MLB Draft and a frightening moment from the weekend series in Boston.dissect the most disappointing players on the Detroit Tigers this seasonTo start the show, the two hosts discuss the disappointing players for the Tigers in 2015. Unfortunately, the team has featured its fair share of them. MCB Staff Writer Tom Zahari released a fan poll on Monday asking which player was the most disappointing of all, so the two hosts encourage listeners to check out the poll and vote.In the second segment, the hosts have yet another segment debating the Justin Verlander injury, but this time around, Tigers fans finally have some good news. Verlander pitched extremely well on Saturday and appears ready to return to the big league club. The same cannot be said for fellow pitcher Bruce Rondon, who relieved Verlander last Satu

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb. On this episode, Pelc and Holcomb breakdown the tough West Coast trip, which included a four-game sweep at Angel Stadium, and welcome guest, Motor City Bengals Staff Writer Matt St. Jean.To start the show, the two hosts discuss the struggling Tigers offense. Detroit has scored three or fewer runs in seven of their last nine games and are 10th in the American League in scoring. Left fielder Yoenis Cespedes has particularly struggled, hitting just .182 in the clean up spot since Victor Martinez hit the disabled list. Both Pelc and Holcomb share their thoughts in what can be done to jump start the offense.Justin Verlander's rehab start and David Price's season are the two other major topics in the first segment.In the second segment, guest Matt St. Jean makes his Tiger Talk debut. He also shares his thoughts on what to do with the offense, Verlander's latest start and which former Tigers is most painful to see do well in their new un

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with host Dave Holcomb and guest host Steve Mitzel.On this week's show, Holcomb and Mitzel discuss the inconsistencies in the Tigers offense and the starting rotation. In the last nine days, the Detroit Tigers have scored two runs or fewer in five games and scored more than five runs in three other games. It is inconsistent at best, but Ian Kinsler and Yoenis Cespedes have been consistently struggling the last week. The two hosts dive a little bit deeper into Kinsler's recent slump and discuss one very unusual stat line in his splits.As for the mound, starter Anibal Sanchez has been the model of inconsistent and recently has been flat out bad. He has allowed seven runs in each of his last two starts, coughing up a four-run lead on Sunday. But, should he have even been in the game when he yielded the game-tying home run to pinch hitter Preston Tucker? Holcomb and Mitzel share their thoughts on manager Brad Ausmus' decision to leave Sanchez in the game after 111 pitches.

Motor City Bengals Presents "Tiger Talk" with hosts Matt Pelc and Dave Holcomb.After talking about the worst week in the season on last week's episode, the Detroit Tigers rebounded by taking two out of three from the Minnesota Twins and then two out of three from the St. Louis Cardinals, who have the best record in the league. As the Meat Loaf song goes, two out of three ain't bad.Of course, Detroit did lose, 3-2, to Milwaukee on Monday to start this week, but can still take the series with a modest two-game winning streak. The Tigers are getting consistent starting pitching at the moment, which has enabled them to win the Twins and Cardinals series last week.The bullpen has also been better than expected, at least in the month of May. During this month, the Tigers have the best bullpen ERA in the league.Unfortunately, it isn't all good news as another starting pitcher suffered an injury last week. Shane Greene left Friday's start with a most unusual injury, but according to the Detroit Free Press, Greene is