Justyn-Henry Malloy was in the Atlanta Braves organization when he appeared as a guest on FanGraphs Audio in October 2022, this while finishing up his first full professional season in the Arizona Fall League. He became a Tiger soon thereafter. In early December of that year, Detroit acquired the now-24-year-old outfielder, along with Jake Higginbotham, in exchange for Joe Jiménez. Then a promising-yet-unpolished 2021 sixth-round pick out of Georgia Tech, Malloy was described in our trade recap as possessing “a combination of power and patience.” It was the latter that stood out most. Plate discipline was the youngster’s carrying tool, as evidenced by a .438 OBP as a collegian and a .408 OBP across three levels in the minors. Despite a higher-than-ideal strikeout rate and questions about his defensive future — he’d recently transitioned to left field from the hot corner — Malloy seemed well positioned to join a young Tigers lineup in the coming seasons. He arrived, at least in part, this summer. After doing his thing in Toledo — his stat line with the Triple-A Mud Hens this season included a .403 OBP and a 129 wRC+ — Malloy made his MLB debut in early June, and with the exception of brief demotion in late August remained on the roster throughout. His numbers were admittedly not great. In 230 plate appearances against big-league pitching he slashed just .203/.291/.366 with eight home runs. Moreover, a pedestrian 10% walk rate belied the discerning-eye approach that helped him get there. How different is the present day Justin-Henry Malloy from the up-and-coming prospect I’d talked to two years ago? I asked him that question when the Tigers played in Chicago on the final weekend of the regular season. “I haven’t changed much,” replied Malloy, who subsequently went 2-for-3 in the Wild Card series is now on Detroit’s ALDS roster. “I like staying pretty consistent. I liked what I did in 2022, so I went into that offseason trying not to do too much and wanting to replicate a good season in 2023. I felt like I was able to do so [Malloy had 23 home runs, a .417 OBP, and a 130 wRC+]. That’s what I wanted to do again this year, replicate another good season. Remaining the same guy has kind of always been my mentality.” Hitters typically make mechanical adjustments as they move up the ladder and the quality of pitching improves. Has Malloy not done that? “Nope,” said Malloy. “Same guy. I…
RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Pete Alonso is 16 for 50 against Aaron Nola. Keith Hernandez went 15 for 34 against Orel Hershiser. Francisco Lindor is 14 for 34 against Chris Sale. Bud Harrelson went 20 for 60 against Bob Gibson. David Wright went 23 for 55 against Jamie Moyer.
I was remiss in not mentioning last Sunday that Joe Castiglione was about to call his last game after 42 years in the Red Sox radio booth. The 2024 Ford C. Frick Award winner, who was behind the mic in Cleveland and Milwaukee before coming to Boston in 1983, is retiring as the longest tenured broadcaster in team history. Following last Sunday’s game — a 3-1-Boston win over Tampa Bay — Castiglione was asked what the ninth inning was like. “I was sort of numb,” Castiglione told reporters. “It sort of felt like the ninth inning in St. Louis, in ’04 — in the zone, pitch after pitch, hoping it would end. Yeah, it’s nostalgia and sadness.” Getting to call the final outs in 2004 when the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 seasons is obviously a career highlight for Castiglione. That the venerable broadcaster had retained his ever-positive attitude when the team fell into an 0-3 hole to the Yankees in that year’s ALCS is something that stood out to Pedro Martinez. Talking to reporters during Sunday’s game, the Hall of Fame hurler recalled Castiglione’s words of encouragement and hope, which contrasted greatly to those of a notoriously negative segment of the Boston media. Martinez punctuated his praise of Castiglione with a well-deserved dig at two particular reporters who were in the celebratory clubhouse on October 27, 2004. “I wanted them to get champagne in their eyes, so they could feel the burning,” Martinez said. “They can stop saying, ‘Oh, they’re going to fall again.”
Three Tigers/Guardians notes: The Tigers are 1,159-1,155 all-time against the Cleveland Guardians/Indians (there have also been 12 ties) in the regular season. The AL rivals are currently meeting in the postseason for the first time. Travis Fryman played with the Tigers from 1990-1997 and batted .274 with a .779 OPS. He played with the Indians from 1998-2002 and batted .275 with a .779 OPS. The Tigers won 86 games in the regular season. Eighteen times in franchise history they have won 87 or more games without advancing to the postseason, including in 1961 when they went 101-61, and in 1915 when they went 100-54.
A quiz: Whitey Ford’s 10 wins are the most in World Series history. Which pitcher has the most World Series losses? (A hint: he is in the Hall of Fame and spent his entire career with the same team.) The answer can be found below.
NEWS NOTES
Ozzie Virgil, who became MLB’s first Dominican-born player when he took the field for the New York Giants in 1956, died last week at age 92. A utility player who saw action in nine big-league seasons and later coached for the Giants, Expos, Padres, and Mariners, Virgil also has the distinction of being the Tigers’ first player of color. Detroit was the second-to-last team to integrate, doing so in June 1958. The 10 finalists for the Hall of Fame’s 2024 Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting were announced this week. They are Rene Cardenas, Skip Caray, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dave Sims, and John Sterling…
The answer to quiz is Whitey Ford himself. He went 10-8 while appearing in 11 World Series with the Yankees between 1950 and 1964.
On the subject of Ford C. Frick candidates, my vote would go to Tom Hamilton. The longtime radio voice of the Cleveland Guardians not only has numerous signature calls on his résumé — Down Goes Anderson is a recent classic — he is a fantastic storyteller. The 70-year-old Waterloo, Wisconsin native is more than deserving of the honor.
Generally speaking, teams/managers are too bullpen-reliant/make too many pitching changes in the postseason. Yes or no? I asked that question in a Twitter poll earlier this week, and the results leaned old school, with “Yes” yielding 56.5% of the votes cast,…
