Detroit Tigers: Second guessing, Castellanos’ aggressiveness, Gose surprising

It’s hard to argue with a 6-1 record, but with every loss comes second guessing.

In Monday’s loss in Pittsburgh, manager Brad Ausmus didn’t use Victor Martinez as a pinch hitter until the last at-bat of the game. Detroit’s offensive chances in the game were limited, but the Detroit Tigers had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh.

Rather than pinch hit Martinez, Ausmus elected to let third baseman Nick Castellanos hit, and he grounded into a double play.

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A similar situation arose in the ninth inning with the Tigers trailing by just a run. Detroit had four straight hits off Pirates closer Mark Melancon to pull within one run and put the tying run on first. Again, Ausmus elected to let Castellanos hit, and he grounded into another double play.

Ausmus explained his reasoning after the game while he also defended Castellanos’ aggressiveness in each at-bat. Castellanos swung at the first pitch in the seventh and ninth inning at-bats.

Despite the loss, the Tigers have a lot to be pleased with after the first week of baseball. The offense is proving that it will be one of the best in the game, but perhaps the biggest and best surprise for Detroit is their young center fielder, Anthony Gose.

Detroit Tigers’ Brad Ausmus explains why he didn’t use Victor Martinez as pinch-hitter earlier in loss – Chris Iott, MLive.com

“I thought about it,” Ausmus said of using Martinez for Castellanos. “But my gut told me we were going to have a chance later in the game, quite frankly. I didn’t want to be caught where we wouldn’t be able to run (for someone) or wouldn’t be able to pinch hit with the pitcher coming up. So I felt like we’d have a chance later and it turned out we did.”

Ausmus: Castellanos right to jump on first pitch – Chris McCosky, The Detroit News

He didn’t like the results, but he’s not second-guessing his aggressiveness at the plate.“They were both fastballs,” Castellanos said. “I was looking for a pitch I could put a good swing on and that was one and I swung. It just happened to ground into a double play.”It should be noted that Castellanos has done serious damage swinging at first pitches. Last season, he hit .400 on first pitches with an .880 slugging percentage and 1.288 OPS.

Among Tigers surprises, Gose takes the cake – Jamie Samuelsen, Detroit Free Press

It’s only been a week, but he’s been an unreal all-around player through Sunday’s game. Gose was hitting .450. He’s been active on the bases with a steal and six runs scored and even showed a little bit of pop hitting a home run and slugging 800. Baseball is littered with players who got off to hot starts in April and were down in the minors by July. Gose is not this good at the plate nor is he expected to be.

Next: Detroit Tigers Rally Falls Just Short in First Loss of the Year