Justin Verlander has become what Jeremy Bonderman was supposed to be for the Tigers, namely, a stud. The guy might get knocked around every now and then, but he always seems to bounce back. I'm starting to lose faith in Bonderman being a No. 1 guy. He's just so inconsistent, which you wouldn't expect now with all the experience he has. But, he's still young, so I should cut him some slack, I guess. Make no mistake, I'm certainly glad to have him.
With last night's much needed victory over the Pale Hose, the Tigers improved to 9-12 (by my count) with Polanco out of the lineup this year. The addition of Neifi Perez doesn't make me do backflips, but provides some depth. I don't think he's got much range, but probably makes the routine plays.
The Tigers don't have any hitters in the lineup that teams really need to fear on the level of a Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols, etc., but they don't really have any guys in the lineup that you can think are sure outs, either.
Craig Monroe might be emerging as the Tigers best bet to become the most feared stick in the lineup. Over his last 50 games, Monroe is .344-11-41 with 34 runs. He seems to be tough in the clutch, too.
This from the Detroit News: When asked if a 6 1/2-game lead sounds a lot better than 4 1/2 — which it would have been had the White Sox won — Leyland said: “Sure, I didn’t go to school to eat my lunch. I can add, too.”
No comments:
Post a Comment