Is he done?  I’m talking about Gary Sheffield.
Reason being, is that for the Tigers, getting the former perenial All-Star off of the DL should be a positive.  One to allow the Tigers in their journey back to respectability, on route to a battle for the division.  Unfortunately; with the performance of the presumed DH to this point of the season, it may be an uncomfortable return to say the least.

Can Sheff return to form?

With Sheff confident that a healthy shoulder will equal quality at-bats and at least a return to form, he knows that he’ll have the Skipper on his side.  It’s just that in his absence, the Tigers have crawled back into contention and being only five games back of the division lead every game is extremely meaningful.  Does he deserve an opportunity to reclaim the regular spot on the batting order that he had prior to going on the shelf?  Of course he does.  His past achievements credit at least such an opportunity.  However, the difference this time, is that the Tigers and their management can’t be as patient as they have been, waiting for Gary to turn it around. 
“I WANNA PLAY EVERYDAY JIMMY!  PUT ME IN!”A couple of good things that a healthy Sheff brings is a tremendous plate presence.  Even struggling this season with a .213 AVG. his 25 walks (in 151 plate appearances, giving him a .344 OBP) prove that he still shows tremendous patience at the plate and certainly draws a great deal of respect at the dish.  While his tremendous bat speed is still there, that is one area that at times it appeared to require a fine tune adjustment.  Too many lazy pop-ups and soft groundouts, which is usually an indication that he is too far behind a pitch, or swinging too early.  While his K/AB ratio is up quite a bit from his career average (1/8.08 career compared to 1/4.53 this season) he is still making contact.  Also, at the age of 39, he still is a tremendous base runner that is a threat along the base paths.

Even at 39, Sheff has great vision and good legs on the bases.

The Tigers took a flyer on him in acquiring him coming off of an injury-riddled season, and went ahead and extended a 3-year deal without suiting up in D-Town.  Many were happy with the aggressive move thinking that this was a move that would provide the middle of the line-up with a veteran presence, one that provides power, and will open up pitches for Guillen and Magglio, and when he’s in there, he’s done that.  Unfortunately with 1.5 years left on a hefty contract, if his injuries don’t subside and he doesn’t straighten up his problems at the plate, should he be removed from an everyday role, I fear that Gary Sheffield may become a distraction.  He believes that he still can contribute and wants to play everyday in some facet of the game.

Hopefully, we won’t have to see this anymore.

With Marcus Thames and his mighty bat having quite a coming out party since being passed the torch of a more consistent at-bat opportunity, I think that it would be a mistake to shake up too much in this line-up when things are going accordingly.

A familiar site of late.  Marcus Thames showing off his home-run trot.

We’ll see what Jimmy Ley has planned.  I’m sure that whatever happens it will be second guessed by many.  I don’t care what he does, as long as in the long run, it works.

The Tigers are rolling along, doing exactly what I suggested that needed to be done to get back in this thing, and they an incredible five games back of the White Sox for 1st in the Central.

This great stretch of 12 wins in their last 15 games has also pulled them within eight games of the Wild Card leading Tampa Bay Rays.  And while most of baseball is waiting for the Rays to collapse, they have been able to continue to find a way to win and keep the pace with the Red Sox in a battle for top spot in the East.

 
THE RAYS HAVE REALLY HAD A LOT TO CELEBRATE THIS SEASON!

While still being back that many games from the White Sox, the Tigers have to realize how much of a hill this is going to be to climb.  In digging the hole early in the year they have to put together a string of series wins, and have gotten a boost that started by sweeping the Sox at home, and then playing some of the weaker NL teams in Interleague play.

 
HERE COME THE CHARGING TIGERS (i know that it’s only actually one tiger…but you get the hint!)

Facing sub-par teams like the Dodgers, Giants and the struggling Padres meant that the Tigers couldn’t afford to hand over too many victories, and not capitalize on a weak schedule.  Consider that done, after winning their fifth series in a row taking two of three in both series against the Pads’ and the Giants, after sweeping the Sox and Dodgers.

The bats have been cooking, and the pitching solid.  Even the defense seems to be falling in line, after starting the season with many question marks.  Credit the likes of the ‘AAA’ squad that have been great in their peek-a-boos in the big clubs line-up. 

Over the last month, the line for the Tigers bats is impressive: .274 BA, 142 R (avg. of 5.26/gm), 29 HR’s, .342 OB% (BB/K ratio of nearly 2:1) and a solid .434 SLG%, the bats are obviously enjoying the Interleague play.

With that being said, it appears that the starting pitching has been doing their job as well, with their own impressive line: 14-5, 3.47 ERA (subtract Willis’ horrific start, along with Eddy Bonine’s MLB debut and the ERA is a nearly half a run less at 2.90) 62 BB’s and 99 K’s.  The staff is getting it done!

AFTER A ROUGH DEBUT, BONINE PITCHED DECENT AGAINST THE PADS’.

The key to the success of the rotation of late, is their ability to go deeper into games than what they had been doing.  Keeping a bullpen fresh is extremely important in doing well in the big leagues.  The best teams are able to keep their arms loose and ready when necessary.

Having a strong set-up guy, along with a quality closer could be the difference in a block of games over the course of a season.  While both Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya have struggled in their first showings this season, the two of them being back in the mix hopefully indicates that the ‘pen will only become better.

   
WELCOME BACK BOYS!  HOPEFULLY YOU’VE STILL GOT YOUR STUFF

This will hopefully be a surge of confidence to a team that at times has shown the ability to blow a lead late, or from a ‘pen that can’t get the big out, and continues to allow inherited baserunners cross the plate.  Rodney imparticular has been really shaky, but needs to be slowly guided in there.  He is a guy that doesn’t seem to handle pressure situations well when his confidence isn’t there.

Zumaya seems to eat up the pressure situations, and is confident enough in his stuff that he can get it done.  That’s the difference between the two there.    Many including myself feel that Rodney shouldn’t have been placed in that situation (4-3 with 2 men on in bottom the 8th inning of his first game back after a long re-hab of a shoulder injury) and I think that Leyland probably personally apologized to him for the err in judgment.  However, he put him in another tough spot, and Rodney couldn’t even get an out in his second showing.

All of that aside (pending they don’t send him down to A-Ball to find his stuff…OUCH)  I’m sure that Rodney will learn from these tough goes (as will Leyland) and hopefully brush it off as a couple of rough outings and return to the form that this team needs.  A solid back end of the ‘pen would be a God-send.

Everyone is curious to find how Zumaya will do back on the hill.  He has shed about 30 pounds from his frame, but still maintains three-digit speed, hitting the 100+ mph mark on several occasions on route back to the Tigers.  (with flame-tattoos on his lower arms, he better still be able to cook it up!)

Personally, I don’t expect him to have the immediate impact, but he will give the presence of a strong anchoring ‘pen that will at least give the opposition a bit of intimidation when digging in at the box. One way or another, these returns have only strengthened this team (even at the time, if only on paper) and given a boost of confidence.  At a time when this club needs everything “right” to happen, things seem to be falling into place.

The road is definitely going to be rocky on this climb; but get ready Tigers fans, as the dog days of summer are fast approaching and so is the Tigers battle back to respectability.

Kenny Rogers last five starts have been nothing short of spectacular.  He is really resembling the crafty ol’ vet that was almost unhittable in the 2006 playoff run.  (Foreign substance on his hand or not…)

What is that stuff anyway?

Since giving up four runs on eight hits in a 9-4 win against the Mariners on May 21st, the 43 year-old Georgia native has put up some staggering numbers.  In his five starts since, he has gone no less than seven innings and has given up no more than two earned runs in each game, no more than 6 hits dropping his ERA nearly 2.5 runs going from 6.66 to a much more respectable 4.36. 

Kenny has many more reasons to smile of late!

This coming from a guy that everyone (including me) had written off and complained at his inability to go farther than five, maybe 6 innings into a game.  I had even suggested a shift to the ‘pen was in order, but man has he shut both me and the rest of the cynics up with his stuff of late.  Eliminating any discussion about the possibility of him being done.

He has stated that he may have been trying to overthrow his stuff and had added a little velocity.  He simply suggests that this is straying from what has made him successful through the last few years, and maintains that what has worked for him is mixing up his speeds and painting the corners.Control has never been an issue for Kenny, but he said keeping hitters on their toes will be the key to his success.  Kenny has become a pure contact pitcher, and now depends on ground balls and fly-outs.

He no longer has the ability to rack of 10 punch-outs in a game without the big over-powering stuff, but you can expect him to keep batters guessing each at-bat.  However, his knack to throw such a range of speeds creates a lot of both early and late contact that results in those simple outs.

Without the smoking gun arm of likes of Verlander or Zumaya, K-Rog is still a joy to watch.  I’m not sure how any Tiger fan can’t get excited watching this run that Rogers is currently on. 
Paws just happens to be Kenny’s #1 Fan!

With this more than likely being his swan-song in D-Town, Kenny is certainly contributing to salvaging the Tigers season.  With Dontrelle struggling and Bondo done for the year, the Tigers will need the leadership that Kenny provides, as well as his arm to try to dig themselves out of this mess that they’ve put themselves in.

Should he be able to continue to perform the way that he has, it’s certain that he will be one of the few in that locker room that can hold his head high and say that he has given it all that he has got. 

A tip of the cap to you Kenny!