I figured it would be nice to try and help out Tamaz and the other people here who work hard to try and make this a legit weblog. Even though there have been shortcomings in the past (as well documented by the Sports Blog Critic), I feel that there is potential for this blog to be great. I will also try and help with some formatting issues that perhaps could be addressed. In the past I wrote on a weblog on the Tigers titled "Detroit What?," but later found out that a full time commitment to an internet blog was something that was just not in my best interests. I also helped Jeff over at Bless You Boys keep his blog up to date. I love the Tigers and I like to write, so this is something that I enjoy to do on the side from time to time. Hopefully Tamaz and the other young'ns here can improve from post to post and make this place a great site to read about and discuss the world of Detroit sports.
With all that being said, a short thought on the Tigers should be discussed. Carlos Pena, the Tigers much-criticized first baseman for the last three seasons, was recently called back up to the big league club as Carlos Guillen hit the DL once again. In his first appearance back for the Tigers since the 27th of May, Pena went 3 for 4 with 2 monstrous homeruns and 3 RBI's.
With an abysmal .181 batting average as of that day in May, Pena was shipped to Toledo to find his swing once again. With the absence of that everyday first baseman, the Tigers were forced to try the sweet swinging Chris Shelton, who had been one of the best hitters in the International League brfore his callup. Well, the Shelton experiment has been a shining success for the club as the Tigers have more than likely found a guy they could hang their hat on as the future first baseman. This, of course, was what Pena was pretty much declared last year as he finished strong, hitting 27 homeruns and knocking in 82.The beginning of the 2005 campaign was just one giant slump for Pena. He was an offensive black hole pretty much in every game he appeared in for the Tigers. The swing just wasn't there for him and the numbers proved it, as he hit only 3 homeruns and drove in 14 in 41 games. Toledo was the only option for the front office to look into, and it seemed to help out as Carlos's numbers were pretty impressive: .311, 12 HRs, 45 RBIs.
While it was a pleasant surprise, perhaps last night's game was just one giant fluke. Carlos could return to early season form in his next game and this will all be for not. BUT, let's say that he has really found his swing and his bat gets hot, what do the Tigers do then? There are little options seeing that as of right now Shelton seems to have the biggest upside at first base, and Dmitri Young has proven that he really cannot do anything with efficiency other than be an average fielder at first base. There just isn't enough room for Pena to play a consistent first base right now for the Tigers. The Tigers could try and switch him to outfielder, especially with the loss of Rondell White in left field, but that would push one of our younger and better future options (Monroe, Logan, and Granderson) out of sufficient playing time.
While I would love to see Pena succeed, I know that it would just throw more of a monkey wrench into an already confusing season for the Tigers. Unless he really does something special I feel that it would be in the best interest for the Tigers to try and trade the young first baseman this offseason. Hopefully a string of successful appearances will up his trade value quite a bit and the Tigers can acquire a more suitable piece of the puzzle. As of right now Shelton is our man at first, and it would take quite a performance for Carlos Pena to change that.
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