Under the Bleachers: MLB Minutiae

Thursday, June 16, 2005

The Tigers completed a sweep of the first place Padres today, behind a dominant outing from Jeremy Bonderman (8-4, 3.84). Still only 22, Bonderman has a reasonable chance to make the All-Star team this year -- thought with Guillen hurt and Pudge mediocre, he might be the Tigers' only selection. Brandon Inge, second in the majors in triples, is a dark horse candidate to be the third AL third baseman, behind Alex Rodriguez and Melvin Mora.
Justin Morneau is batting seventh for the Twins today. Seems like an odd place to put your best power hitter, even if he is in a little slump.
It appears that the Yankees have finally decided that Tony Womack (.244/.284/.272) shouldn't be playing left field and batting second, or even playing at all. He's sat in four of the team's last seven games. The Yankees have someone named Kevin Reese hitting .260 with a little power in AAA. I promise you that he wouldn't be worse than Womack, and that he'd be cheaper, younger, and less prone to take circuitous routes to fly balls.
After a feeble May, Todd Helton is hitting .243 with one extra-base hit in June. He's had a bad back for a while. Is he done, slumping, or just in need of a change of scenery?
Moises Alou is having a quietly great season in San Francisco in between DL trips. His OPS is over .900 and he has 29 walks to go with only 11 strikeouts. His 11 home runs have him flirting with membership in the elusive more homers than strikeouts club.