It doesn’t seem so long ago that the Tigers were trying to figure out what to do with the 3 headed-monster that was Carlos Pena, Dmitri Young, and Chris Shelton. Well the situation seems to have resolved itself because Shelton is now the lone first basemen and the active roster.
Dmitri Young has shockingly found himself on the disabled list with a strained quadricep. With that, the Tigers have been reduced down to two left handed bats of measurable worth.
With Dmitri on the DL, the bulk of the playing time should fall to Marcus Thames, and Alexis Gomez will fill the void on the roster. I’m okay with this, and am anxious to see what Thames can do with regular at-bats.
The problem arises when somebody needs a day off, then who do you turn to? Craig Monroe has been struggling the last few games, so it made sense to sit him today. The result is that for the second time in a week, Omar Infante is the starting DH. And then if there are a couple guys banged up, as was the case yesterday, the potent offense becomes potentially anemic.
The Tigers now find themselves in a situation where they have very limited pinch-hitting options, they only have one legitimate first basemen, and there utility infielder will be thrust into the role of DH when an injury plagued veteran needs a day off. I was worried about the Tigers bench before the season started, and it hasn’t taken long for it to come into play. That’s why even though I’m satisified with 7-5 at this point, I would have liked to see another win or two given the relative health the team enjoyed over the first dozen games.