From the “What’s a guy gotta do to keep a starting job” department, Marcus Thames has been sidelined with a fairly “major” injury. That rib problem that landed him on the DL yesterday is a grade three intercostal muscle and cartilage strain with bleeding involve.
For the first time in his career, it looked like Thames would get the majority of at-bats at a position when the Tigers released Gary Sheffield and named Thames the primary DH. Now he’s going to be on strict rest for at least 2 to 4 weeks before he can even begin to think about rehabbing.
Josh Anderson and Jeff Larish stand to be the primary beneficiaries of this news (and Ryan Raburn who took his place on the roster). To make this even more knife twisting coincidental, Thames would have been starting tonight against Joe Saunders who he took deep twice in a game last year in LA. Poor guy.
oh man..that is so sad. i was ecstatic he would finally get some at bats for once 🙁
I think this might be the end or the road for Thames. If he can’t stay healthy, then there is no good purpose to keep him around anymore. He’s been a decent player for us these past few years, but I don’t think we need a one tool player like him anymore
Results matter more than tools. A guy who can crush left-handed pitching (and a few righties) is always useful on a roster.
The wishful thinking by many that Thames be traded or removed otherwise is fascinating to me. For some it seems to tie in with a quaint notion that runs scored with the help of bunts and stolen bases are somehow worth more than ones brought around by a guy smacking it out of the park.
You’re absolutely right that results matter. Last year, Thames had 2 good months and 4 terrible months. Most people for some reason just remember the month he got hot, but he clearly stunk like rotten eggs after the All-Star break. He had a .206 average, .236 OBP after the break.
This year, he hit .159 in Spring Training and he’s currently hitting .222.
Anyways, I think he’s done.