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Jim Thome looks like he's headed for a big season - just ask Detroit manager Jim Leyland. Thome homered for the third straight game and Jose Contreras tossed eight strong innings to lift the Chicago White Sox over the Tigers 4-3 Wednesday. Thome has five homers after getting just seven in an injury-shortened final season in Philadelphia, which traded him to Chicago in November. He added a double and scored twice against the Tigers. "He looks very healthy and strong to me," Leyland said. |
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Spring Training is about to come to an end, the honeymoon period for manager Jim Leyland and his staff is about to come to an end. How will the team and the staff gel, and who is poised for a breakout? |
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Jim Leyland looked and sounded worried. In his first season as a manager since 1999, he knows a successful comeback is unlikely if the Detroit Tigers are plagued by a slew of injuries, as they were last year. The Tigers do not have a key player out with a significant injury, but they do have a handful slowed by ailments. "I'm very concerned right now about getting this club 100-percent healthy and ready to go," Leyland said Monday. "That's why I'm not in a very good mood today. |
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Manager Jim Leyland felt he learned this spring the organization has a lot of impressive young talent and most of it lies in pitching. He has decided to take both of his prize hard-throwing young starters, RHP Justin Verlander and RHP Joel Zumaya, to begin the season with one or both working out of the bullpen initially. |
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--SS Carlos Guillen was out of the lineup Monday with a bad back, an ailment that forced him out of Sunday's exhibition game. It's a continuation of pain that bothered him slightly more than a week ago. "He seems to be OK," manager Jim Leyland said. "It doesn't seem to be anything serious, but you never know. I thought it was all better two days ago. |
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Will a bad back change the look of Detroit's Opening Day bench? Shortstop Carlos Guillen was pulled from Detroit's exhibition game Sunday against the New York Yankees and scratched from Monday's starting lineup due to a sore back that bothered him more than a week ago. If Guillen's back pain lingers, it could mean the Tigers will be forced to carry a second backup middle infielder, Ramon Santiago. |
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Ready to talk Tigers? Want to hear the opinion of the TigsTown staff on some of the hot button topics of the offseason? Welcome to the TigsTown Roundtable! This week's question: Were you disappointed by the release of Carlos Pena? Would you have done something different? |
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Rafael Furcal had back spasms Tuesday while running the bases during the first inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. The spasms began while he was returning to first on a pickoff attempt by pitcher Jason Grilli. Furcal stayed in the game and advanced to third on a double by J.D. Drew. Trainer Stan Johnston attended Furcal there, and Furcal then scored on a wild pitch. |