Yes.. over a third of the Spring Training games are complete and there is less than three weeks before opening day! For the first third of Spring Training there have been some interesting developments (see numbers listed below for some insight). Ryan Raburn is absolutely SMOKING the ball at the plate so far, giving Brandon Inge competition behind the plate, while Inge dominates in the field at 2nd base. Inge's batting average in Spring is still mediocre, so it will be interesting to see how Jim Leyland decides to field these two guys. Raburn is out-hitting ALL Tigers in Spring Camp.
On the other side of the ball the 6-way race for the #5 pitching rotation spot is starting to clear up. Tiger prospect Jacob Turner is out with tendonitis in his shoulder, and Casey Crosby has been sent to Toledo leaving Andy Oliver, Adam Wilk, Drew Smyly, and Duane Below in the hunt for the final spot. Of those, Oliver has shown the most in camp so far, and Below the least (see numbers below). Watch to see how Wilk and Smyly do this weekend, and by the next report we should know who the front-runner is.
There are still some hot prospects in camp, and two guys to watch are non-roster invitees Eric Patterson, and Quintin Berry. Berry is ON FIRE and hitting .412 in camp so far.. he has speed as well, and should anything happen to Austin Jackson we have a center fielder ready to go it appears. Expect Quintin to stick around in camp for a while yet. Speaking of leaving camp, the next round of cuts SHOULD see pitching prospects Darin Downs and perhaps Tyler Stohr leaving camp. Downs is a non-roster invitee, and Stohr will most likely go to a minor league camp. Outfielders Matt Young, and Jerad Head may also be likely candidates for the next round of roster trimming, as will Catcher Bryan Holaday and Shortstop Agenis Diaz. Next week's Spring Roster will be much slimmer than it is this week as the Tigers start preparing to get down to reading the team coming north for opening day.
Tigers SpringTraining(2012)
GO TIGERS! ---Rob
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