Sleeth sent out, Infante back
In case anyone was wondering what the move was today, the Tigers optioned Kyle Sleeth to Class A Lakeland. More of a formality, since he won’t be ready for the regular season anyway.
Also, Omar Infante is in the starting lineup for the split squad at home today, playing second base. He said this morning his shoulder feels fine now.
I wanted to go see Verlander pitch in Clearwater, but the job calls for me to stay back here. Our Phillies reporter will be watching Verlander, so hopefully I can get an update this afternoon.
Jason Beck
The Tigers have a real nice core of young pitchers. In addition to Zumaya and Verlander, there are several others to watch. Some of them have been nearly outstanding this spring. They are De La Cruz, Sanchez, Tata and Lewis. Lewis maybe outside the farmhand group but seems to have done a fine job as well. Along with Sleeth, there are several others on the farm yet to be exposed but you can be sure that they are there. I just hope Sleeth is able to continue to progress and comes back full strength. They have the makings of quite a group. Maybe the best group of pitching prospects they’ve ever had.
Sleeth is a highly regarded minor league pitcher coming off TJ surgery. If he returns with his ability fully intact he can join at least 6 others making an impressive move on Detroit. Some have already been cut but they left having made an impression on Leyland. This group should certainly give hope to the Tiger fans. I know it does me. That’s not all folks, there are a few others not yet brought to the attention of us the fan and possibly Leyland the manager. It’s my hope that a few in this group of many become impact type pitchers and converge on Detroit at around the same time. There are a couple positional players coming too as evidenced by the play of Clevlen and Maybin. I am old enough to remember Al Kaline’s arrivial at 18 and I have always hoped that another will someday show up. Right now, talent is appearing and the hope is stronger than ever that it will arrive. Good luck to all of them…