What about Guillen
Some people probably guessed we'd be looking at Carlos Guillen as a sweet-hitting, rough-fielding shortstop at this point in the season. But I imagine nobody thought it would have nothing to do with his knee.
Guillen's fielding error Thursday was his 10th error of the season. He leads not only all AL shortstops, but all AL players at any position. It's a statistical surprise who somebody with the track record of a solid defender.
If it was a matter of any one factor, especially positioning or range, one could blame his knee problems, though they seem to be a thing of the past. But Guillen's errors have come in different shapes and sizes. He had problems with his throws early on and made some bad decisions on when to throw. He had problems trying to rush the exchange from his glove to his throwing hand last week in Baltimore. Lately, his problems have had more to do with fielding, including Thursday. Add it all up, and he's had a knack for the highlight plays, but problems with other ones.
Guillen seems to be slumping, and it's beyond being an early-season oddity. That said, keep a couple things in perspective. First, we're barely a quarter of the way through the season, and there's room for improvement. Leyland likes this guy in the field, both for his range and his leadership. Second, the way Guillen is hitting and the way the Tigers keep winning quiets the defensive concerns at the moment. If it continues into summer, then it becomes a bigger issue.
A couple other items from Thursday:
- There wasn't much Polanco could do once he was caught off third base on Magglio Ordonez's fifth-inning ground ball to third. On that play, Leyland said, the only thing the runner can do is break for home on contact and try to force a play. Polanco hesitated before taking off.
- Fernando Rodney walked Torii Hunter leading off the eighth inning, giving Rodney nine walks over 18 innings in 17 appearance. Six of those walks have come in his first 15 pitches of an outing. Leyland went out to the mound after Rodney threw a first-pitch ball to the next batter and told him, "Tranquilo," or calm down. Rodney laughed, Leyland said, then struck out the next two hitters on changeups.
I think Guillen's early error frequency could possibly have something to do with him adjusting to having his legs (or knees) under him again...kind-of an anti-knee problem - maybe he's making some mistakes as he's adjusting to his knees being healthy.
Aaron
http://aaron.mlblogs.com
Report any abuse or spam
Maybe Guillen just has to adjust to playing again. These were mostly small mistakes and, as noted, Guillen has a solid track record. Hopefully he'll be doing better in a month or two. By the way, I'll be at the game tonight.
-Reid
http://reid.mlblogs.com
Report any abuse or spam
I have been a Tiger fan since the days of Johnny Groth, George Kell, Jim Bunning, Harvey Kuenn, and yes even Reno Bertoia! Though I live in Western Canada now I have resurrected my interst in this very exciting team.
And it's fun to be critical. Not negative, but critical. I feel that before the end of the year we will not be relying on Todd Jones as our closer. Rodney may end up being the guy or perhaps Zumaya. Jones appears to be over-rated IMO. You need a guy who can come in and get you the ground ball double play or strike out the side when he's on. Jones looks like he is going to keep the Cardiac department at St.Pauls (is it still there?) busy. Forget the history and forget the salary. The right guy will emerge and Leyland will have to deal with it. And I think he will. He seems to be pragmatic, and independent enough to arrive at his own conclusions and not be held hostage by administrative management. Likewise Dmitri Young. We can all salivate over his being a switch hitter and his size and all but it is pretty clear his time in the sun is over. From the little I have seen (I am nowhere near the media action), he may also be a malcontent and outspoken enough to present an internal problem in the clubhouse. This TEAM does not need that. They are suceeding now because they are playing like a team. They do need another catalyst on the squad that recognizes the importance of this and who is able to assume a leadership role based on performance and reputation. While everything seems to be going quite well right now I do think they need to bring in another key ingredient. A left handed bat who does not strike out much and maybe Roger Clemens??? Can you imagine how pumped thes guys would be to get someone like that on the roster with them? Expendable and perhaps carrying some value still are the aforementioned Young and Jones. I am really impressed with Leyland so far. He has been able to parachute reserves into the lineup at the same time as keeping his regulars happy. Not an easy thing to do. Nice to see these guys playing the way they are and get us all thinking about '84 and '68 all over again.
Report any abuse or spam