A rain-delayed link roundup
posted in link roundup |While the Tigers start a bit late in their game against the Phillies, here’s some links I would have liked to present over the past few days.
BP named Cameron Maybin an excellent center field prospect and said Gorkys Hernandez is ranked very good (8th) and called the prospect you haven’t heard of today who’ll likely be creating buzz by next year. (Sub Req)
Nate Robertson is back to blogging for a second year and writes about the dog days of spring. Good on ya, Nate! (hat-tip The Dugout.) Still, I REALLY wish he hadn’t given out the secret some of them watch American Idol. Why, guys? WHY! Next time, I hope he at least tells us there’s a huge Scrubs fan in the clubhouse.
FYI, Curtis Granderson just had another update. An interesting question he was posed.
J. Zinn (Culpeper, VA): Since we’ve been hearing a lot about your two-strike approach throughout the at-bat, how has this been for you?
I think there has been a little misunderstanding on when I’m using the two-strike approach. During the approach I spread out a little bit and choke up. My thought is to let the ball travel and not only put the ball in play, but to make solid contact. I’m trying to do that of course with two strikes and also when I have guys at third base with less than two outs.
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal likes the Tigers. A LOT! (hat tip The Dugout). He’s not the only one.
Rosenthal:
The Tigers are the best team in Florida, maybe the best team in baseball.
Scouts following the defending American League champions are raving about how sharp the team looks in Grapefruit League play.
“They have a swagger about them, a confidence,” one scout says. “They’re all business. The way they approach it, they’re on all cylinders now.”
A second scout adds, “It’s almost like they could open the season tomorrow and get out of the gate quickly, just by the way they prepare.”
I know we all have our personal worries. (Pitching health, Sheffield’s mouth, etc) So it’s always nice to read something reassuring.
Speaking of Sheffield’s mouth, we knew we were gonna see our newest superstar all over the media, for good and bad. And he likes to talk. And the media likes to quote him. So he’s on ESPN’s Page 2 with a lengthy interview. (FYI, Daily Fungo Mike wishes Sheff would just shut up).
Maybe it’s just a bit disturbing because the Tigers have always been pretty soft spoken, both in losing and winning, so it’s a bit jarring to have this new guy spouting off all over the place.
Part of me wishes he’d take a nice break from talking. I’m sure a lot of this is promotion for his upcoming book, and hopefully a week or two after publication, it dies down a bit.
But if he can return to pre-2006, takes the count deep, and hits a walk-off or two, I think I’ll get used to it. After half my life was spent watching a team under .500, frankly, all I really care about is winning. If Sheffield can contribute to that while talking, it’s all cool by me.
If you’re curious, Dmitri Young finally played a Spring game. And he homered.
And there’s a lengthy story on Kyle Sleeth’s comeback in the Rocky Mountain News.
Sphere It
