Question of the day: What to do about Sheffield?
posted in 2008 season |What should the Tigers do about Gary Sheffield?
“If you don’t think he’s going to hit,” (Jim) Leyland said, “you don’t play him. [Fans ask], ‘Why bat him three? Why don’t you bat him eighth?’ If you don’t think a guy’s going to hit, why even bat him at all?
“I like our lineup. I like Sheffield in the three spot. If he’s hitting, he’s a No. 3 hitter.” (Quoted at Tigers.com)
Here’s a glance at how Gary Sheffield has done the past four Aprils.
April 2005: .330 AVG / .380 OBP / .458 SLG
April 2006: .341 AVG / .390 OBP / .516 SLG
April 2007: .200 AVG / .369 OBP / .306 SLG
April 2008: .159 AVG / .329 OBP / .254 SLG
Here’s how those seasons ended:
2005: .291 AVG / .379 OBP / .512 SLG
2006: .298 AVG / .355 OBP / .450 SLG
2007: .265 AVG / .378 OBP / .462 SLG
2008: ?
So, you would think, just looking at the numbers, maybe Gary Sheffield’s going to be able to put his season back together. I mean, there’s some bad signs there. The April stats have trended downward pretty much. But they haven’t been great predictors of his season stats. If his paced continued, he’d set a new high for strikeouts in a season and a low for home runs in a season he played at least 100 games in.
However, there’s a mitigating factor at work here that I think it would be folly to ignore, and it’s pretty front and center: HIS SHOULDER(S)!! You can’t just assume that since in the past he’s been a good hitter, he’ll continue to be a good hitter, because his 2007 season was hindered in the latter months by shoulder pain and he had surgery for it in the offseason. And right now, his shoulder is still hurting and has had multiple cortisone shots. He also tore a tendon in his ring finger while sliding earlier this month. And oh yeah, he’s 39.
His strikeout rate is up. His isolated power (SLG-AVG) is continuing a downward trend, as it has for a few years.
I’m not saying he’s washed up. Will Carroll noted in an Under the Knife column (sub. req.), “Once the inflammation clears, tests revealed that he’ll have nearly full range of motion which should mean that his swing will return to normal.” He also wrote at the time (April 24) Sheffield could be an ideal “buy-low” candidate and can be effective.
And one thing you can note on the more detailed graph, Sheffield’s line drive rate often starts low, which might give some evidence to the “slow April” crowd.
Leyland, too, noted there are signs Sheffield’s career isn’t over yet:
“It’s not like he’s getting balls blown by him. It’s not that his bat is slowing up, and they’re blowing balls by him. He’s hitting balls hard foul. His timing is definitely not right, but his bat isn’t slow. I’ve seen guys throwing 95-96 [mph], and he’s hitting it to left field foul.” (Tigers.com)
I guess, although my gut still kinda tells me otherwise, the best bet right now is just to keep sending Sheffield out there for a few weeks and see what happens. Maybe he had to shake off some rust (almost literally!) or play through pain a bit more before he settles in. Or maybe he won’t settle in and be the old Sheffield any more. Who’s to say yet? So we play him.
Now, maybe we can disagree with Leyland on his original point: If Sheffield is good enough to be in the lineup, he’s good enough to hit third. I reject this because if Sheffield is ineffective, he’s creating a hole in the middle of top of the batting order. All along, it’s hard to make an argument against Miguel Cabrera batting third. He’ll be nestled in a good spot in the line and get a few more at-bats. It should end up in more runs for the team when the No. 3 guy isn’t making key outs.
So I return to the question: what should we do about Sheffield? Keep playing him for now, but bat him sixth and return to the question in another two weeks or so.
Sphere It
I hate this all-or-nothing strategy by Leyland. Sheffield is 0-16 with RISP. A struggling Polanco, batting 2nd, was intentionally walked this past weekend to get to Sheffield. And yet Gary continues to hit in the 3-spot, normally a place reserved for your best hitter. A player of Cabrera’s caliber should never bat 5th. He should be hitting 3rd, with Maggs behind him. It gives him more at-bats and also some protection in the lineup. Leyland’s loyalty is obviously towards Sheff right now and it’s hurting the lineup.
Boy, I have to agree with you again. I think if we get to the middle of May or the end of May and he’s still below .200 with very few HR and a lot of K’s then it might be time to try something different.
I can understand why Leyland doesn’t want to judge a guy entirely on the first month of the season, but this cannot keep up with Sheff hitting third.
What I don’t understand though is why aren’t we having the same discussion about Polanco? Polanco is apparently hurt as well and, while his hitting has improved a bit, he’s still below .200 with more K’s than usual.
I sure am glad all the flavor of the week fans out there aren’t managing this team. We’d have Galarraga as the #1 pitcher and Aquilino Lopez coming in for the save, with Clete Thomas playing left every day. Until one of them slumped under the pressure of the bigs, and then we’d be calling up the new flavor-of-the-week from Toledo to “stanch the bleeding.” Good heavens.
Gary Sheffield has been bothered by a variety of injuries the last 2 years, but during those periods when he’s been healthy, he’s been hugely productive.
I’m not seeing impending disaster with Gary Sheffield, and I believe that he’s earned the right to tell us when the pain or discomfort are too much to play with. The man’s headed for Cooperstown, probably, and can contribute. He didn’t look like he had any trouble swinging the bat last night when he put one in the cheap seats, and I haven’t seen any evidence that his keen sense of the strike zone has left him.
If he gets his timing down and goes on a tear in May, a lot of people sure will look foolish. If June 1 rolls around and he still isn’t able to produce up to par, then let’s hear the talk about him being washed up.