If losing Brandon Inge for 4-6 weeks with a broken hand wasn’t enough to rattle the Detroit Tigers, being without Magglio Ordonez’s bat surely is.
Ordonez, who had an ankle sprain to begin with, broke his foot while sliding into home during the Tigers’ 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.
It was the Tigers’ eighth loss in their last 10 games, and they are now 2.5 games behind the A.L. Central-leading Chicago White Sox.
The loss of Ordonez will weigh heavy on Jim Leyland’s club. Ordonez is hitting .303 with 12 home runs and 59 RBIs this season.
During his post-game interview, Johnny Damon was asked if he thought he needed to flex his veteran-muscle, and step up in Ordonez’s absence.
“We all would like to do more than we do,” Damon told reporters. Damon, who is earning $8 million in his first season with Detroit, could provide the spark the Tigers are looking for.
Last year with the Yankees, Damon drove in 82 runs and hit 24 home runs. He has plenty of pop left in his bat, despite having just 29 RBIs and six home runs in 2010.
The July 31 MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching, and players are doing their best to dodge reporters’ questions in regards to bringing help to their club, which is another post in itself.
Will the Tigers go after the Chicago Cubs’ veteran pitcher Ted Lilly, or the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Dan Haren?
Will Detroit be in the market for a third baseman, starting pitcher or bullpen help?
Damon said he’s impressed with the youngsters’ contributions thus far, and said “We still have a good team… We’re still in this,” in reference to the team’s post-Ordonez state. He also said that he didn’t want them to feel pressured to produce.
Rookies Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch hit the ground running this season. Jackson leads all A.L. rookies with 106 hits. He is developing as one the best young lead-off men in the majors.
Boesch is the clear front-runner for A.L. Rookie of the Year honors with his .313 batting average, 12 round-trippers and 50 runs driven in.
However, Boesch’s average has taken a nose-dive of late, and dropped over 30 points.
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