Gary Sheffield’s shoulder is going to force him out of the rest of the homestand and there really isn’t a timetable for his return. Short term this is probably a good thing, not that he’s hurt of course, but that he’s out of the lineup. Since coming back from a week long break at the beginning of the month, Sheffield is hitting just 196/268/294. He’s clearly not healthy, and while there is a lot of talk about how his bat is feared, the scouting reports are probably already out that he’s not fearsome right now. He only has 5 walks in his last 13 games, which is a decent mark by a lot of players standards, it is a shadow of what Sheffield was doing.
Best case is that he rests up for a week or two and is healthy enough to still help this season (and hopefully in the playoffs). For tonight Sean Casey will bat 3rd. If Curtis Granderson were swinging the bat a little better right now, it would be the ideal time to shift him to the 3 spot and go with some combination of Placido Polanco and Ryan Raburn 1-2 in the lineup.
This is bad news on many levels. Obviously, not having Sheff in there sucks, but if Casey become the regular #3 hitter, I can’t see how that makes a bad situation any better. No option of hitting Guillen third and have Thames protecting Maggs?
Hopefully Sheff gets right in a hurry.
He’s been getting jammed on a consistent basis since his return, and for the most part hasn’t been able to handle it. I was guessing the shoulder was giving him more trouble than he let on. Good to have him sit, but if he is going to miss the rest of the homestand we will be a position player short unless they DL him or drop another pitcher and call up another bat for a week or so.
The worst part of this news is that Casey is our #3 hitter. Thats such a huge lost of power in the middle of our lineup.
If Sheff’s out long-term, the season’s over.
You’re right Stephen, we’re going to miss the .196/.268/.294 line he was putting up. If he cannot get healthy, then that’s a huge loss or the “season’s over”. But the absence of his non-existent bat doesn’t hurt us as much as him posting that line does.
Good thing the Tig’s listened to me. 😉
Come on Mike, that’s not what Stephen meant. Don’t stand on ceremony and say “he used this word, he used that word.” He obviously meant that if Sheff is injured long-term, it will be crippling. He was NOT arguing for him to play while hurt.
This season we sure have had a lot of adversity, look at all the players that have been out for some significant time:
Wilson
Thames
Polanco
Guillen
Sheffield
Rogers
Robertson
Miller
Rodney
Zumaya
That’s a pretty good team right there. All those quality games missed and they’re still in the hunt for 1st place.
My gut says if they can maintain the same quality of talent next year, there’s no way they can be bit so badly by the injury bug.