How Good Will Jay Bruce Be And Other Baseball Notes

The Tigers finally found a way to get the struggling Gary Sheffield on to the D.L. with a strained oblique.  The team recalled 25-year-old 1B Jeff Larish.  The power-hitting lefty was ranked the 6th best prospect in the Tigers' organization by Baseball America.  This what was said about his power:

"Larish has tremendous raw power and can hit the ball out from foul pole to foul pole.  He patiently waits for a pitch to hammer and won't give-in if pitches don't challenge him..."

Sounds like something the Tigers didn't need in the pre-season, but can defintiely use now.

Jay Bruce made his major league debut with a 3-3 effort, two walks and a stolen base.  I'm not sold, but I'd sure prefer to have him in an NL-Only format than not.  As for expected performances, I can see him doing well, but I won't disregard his horrid plate discipline in AAA after one game.  FWIW, Matthew Berry claimed he would go 15/15 the rest of the season.

The Toronto Blue Jays activated SS David Eckstein.  While he was out, Marcus Scutaro ably filled-in and hit .333 in 66 ABs.  Maybe as a reward or maybe because the Blue Jays offense is pathetic, Scutaro started last night in LF.  I lean towards "pathetic" because the regualr LF, Shannon Stewart, wasn't replaced by Scutaro but started at DH.

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles combined for nine HRs in last night's Orioles' victory.  More noticeable, to the NY press at least, was the late inning loss by LaTroy Hawkins.  The second-guessing of the Joba Chamberlain move began the game before when the bullpen couldn't hold a one-run deficit.  Expect it only to intensify following Hawkins' blown save.