Dmitri is making his comeback. This thread can have fairly up-to-date info on how he is doing in his path through the minors.

First up, Class A Lakeland. He played his first game of the comback last night with the Lakeland Tigers, who lost the game 4-3. Young was the DH and went 2-3 with a BB, a 2B and one run scored.

The 2nd game is in progress as I type. If they get a box score up tonight I'll include the stats.

Tonight's game he was 0-2 with a strikeout before being replaced at DH in the 5th inning of a 10-4 Lakeland win. I think he's on to Erie for a series now. Not sure if that had anything to do with his early exit or not. Maybe had to catch a late flight or something.

He's supposedly in Erie now for their 4 game homestand against Altoona, first game tonight at 7:05. After that, he's off until after the All-Star break when he joins Toledo indefinitely.

July 7, AA Erie
1-3, BB, RBI

Thanks Jethro... may not seem like it but there is interest in trying to get some lefthanded pop in the lineup... if it's young then we didn't have to trade a prospect.

1-2 with a BB tonight (July 8) against Altoona

In the 4 games back he's been DH twice, 1B once and LF once, so he's fielding as well.

Through 4 games he's 4 of 10 with 3 walks, so he's hitting .400 with an OBP of .538. He's not hitting for power much yet, with only one extra base hit. We'll have to see what happens, but he's looking decent, though he's not exactly facing the top talent. But if he's seeing the ball and getting on base, with a lefty bat, he can be a nice addition back to the lineup.

Yep, Dmitri would be the easiest solution, and if we could add him rather than trade legitimate assets for an Aubrey Huff or Matt Stairs or the like, it would be ideal. He would offer about the same production. If he can come back, our only targets for Left should be Star + caliber players, at least IMO.

Good thoughts Vin.

BTW, in yesterday's game Young played 1B and went 0-4 with a BB and 1 run scored, 2 strikeouts.
Tonight should be his last game at Erie, then he'll join the Mudhens in Scranton. Toledo plays every day from that point until August 6. How long he'll be there is up to Tigers brass. When he's ready, and they're ready to send someone down to Toledo, he'll be back.

So...will they dump Alexis Gomez again to bring Dmitri back? He's been the candidate that has traded spots with Dmitri each time this season, but he has also been batting .325 when they've used him over the last month or so, and he too is a lefty bat. He doesn't have any pop for extra bases, sporting only 5 extra base hits (1 HR) in 131 career AB. So it's a tough call. After we got Gomez back from waivers, did we get any more options or is it a release now any time we try to send him down?

Related to my last post, it looks like Santiago is still on the active roster. I would send him down before Gomez. Yes, Santiago is a switch hitter, but Gomez - while limited himself - has proven he can do much more offensively than Santiago. Gomez is also a much stronger threat on the bases, and dropping Santiago gives Infante more chances to play, and he also provides more than Santiago.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Santiago's worthless. DY can also play some first and, in a pinch, third. That gives us alot more flexibility -- we can give Shelton the day off without having to put Guillen or Pudge at first. I think we'll keep Gomez up as a fifth/sixth outfielder and pinch-runner.

DY at third?

And I agree with both of you.

But that only works if DY can come back and hit the ball

DY at third?

In looking at ESPN's splits, from 2003-2005 Dmitri's number of at-bats are broken up as so:
DH - 842 AB's
LF - 295 AB's
1B - 210 AB's
3B - 60 AB's
PH - 13 AB's
RF - 1 AB
If you look at his career fielding, you'll see that he played 36 games at 3B in 2001 for the Reds. He played 16 games there for us in 2003, and once there for us in 2004. His career fielding % at 3B is .879.
By contrast, Inge has a career % of .953 in 318 games at 3B, Guillen .928 in 100 games, Infante .966 in 19 games, and Placido .982 in 322 games there.

So, we have plenty of guys with experience at the position, but the point is that while his fielding isn't great by any means, DY can handle the position with some level of experience. I doubt you would see him there more than a few times in a season though.

I highly doubt that we will ever see DY in a Tigers uniform again.

There is the fact that by the time Young finishes his rehab assigment in Toledo and gets any significant playing time in the majors, we will be past the trading deadline. And thus we won't be able to make any moves should Young prove that he is not the lefty bat we are looking for.

But more importantly, how will he affect the clubhouse chemistry? Everything has worked out near perfectly for the Tigers so far. And adding a personality like Young might be counterproductive at this point.

DY at third?

In looking at ESPN's splits, from 2003-2005 Dmitri's number of at-bats are broken up as so:
DH - 842 AB's
LF - 295 AB's
1B - 210 AB's
3B - 60 AB's
PH - 13 AB's
RF - 1 AB
If you look at his career fielding, you'll see that he played 36 games at 3B in 2001 for the Reds. He played 16 games there for us in 2003, and once there for us in 2004. His career fielding % at 3B is .879.
By contrast, Inge has a career % of .953 in 318 games at 3B, Guillen .928 in 100 games, Infante .966 in 19 games, and Placido .982 in 322 games there.

So, we have plenty of guys with experience at the position, but the point is that while his fielding isn't great by any means, DY can handle the position with some level of experience. I doubt you would see him there more than a few times in a season though.

I just don't see the overweight Young being able to stop a shot down the line (though I hear he's in better shape now then before he went on his bender).

H1, from everything I've read the Tigers clubhouse is completely behind DY and wants him back. Historically he has been a very good teammate and a rah-rah type of guy that other guys love to have in the clubhouse. So I would be more worried about what a trade could do to chemistry than I would about DY coming back.

H1, from everything I've read the Tigers clubhouse is completely behind DY and wants him back. Historically he has been a very good teammate and a rah-rah type of guy that other guys love to have in the clubhouse. So I would be more worried about what a trade could do to chemistry than I would about DY coming back.

Actually, I am not so sure. I have read that there is a large number of people (including a certain hall of fame catcher) that don't want DY back in the clubhouse.

Ok, playing in his first game with Toledo Young was batting 5th and playing first base. He went 1-4 with a single and a strikeout. Josh Phelps, batting right in front of DY, hit his 15th home run and had 3 RBI to help power Jordan Tata to his 7th win.

(I'll likely include more details like this in the Toledo DY updates since a number of the names are more familiar, having spent time in the bigs or almost making the big league club after spring training)

2nd game with Toledo, DY again goes 1-4 with a single. He was batting cleanup as a DH.

Horrible game for the Mudhens, as they got hammered 14-2. Humberto Sanchez had a bad outing, as he gave up 6 runs (all earned) in 4.2 innings on 7 hits and 4 walks. Worst pitching of the game came from Mark Woodyard, who also gave up 6 earned runs on 5 hits and 1 walk. He retired two batters. Three of the runs scored after he left. He was replaced with the bases loaded by Jason Karnuth, who gave up back-to-back homers before getting the final out of the inning.

DY seems to have a lot of 1-fors

DY seems to have a lot of 1-fors

Yeah, I noticed that too. I'm ok with that, since Dimaggio had plenty in the midst of his 56 games. The thing I'm more worried about is the lack of RBI. He has hit with some decent teams that had baserunners on, yet he hasn't had an RBI in quite some time. For that matter, I don't remember the last time he made it to 2nd base. So he can go 1-for all he wants as long as there is an occasional extra base hit and an RBI or two. Otherwise, he may not be that lefty bat this lineup needs.

Well, DY has done his part to make my post look stupid. The past two games (Saturday and Sunday), he had 2 hits in each.
Saturday he was 2-4 with an RBI and a strikout.
Sunday he was 2-3 with a double and a walk.
He's really seeing the ball well right now.

Unfortunately, both were Toledo losses again. Scranton has been working them, beating up on our best pitchers.

^underestimate Scranton at your own peril.

From the Tigers official site

Young update: The one player the Tigers appear likely to add by July 31 is looking more and more like a Major League hitter in his rehab assignment. Dmitri Young followed up Monday's three-hit game by slugging his first home run at any level this season Tuesday, part of another two-hit game good for two RBIs. He's 11-for-24 in six games for the Mud Hens.

On Tuesday, Leyland received reports on Young from president/GM Dave Dombrowski. Not surprisingly, they were positive. "Reports were that he swung the bat outstanding," Leyland said. "He swung the bat pretty well."

The Tigers have another week before they need to make a decision whether to call up Young or potentially cut him loose.

What about his legal troubles? Were those taken care of?

Bringing him back isnt going to help if he's arrested for not appearing in court.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=260720106


Detroit DH Dmitri Young (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5699/), who has been on the DL since May 22 with a leg strain and personal issues, could be activated as soon as Friday when the Tigers host Oakland. Young's rehabilitation assignment in the minors could extend into next week, but manager Jim Leyland said "it won't run it's full course."

If he produces, I assume we dont trade for a lefty bat?

I assume Santiago is the odd man out?

Do we have options left on him? If not, he may need to be traded for a prospect.

Santiago should absolutely be the odd-man out. Too bad he can't be a throw-in player in a deal for another bat. Him and probably Grilli (to make room for another spot in the lineup). Maybe even Gomez eventually to make room when Maroth comes back.

By the way, for update purposes, I'll give DY's stats at AA and AAA this year. (I'm excluding A stats because he played 3 games in a rehab assignment earlier in the season).
9 games. 15 hits in 31 AB with 5 BB, 5 R, 5 RBI, 4 2B and 1 HR.
As far as averages, that gives him a .484 BA, .556 OBP, .710 SLG and 1.265 OPS.
That's damn good. It's not major league pitching, but it's damn good. Now is a great time to recall him and get him in this lineup while he's still seeing the ball.