Has anybody realized just how good Maggs has been this season?

He is hitting .344/.437/.648 with 7 HR and 34 RBI. He is in the top 10 for nearly every offensive statistic. If it wasn't for ARod and Vlad, Maggs might just be the AL MVP so far.

Yeah, he's absolutely thriving behind Sheffield. He's paying off big time. Unfortunately he's still a bit of a defensive liability. He can never move to DH with Sheff here, but if they can produce like freaks we'll easily be able to afford the defensive woes. I really think Maggs can sustain amazing numbers. Maybe not .344, but certainly above .330. I think he can put together 35 HR and 150 RBI as well.

I'm loving him on my fantasy team. He has like 19 doubles too. Having him sandwiched between Guillen and Sheffield is huge as they have to pitch to him. His numbers will come down eventually but so far so good.

Anyone else notice how Sheffield's bat woke up about 2 weeks after Maggs went on his tear, right around when the league probably caught on? That's one of the great subtleties of baseball: As soon as the league realized they had to fear Maggs, Sheffield started seeing alot more juicy fastballs and Bam!

Sheff wasn't horrible before either. He was still drawing walks and running the bases well before. Now he's just getting the hits that you knew would come eventually. I just wish the 7-9 hitters would raise their averages a little. They don't have to hit .300, but is .260 too much to ask?

From Monroe, no. From Inge, yes.

How come we don't swap out Maggs and Sheff more often in the RF/DH role? I wonder if it would help both players.....i.e. Sheff would get more consistent by playing in the field and Maggs might thrive from being able to just hit once in a while. I know its a pain in the ass to keep moving guys around, but if doing this will help keep guys fresh throughout the season I think its a hell of an idea. It also might help to reduce "actual days off." Maybe this cycle would allow each player to play 155 games or so.

In addition to that, I think Sheff might be as capable at first, if not more so, as Thames. So why not go with Sheff at 1B, Monroe in RF, Thames in LF and Maggs at DH some time? Just a thought. We could even try it at some point to keep Sheff in the lineup if Pudge was DH for a game.

Side note, another great game for Maggs tonight. HR and single (which would have been a double in any other park) with 3 RBI.

Sheff is about good as Thames at 1B, so he shouldn't see any time there.

If anything, I would like to see him replace Monroe in LF and see Thames or Infante at DH.

Just say no to Sheff at 1B.

Jeth, did you see him playing 1B for the Yanks in the playoffs last year?

Oh my god.

Sheff is about good as Thames at 1B, so he shouldn't see any time there.

If anything, I would like to see him replace Monroe in LF and see Thames or Infante at DH.

Why would you want Monroe at DH? He has a cannon out there. I haven't seen Sheff at OF in a long time to know how his arm is, but it can't be better than Monroe. I would like to see Maggs DH some days, but can you really do that when he's hitting so well? I hate to mess with anything going so well. We should put Sheff in RF on days Maggs rests though, and let Thames DH.

I'm pretty sure we told Sheff that we WOULD NOT use him at first when we signed him. I think he hated the move with the Yanks

Ok, then scratch that idea.

Why would you want Monroe at DH? He has a cannon out there. I haven't seen Sheff at OF in a long time to know how his arm is, but it can't be better than Monroe. I would like to see Maggs DH some days, but can you really do that when he's hitting so well? I hate to mess with anything going so well. We should put Sheff in RF on days Maggs rests though, and let Thames DH.

I don't want to see Monroe at DH. I want to see him on the bench.

If he sustains it they have no choice but to give the AL MVP to this dude. No choice.

Um, knowing baseball they'll have to give it to a member of the Yankees or Red Sox. I'm still amazed they allowed Morneau to win it last year. A-Rod hasn't done much lately, but he'll be hard to beat, along with Jeter. If the Red Sox hang on the win the division, it will go to Ortiz or Manny, if he heats up. The other non-AL east candidate is Vlad.
If Maggs can finish in the top 5 in the Triple Crown categories and the Tigers win the division, though, it would be tragic to award it to anyone else.

You're right, I forgot ESPN and MLB can't help but hype that rivalry nobody outside of the Northeast cares about for a reason. I stand corrected.

Bump.

Well played Vinny, though both of his shots tonight were sadly solo jobs. It would have been great if he could have homered (or at least got a hit of some kind) in the 2nd when he ended the inning with guys on 2nd and 3rd. He instead flied out to center. I didn't see it, so I'm not sure how deep he drove it, but it's looking like we certainly could have used those runs.

Sticky?

Sticky?
hell yes sticky....Mags is a freak right now. So far today he is 3 for 3 with 3 more RBI, that puts him ahead of A-Rod now for RBI.

Today is the Tigers' 46th game. With what he's done today, Magglio is now on pace for the following:

42 HRs, 81 (!!!!) Doubles, 158 RBIs, 144 Runs, 211 Hits, a .357 Average, .438 OBP and a .708 Slugging. All that and only 77 strikeouts. That's not just good, that's borderline historic. Obviously there's no way he can keep up this pace but for now, let's just sit back and enjoy it while it lasts.

Two more doubles so far today...and 3 RBI's.

Two more doubles so far today...and 3 RBI's.

Counted those.

He just singled and scored another run though, which weren't included.

http://www.hawthorneinfomercialmarketing.com/images/DRTV_Overview/Kings-crown.jpghttp://www.hawthorneinfomercialmarketing.com/images/DRTV_Overview/Kings-crown.jpghttp://www.hawthorneinfomercialmarketing.com/images/DRTV_Overview/Kings-crown.jpg

Maybe?

no way

Wow. Today's game puts him in the top 3 in the AL in each of the triple crown categories. It seems like it's been a while since I hread any substantial triple crown buzz from any player. It hasn't been done in 40 years, since Yaz. I'm not sure what pace he can keep, but it would be insane if he did it in Detroit. I'm sure in his MVP speech he would thank the White Sox for letting him go.

I. MagsVP: Back in February, blue collar, Marlboro-Red toting Tigers manager Jim Leyland offered his two cents about Magglio Ordonez's free-flowing locks: "Do I think it looks good? No. Do I care? No," Leyland told the Detroit News. "If he hits .300, I'll shampoo it for him."

Well, Jimbo, even though Ordonez did trim his hair earlier this month, you may consider preparing those lathering hands. Granted, we're just a quarter of the way through the season, but Mags is absolutely sizzling at the plate, hitting a lofty .361.

Along with his impressive average, Mags leads the majors in extra base hits (35 -- 12 homers, 23 doubles), runs (42) and RBIs (45), while boasting an awe-inspiring 1.151 OPS. Now that's the kind of production worthy of a five-year, $75 million deal (the contract Ordonez signed with Detroit prior to the '05 campaign).

With almost two months in the books, Ordonez is the frontrunner for AL MVP. Behind Mags' spectacular surge, Detroit leads the majors in runs scored (with 260 through 46 games). More importantly, the Tigers sit atop the AL Central with a 29-17 mark. Alex Rodriguez was leading the AL MVP race through April, but he tailed off mightily this month. And unlike the Tigers, the Yankees are experiencing well-documented struggles. New York is three games under .500 (21-24) and 9.5 games back in the East.

It's a long season, though, and I must point out that Mags also got off to a hot start last season. On May 25, 2006, he was hitting .322 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs. As the year went on, he cooled down and ended up with a .298 average. So I guess Leyland doesn't have to pick up a bottle of Herbal Essence just yet.

Eh-hem....

Triple crown is out of the question, given that he hasn't hit one since June 2. However, he's hitting about .460 in June which makes up for it in my book. I would say his chances of .400 are much better than his chances at the triple crown. A-Rod's 27 HR and freaking 73 RBI will make him tough to catch for MVP, especially now that the Yankees are winning (13-3 so far in June), but it's hard to imagine a better season for a Tiger so far. You know, a year ago he was the first Tiger since Tony Clark, I think, to have 100 RBI. Now I think we have 4 or 5 guys on pace to pass that mark, and I doubt any of them would have gotten there without Maggs having the season he's having right in the middle of that pack. Having Sheff in front of him forcing guys to pitch to him has been huge.

Our 1-5 hitters are just having amazing years so far.

Granderson's improvement and learning curve has amazed me, at this rate he'll be an All Star in another year. He has 9 Homers, 13 Triples and 21 doubles. If he can learn to hit Lefties.....look out.

Polanco's hitting just about the quietest .340 I've ever seen.

Sheff had an awful April, but since, he's arguably been better than Magglio. I was slightly skeptical he could return to form when we traded for him, but he's back.

Guillen's just quietly hitting .320 again, with 10 homers and 46 RBIs.

Our offense is just downright filthy right now.

Our 1-5 hitters are just having amazing years so far.

Granderson's improvement and learning curve has amazed me, at this rate he'll be an All Star in another year. He has 9 Homers, 13 Triples and 21 doubles. If he can learn to hit Lefties.....look out.

Polanco's hitting just about the quietest .340 I've ever seen.

Sheff had an awful April, but since, he's arguably been better than Magglio. I was slightly skeptical he could return to form when we traded for him, but he's back.

Guillen's just quietly hitting .320 again, with 10 homers and 46 RBIs.

Our offense is just downright filthy right now.

I bolded an interesting statement. I knew Sheff had come around, but I wanted to see a comparison between the two statistically since April. It's crazy how similar their numbers are. The only huge differences are Maggs doubles and Sheff's homers, but take a look (I hope it lines up well)

Maggs 37 R - 63 H - 20 2B - 9 HR - 38 RBI - 23 BB - 16 SO - .384 BA
Sheff 40 R - 57 H - 8 2B - 15 HR - 41 RBI - 23 BB - 16 SO - .335 BA

Maggs has the higher BA but Sheff the higher SLG%. I love the fact that both have walked more than they've struck out. But here's the biggest number - both have an OPS well over 1.000! That's amazing.

So excellent observation Vinny. I think many of us have appreciated Sheffield's contribution without putting it into perspective. The first 3 weeks of April were so bad that they're hurting his overall numbers so they don't look comparable.