V-Mart or Avila will have to sit in NL cities

V-Mart or Avila will have to sit in NL cities
By Jason Mastrodonato / MLB.com | 05/19/11 8:24 PM ET

BOSTON -- With the Tigers' first series of Interleague Play starting in Pittsburgh on Friday, manager Jim Leyland has a decision he's been dreading to make.

With Victor Martinez spending the majority of his time as Detroit's designated hitter and catching just eight of the first 42 games, either he or Alex Avila will have to sit on the bench.

"I've thought about it a lot," Leyland said in his office before Thursday's game against the Red Sox. "They're going to both play. Victor is going to play Sunday for sure, because they have a left-handed pitcher."

The likely scenario would have Martinez catching Friday, Avila behind the plate for a 7:05 p.m. ET start Saturday night and Martinez back there again for a day game on Sunday. He could also play first base, but Miguel Cabrera is an unlikely candidate to be held out of the lineup.

Martinez has seemingly adjusted to his new role this season, hitting .368 in 76 at-bats as the DH as opposed to just .172 in 29 at-bats behind the plate.

"It's definitely a different scenario," he said of adjusting to being a full-time DH. "It's a challenge. It's not easy. It looks easy just to go out there and have four or five at-bats, but you have to do a lot of stuff to keep yourself warm."

Leyland didn't have that much of a problem trying to work in Martinez and Avila for the three-game series with Pittsburgh, but the Tigers are scheduled for six straight against the Rockies and Dodgers later in June.

"I truly think it's ridiculous for an American League team to go to two National League cities in a row," Leyland said. "I have to make a decision with Victor, Alex, something. I can see three days or a weekend, that's OK. But six straight days? That's not good. That's not our game."

Jason Mastrodonato is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Hmm, since Miggy was a 3rd baseman for the Marlins, and he is batting
better than Inge... why not have Miggy play 3rd, Victor play 1st and
Alex catch in the games played in the NL parks.