Sizemore, Scherzer optioned to Triple-A

Sizemore, Scherzer optioned to Triple-A
Guillen to play second base on return from DL

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

05/16/10 1:26 AM ET

DETROIT -- The first Saturday night fireworks of the season at Comerica Park weren't just on the field.

After the Tigers' 7-6 comeback win over the Red Sox, they made three key changes to their roster, optioning starting second baseman Scott Sizemore and key starting pitcher Max Scherzer to Triple-A Toledo and anointing Carlos Guillen as the new starter at second when he returns from the disabled list.

Armando Galarraga, who was already being recalled from Toledo to start Sunday's series finale against Boston, will stay in the rotation. To replace Sizemore, the Tigers purchased the contract of infielder Danny Worth, who could make his Major League debut as soon as Sunday at second base.

Manager Jim Leyland said he'll fill second base with some combination of Ramon Santiago, Worth and utilityman Don Kelly until Guillen is ready. Guillen, currently on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring, has been taking ground balls the past couple days and is expected to begin a rehab assignment sometime next week after the Tigers' current homestand ends Tuesday.

The moves and announcements came just before midnight ET after Detroit's 12-inning victory, and they came in a flurry. While the Sizemore and Scherzer moves sent out two struggling youngsters to work out their on-field issues, the Guillen announcement reveals the Tigers' solution to the long-speculation challenge of finding playing time for Guillen and rookie sensation Brennan Boesch in the same lineup.

"I think they would run me out of town if I sent Boesch down," Leyland said.

The Tigers tabbed Scherzer to fill the void in the middle of their rotation immediately upon acquiring the gifted 25-year-old from Arizona in the Edwin Jackson trade this past December. After four encouraging April starts, however, he fell into a deep four-start struggle that saw him battle his mechanics more so than hitters.

Scherzer gave up 27 runs on 33 hits over 18 innings in his past four starts, the last three of them losses. The capper came Friday night, when he surrendered three home runs -- including a 450-foot drive from David Ortiz -- that tagged him with six runs on six hits over five innings.

Scherzer has given up nine home runs this season, tying him for third in the American League.

"We have some [rotation] flexibility there with the days off [in a week or so]," Leyland said. "We think Max is one of our top-of-the-rotation guys, and we still feel that way. But this is a little bit of a time where we can pick some spots to get him down there, get him working on things and come back and be the pitcher that we know we have."

Scherzer would've been on track to start next Thursday at Oakland. Instead, the Tigers will likely slot Dontrelle Willis into that outing, pitching him in his hometown. Galarraga can then start Friday against the Dodgers on his regular restafter starting Sunday.

Galarraga has boasted impressive numbers in Toledo, owning a 4-2 record with a 3.92 ERA. With a strike-to-ball ratio of better than 2-to-1, his command seems to have improved since last season with the Tigers, where he posted a 6-10 record in 25 starts before being relegated to bullpen duties.

The 25-year-old Sizemore has struggled for the vast majority of this season, but has fallen on particularly tough times lately. His two strikeouts against Red Sox lefty Jon Lester on Saturday night extended his current slump to 0-for-14 and dropped his average to .206. He hit one home run and added eight RBIs, part of the struggles at the bottom of the Tigers' order.

"He's scuffling right now, just overall," team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "We think he's going to be a good player. We think he's going to hit; right now, he's scuffling offensively. His defense has been so-so, but we think he's going to be an offensive second baseman, and right how, he's scuffling."

The telling sign came Saturday night, when Leyland used Santiago to pinch-hit for Sizemore in the eighth inning of a tie game against Red Sox left-hander Hideki Okajima with the potential go-ahead run on third with one out. Santiago lined out to third and stayed in the game at second base before drawing the walk-off walk in the 12th.

"I think it was very smart not just to hold Sizemore until Guillen came back," Leyland said. "I think it was smart, because what you're doing, you're doing something good for Scott Sizemore. He needs to get down. He needs to get away from here for right now. He knows the speed of the game up here now. He knows what he has to do. And just to hold him for another 10 days does not make a lot of sense."

The Guillen move has a twist of irony. When Guillen complained about his role at the end of last season, he made not-so-subtle suggestions that he would be happy with a return to the infield. There were some questions coming out of his October remarks whether he was hoping to move to second base if Detroit didn't re-sign Placido Polanco, a question that became moot once the Tigers committed to Sizemore as their starter at second in 2010.

Guillen came to the big leagues as a shortstop prospect, then shifted to third base for a stretch in Seattle to play alongside Alex Rodriguez. He has 12 career games at second base, the last coming in 1999.

Guillen went on the disabled list April 23 after straining his left hamstring rounding third base at Angel Stadium. The Tigers called up Boesch, who has done far more than expected in his first taste of Major League Baseball. His two-run triple Saturday raised his batting average to .388 (26-for-67), with three home runs and 19 RBIs in 18 games.

The 24-year-old Worth was once among the Tigers' shortstop prospects, having been drafted in the second round of the 2007 Draft out of Pepperdine. He largely struggled as a hitter in his first three seasons, but has proven valuable around the infield this year at Toledo, where he's batting .274 with five doubles, two homers and 14 RBIs. He has played at shortstop, second and third.

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

But I liked Sizemore

gdennis59 wrote:

But I liked Sizemore

I think he will be back. The way we is batting and playing 2nd base makes me think his leg is still not totally healed and he is better off in Toledo where he does not have all the pressure right now. The move surprised me, but with the bottom three not hitting well, he was the odd man out since his defence is not as good as Everett or Laird or Avila.

I was shocked Worth was called up instead of Raburn... but this may be a new Tigers concept, no hit and no fielding = Toledo and they are letting the Rookies have a chance!

Tigers saw that Sizemore was struggling

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

05/16/10 1:47 PM ET

DETROIT -- When the Tigers committed to having two rookies in their everyday lineup going into the season, manager Jim Leyland talked about having to ride through the ups and downs that first-year players have. He talked about having to be patient.

There are times, however, that rookies battle themselves so much that it becomes counterproductive. To Leyland and other Tigers officials, Scott Sizemore had fallen into that trap in recent days.

"You want to say it respectfully, but it's almost like he was starting to get a little lost, fighting himself," Leyland said. "And you could kind of see it."

At that point, the club's priority became less about waiting for Carlos Guillen to be ready to take over at second base, and more about getting Sizemore out of a bad situation. So Detroit sent out Sizemore on Saturday night, with Guillen still having not started a rehab assignment, and turned over second base to a platoon situation for now.

Better to have that, the Tigers decided, than to let Sizemore continue to languish, lose confidence and possibly regress further.

"I give Dave [Dombrowski] a lot of credit," Leyland said. "A lot of people say, 'Well, keep Sizemore until Guillen's ready.' But that's not the smart thing to do. It doesn't matter if Guillen's ready or not. Sizemore needed to go down. I give Dave a lot of credit for that."

By no means, Leyland said, was the move designed to send a message to other players on the team. It was geared, he said, toward Sizemore's development, which they believe will be helped in a lower-pressure setting in Toledo for a while.

"I think Sizemore will be fine," Leyland said. "I think he was a little shocked at the speed of the game up here, but other than that, he was fine. We still really like him."

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

But I liked Sizemore

I think he will be back. The way we is batting and playing 2nd base makes me think his leg is still not totally healed and he is better off in Toledo where he does not have all the pressure right now. The move surprised me, but with the bottom three not hitting well, he was the odd man out since his defence is not as good as Everett or Laird or Avila.

I was shocked Worth was called up instead of Raburn... but this may be a new Tigers concept, no hit and no fielding = Toledo and they are letting the Rookies have a chance!

Letting the rookies have a chance hasn't hurt us. Look at Jackson and Boesch. Sizemore wasn't all that horrible. But I mean, Laird is the only other catcher on the roster, and it's probably not a good idea to have Inge catch with his patellas newly repaired.

gdennis59 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

But I liked Sizemore

I think he will be back. The way we is batting and playing 2nd base makes me think his leg is still not totally healed and he is better off in Toledo where he does not have all the pressure right now. The move surprised me, but with the bottom three not hitting well, he was the odd man out since his defence is not as good as Everett or Laird or Avila.

I was shocked Worth was called up instead of Raburn... but this may be a new Tigers concept, no hit and no fielding = Toledo and they are letting the Rookies have a chance!

Letting the rookies have a chance hasn't hurt us. Look at Jackson and Boesch. Sizemore wasn't all that horrible. But I mean, Laird is the only other catcher on the roster, and it's probably not a good idea to have Inge catch with his patellas newly repaired.

Inge should never catch again! I still think the catching he did the year before had something to do with his injured knees.

The other three catchers in Toledo are not hitting either... Rabello is on the DL, Max St. Pierre is batting .182 and Diaz .189. So Avila and Laird are it right now.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

But I liked Sizemore

I think he will be back. The way we is batting and playing 2nd base makes me think his leg is still not totally healed and he is better off in Toledo where he does not have all the pressure right now. The move surprised me, but with the bottom three not hitting well, he was the odd man out since his defence is not as good as Everett or Laird or Avila.

I was shocked Worth was called up instead of Raburn... but this may be a new Tigers concept, no hit and no fielding = Toledo and they are letting the Rookies have a chance!

Letting the rookies have a chance hasn't hurt us. Look at Jackson and Boesch. Sizemore wasn't all that horrible. But I mean, Laird is the only other catcher on the roster, and it's probably not a good idea to have Inge catch with his patellas newly repaired.

Inge should never catch again! I still think the catching he did the year before had something to do with his injured knees.

The other three catchers in Toledo are not hitting either... Rabello is on the DL, Max St. Pierre is batting .182 and Diaz .189. So Avila and Laird are it right now.

Raburn can kinda catch can't he? We shoulda kept Dusty Ryan. He had some power on his game. His defense would've come along eventually.