Over at Minor League Ball, John Sickels has been reviewing his off-season lists of Top 20 prospects for each major league club.  Yesterday, he re-posted his list of the Detroit Tigers' top minor leaguers, with thoughts and impressions on how they've performed this season and how that's affected their standing in the organization.

Even better, some of MLB's commentors have chimed in to mention several players (Matt Joyce!) that weren't on Sickels' original list, others that have developed into notable prospects (Guillermo Moscoso, Dusty Ryan), and inquire about one or two players (Jonathan Kibler) who have flown below the radar. 

You can give the list a look here.

Immediately after yesterday's win in Baltimore, the Tigers made the roster move we knew they'd make, bringing up Zach Miner from Toledo to start tonight's opener in Kansas City.  Miner handed off his Mud Hen baton to Jeff Larish, who goes back down to Triple-A after a rather impressive return to Detroit. 

At first glance, the hope would seem to be that Miner could fill the fifth starter role long-term.  Or at least until Dontrelle Willis proves he's ready to pitch in the majors again.  However, in today's Detroit News, Jim Leyland said that he still envisions Miner as a reliever.  Why?  Because of that sinker ball. 

"With that pitch, I thought of him as someone to bring into the sixth or seventh inning to get a ground ball and get us out of an inning," Leyland said.  "I still think that.

"He has two good pitches, and a third one that's OK," he said.  "If the third one (his change-up) gets better, he can be a starter.  But I thought he could be a good reliever for us, and I still think he could be.

"I like having a guy in the bullpen with a good sinker.  But we'll see how he does (as a starter)."

Miner was presumably starting in Toledo to give him more opportunity to refine that change-up.  We'll see tonight how that's developed for him.  Regardless, he helps the Tigers more as a starting pitcher right now, as it's the greater need.  If Willis returns, Fernando Rodney is included in a deal, or Miner fumbles his audition for the rotation, then that role will obviously be re-evaluated. 

As a starter, Miner has a 7-7 record and 5.08 ERA in 17 appearances (85 innings).  As a reliever, he's 6-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 76 games (106 1/3 innings).  Miner last started a game for the Tigers in May of 2007, when he gave up two runs (one earned) and six hits in 5 1/3 innings at Fenway Park.

With Magglio Ordonez set to return to the Tigers' roster tomorrow, someone had to get bumped for him.  I thought it would be Jeff Larish, since he was called up to give Detroit an extra bat while they didn't need a fifth starter.  But given the logjam in the outfield and the possible need for an extra designated hitter or first baseman if Gary Sheffield or Miguel Cabrera need a rest, it makes sense that Larish would stay.

Though Matt Joyce was the player who took Ordonez's place when he went on the disabled list, he's been swinging the bat far too well to send down now.  That really just left one guy as the odd man out, which probably made this decision easier than I initially saw it.  So Clete Thomas gets the ticket to Toledo.  It doesn't quite seem fair, but was probably the best move for the Tigers to make. 

In 133 plate appearances with Detroit, Thomas batted .284/.366/.405 with one home run and nine RBIs.

Following the Tigers' 8-6 win over the Indians last night, I was on the phone during the post-game show.  I'm only bothering to mention that because when I saw Dave Dombrowski on the screen, it became rather apparent that something was going on.  How often does the general manager talk to the press after the game?  And you never see Double-D on the FSN "Tigers Live" post-game show. 

Sure enough, stuff was happening with the Tigers' roster after the game.  With Brandon Inge finishing his rehab assignment with Toledo and set to rejoin the team, Detroit had to make a move.  And the spot to clear was back-up catcher, so Dane Sardinha was the guy to go.  It's worth noting that he was designated for assignment, rather than sent to Toledo, but I'm assuming that's because Sardinha was out of minor league options.  But since he's likely to clear waivers, after which he'll probably report back to Toledo, it's really a minor point to discuss. 

The other move was perhaps a bit more surprising, though probably could've been predicted around the third inning of last night's game.  Eddie Bonine was sent to the minors, but rather than to Toledo, he was shipped down to Double-A Erie.  That seems a bit harsh for a guy who was on the major league roster just a few hours earlier, but Bonine really had only two good starts among his five appearances with the Tigers.  And that success was surely skewed by the lesser opponents he was facing in the Padres and Rockies.  Once he faced American League competition, Bonine couldn't even complete four innings. 

Why Erie, and not Toledo?  The Tigers must feel Bonine lost something in the transition from Triple-A to the majors, and needs some work to find it again.  Or there's just not a spot for him in the Mud Hens' rotation now, with Zach Miner starting games to tune up his variety of pitches. 

(UPDATE: According to MLive.com's Graham Couch, Bonine was sent to Erie so he can start Monday on his normal pitching schedule.  The Mud Hens will be off on Monday for the Triple-A All-Star break.)

But what made the Bonine move surprising is who was called up to Detroit to replace him.  Rather than promote another pitcher to fill that spot, the Tigers decided they could get by without a fifth starter as only four games remain before the All-Star break.  So instead, Detroit will carry another bat, bringing back Jeff Larish.  Where exactly Larish will play isn't clear to me, but maybe the Tigers thought a left-handed bat with some pop off the bench would be a nice luxury to have against Minnesota for the next four games.

In the meantime, we can ponder who will take that fifth spot in the starting rotation after the All-Star break.  Will it be the presumably stretched out Aquilino Lopez?  Could it be Miner, who Leyland has acknowledged might be better as a starter?  Or could another Toledo guy, like Chris Lambert (8-5, 3.25 ERA, 78 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings), get a shot?

As of yesterday, it wasn't quite clear when Gary Sheffield would end his rehab assignment with Single-A Lakeland and rejoin the Detroit Tigers.  Over the weekend, Sheffield only played in one out of three scheduled games.  On Friday, he attended a graduation.  Saturday's game was rained out.  But on Sunday, Sheff was back in the lineup, hitting a home run and going 1-for-3 with two runs scored.   

We already knew that Sheffield would be activated when he said he was ready.  Sunday's performance was apparently enough for Sheff to declare himself major league ready again.  According to the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers could take him off the disabled list today. 

So how do the dominoes fall upon Sheff's return?  Presumably, Jeff Larish will head back to Toledo, and that's kind of a shame since it looks like his bat was beginning to come around.  But he was batting .200/.273/.300.  I've been surprised to see so many Tigers fans react negatively to the possibility (or inevitability) of Sheffield getting back into the lineup.  Even with diminishing skills, even if he's done, Sheff should be able to match that kind of production.

The worry, of course, is that Sheffield will take away at-bats from Marcus Thames.  But I just can't see that happening.  I know Jim Leyland has made some baffling lineup decisions in favor of veterans like Neifi Perez and Sean Casey before.  And he seems all too willing to acquiesce to Sheffield's every whim.  But Thames is swinging such a big bat right now (Jon Paul Morosi listed him as the top reason for the Tigers' resurgence) and has solved Detroit's season-long left field problem.  Leyland's not going to mess with a good thing like that.  Might he overreact if Thames slumps?  Maybe, but let's wait until that happens first.

The Tigers haven't cruised to many easy wins this season (and maybe this one wasn't so easy, as the Dodgers briefly made the game sort of interesting), but when a win appears to be in the bag, my mind drifts to writing these recaps.  Especially the titles.  Originally, I wanted to make the recap about Eddie Bonine, because his debut was kind of the story today.  But all I could think of were plays off "bovine," and that didn't really inspire me.  "Simply Bovine"?

I also thought about playing off the Jason Bourne movies.  Except "Bonine" doesn't rhyme with "Bourne."  They just sort of look alike.  But what would the title be?  "The Bonine Supremacy"?  Not unless the kid pitched a shutout.  "The Bonine Ultimatum"?  Okay, but... Bonine gave up six runs and nine hits.  Not exactly a demanding - or commanding - performance.  Maybe "The Bonine Identity" would've worked, since most of us didn't know anything about this guy.  But by then, I'd decided to give up on the whole thing.  Kind of like I probably should've given up on these first two paragraphs.  Is this too much like a Beefshower post?

Okay, the game: How would you like to be the Dodgers, finally breaking through to score some runs, only to see your formerly upper-tier starter crumble after three innings and pitch batting practice in the fourth?  Actually, that's a pretty familiar feeling in Tiger Town.  That's how Detroit's baseball team was playing until just over a week ago.  Whatever's wrong with Brad Penny these days, at least he didn't suddenly get better against the Tigers.  When this team is at its best, perhaps it will beat good pitching.  But at the very least, it should be pounding bad pitching.  And that's what happened today.

Miguel Cabrera continued his June warm-up, hitting another home run.  So did Marcus Thames, who's playing like he should be Detroit's regular left fielder.  Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco smacked triples.  (Was that really just Grandy's second triple of the season?)  Jeff Larish and Magglio Ordonez whacked doubles.  Extra-base hits!  Tigers smash!

That's five in a row.  My buddy Rob just asked me if the Tigers had finally turned the corner.  I told him I wasn't sure, but I think they can at least see around it right now.  Maybe the Tigers were just waiting until they had the Detroit sports world's full attention.

Roll Call

Who put off Saturday yard work (unless you did it early) or a matinee of The Incredible Hulk (unless you caught a noon-ish show, as I did)?  These guys!

Thanks to tbliggins, ThaWalrus9, rook34, spotstarters, Zappatista, Juskimo, UofAZGrad (stopping by from the AZ Snakepit community to see the D-Backs' division rival get trounced), ahtrap, and Tony K for keeping five alive and updating those who couldn't watch the game, due to FOX's national coverage.

Hey HEY hey!  At this point, don't we almost just have to laugh at this?  Okay, maybe you're not there yet.

We had ourselves a rerun (Hey HEY hey!) at Comerica Park tonight, as the Detroit Tigers' bats once again couldn't properly connect with a baseball and didn't give Justin Verlander the kind of run support that any starting pitcher has a right to expect.  There's just no way the kid deserves to be carrying nine losses on his record right now.  He's pitched better than that.  Giving up three runs in seven innings (with eight strikeouts) is the kind of effort that should often be rewarded.  Yet the Tigers' lineup can't even do that much for their ace. 

Five players went hitless tonight.  On the bright side, one of the guys who did get a hit was Jeff Larish, just his third since getting the call up to the bigs last week.  What made this hit notable was that it was his first major league home run and cut the Indians' lead to one in the seventh inning.  Maybe this will take a load off the dude's back.  Unfortunately, we probably won't see any immediate benefits, as Larish is likely to sit the next three days with Cleveland starting left-handed pitchers in the remaining games of this series.

Not quite the start that the Tigers were surely hoping for.  But maybe the Tribe will help the Tigers out by giving them three straight lefties, which they hit much better.  But really, is that expecting too much from these guys right now?

When traveling to other countries, it's often a good idea to get your proper shots and vaccinations.  (At least that's what a lot of people have been telling me lately.)  Apparently, a couple of Detroit Tigers forgot to take some injury vaccines before crossing the Canadian border to play in Toronto.  As you likely already know, both Placido Polanco and Gary Sheffield sat out of yesterday's game to nurse their respective injuries, and there looks to be a good chance that both players could miss more time down the line.

The Tigers actually cut Polanco's stay in Toronto short and sent him back to Detroit to get his injured back examined.  Between his diminished batting average (currently a team-low .148/.292/.167) and limited range at second base so far this season, there had been much speculation about Polanco's health.  Whether it's because the back is making it too difficult for Polanco to play (he's missed four games to this point) or the Tigers think his limitations might be affecting them too much on the field, everyone involved wants to find out what's going on.  A trip to the disabled list might be next for Polanco.

Sheffield wasn't sent back to Detroit ahead of the team, but his sore left shoulder will be checked out by doctors on Tuesday.  He'd been feeling limited mobility in the shoulder all season, though he seemed to be regaining some range of motion as scar tissue from his off-season surgery broke loose.  It's still not moving enough for Sheffield's liking, however, and he wants some medical answers.

"It was major surgery, and I have to get it to a point where I'm comfortable.  Obviously I'm not.

"I want to get it looked at," Sheffield said.  "I want to know what's really going on, like exactly how much scar tissue I really need to break up because it feels strange playing baseball when you can't do what you're capable of doing.

"It doesn't hurt as much as it did, but it still doesn't give me the range of motion that I need.  When I try to swing harder, it slows it down even more.  I didn't know it was going to be this tight."

Though Sheffield had a rough start to last season, as well, he's clearly struggling with his swing, batting .192/.364/.308 with one home run and two RBIs.  The disabled list is very likely a part of his immediate future.

Curtis Granderson will probably take one of the roster spots opened up by Polanco and/or Sheffield moving to the DL, but it doesn't look like Dontrelle Willis will be making the same jump.  (He shouldn't be jumping anyway, with that hyper-extended knee.)  He's eligible to rejoin the team on Sunday, but the Tigers plan to keep him on the DL until the knee is fully recovered for pitching and fielding (and maybe until Willis has worked out whatever other issues - mechanical or otherwise - that have been plaguing him recently). 

The Detroit Tigers Weblog has some ideas about how the roster could be shuffled if Polanco and Sheffield go on the DL.  I'm definitely in favor of giving Jeff Larish a chance, given how he's started off the season in Toledo (.273/329/.576, five home runs, 13 RBIs), rather than bringing some of the bigger names that are currently hanging out on the waiver wire.  Some left-handed power in the lineup would be a nice touch.  But that's just my thought.  Do you guys have any suggestions for how the Tigers might boost a hurting lineup right now?