The 31 year old has been tearing up the International League this year, with a .388 batting average, 13 home runs, and 35 runs batted in just 20 games for the Tiger's Triple A affiliate the Toledo Mudhens. He might feel some pressure from Detroit fans to live up to those jaw-dropping numbers, but luckily for Eldred, the pressure ends there. Eldred is taking Brandon Inge's spot on the Tiger's roster, who was 2 for 20 on the season before being released earlier today. Skipper Jim Leyland said he was going to run him out there at designated hitter and let him show what he can do. Another good sign for Eldred as the production from the DH spot this year for the Tigers has been abysmal (.182 average, no home runs and three RBIs).
The slugger attended Florida International University, where he was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year as a senior and led the NCAA in home runs that season with 29. He has been in this position before as he has made big league appearances in the three separate seasons with three different ball clubs. In 2005, he made his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he hit .221 with 12 home runs and 27 runs batted in before finding himself back in AAA the next season. In 2007 he made a short 19 game appearance with the Pirates and struggled hitting .109 with 2 home runs and 3 runs batted in. In 2010, Eldred once again found himself on a Major League diamond this time with the Colorado Rockies. This would be his shortest stint of all, lasting 11 games hitting .250 with 1 home run and 3 runs batted in.
The power numbers have always been there for Eldred, but throughout his career has never fallen into a comfort zone where he was seeing good pitches and capitalizing on them every at bat. The Mud Hens have noticed a difference in his approach this year and recognize that he is seeing the ball extremely will.
"He goes up there and looks for a pitch," Mud Hens manager Phil Nevin said. "When he gets it he
doesn't miss it."
Tiger fans can only hope he sees a lot of similar pitches in the
coming weeks and that the power hitting righty has
finally developed an ability to hit for average to go along with his raw
power, proving that his season thus far has been no fluke and he is ready
to finally become a consistent MLB player.
The team's lineup may be struggling early on, but it is filled with proven players that will come around and will hit the baseball this season. If Eldred can come in a be a consistent threat in the lineup it would be an unexpected bonus that would make this team that much stronger heading into October.
The only thing that would make Tiger fans happier than Eldred continuing to hit the baseball like he has been would be for him to die his hair red, because who doesn't want to hear "Watch out Big Red!" on a consistent basis the rest of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment