25-year old righty swinging LF Delmon Young has been playing solid baseball since coming over in a deal with the Twins. Young has played in 13 games for the Tigers so far and he is 17 for 56 (.304 avg, .757 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. He has been swinging at everything though as he has only whiffed 4 times for the Tigers and has yet to walk! Young has now played in 97 games overall this year for the Twins & Tigers and he is 98 for 361 (.271 avg, .677 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 6 homers, 42 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Tigers hope that Young keeps hitting well and he might, because he’s going to see a lot of fastballs hitting in front of Miguel Cabrera.

22-year old righty starting pitcher Rick Porcello has been awful lately for the Tigers. Porcello has started 4 games so far in August and he is 0-2 with a 9.15 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. He is throwing strikes this month as he has only walked 2 batters, but he has also pitched B.P. as he has allowed 34 hits in only 19 2/3 innings this month. Porcello has now started 24 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 11-8 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Porcello is now likely on thinner ice than Brad Penny is in the starting rotation.

30-year old 2B/OF Ryan Raburn has been sleepwalking through this season and it cost him a starting job. He is trying to salvage his year as he always seems to finish years strongly. He has played in 12 games so far this August and he is 13 for 41 (.317 avg, .854 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. Raburn has now played in 97 games overall this year for the Tigers and he is 74 for 319 (.232 avg, .658 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 11 homers, 39 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He will likely have to get most of his P.T. at 2B the rest of this season after the Tigers dealt for Delmon Young. Raburn can still be an asset for the Tigers if he can finish strongly with the bat in 2011.

34-year old righty swinging 3B Brandon Inge has been recalled by the Tigers. He earned his promotion by playing pretty well in AAA. Inge played in 29 games in AAA-ball after his demotion and he was 31 for 108 (.287 avg, .907 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 7 homers and 19 RBIs. That’s a lot better numbers than he had earlier this year for the Tigers. Inge has played in 70 games earlier this year for the Tigers and he was 38 for 215 (.177 avg, .483 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer, 17 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Inge will likely platoon at 3B with Wilson Betemit the rest of the season….if he’s up to it.

The addition of Delmon Young will likely cut into Magglio Ordonez’ P.T. when Brennan Boesch gets healthy. Ordonez has played in 74 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 61 for 268 (.228 avg, .582 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 4 homers, 23 RBIs and 1 stolen base. It’s a shame to see Ordonez’ career with the Tigers winding down like this as he has been a really good player for them. Father time is catching up to Ordonez, so it’s smart to start cutting his P.T. going forward.