In his first 16 games with the Tigers, Peralta is 12 of 60 (.200 avg, .700 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 homers and 7 RBIs. With Brandon Inge back the Tigers have shifted Peralta over to shortstop. But, the Indians moved him to 3B because of his lack of range at SS. It will be interesting to see if Peralta starts to hit more consistently to make up for his mitt. The season has gone south for the Tigers quickly which even makes things worse when Peralta isn’t helping the team much.

25-year old lefty swinging rookie outfielder Brennan Boesch was hitting .332 on July 1st but since then the roof has caved in on him. Boesch is 27 of 144 (.188 avg) in July and August with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. His overall numbers still are solid as he has played in 96 games in which he is 97 of 355 (.273 avg, .800 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 14 homers, 55 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Boesch’s season has mirrored the Tigers’ year as they went in the tank the same time that he did. The Tigers need Boesch to start hitting again or they should play someone else in his place.

Sure, 30-year old 3B/OF Don Kelly is very versatile in the field but he just can’t hit the ball. Kelly has played in 82 games for the Tigers this year and he is 28 of 135 (.207 avg, .500 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Tigers should limit Kelly to playing defense and pinch running because he does not help the team at all with a bat in his hands.

With Brandon Inge out a while it would be nice if Ryan Raburn stepped up. He played in 113 games last season for the Tigers and he was 76 of 261 (.291 avg, .891 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 16 homers, 45 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Raburn looked on the verge of being a very solid player for the Tigers heading into 2010. But he just isn’t the same player right now. Raburn has played in 48 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 28 of 134 (.209 avg, .621 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers and 18 RBIs. Raburn has a chance to get his career back on track with the P.T. he’ll likely be getting while Inge is out and he better do something with it.

23-year old lefty swinging catcher Alex Avila looks likes he’s going to have the starting job behind the plate for a little while. It’s not based on anything he’s done but more because of Gerald Laird’s failure to hit the ball this year. Avila has played in 35 games for the Tigers this year and he is 21 of 96 (.219 avg, .656 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers, 6 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He will need to hit better than that to keep the job but he has the potential to do so. Gerald Laird has played in 40 games this season for the Tigers and he is 20 of 125 (.160 avg, .467 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. Laird won’t get his job back until he starts hitting soon and it will be hard to get into a groove at the plate with less playing time behind it.