Dan Dickerson: “It’s not Even Close”

This afternoon, 97.1 the Ticket’s Karsh and Anderson were joined live in Lakeland, Florida by Tigers play by play announcer Dan Dickerson that the competition for the 5th starter is not even close. Dickerson went on to say that when watching Porcello this spring training, his fastball has been in the mid 90’s, but has a lot of movement and is hard to get in the air.

Dickerson also talked about the real possibility of Ryan Perry making the squad, saying there are two to three open spots in the bullpen, and the Perry is making his mark when he enters the game. I thought it was interesting to note.

There has also been a rumor swirling in Lakeland, that the Tigers could cut Sheffield to keep Jeff Larish and Clete Thomas on the Major League roster. I find this hard to believe, unless the Sheffield is really struggling when spring closes out.

Though Sheffield hasn’t put a healthy and productive season together in quite a while, I believe you have to keep him around for 2009. He has something left in the tank, and he told Mr. Dickerson earlier this spring that he can go through his swing without any pain. As much as I would love to see Marcus Thames in the lineup everyday, I don’t think it is the right move.

Tiger Notes:

–Rudy Darrow and Jon Kibler, alongside Jeff Kunkel have been sent to minor league camp.

–Spot Starters is closing in on it’s top 5 Tigers of all time.

–A couple notes from Single-A affiliate West Michigan.  Fifth Third Park has now become Smoke Free, pretty intersting if you didn’t note already. They also have the new fifth third burger. This thing sounds amazing. It’s Ingredients: nacho cheese, chili, salsa, crunched tortilla chips, tomato and lettuce served on a special 8-inch sesame seed bun.

–Did you know that Toledo has some pretty good Wallpapers on their website? Check these out.