Alex

Sanchez

It is looking more and more like Sanchez will not make it back into the Tigers’ lineup until late in September. It is also possible that he may miss the rest of the season. Nook Logan, Craig Monroe, Brandon Inge and Marcus Thames will continue to benefit from Sanchez’s injury.

He has made very little progress in his recovery from a severe quadriceps strain. Craig Monroe and Nook Logan will continue to play in his place.

It seems that playing on a regular basis this month is almost out of the question for Sanchez. If you were counting on some more stolen bases from the Tiger speedster, give up the idea. He is not running at full speed yet and may not again this season.

He looked good in the batting cage yesterday but still can’t run very well. Unless he has recovered 100 percent, Tiger manager Alan Trammell will not use him as a regular this season.

He could be back in the Tigers’ lineup today, but will likely wait until Saturday to return to action.

“We talk about improvement in center, I guess we can improve at a lot of different positions,” Dombrowski said. “But we’re not actively looking to do anything at this point.” So, the Tigers lone offseason upgrade was to sign someone who will probably give them 50 good innings. We’re not impressed.

The Tigers have been unable to upgrade in center field and probably aren’t optimistic about landing J.D. Drew now that the Dodgers are in the running. Sanchez could remain the team’s primary center fielder.

Big surprise. Curtis Granderson and Nook Logan don’t figure to make the team, so Craig Monroe will be the backup center fielder initially.

''They need to get that guy out of here, yesterday,’' one veteran player grumbled. The sentiment is reportedly shared by much of the clubhouse. There’s a chance the Brewers could release Hammonds, but they’d have to eat his huge contract. The team is very happy with Scott Podsednik in center, and the platoon of John Vander Wal and Brady Clark in right field. If needs arise, there are youngsters they’d like to look at. It’s not likely that Hammonds’ contract can be dealt, and Sanchez’s attitude, which has been noted by scouts, is also a hinderance. You never know, though, there’s always the Devil Rays.

Sanchez has a .315 OBP and has been caught stealing six times in 13 attempts, making him an awful leadoff hitter. The Brewers could help themselves by giving Brady Clark a chance to win the center-field job, but odds are that Sanchez will return to the lineup as a regular later this week.