Detroit Tigers rookie slugger Brennan Boesch tore up major league pitching in his first two months, but a recent slump almost got him a demotion.
↵Boesch is hitting just .280 after topping out at .345 just before the Tigers hit the All Star break. The Tigers considered sending him down to Triple A Toledo last week to work on his game, much like they did with Max Scherzer, but they decided to let him play it out instead.
↵↵↵"We had meetings," (manager Jim) Leyland said. "Not official meetings, but meetings in here with Dave: What's best for the kid? What should we do? Is it better for him to go down, let him relax for two weeks down there and bring him back? Some people felt it was best to let him grind it out. Some people felt it was best to send him down. We ended up saying we were going to check the weekend out.
↵"But I decided, I think it's best for the organization right now if we stay with him, because I think he's part of the future. I see his face is a little bit better right now. I think he's relaxing a little bit more again. I like him that much. I don't want to tear the kid up. I don't want to hurt him in any way, shape or form. But I think he can handle it. I'll just pick some spots and watch him.
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Boesch's bat has perked up a bit over the last week or so. He had a hit in each of his last three games before going 0-for-4 last night, and hit two home runs, his first two since June 27. Boesch went all of July without hitting a home run.