Detroit Tigers utility man Ryan Raburn has struggled to hit the ball of late while starting in left field, but manager Jim Leyland will reportedly stick with Raburn a little longer with plans to start Raburn at second base in the first game of Detroit's weekend series against Kansas City.
Prior to the game, Leyland called out a few hitters, including Raburn, hoping to get more out of the offense against a string of left-handed pitchers the Tigers are facing.
"The thought process is if Raburn doesn't help us against left-handers, then we've got issues," Leyland said before today's 7-3 win. "So you give him the benefit of the doubt to see if maybe you can get him going a little bit. Peralta, Young and Raburn got to do something against left-hand pitching. It's that simple."
Following the win on Thursday which saw Raburn go 0-3, but hit the ball well, Leyland declared he would start Raburn against the Royals at second base and start Delmon Young in left field. On the season, Raburn is hitting just .173 with a .227 on base percentage after going 1-14 in the four-game series against Minnesota.
For more on the Detroit Tigers, check out Bless You Boys. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation, or watch SB Nation's YouTube channel:
Loading comments...