DETROIT -- Tigers vs. Yankees, LHP Kyle Lobstein vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi
Early news: Joe Nathan said he was feeling good after really letting it go in his bullpen yesterday. He heads to Toledo for a very early game (10:30 a.m.) Wednesday.
Dana Wakiji: Nathan said his plan is to just follow the Mud Hens starter, get an inning of work in and then as long as everything goes well, he thinks he could be ready as soon as this Friday.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus has said all along Nathan will close when he's healthy. You think that will remain the plan, Dave?
Dave Hogg: I don't think Nathan should get the job back -- there's no reason to believe he's going to be better than Joakim Soria -- but Ausmus sees him as the ninth-inning guy, and I don't expect that to change.
That might not be a bad thing for the Tigers, though. In yesterday's game, the key situation came in the eighth inning, not the ninth. Once Nathan is back, Soria will be handling those spots instead of Ian Krol and Joba Chamberlain, which makes the Tigers better.
DW: Victor Martinez is back in the lineup tonight against right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.
Ausmus said Martinez will not bat right-handed against righties, yet we know because of the left knee that batting lefty is harder for him.
What do you expect from Martinez, Dave?
DH: Line drives all over the ball park until his knees fall off his body, and even then, he could probably hit if someone propped him up.
When Martinez had meniscus surgery this spring, it was seen as good news that he had minor surgery instead of a full repair. The problem? The reason they couldn't do the bigger fix is that the damage is too extensive. His knee is held together with bubble gum and duct tape, and he's going to have to hit and run through a lot of pain.
DW: Players today were still talking about the play that shortstop Jose Iglesias made on Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner Monday night.
David Price called it "ridiculous" and "insane," saying people don't realize just how hard that play is, and he wants the Sports Science people to do a segment on it.
What did you think of it and how does it compare to the shortstops you've seen?
DH: I'm not quite old enough to have seen guys like Dick McAullife, Billy Rogell and Donie Bush, but I'm pretty confident that none of them could have made that play. Alan Trammell couldn't, and neither could Carlos Guillen or Jhonny Peralta.
In his prime, Omar Vizquel could have made it, and there are always guys like Ozzie Smith and Mark Belanger, but those are the best shortstops in baseball history. People worried that Iglesias would lose some range during his recovery from shin splints, but that's pretty clearly not the case.
