Jim Leyland has made a lot of great moves since becoming manager of the Detroit Tigers, but his decision to bat Timo Perez in the No. 3 spot Tuesday night against Kansas City baffled me.
I know he has been scrambling since Gary Sheffield went out with an injury, but this hunch did not work. Perez came up in several key spots in the early innings and failed to deliver. He did have a double in the ninth inning, but the Tigers were down by four runs at that time.
I know Leyland doesn’t want to mess with the Magglio Ordonez-Carlos Guillen combination in the No. 4 and 5 spots, but Sean Casey would have been a better choice at No. 3, or he could have moved Placido Polanco to third and let Perez hit second.
When asked about his choice of Perez in the No. 3 hole refused to give his reasons. All he would say was he did it because that’s where he wanted to hit him.
Leyland is a great manager, but he occasionally let’s his stubborness get in the way.