Is Chris Shelton for real?

[Zito75]

Man, I am so glad I drafted this guy. 5 HR's all ready and just one K all year?
It goes without saying, but that's an incredible start.

Anyone care to predict how he'll finish this year?

.324/ 37 HR/ 101 RBI

[OldEnglishD]

He's obviously starting out on a tear. But yeah, he's for real.

.295/26/92

[racosun]

.315, 35 hr's, 112 rbi's

[efin98]

I'll one up you guys- 2006 MVP finalist, no lower than third place and probably winning it if the Tigers make the playoffs this year.

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

You guys are trying to sound like this guy is babe ruth or mickey mantle.wait till this team starts to play the better teams and see what happens.

[runningshoes]

You guys are trying to sound like this guy is babe ruth or mickey mantle.wait till this team starts to play the better teams and see what happens.

I think you've taken one to many bitter pills today.:grouchy

[Erik Bedard]

Haven't we seen this before, only with a speedy second baseman with good gap power?

[Srschirm]

.292/31/100

[Paulmcall]

I think Shelton will hang around .300 but not hit as many homers as you guys feel he will. I'll be happy if he gets a lot of ribbies though with those hits.

[efin98]

You guys are trying to sound like this guy is babe ruth or mickey mantle.wait till this team starts to play the better teams and see what happens.

Kansas City is nothing but Texas is an actual contender. Beating them twice and leading them at the moment(8:50pm EDT) is a big feat.

[DodgerBlue81]

2 triples today

TRIPLE CROWN!!! :D

[racosun]

Can it really get any more exciting? I mean, come on! The guy starts out with 5 homers over four games, and he's the talk of the baseball nation. What does he go out and do? Hit two more homers? Nah, too easy. How 'bout a couple triples? Craziness, I tell ya. Either the apocolypse is near, or some odd Donald-induced curse has just gone belly-up.

[efin98]

Detroit hasn't had a guy who has been so well talked about in baseball circles in well over a decade- not since Cecil Fielder.

I think he is going to be the guy that elevates the team above mediocracy and into greatness. Just watch.

[Francoeurstein]

35/110/.290

[Gashouse6]

.304/34/108

[moebarguy]

.280, 25 HR, and 85 RBI...let's be realistic people

[KCGHOST]

.280, 25 HR, and 85 RBI...let's be realistic people


That's the much more likely stat line for Shelton. And that's pretty good. The boys over at Baseball Prospectus do give him a less than 10% chance of having an MVP caliber year.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Leave it to a BoSox fan to come up with the most realistic assessment here. Honestly, it's been cool to see him produce this early as he has. We haven't seen that sort of excitement since, well, 1990 and Fielder.
It's a long season, but this is going to be fun.

[moebarguy]

Leave it to a BoSox fan to come up with the most realistic assessment here. Honestly, it's been cool to see him produce this early as he has. We haven't seen that sort of excitement since, well, 1990 and Fielder.
It's a long season, but this is going to be fun.

Let's see how he does a few months from now, and then we can continue talking about how he'll be the MVP...

[Captain Cold Nose]

Let's see how he does a few months from now, and then we can continue talking about how he'll be the MVP...
What's the matter, moe, can't stand to see fans notice when a player is doing suprisingly well?

[moebarguy]

I'm not surprised to see how well he's doing, he's a big power prospect, and it's the beginning of the season. Look for him to hit .280, 25 HR, 80 RBI. He's not going to hit 35 HR and 115 RBI, and win the MVP...

[Captain Cold Nose]

I'm not surprised to see how well he's doing, he's a big power prospect, and it's the beginning of the season. Look for him to hit .280, 25 HR, 80 RBI. He's not going to hit 35 HR and 115 RBI, and win the MVP...
It's doubtful, sure, but, hey, remember this it the Tigers. We need something to dream about.

[moebarguy]

True. If you guys had some better starting pitching, I think you'd actually be in contention this year...

[racosun]

True. If you guys had some better starting pitching, I think you'd actually be in contention this year...

I say exactly the same about your team, lol. :laugh

[moebarguy]

I agree. But, the Mets have one of the more potent lineups in the majors, they have Pedro Martinez, and they have Billy Wagner...There's no doubt in my mind that the Mets will make the playoffs, but I don't think they'll last very long because of their thin rotation and bullpen

[racosun]

I agree. But, the Mets have one of the more potent lineups in the majors, they have Pedro Martinez, and they have Billy Wagner...There's no doubt in my mind that the Mets will make the playoffs, but I don't think they'll last very long because of their thin rotation and bullpen

Except for Pedro and Billy, I could say the same about the Tigers. Our offense is top-notch, quite feared in the AL, believe me. We're pretty much above average at every position. Offensively, only third base could use an upgrade. The Tigers main weakness is (was) the bullpen, but some of the new young guys are looking solid in there, and I'm sure Todd Jones will be fine. He can't be that much worse than Wagner, who already blew a save to a rookie. It happens, I know, but I find it hard to think that this is the Mets' year to bump off the Braves. On that, I have to disagree, but I'll put you guys a close second. Then again, the Braves are my second-fave team, so I could be being a bit "homerish" and stubborn. :eek:

[moebarguy]

True, the Tigers do have a very good lineup, but I'd still give the notch to the Mets in that department. I think that Todd Jones will be a huge toss-up -- the guy was basically out of baseball for two years, and then came back last year and put up insane stats. But hey, ya never know...

[Schaddy]

I highly doubt that Shelton will end up with numbers in the realm of what he's doing right now (.350 avg, 50+ homers, 125 RBI, etc) but he's a very good young hitter with emerging power and he's going to be a good one for a long time. Despite a power-sapping home park, I see no reason he can't hit 30 homers this year, and he's a good RBI guy, too. I think his most impressive trait is his ability to hit for average while also hitting for good power; a lot of young hitters take awhile for their avg to catch up with their power #s. He'll hit .300 with 30 and 100 for a long time. Probably not a superstar, but he'll be a very good hitter.

[justice22]

Everyone has good tears at some point in their career. People who have it at the beggining of the season just look better. Let us recall Brian Roberts from last season. He started off looking like the second coming of Joe Morgan. He ended up DECENT. I would say that shelton might get 30 homeruns, a player of the month trophy, and his first all-star appearance, and end up somewhere on the ballot as mebe an 8th place vote getter for mvp. that's all

[tigers527]

Ever since I saw him.....back in the 2004 season as a rule five bench warmer. I have been calling him and I quote, "Cross eyed, no chin, nappy red headed, pot bellied hitting machine." To that note has anyone seen a "nice" looking photo of this guy? I guess I was part right, half way through last year, our beloved radio play by play man started calling him a hitting machine. Always my story; ahead of my time, but the only people to hear me are in section 328. I would not be suprised with anything this kid does..."Pride of Utah" is my other moniker for him.

[Zito75]

Hitting machine? Maybe... He did have another HR and 2 RBI today.

[DodgerBlue81]

Shelton can't be stopped! .514 7 HR 14 RBI

[racosun]

The shock was beginning to wear off on me, but to see Shelton continue to mash puts me right back!! If this kid had a lineup around him that had some patience at the plate and some clutch-ness in their blood, the Tigers would be amazing. As it stands now, we can't make a pitch to save our lives and Big Red's red-hot start is going to absolute waste. What a shame. We need to take two-of-three from Cleveland or this club will begin to develop serious confidence issues.

[Yankee Legend]

Wow! I swear Chris Shelton is the next Pujols.

[KingJ]

1-0 win, he scores the only run with a deep HR... Tigers made the right decision this spring by going with him over Carlos Pena.

[Zito75]

I don't think I have ever seen a guy lead the league in hits, RBI, HR, and Triples through the first month of the season. Who would of thunk it?

[KingJ]

#9...149 games to go and he already has half as many HRs as he did last year .

Bot 2nd: Detroit
- C. Shelton homered to deep left

[racosun]

The spring training battle at first base wasn't between Shelton and Pena, it was between Pena and Dmitri Young to see who's the back-up and DH. Shelton locked up the starting spot last season.

During today's game against Cleveland, the Cleveland announcers were talking about how Shelton's 8 homers in the first 12 games were an AL record, and almost on cue he wailed another homer to left field to tie the game at 1. That was pretty cool. The kid is the real deal. Of course, in typical Tigers fashion, Nate Robertson blows up in the next inning and now we're playing catch-up again.

[Zito75]

#9. Pretty sweet! Like I said, glad I drafted this guy!

[tigers527]

#9. Pretty sweet! Like I said, glad I drafted this guy!
He's a hitting machine. Seriously, in the month of July last year he had more hits in that month then any Tiger since like 1976 (dont quote me, but pretty close) he just wore out toward the end of the season and still finished with a respectable .299 avg.

[racosun]

Yeah, he hit a wall, so to speak. Hopefully he trained enough this year to go up and over that wall come late summer. He can flat out hit. He really tore up the Arizona Fall League two years ago before getting his final call-up from Toledo. Who's your Tiger? Chris Shelton.

[SoxSon]

...and I'm sure Todd Jones will be fine. He can't be that much worse than Wagner, who already blew a save to a rookie.


He's much worse than Wagner. There's actually no comparison between the two.

[racosun]

He's much worse than Wagner. There's actually no comparison between the two.

Fantasy-wise, sure, there's no comparison. But when it comes to locking down the ninth inning, they're both in the same ballpark (so to speak). They'll both blow roughly the same amount of save opportunities, but Wagner will get more save chances and more K's. Billy Boy isn't what he used to be in Houston. There are plenty of better closer options in the MLB right now, but both Wagner and Jones are adequate. Both are fairly old, and won't be around in five years.

[moebarguy]

Shelton is on pace now...
.293 BA, 31 HR, 81 RBI, 75 R (and hitting .000 this week)

What happened to all of those MVP predictions? :-p

[2Chance]

That looks about like what we were saying earlier, Moe. Pretty reasonable expectations for him over the course of a year. He's been benched a couple of times and talked to by Leyland about "falling in love with the home run."

No, the AL MVP this year will be.....MARCUS THAMES! :clapping

(....or not.) :D

[Francoeurstein]

His power is long gone, he haven't been hitting homers like he did in the start.

[moebarguy]

His power is long gone, he haven't been hitting homers like he did in the start.

He hasn't been hitting, period.

[riverfrontier]

He has been in a slump, yeah? He's relatively inexpensive, all things considered, and assuredly will be a bargain no matter what stats he ends up with. How much did the Mets pay for Mo Vaughn again? Just curious.

[moebarguy]

He has been in a slump, yeah? He's relatively inexpensive, all things considered, and assuredly will be a bargain no matter what stats he ends up with. How much did the Mets pay for Mo Vaughn again? Just curious.

Oh, he's def. worth what he makes, I just thought it was hilarious how people were labeling him as the MVP after the first 3 weeks of the season. Mo made around the same as Kevin Appier (the guy we traded for him).

[KCGHOST]

Shelton has a sub-.700 OPS since May 1st.

[carta_411]

Man, I am so glad I drafted this guy. 5 HR's all ready and just one K all year?
It goes without saying, but that's an incredible start.

Anyone care to predict how he'll finish this year?

.324/ 37 HR/ 101 RBI


IN THE MINORS! .185/14/48 RBI

[OldEnglishD]

Oh, he's def. worth what he makes, I just thought it was hilarious how people were labeling him as the MVP after the first 3 weeks of the season. Mo made around the same as Kevin Appier (the guy we traded for him).

Yes, that was funny .... however - this is turning out to be a pretty hilarious statement too :

True. If you guys had some better starting pitching, I think you'd actually be in contention this year...

;)

[moebarguy]

True, but who could have seen The Gambler and Mike Maroth doing well

[W_Marone]

Chris Shelton, who's that? Oh wait that one guy, now I remember haha, man he really cooled down.

[Funkstronaut]

I'd hate to say it...

But I would like to see a new guy on First Bag, before the trade deadline is up.

:ughh