Dusty Ryan Called Up

Sources close to Dusty Ryan are reporting that The Tigers have called up the young backstop from Toledo to presumably replace Dane Sardinha as the backup catcher. This is a welcome move as the Tigers have been starting Gerald Laird too much and I believe it has been affecting his offense. Laird has been excellent defensively but has played in 57 of the Tigers 66 games and his batting average has slipped to .215. The Tigers have been reluctant to use the weak hitting Sardinha who is a capable defender but has batted just .097 in 12 games.

Dusty Ryan was batting .259/.374/.442 with 7 homers in 46 games for Toledo. He has good power but has trouble making contact with 51 strikeouts in 147 at bats. Although Dusty had trouble blocking pitches in his call-up to the Tigers last September, he is generally regarded as a strong defender.