Tigers Giving French A Shot

The Detroit Tigers will be giving the ball to lefty Lucas French tonight as the 23-year-old makes his first Major League start against the Twins. This will be his second stint with the Tigers after giving the club 3 scoreless innings out of the pen in May. He was sent down then as Nate Robertson came off the DL on May 21. Ironically, French will be attempting to hold down Robertson's spot in the rotation after Alfredo Figaro didn't look so hot against Houston this past Saturday. Robertson is expected to be out about a month after having minor elbow surgery, if there is such a thing. Therefore, if French looks good tonight, he may have a chance to stick.

According to Jason Beck, who covers the Tigers for MLB.com, "French has been on an absolute tear recently, basically for the last month. He has given up four earned runs on 16 hits with 26 strikeouts over 23 innings in his last three starts, though he hasn't won any of them. Further back than that, he has lasted at least 6 2/3 innings with two earned runs or less in five of his last six starts, bringing down his ERA for the year to 2.98."

Looking over his career, this 6 foot 4 inch, 240 pounder seems to have a great sense of timing. French is having his best year since his Rookie League season in 2004. From the time he was drafted, he has steadily made his way through the organization with average numbers:

Year	Lg	Level	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	BB	SO
2004	GULF	Rook	2.74	11	10	49	43	19	49
2005	3 Lgs	A/A-Adv/Rook	5.45	12	12	67	87	23	50
2006	MIDW	A	3.72	26	26	157	156	44	94
2007	FLOR	A-Adv	4.05	27	27	149	172	47	93
2008	EL	AA	4.02	27	26	170	195	60	88
2009	IL	AAA	2.98	13	13	81	71	20	72

By all accounts, French has a pedestrian skill-set, but keeps the ball on the ground and has good command. Our opinion is that he could get by for a handful of starts, but once the league starts to build a book on him, it will be tough going for French.