Brennan Boesch Is Now Officially One Of Baseball's Best Hitters

From the first day Brennan Boesch was called up to the big leagues by the Detroit Tigers he hit, then he hit some more, and then he hit some more, and then, well, he hit again.

Brennan was called up on April 23rd by the Tigers, just hoping the young man could keep the injured Carlos Guillen's place on the bench warm until he was healthy, then back to the rigours of AA ball in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Eastern League.

In his first game against the Texas Rangers that April night, Brennan went 2-4, including a double, a single, and, as does every free swinger, a strikeout.

In six March games, Boesch collected six hits in 23 at bats, a .261 average, including his first home run, a grand slam, off the Angels Joel Piniero on April 30th.

Then came May.

Boesch was voted the American League Rookie of the Month, hitting .345, with three HR, 15 RBI, and a slugging % of .595.

Boesch hit the ball all over the place, he hit them in the day, he hit them at night, he hit against right-handers, and against left-handers, he hit on the road, and at home in Comerica Park.

In June, the onslaught continued. Boesch hit .337, added eight more home runs, most of them towering blasts of more than 400 feet, his slugging percent for the month was a whopping .625, and Brennan drove in 23 runs. He was once again rewarded by Major League Baseball as the Rookie of the Month.

All along the way, I kept hearing about a supposed "hole" in Boesch's swing. His minor league stats just didn't add up to a big league career, was the usual trend of the various opinions across the web.

On to July. In nine games as we reach the All-Star Game tomorrow, Boesch is hitting .406, and his slugging percent is .531. Boesch hasn't homered so far in the month, but that's simply because teams have been pitching around the rookie, something almost unheard of.

In a game on July 5th, the Baltimore Orioles walked Boesch four times, the most times a Tigers rookie has walked in a game since 1961.

Boesch also has 17 total bases and 13 RBIs in those nine July games.

All this time, through late May, and through June, you just kept wondering when the kid was going to get into the daily baseball stats for average and slugging percent, but because Boesch didn't get to the big leagues until the end of April, he just didn't have the required 3.1 plate appearances per team game to qualify.

Yesterday became the day of reckoning for baseball fans across the country, as Boesch went 1-4, getting the Tigers first hit of the day, driving in a run on a ground out off the Twins Carl Pavano, and thereby qualifying for the league leaders.

His batting average sits at .342, and his slugging percent is .593. Both numbers have Brennan Boesch, the kid who was just supposed to warm the seat on the bench, 4th in all of Major League Baseball, trailing his teammate Miguel Cabrera, the Rangers Josh Hamilton, and the Twins Justin Morneau.

Friday night the Tigers will start the second half of the baseball season in Cleveland, playing a four game series against the Indians. I think those missing home runs for Boesch will be found against the Tribe.