Dave Littlefield
Dave Littlefield
David Littlefieldis a former Major League Baseball executive, who is currently the vice president of player development for the Detroit Tigers. Littlefield was employed as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a position he held from July 13, 2001 to September 7, 2007. He took over as GM for Roy Smith, who had assumed the position on a temporary basis after the firing of GM Cam Bonifay on June 11...
continue couple exhaust last looking normal number opportunity path playing prospects third time
We need to try to continue to get him at-bats. Because of his path the last couple of years, he hasn't had the normal number of at-bats that your prospects have. I think it's important that we get him a lot of playing time at third base. ... We want to exhaust the opportunity for him to play third base, because we are looking at our future.
gonna prepare sit throwing
The sense is, with where we sit right now, that he's gonna be back and throwing for us in July. So we prepare in that way.
compete feels leagues major minor needs time together
At this point, he just isn't ready, performance-wise. He needs some time in the Minor Leagues to get things back together where he feels and we would feel he could compete at the Major League level.
pitching preserve starting
We need to preserve our starting pitching depth.
compliment concern definitely doctors moved regards serious standpoint
It definitely can be a serious matter. There's always a concern in regards to clots, aneurysms, things like that. Evidently, we moved on it very quickly. ... I really compliment our doctors from the standpoint of detecting this.
I'm still comfortable in what we have in-house.
challenges effort guys heck leagues major minor pitches takes talented talk tougher
Those are some challenges some young guys have to face, even guys as talented as he is. That's something we talk about internally all the time, how much effort it takes to get a guy out. Those 100 pitches in the major leagues are a heck of a lot tougher than those 100 pitches at the minor league level.
close players ready seen spring
What we've seen this spring is that we have many players who are very close to being ready to play at the major-league level.
point
I don't know, exactly. But that's something we'll have be doing at some point here soon.
both center chris continue either establish guy hard high hopes neither position solid starting themselves work
Right now, Chris Duffy is the starting center fielder and we're going to go in that direction. I don't think either guy has a solid position on a job. Both of them have got to continue to work hard to establish themselves as big leaguers. Neither one is an established big leaguer, but we have very high hopes for both of them.
good guy hate news performed send sure
You hate to send a guy to the minors who has performed as well as he has. The good news is I'm sure he'll be back soon.
time
It's time to see if he can do it.
consistent full learns looking scene season year
Considering this will be his first full season making every start, I'm just looking for a consistent performance. If he learns the major-league scene and experiences a full year healthy, that will be progress.
bad certainly gives good guy hate news performed send sure
The bad news is you hate to send a guy to the minors because he has performed well. The good news is I'm sure he'll be back soon. This is a guy who's made improvements, who's matured, who certainly gives you the look that he's major-league ready.