MLB: Leyland goes to bat for slumping Sheff

And the Jim Rice Most-Feared Hitter Award© goes to…

“I think some pitchers pitch Sheffield tougher than anybody on our team,” Leyland said. “There was a time when Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds were the two most-feared hitters in baseball. I’m not saying all the time, but there was a period of time when they were probably the two most-feared hitters in baseball—bar none. Trust me. He still sees tough pitching for it.

“It’s not like he’s getting balls blown by him. It’s not that his bat is slowing up, and they’re blowing balls by him. He’s hitting balls hard foul. His timing is definitely not right, but his bat isn’t slow. I’ve seen guys throwing 95-96 [mph], and he’s hitting it to left field foul.”

...However, Leyland said, based on his close relationship with the slugger, that Sheffield doesn’t play to pad statistics and certainly wouldn’t hold the team back for the sake of a milestone.

“Gary Sheffield would be the first guy in this office saying that he wasn’t helping the team,” Leyland said. “Trust me, he doesn’t play for his own stats. Believe me, he won’t do that. If he feels like he can’t be the Gary Sheffield he wants to be, he’ll tell me. I believe that. That hasn’t happened, and I don’t expect it to happen.

“Do I think he’ll hit? Yes I do. Do I think he’ll hit like the Gary Sheffield of old? I doubt it. But do I think he can hit enough to be a productive hitter in our lineup? Yes I do.”