Scott Sizemore's promotion still likely despite injury

Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

Scott Sizemore was made for the Detroit Tigers. His 2009 season, and its abrupt crash landing, certify it.

Sizemore had just wrapped up a dandy of a year at Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo, hitting .307 and .308, respectively, at those stops, and banging 17 home runs along the way, all before he showed up two weeks ago for the showcase Arizona Fall League, where the best prospects in big league baseball go for additional grooming.

Sizemore, 24, and the Tigers' likely next starting second baseman, debuted big: three home runs, two doubles, and nine RBIs in his first five games for the Peoria Javelinas.

Then, it was on to Thursday's game against the Phoenix Desert Dogs. Sizemore planted his left leg for a double-play relay at second base. The sliding runner crashed into his leg, fracturing his ankle.

He will be in a walking cast for the next six weeks. The good news, if it can be gauged as such, is that the fracture was "nondisplaced," meaning bones did not have to be reset.

The Tigers still expect Sizemore to be their starting second baseman in 2010 if Placido Polanco, who can become a free agent next month, decides to sign elsewhere.

Sizemore's injury will have no bearing on the club's interest in re-signing Polanco, said Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers president and general manager. What the Tigers would be interested in offering Polanco -- probably a one-year deal -- isn't likely to match the longer package Polanco is likely to find elsewhere.

"I don't think (Sizemore's injury will) have any effect one way or the other," Dombrowski said Saturday. "You wish it (Sizemore's fracture) didn't happen. You'd hope for another month under his belt (in Arizona), but he'll be fine."

Well, yes and no. The Tigers are concerned about Sizemore's defense, enough so that last week they dispatched Rafael Belliard, their infield instructor, to Arizona to tutor Sizemore.

The timetable obviously has changed. The mission is no different. Sizemore is a fine hitter who added power this season. But he also made 21 errors last season, or one fewer than Polanco over the past five seasons.

Keith Law, the lead baseball analyst for ESPN.com's Scouts Inc., has seen Sizemore at various stops, including this month at the Arizona Fall League, and said last week: "I think Sizemore can be fringe-average at second base ... not a liability. I do agree that he's going to hit enough to be an asset there, and I'd much rather give him $400,000 than pay Polanco, whose glove is slipping, anyway."

Sizemore explained his defensive wobbles during a phone conversation last week.

"I made a lot of errors, but I think I improved in a lot of areas," he said. "My double-plays were good. I was solid around the bag all year. I really felt I needed to focus on defense and separate the offensive and defensive sides.

"There were times when I made errors that I was probably thinking about my last at-bat. I felt that was one of the things I need to work on: To really get a feel, with 100-percent focus, on catching the ball and making the play."

Sizemore is regarded by scouts as having good range and a strong arm.

His challenge to "see the ball into the glove," as coaches preach, will be the assignment in 2010.

That seminar will be held in Detroit rather than Toledo if his ankle heals and if Polanco signs elsewhere.

lynn.henning@detnews.com