Remember Chris Shelton? Sure you do. Last year for Detroit he started out on the greatest offensive streak of the season. The month of April he hit .326 with 10 homers, 20 RBI and 30 total hits. He only played in 29 games after the All Star Break. His production drastically declined. He's currently on the Tigers 40-man roster but hasn't seen any time at the major league level this season.
His big problem last year, what got him eventually demoted, was his strikeouts. Even when he was hitting well his strikeout totals were high. This season at AAA Toledo he has played in 134 games, has batted 478 times and leads the International League in walks with 80. Unfortunately, he's sixth in the IL in strikeouts with 135. But if we look at the flip side of that coin again we see his OBP is an impressive .378 and he has 200 total bases in those 134 games.
The biggest problem for minor league hitters (especially at the AAA level) is strikeouts. Big league managers and scouts will almost always find ways to give patient hitters a chance to face major league pitching. Right now Chris Shelton is not the patient hitter Detroit needs on their roster. Especially not with veteran Sean Casey doing so well at first base this season. But there's no denying that his patience has improved. Now, as a 25 year old, I don't think Chris Shelton would make a positive impact on a major league team and I don't expect him to make a major league roster out of Spring Training in 2008. But it's tough to argue he won't find consistent time on a major league roster in the future.