AP

Rise and shine, Vladimir Guerrero.

In his 11th season, he's come out hitting .403, allowing the Los Angeles Angels to outscore the Seattle Mariners (who have played five fewer games) and the Oakland Athletics in the American League, and they're gaining on the Kansas City Royals' juggernaut.

Through 20 games, the story remains the same in The OC. Garret Anderson has returned to full health but hasn't provided meaningful run production in the cleanup spot, and the others assigned to Big Daddy Vladdy Duty – Casey Kotchman, Shea Hillenbrand and Robb Quinlan have seen time in the fifth hole – are, well, Casey Kotchman, Shea Hillenbrand and Robb Quinlan.

The result? Guerrero is going to set a career high in walks, if he allows it. Already he's walked 11 times, four times intentionally. ("You can't walk him unintentionally," Jim Leyland mused the other day.) At this rate, he'll receive 96 walks, 35 with the catcher standing up.

The solution? Swing, Vladdy. Swing.

FIVE …

• The Detroit Tigers are going it without Kenny Rogers, and while Nate Robertson, Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman have been steady and sometimes brilliant at the head of the rotation, there are concerns about left-hander Mike Maroth and right-hander Chad Durbin. The Tigers might not be able to wait on Rogers or prospect Andrew Miller, who has pitched reasonably well at Class-A Lakeland, and therefore are among the contenders already looking for starting pitching help.

• The Cleveland Indians are on the lookout for a closer, in case Joe Borowski doesn't work out. He's got to be reasonably priced, though. Think the next Al Reyes. Think long-shot.

• The Houston Astros, my pick in the NL Central, are wearing me out. Lose four to start. Win 9 of 11 to bring me back. Lose four again. When does Roger Clemens get there? And when does Lance Berkman start hitting?

• Today's pick to click: Ben Sheets in Chicago. The Cubs got him pretty good in Milwaukee 2½ weeks ago, but the Brewers are rolling and the Cubs haven't figured out what team they're going to be yet: the one that doesn't score much and loses, or the one that scores big and still loses.

• Read where Ken Griffey Jr. had a colon problem and looked it up: In his career against the Angels right-hander, Griffey has hit .278 with a home run, three RBI and four strikeouts in 18 at-bats. Not great, but I wouldn't call it a problem.

… AND FLY

Rich Donnelly, the insightful Los Angeles Dodgers coach, was talking this week about players who'd changed positions in the course of their careers, or transitioned into pitching, or out of pitching, and how nobody really knows how these things are going to work out.

The conversation tripped a memory of Brooks Kieschnick, the big Texan who came up an outfielder with the Chicago Cubs in 1996 and went out a right-handed pitcher/left-handed pinch-hitter with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004.

Donnelly loved the guy and recalled this 2003 sequence for Kieschnick in a game against the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium:

Bottom of the 5th: Warmed up in the bullpen to relieve Brewers starter Glendon Rusch.

Top of the 6th: Pinch-hit for Rusch, flying to left against Charles Nagy.

Bottom of the 6th: Allowed two hits in a scoreless inning.

Top of the 7th: Rested, presumably.

Bottom of the 7th: Grabbed a catcher's mitt and warmed up the pitcher who relieved him, right-hander Jayson Durocher.

"The warming-up-the-pitcher thing is what got me," Donnelly said. "Darnedest thing I ever saw."