Some Thoughts on the Tigers
The ball hasn’t bounced Detroit’s way lately
Photo: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
The team obviously needs to shore up their bullpen. Whether they do so via trade or if either Fernando Rodney and/or Joel Zumaya can return and be effective it needs to be addressed. The team is going through a bit of a losing streak right now but that’s going to happen over a 162 game regular season. But the bullpen has been too inconsistent all season.
Eric Gagne is likely to be this season’s Alfonso Soriano, too expensive in terms of what Texas wants in return. The Free Press reports that the Tigers have shown interest in Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls, and Octavio Dotel. Kyle Farnsworth’s name has also popped up in trade talks. If the Tigers pursue Lidge or Dotel it would likely be to replace Jones as each pitcher is a closer.
Todd Jones isn’t the biggest problem as he’s only blown one save in 9 chances so far this month. The biggest issue appears to be middle relievers and that is where Rodney and Zumaya would pitch when they eventually make their return. Qualls is a middle reliever and would be an improvement over Jason Grilli, as would Kyle Farnsworth, David Riske or Jimmy Gobble. Damaso Marte could be a good setup man if he could be acquired via trade.
Andrew Miller is struggling of late. I opined that he needed to pitch big innings in the minors like Justin Verlander did the season before he came up and won rookie of the year. Chad Durbin has been ineffective pitching from the bullpen, allowing 3 runs in each of his last two relief appearances. He should be Detroit’s fifth starter this season. From May 1 to June 19 he was averaging 5.5 innings per appearance, which is what Miller is doing right now.
Miller’s likely to stay in Detroit with Kenny Rogers on the 15 day disabled list. But when Rogers returns it would probably be a good idea to get Miller more appearances by having him pitch in the minors. If Durbin falters as a starter you can always bring Miller back up.
Detroit has gone 3-7 after going 11-3 to start the month. They currently have a half game lead over the Tribe and have a pretty reasonable schedule during the month of August, when they play only 13 games against teams with a better than .500 record. The key games will be from August 14 to 23 when the Tigers will play five games against the Indians.
On August 24th we should have a good idea whether this team is going to be a strong contender for post season play. By that time they will have a chance to build up a lead within the division and at least get Fernando Rodney back. They could also have another reliever via trade and be looking at the imminent return of Joel Zumaya.
In short a long baseball season is just starting to get interesting as we move into the homestretch of the season.
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[…] Yesterday I mentioned Marte as being a good target for Detroit. He’d likely be a setup man for Todd Jones. So long as your starters put in the type of performance Jordan Tata put in last night and last 6-7 innings you put less pressure on a staff of middle relievers who have struggled lately. Having Marte and Jones, who would both be ideal one-inning pitchers who could pitch the 8th and 9th innings, would mean putting even less pressure on the middle relievers. […]