Pitching to tell story for Tigers
Dave Hackenberg - 4/20/2008
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/COLUMNIST08/804200382/-1/NEWS09
Jim Leyland was a tad beyond cranky. His Detroit Tigers had not been
playing up to
what he thought was their potential, they'd just mailed one in, and
Leyland went off
as only he can.
He stomped into the clubhouse, flipped over the food table, kicked a
couple
trashcans, got everyone's attention, and read them the riot act.
Last week?
No, the date was April 17, 2006. It was getaway day for a swing to the
west coast and
the Tigers had done little more than go through the motions in a 10-2 loss
to
Cleveland at Comerica Park. Detroit was 7-6 in the young season and
Leyland
thought his new players, who had been through a string of demoralizing,
losing
campaigns, were too content with having risen to mediocre.
The Tigers, of course, won 28 of their next 36 games and rode a
season-long wave of
momentum into the World Series.
Are the '08 Tigers capable of doing the same thing? Time will tell, but
Leyland
already has played the rage card and it appears to have at least put a
burr under a
few saddles.
The Tigers are 4-2 since an 11-0 loss to Chicago, a game in which the
White Sox
belted a pair of grand slams. With a win seemingly out of the question,
Detroit's
hitters became far too proficient at making quick outs. There were some
horribly
indifferent at-bats and the last nine outs came on just 24 pitches.
To say the least, the Tigers didn't grind it out, so their manager ground
them up.
The shutout loss was the second in as many nights and fourth in 12 games.
Detroit had
been shut out just three times all of last season. So Leyland, already
lighting more
Marlboros a day than the surgeon general might recommend after that 0-7
start, turned
smokin' surly in a closed-door clubhouse meeting.
Detroit responded by scoring 30 runs in its next three games and, despite
just 11
runs in the last three, the Tigers have displayed more grit and produced
better
at-bats.
The problem, apparently, is that they're going to need big-run production
on a daily
basis to win, especially in games like yesterday's in Toronto where the
Tigers wasted
some rare, solid relief pitching. Otherwise, it is a burden for the
hitters to have
to play over poor starting pitching and come from behind on a day-to-day
basis.
Jeremy Bonderman, who turned in a decent five innings yesterday despite
fighting his
control all the while, is the only starter in what was supposed to be a
very good
rotation to have an ERA under 6.30. Justin Verlander, Dontrelle Willis
(currently on
the disabled list with a
hyper-extended knee) and Nate Robertson all are 7.00 or higher. Detroit
entered
yesterday's game allowing almost one full earned run more per game than
any other
team in the American League.
Everyone suspected the bullpen would be an adventure with Joel Zumaya and
Fernando
Rodney on the shelf with injuries. But the starters have been mostly
horrid. With the
offense struggling during the first two weeks of the season, the Tigers
rarely had a
chance. Having recently shown signs of life at the plate, they could be
poised to
take off.
Rodney and Zumaya are both expected to start throwing from a mound
sometime this week
at the Tigers' complex in Florida. Centerfielder Curtis Granderson, who
has not
played this season because of a broken finger, is spending his weekend on
a rehab
assignment with the Mud Hens. So help may be on the way.
The key, though, remains the starting rotation and, in particular,
Verlander. He has
been far from his overpowering self and has struggled to locate pitches.
No team, certainly no good team, improved itself more offensively during
the
off-season than did the Tigers with acquisitions like Miguel Cabrera,
Edgar Renteria
and platoon-player Jacque Jones.
But the bottom line always has been and always will be pitching. Remember,
the quick
change in fortunes after Leyland's tongue-la****ng in '06 was fa****oned
behind a
series of 3-0, 3-2 and 2-0 wins.
So the Tigers can't afford to waste decent outings like Bonderman and the
bullpen
produced yesterday and all of this season's bright promise will go for
naught if the
rest of the pitching staff doesn't right itself.
---
- Scott Smith: scott.smith@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/choppersmith
|
