“‘I defend guys to the bitter end, but eventually you run out of ammunition. ” -Bob Cluck on the Tigers’ Bullpen
Tiger relievers have one moreweek to prove their worth
The bullpen has been inconsistent at best. According to Baseball Prospectus the Tigers’ bullpen still ranks as the third worst in baseball-as it has all year. And finally, the Tigers are talking about making changes.
The problem with a bad bullpen is that the emotional effect that it has on fans as well as a team. Fans become frustrated as leads slip away. Batters begin to wonder how many times they have to come back. And then there are the starters. The look on Jeremy Bonderman’s face after German allowed the homer today pretty much summed up the starter’s frustrations.
So where are these new bullpen arms coming from? The Tigers could call up some arms from the minors. Chris Mears should be at least as effective as Al Levine. Felix Sanchez was supposed to be a usable piece, but he has struggled mightily in limited time at Erie.
The other option is to buy some bullpen arms. And that comes down to the question of whether or not a solidified bullpen will keep this team in the race (assuming they are now). Whlie the bullpen has been an obvious problem, and upgrading 2 of the arms probably would keep them closer to .500, the team isn’t close enough to the White Sox. And if you’re more worried about the Twins, the Tigers don’t have the chips to acquire the guns that the Twins can.
The Tigers need an outfield bat, and a true top of the rotation guys. Hopefully, the farm system has the pitchers on the way, but the outfiled bat just isn’t there.
So while picking up a Scott Sullivan may help scratch out a couple more wins this year, it’s not worth it unless he comes cheap.
Other Notes:
-The umpires look like they need the All Star break more than the players. Strike zones have been ridiculously inconsistent within games and there have been a ton of blown calls at bases.
-Jason Johnson truly performed like a staff ace on Tuesday. He stopped a 5 game losing streak, and pitched 8 innings to give a burnt out bullpen a rest.
-Gary Knotts OPS against in innings 1-3 is .627. In 4-6 it climbs to .791, and explodes to 1.167 after the sixth. While he’s pitched well enough to deserve a spot in the rotation, this could be your new closer when Urbina gets traded.
Billfer, nice insight. Cornejo should be ready to come back. I would stick him in the pen for now. Supposedly he has better velocity now. John Ennis has pitched really well since they put him in the closer’s role at Toledo. He would be at least as good as Levine or Colyer. At the start of his career Armando Benitez went through a lot of what German is going through now. German’s AAA numbers say he can get guys out. I would rather see him as the long man they use in blowouts than the guy they go to with the lead. They need him to get established at the ML level. Confidence is obviously an issue. But the pen is so bad they need him in the close games. Cornejo and Ennis could help. Mears would be ok. So would Pat Ahearne. We’ll see.
Will Ledezma is another name I’ve seen thrown around. There’s no room for him in the rotation, yet, but getting him some more big league innings wouldn’t hurt.
No need to spend money in order to finish third. I can see swapping a few guys out for Mud Hens, in which case an improved pen is only going to happen when guys start pitching better. (Easier said than done, right?)
I like the idea of Ledezma in long relief.