PREGAME: The Kansas City Royals come to town for a short two game series. Jeremy Bonderman will try to keep the string of strong outings alive for the Tigers. Bonderman, whose 5.04 ERA probably isn’t indicative of how well he’s pitched, has only really struggled against Matt Stairs (5 for 11, 2 homers).
The Tigers will face Runyelvs Hernandez. He of course started the brawl by beaning Carlos Guillen last year. He was also put on the disabled list for being out of shape.
In meaningless split info, the Tigers will be trying for their first Monday win since they beat these same Royals on Opening Day.
POSTGAME: Another masterful pitching performance for a Tiger starter was the story in the Tigers 3-2 win. Jeremy Bonderman picked up another 9 strikeouts to move him to third place in the AL.
As for whether or not he should have pitched the 9th, a case could definitely be made. Everything was working for him, and he was at 94 pitches. What was interesting to me isn’t that Bonderman didn’t pitch the 9th, it’s that Todd Jones did. Jones got an inning of work on Sunday, so it wasn’t about keeping him fresh. If it was about keeping the bullpen sharp, wouldn’t Joel Zumaya who hasn’t pitched since April 25th, been a better option? Was Jim Leyland managing to the save statistic? And if so, what makes the save more significant than the complete game shut out for his starter?
And once again, Craig Monroe provided insurance runs that became quite important late in the game via a home run.
Agree that pulling Bonderman was a questionable move. From what I saw on the TV replay late last night, he still looked very sharp.
If I could abolish any baseball statistic, it would be the save. Use your closer when he’s most important, not when an artificial statistic calls for it. Case in point: The Yankees should have put Rivera in last night in the eighth with the game tied, two runners on, and the heart of the order coming up. Instead, the Red Sox score four runs and the Yankees never get a chance to use Rivera.
End rant.
I was listening to the radio broadcast and they talked about the CGs after the 8th inning. Apparently, Leyland gave Rogers the option to pitch the 9th. Rogers said he didn’t care, so Leyland went with Jones. There was no point in pushing him to the neighborhood of 110 pitches if the bullpen is fresh. They didn’t think that Leyland would give Bondo the choice, being a youngin’ and all, but the same reasoning would apply.
I do question the use of Jones, though. It would have made more sense to use Zumaya or Rodney.
I agree with Kyle on the use of relievers. Major League managers tend to be very uncreative when it comes to bullpen use. I know pitchers like to have roles but I’m sure the traditional roles are the best ones.
Lee
Kyle,
Wonderful summary of the stupidity of closer use. It drives me crazy.
And what’s it going to take before it becomes totally apparent to the organization that Todd Jones IS NOT the best arm we having coming out of the pen.
But we overpaid for him so you know he’s going to start until the wheels are totally off.
Let’s look on the bright side, though. Jones struggled, so maybe this will hasten his trade for another bat…
On a personal high note, I finally bought MLB.tv, so I’ll probably pop up here more to discuss the games now that I can actually see them.
Was thinking earlier that it will be tough for Dombrowski to make a big move at midseason if the team remains in contention. To date, our lineup looks balanced, all five starters have been great, and the bullpen looks deep. An injury could change things, of course. Only move that could be a slam dunk would be getting a power-hitting 3rd baseman and using Inge as the super sub.
Woah Jeff, I don’t think anyone was slamming Jones. Obviously he’s a better option than Spurling to close. Last time I checked however Spurling wasn’t in the conversation when it came to closing games. I think our point was that using Jones as a closer just to stick to orthodoxy is not the smart play. As you say yourself, a demotion may not be a bad move. I personally wasn’t attacking Jones but the inflexible culture of baseball that says you identify a closer through often illogical methods–in this case the fact we’re paying Jones top end closer money–and then insist on using that pitcher solely in the ninth inning regardless of game situation or player performance.
I like Todd Jones. I like his column. I just don’t like him enough to continue using him to save games if another pitcher proves himself the superior option.
Joey – I think Jeff was saying that Spurling would be backfilling the bullpen, not become the new closer.
That said, I think we’re all pretty much on the same page in terms of late inning pitching deployment.
No…no. I knew what he meant. I just…oh it’s not even worth explaining.
Billfer you’re right about everyone being on the same page. No point in arguing semantics.
I enjoyed the Prospectus lead in to their rankings by the way. The umpiring has been pretty bad and I’m glad that they’re sounding the alarm. We need Sandy Alderson back!