Though it’s not really a surprise, when Dontrelle Willis comes back he’ll be taking Armando Galarraga’s spot in the rotation. Or perhaps Galarraga will be returning Willis’s spot. You could see this was the plan when Willis started his last rehab assignment on the same night Galarraga was pitching.
Dontrelle will make rehab starts for the Mud Hens on Monday and Saturday. A Monday start would be normal rest for Galarraga, but with the open day he’ll be skipped to keep Justin Verlander on his regular rest. So Galarraga’s next start will be in Arizona on Saturday.
There is a possibility that Galarraga could stay with the club in the bullpen, but that would be a mistake. He needs to keep starting and being ready to fill in should injury or prolonged ineffectiveness plague another member of the rotation.
I think its clear to see which starter really needs to be shut down on the DL with tired arm when Willis comes back. Justin Verlander has easily been the worst starter in the rotation who would benefit the most by taking a break. Nate Robinson has equally been as bad but Verlander has more of an upside. The hope would be JV would work on his delivery & mechanics, take a break and come back and be the ace-type pitcher he has been in the past two years.
Galarraga is their best starter right now. The mistake would be to take him out of the rotation rather than one of the four other guys.
….. or to skip him to keep an entirely ineffective Verlander on regular rest.
Why not give Galarraga the start and get Verlander the extra rest? His shoulder cannot be right and it’s not like he’s giving the Tigers the best chance to win when he takes the mound. There’s no shame in giving the guy who is supposed to be the leader of your rotation an extra day’s rest. I’m becoming increasingly befuddled with the decisions from this front office/coaching staff.