That didn’t take long. Alfredo Figaro is being bounced from the rotation and Luke French will make his first career start Friday night at the Metrodome. Figaro heads to Toledo, so he still ends up with a promotion in the deal.
Figaro did struggle in his 2nd start, and he pitched out of a number of jams in first effort. The optimist can look at his heat and the breaking ball he featured when it wasn’t being hung. The pessimist sees someone who doesn’t locate his pitches well enough to be effective. The two sides meet in the middle and say, maybe he just needs to refine his stuff a little in the minors.
French is left handed which could be a factor in this decision as well with the Tigers taking on Morneau, Mauer, and Kubel next weekend. (Kurt figured this out before the move was even made) French has also been pitching pretty good and has earned the promtion. He has quality starts in 5 of his last 6 outings, and the one where he didn’t it was 4 runs in 6.2 innings. Over those last 6 starts he has 41 K’s and 7 walks in 43.1 innings.
there is no reason to rush Figaro. He has good stuff, very good speed , good breaking ball. With some seasoning he will be just fine
In my own experience I have found that a long leash is not necessarily preferable to a short leash; while the short leash does make you more aware of the presence of the leash-holder, the long leash in itself lends to problems of self-entanglement etc.
I concur.
Good roster moves lately. As soon as Josh Anderson goes away in favor of Larish or Thomas, the Tigers will have the best 25 players (or at least 25 of the top 26 or 27) they own on the major league roster, without respect to past history or contract status. It will help with the win-loss record, and it will yield more complete information about what needs to be done at the trade deadline.
When you have a problem hanging some breaking balls it is going to extremely tough for you to be an effective Major League pitcher. I still think he has a great future and could one day be a fixture in the rotation but he does need more time in the minors. I am excited to see what French can do as he has pitched really well lately and I thought he should have been called up before Figaro anyway.
I really think we should let Willis go and add someone else to the roster. I like Josh Anderson, Larrish, and even Brent Clevelan . Anderson and Brent Clevelan are two of the fastest guys I have seen for Detroit. I wish Leyland would play more of a rotating lineup. Willis needs to go as he doesn’t seem to do well in a Tigers uniform. Maybe we could trade him for a prospect or something. Looking at the stats we should definitely keep Ordonez because he is starting to generate decent numbers at the plate and he’s a good defender. Figaro is going to be awesome, and hopefully the new guy from Japan (pitcher) will do wonders for The Mighty Tigers. By the way, if you Google my website you will bring it up. Please do, and have a very Happy July 4th of Independence. Go Tigers!!! “Feelin Fine in 2009!!!” Yours Truly, Chris Hakim Phoenix Az.