Bullpen continues implosion
posted in 2007 season, Minnesota Twins |Game 22: Tigers lose 5-3
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
The photo says it all. After Nate Robertson pitched beautifully, allowing just two runners to get to second base through six innings and just one run on a homer through seven, Zumaya threw it all away. Oh, he wasn’t alone in doing so. With a 3-1 lead, Robertson put two base runners on in the eighth without getting an out. But that’s the type of situation Zumaya thrives on, holding on and shutting down the rally. But he not only couldn’t get Nate out of it unscathed, he left the bases loaded (one was an intentional walk) when Jim Leyland took the ball from his hand. When all was said and done, four runs scored in the eighth and Minnesota held on by that score.
I think we can draw few conclusions lately other than to agree with Leyland. This bullpen is seriously out of whack. Not a single reliever has been reliable for the entire month of April. Wait, that states it backwards. You expect a struggle or two over a month’s worth of outings. During the entire month of April, no reliever has been reliable. Leads have been blown by nearly every reliever in every way possible. When two pitch fine, the third finds a way to mess it up. When people called for Fernando Rodney’s or Todd Jones’ head, they thought young Zoomer was waiting in the wings. But even Zumaya admits that he isn’t ready to close. And this week, with two blown holds and runs given up in all four outings, we’ve even lost the reliability of Zumaya. Just as we thought he hit a low when he couldn’t throw a strike against Chicago, he could barely keep the ball inside the park against Minnesota.
It’s frustrating right now. This must be the frustration Indians fans felt last year as their team compiled runs and their starters kept a low rotational ERA, only to see a losses pile up. Relievers have compiled eight of the Tigers’ 10 losses this season.
When will the bleeding by the bullpen end?
Site news: I decided to separate pre-game and post-game thoughts from now on.Â
Sphere It
Before the season we were worried about some of the starters being overworked, etc. They’ve come through and what we overlooked was the bullpen and thought them dependable.
Glad you split up the pre/post game thoughts too, it’s much easier to follow via rss.
Thanks for the feedback, Eric. It seemed to me to be a good way to gather information about a particular day easier, but it got kinda messy.