The Zumaya Effect
posted in 2007 season, injuries |Just as the Tigers were celebrating another comeback Saturday against the Royals, waiting for Joel Zumaya to make an entrance from the bullpen to hold the lead, it happened. A pop. Pain. Another pop. A call to the trainer. And just like that, the feared setup man was lost.
Zumaya saw a hand specialist in New York today, the same doctor who did the work on Gary Sheffield’s wrist last season. Tom Gage of the News is now reporting the results were a ruptured tendon and 12 week minimum for recovery.
As well, Sunday, Jim Leyland made a suspicious statement.
Leyland said: “If this thing is more significant, which I’m assuming it probably is, then we’ll weigh … whether (to) bring up some starter, or go with a reliever. There are some (factors) that I can’t talk about.” (Freep)
And with that, we kick off the speculation. Does this mean the Tigers will make a free agent or trade move? Will someone get called up from the minors? We’ll possibly learn more soon. I asked Matt Wallace of the Tigers minor leagues blog, Take 75 North, his opinions on what possibilities there are inside the organization.
—
Me: We’ve heard from Jim Leyland that there may be some shuffling that involves a new starter and Chad Durbin to the bullpen. Who do you think are the leading candidates if a starter were to come up? Obviously I liked Virgil Vasquez‘ numbers in Toledo, but what are your feelings about the guys in Erie or maybe Andrew Miller?
Matt Wallace: At Toledo, I can’t see bringing up anybody besides Virgil Vasquez. He’s been pitching well, and while I’m still a little skeptical about how his game will translate to the majors, he seems to have figured out a way to miss some bats.
In Erie, (Jair) Jurrjens and (Dallas) Trahern are very young and Jurrjens seems to show some signs of his youth, like getting a little flustered when things aren’t going well and giving up hits as a result. I doubt they send up Trahern since he’s only made six starts at AA. I’d put (Eulogio) De La Cruz as the most likely pick from Erie, and maybe even above Vasquez. He’s had consecutive ten strikeout complete games and his stuff makes people wonder why he hasn’t been doing that his whole career.
As far as Lakeland, I’d be shocked if they gave Miller the call since they apparently just recently adjusted his delivery (according to Lynn Henning, and since it’s not a trade rumor, I’ll trust his report) and he’s really only had one good start in his last three.
Me: If the Tigers were looking to bring a guy up from the system who resembles Zumaya — obviously no one can replace him — someone who can throw hard and take late-innings pressure, who do you think are leading candidates?
Matt: I think if they’re looking to bring somebody up who resembles Zumaya, de la Cruz would be the closest thing (mid to high 90s fastball, nasty curveball), but I’m pretty sure injury concerns were part of his move to the rotation, so that’s probably not likely.
Baseball America seems to think the Yorman Bazardo as starter experiment might be nearing an end, so I guess they could call him up, but he’d probably be at the back of the bullpen with everybody else taking one step forward. After all, he’s a fastball-changeup guy so I’d be nervous teaming him with Fernando Rodney.
Personally, I think if they go with a reliever, they’ll look outside the organization unless Roman Colon is close to coming back. I haven’t heard his name in a while, though, so that doesn’t seem likely. But I figured a trade was what Leyland was talking about when he said there were factors he couldn’t get into.
Me: Of the two possibilities, care to make any guesses about which is more likely?
Matt: I hate guessing on roster moves because we’re so grossly underinformed on so many of the things they consider, but my best guess is they bring in a reliever from outside the organization. I say that because moving Durbin to the bullpen doesn’t really address their new bullpen concerns and it also just adds to your unknowns by bringing in a new fifth starter. If they just plug in a reliever they think can help, at least they know what they have with the rest of the staff.
Who would that be? I have no idea. All this stuff I’m doing for MVN and watching the Tigers taxes just about all my time for baseball. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for any irregularities in the rotations down there. If Vasquez doesn’t throw against Rochester tonight, we may have our answer. For now, let’s just hope Zumaya is only out for two or three weeks and they can put a bucket under the leak until then.
—
I want to thank Matt for answering the questions. I fully endorse his blog as the best information on what’s going on throughout the Tigers’ farm.
I think the Tigers might look outside the organization too, and I really would prefer to see Durbin avoid high-stress late innings situations. I also agree with Matt, Andrew Miller isn’t even a possibility. He’s being groomed to start and, regardless, needs the minor league innings. So looking outside the organization makes sense if they can find someone at the right price.
I don’t think Dave Dombrowski will take too long to make a move.
New: I added links to the minor leaguers mentioned. Also Knobler opines at Mlive
Sphere It
[...] Here’s what I said. [...]
[...] Matt Wallace said that the most likely candidates to fill in during Joel Zumaya’s absence are Eulogio De [...]
[...] and GM Dave Dombrowski may have an announcement Wednesday about moves to be made in the wake of Joel Zumaya’s injury, so it could portend the promotion of Eulogio da la Cruz or Jair Jurrjens. “We don’t [...]