Whoops, they did it again!
posted in 2007 season, Analysis |Angels 10, Tigers 3
Same old story. Not gonna rehash much. Tigers were tied, 3-3, after seven innings (actually, they led 3-2 when starter Andrew Miller finished his day). The bullpen trio of Jason Grilli, Tim Byrdak and Jose Capellan combined to give up 7 runs. In one inning. 7 runs. In one inning. 7 RUNS! IN ONE INNING!
So rather than go on and on and on writing the same recap every time the Tigers lose, I thought I’d branch off in another direction that may be more useful:
Who should be allowed to wear the Olde English D. I’m limiting that discussion to, what else, the bullpen today.
Todd Jones can wear The D. He’s not always the most fun. He’s not really the most skilled. And possibly he has the worst “stuff” on the pitching staff. And yet, hey, Jones has certainly earned his right to the D, on a personal level you have to root for him, and he reliably gets the job done successfully.
Macay McBride can wear the D. I’m not sure why, really. But he can. His stats say maybe fate will catch up to him, but I say he’s a youngster who should remain in Detroit.
Bobby Seay can be somebody’s Tiger, but only as a lefty-one-out-guy.
From the injury brigade, I will allow Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya to strap on their navy blue stirrups in August when they both come off the disabled list.
So that leaves us with two more to fill out the seven-member bullpen. Probably a long reliever and another right-handed strikeout option. For the long relief, I take Chad Durbin. He’s struggled a bit recently, but I’m not asking him to be the setup man. I’m asking him to pitch in the sixth inning — or earlier.
And the final guy who can wear the D? I don’t know yet. He’s not on the team. Zach Miner can return to the minors and work on attacking the strike zone. Jason Grilli can, well, I don’t care. I’m sick of seeing him pitch. Tim Byrdak seems like he’s not the Tim Byrdak of earlier this season. Maybe he’s reverted to the Tim Byrdak of the rest of his career or maybe he’s not healthy. But right now, he loses out to McBride and Seay.
So, we just have to wait and hope Dave Dombrowski finds the final piece of the bullpen puzzle. And that Nando and Zoomer are healthy in about two weeks time. I feel confident the bullpen can be acceptably good for the stretch run, no matter how bad it actually is right now.
Oh, and a hat-tip to Ian for his photojournalism thus far, telling the story with pictures perfectly.
Sphere It
