The “new” Jeremy Bonderman will make his 2009 debut in Chicago on Monday night -- 53 weeks after he last threw a pitch in the big leagues. Look closely, because you might not recognize him.
        Expect to see slower fastballs and “a lot more change-ups than anybody has ever seen me throw before,” Bonderman said Friday. In years past, the 26-year-old right hander, who has long lacked a dependable change-up in his arsenal of pitches, used to throw at most two or three change-ups per game.
        “I’m going to do a lot of stuff I never did before because that’s what I have to do,” he admitted.
        “I’m not going to blow it by guys,” said Bonderman, who didn’t even know he was going to be pitching on Monday until I told him, minutes after Jim Leyland broke the news to the media.
        When Bonderman was younger, he regularly fired fastballs that reached 95 or 96 mph. In his final rehab start with Toledo, he was clocked at 88 and 89 mph. “That’s all I’ve got,” he said.
        “I’m not saying I’m going to be a ‘guile guy,’ ” Bonderman continued. “But I’m going to have to pitch more smart than anything else.”
        To better learn how to do that, Bonderman has been speaking by telephone once a week to former Tigers veteran Kenny Rogers, who got by on brains rather than brawn for years. “I look at him as a big brother,” Bonderman said. “He could out-think guys. I’ve been picking his brain as much as possible.”
        Bonderman said his arm “is healthier than it was” when he was sidelined with a blood clot that required surgery last June. “But my velocity is not where it was before I got hurt,” he admitted.
        “I don’t know how long it will be before I get back to 100 percent -- if my velocity ever gets back to where it used to be,” Bonderman said.
        Bonderman admitted that frustrated him for a while.
        “But now I realize it’s the way it is,” he said. “If my velocity comes back, great. If not, I’ve got to pitch with what I’ve got.
        “Whether it’s 88 or 91 mph, it’s not going to matter to me anymore. The hitters are going to let me know if it’s enough. It’s all about competing.”
        The decision on which player to drop from the roster to make room for Bonderman probably won’t be made until after the first game of Monday’s day-night doubleheader in Chicago. So far, Leyland isn’t saying whether it will be a starting pitcher or a reliever, or even whether it will be a pitcher or a position player who goes.
        “I don’t want everybody out there getting nervous,” he explained.
        Nevertheless, making a roster move of that magnitude between games of a doubleheader can create an awkward situation.
        “It’s part of the job, I’ve had to do it before, it comes with the territory,” Leyland admitted. “You might as well make up your mind somebody is going to be mad. If you go into it any other way, you’re kidding yourself.
        “I can tell you this: It’s not etched in stone who it will be,” Leyland said Friday. “We’ve tossed around several scenarios.
        “Obviously, you can’t have six starters,” he added, perhaps dropping a hint. “Well, you can, but that’s very unlikely. I don’t foresee that happening right now.”