Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Willis or Bonderman? Who's in and who's out?

        Who will remain in the Tigers’ starting rotation, and who will be removed?
        Will it be Dontrelle Willis or Jeremy Bonderman?
        Jim Leyland has the rest of this week to make up his mind.
        I’m not sure Leyland knows yet what he is going to do. I know I don’t.
        There may not be a correct answer.
        And once Leyland decides which pitcher remains in the rotation, the Tigers will have to figure out what they are going to do with the other guy.
        Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, and Rick Porcello aren’t going anywhere. And Armando Galarraga earned himself a reprieve with his three-run, seven-hit performance on Monday. Galarraga is scheduled to start again on Saturday. After a day off on Monday, Verlander will take his regular turn next Tuesday.
        That leaves Sunday’s starter, against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, up in the air.
        Willis, who was definitely on the bubble after his brief but troublesome outing against Boston last Thursday when he walked five batters and allowed five runs in less than three inning, pitched better although far from brilliantly on Tuesday, again walking five and giving up three runs -- but this time over five innings. That may have been enough to buy him another chance.
        Bonderman’s long-awaited return on Monday was  a major dud. The right hander, sidelined for more than a year by shoulder surgery, struggled with a sub-par fastball, surrendering six runs on eight hits over four innings. “Not good,” admitted Leyland, who expected Bonderman’s drop in velocity but was disappointed by his slider.
        “If you were a scout, not the manager, and had been sitting in the stands, knowing the Jeremy Bonderman of the past, he didn’t look like he was quite ready,” Leyland told reporters in Chicago.
        “He had surgery, he’s coming back, it was time to find out. And his debut was not good, plain and simple.”
        

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