Wilk Gets It Done, Perry & Gonzalez Do Not

As I write this, the Tigers and Red Sox are delayed by rain in the middle of the eighth inning. If the gods of baseball are merciful, this game will not be resumed – as the Tigers chances of coming back from 13 runs down are no greater than the risk of a freak injury to a key player.

The game itself was never in doubt, the Tigers have failed to muster much of any offense and the Red Sox put up seven early runs against an ineffective Scherzer. Still, as in most cases we can learn something valuable from this travesty: Adam Wilk can make this bullpen better.

Compare these three lines from today’s games:
Wilk: 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 ER
Perry: 1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 ER
Gonzalez: 1 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 ER

Who should be sent to Toledo when Oliver comes up for Saturday’s game? Would there even be any doubt, if Perry hadn’t been a first-rounder and a can’t-miss prospect?  Personally, I’m not entirely sure whether it should be Gonzalez or Perry that goes down, but it shouldn’t be Wilk. I know he doesn’t have the ‘stuff’, but where you locate it is a lot more important than how hard it comes at them. 65% of Wilk’s pitches were for strikes, compared to 53% for Perry. It matters.