Detroit Tigers No Excuses for Poor Pitching

Oh, the Detroit Tigers bullpen. There are moments when we fans see the glimmer of hope that you are showing. Then, you turn around and slap the team in the face with a loss like this – to the Oakland A’s no less.

Honestly, there is no excuse for a game with a score of 3-12. No excuse at all.

When the Detroit Tigers rookie starter, Michael Fulmer, dominates in the game the night before and the newest rookie pitcher, Matt Boyd, performs relatively well in the first five innings of his first big start, the rookie bullpen reliever must do the same.

Yes, Warwick Saupold is a rookie reliever, but he has been pitching professionally since 2006. He has a career ERA of .367 from seven seasons in the Tigers minor league system and in the Australian Baseball League. Giving up five runs like he did is not acceptable.

After Saupold’s disaster in the sixth, Alex Wilson performed just as poorly. He is the one reliever that the Tigers have been able to trust to get the job done, so giving up four more runs is also extremely disappointing.

After the successful homestand and win against the Oakland Athletics last night, it seemed like the Tigers were actually firing on all cylinders. They did lose to the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the trip to California, but that loss was easily blamed on Anibal Sanchez. If the Tigers are going to win, these pitchers must get themselves together. The position players work too hard to have these upsets based on poor pitching.

Now that the Tigers are .500 facing an Oakland team without its ace pitcher – Sonny Gray, it is more important than ever that Mike Pelfrey gets the win tomorrow. In his last start, Pelfrey gave up four runs off of 11 hits – but the offense helped get a no-decision by scoring five runs. The bullpen did not give up any runs after he left the mound. In the two prior games, he only allowed two runs in each game, but still was unable get a win. He is due for one, but he has to actually pitch like he means it, and so do the relievers who will step in during the around the sixth inning.

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The Tigers really do need all of their pitchers to show up and compete in every single game and every single inning. If Justin Verlander, Michael Fulmer, and Jordan Zimmermann can do it, so can the rest of the starters. If Francisco Rodriguez can do it in every single game, so can the rest of the relievers.

One of the first things that the pitchers need to do is be extremely aware of their body language. In nearly all of Anibal Sanchez‘s starts, he looks hesitant – almost like he is planning on falling apart. Even Mike Pelfrey looks uncertain at times when on the mound. If fans can detect the uncertainty and hesitance of men who are elite professionals in their sport, then the elite batters they are facing can see it, too.

Next: Can the Tigers Win in California?

It is time for these ridiculous failures to stop.