Jacob Turner Gets First Spring Start Today

Tigers top prospect Jacob Turner gets his first crack at winning the 5th starter spot today when he takes the mound against the Atlanta Braves. While there is certainly a lot of spring left, one should take notice of the subtle hint being tossed out by the organization by starting Turner today.

Pssssttt……they want Jacob Turner to win this job.

Now, you might think that I am taking out my “Jump To Conclusions” mat a little bit early on this one, but I don’t think so. With Turner’s name dotting the top 20 of all the cool kids’ top prospects lists, and of course the Tigers having spent a boatload of money on the youngster, he is going to get top priority. It’s only natural. Have you noticed? Not one of the other 5th starter candidates have gotten the starting nod against a real major league team. Andy Oliver got his start against Florida Southern.

Guess who is pitching second today? That’s right. Oliver. Prioritized just like their draft order in 2009.

Now, it could be very well that the rest of the candidates will start getting the ball first in some spring games down the road. If that is the case, well….I will just have to file this article in the “I could be wrong” cabinet and move on. Or, maybe Jacob Turner doesn’t grab hold of the reigns that he is being given today and the rest of the spring. Despite getting the starting nod today, he is going to have to perform to win this job.

I am sure at some point in the not too distant future, we are going to discuss how the 5th spot in the rotation is shaking out this spring. After all, it’s one of the interesting battles going on in spring camp. All of the 5th starting candidates have gotten a couple of innings on the mound at this point. All of them have done rather well. Just yesterday Casey Crosby and Drew Smyly put up some scoreless innings with their opportunities. Duane Below and Adam Wilk in previous efforts have also shown to be effective.

I couldn’t help but notice though……

They weren’t starting were they?