5 Detroit Tigers Bullpen Questions

Sep 1, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Bruce Rondon (43) pitches in the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park. Cleveland won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

#5: Should the Detroit Tigers rely upon Bruce Rondon?

A few years back the Detroit Tigers foolishly handed over the keys to the closer’s role to a young and unknown hard throwing pitcher named Bruce Rondon. He didn’t end up making the team out Spring Training, causing the 2013 Tigers to go to bullpen by committee and ultimately back to Jose Valverde.

Later in that 2013 season, Rondon found himself and was a very effective bullpen option, allowing just two runs in his final 15 appearances. Had he been around in the ALCS perhaps the Tigers season wouldn’t have ended at that stage, but he wasn’t, suffering arm troubles that limited his September appearances and none in the playoffs.

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Those arm problems continued into last Spring Training and he was gone for the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Tigers have been bringing Rondon along slowly, but still have high hopes for him. Can they be realized?

It is a tough thing to come back from Tommy John surgery–just ask Joel Hanrahan. However Bruce is about a decade younger than Joel and younger pitchers have bounced back nicely, and often thrived, after the surgery.

Spring Training has been a bit of a mixed bag for Rondon. He has speed and has been able to strikeout batters. He also seems to have better control than he did early in 2013, however he can have his off moments like when he allowed an Alex Rodriguez homer in an otherwise perfect inning last week.

If healthy, Rondon should thrive. He does not have to worry about the pressure of being a closer or even a setup man so hopefully he can just go out and focus on getting batters out.

Mar 19, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Al Alburquerque (62) throws against the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

#4: Will Al Alburquerque be the most reliable bullpen option again?

When it comes to the bullpen, Detroit Tigers’ fans have long memories. No one is safe from their wrath, not even from the most reliable and consistent bullpen arm when healthy–Al Alburquerque.

Perhaps its writers like me that don’t like singing his praises because we all hate spelling his name multiple times in an article (which is why we’ll call him Al-Al for the rest of this slide) but he has been a very good option for the Tigers. One bad season has really tainted his name, however.

He did not pitch much in 2012 because of injuries and experienced his worst year when coming back in 2013, however 2011 and 2014 were extremely solid. He sported a 1.87 ERA and 1.154 WHIP in 2011 and posted 2.51 and 1.169 last year. He was so effective last year that he was nicknamed Everyday Al for his frequent appearances, pitching in 72 games, nearly 20 more appearances that his previous career high.

With how bad the bullpen was last season, being effective and ready offers an invaluable service. But that is the problem. If Al-Al, a middle reliever, is your best reliever then you have problems.

The goal and job of every reliever is to record outs and Al-Al did that last year, but your best reliever should be your closer and/or setup man. Because when the game is on the line you need the best option out there and that is why Detroit lost so many times when leading after seven or eight innings a season ago.

Mar 17, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain (44) throws a pitch during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Nationals won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

#3: Will we get the first half Joba or the second half Joba Chamberlain?

The Detroit Tigers made a surprise move when they brought Joba Chamberlain back late last month. It seemed as if the team and player were moving on from one another, but the reunion was consummated on the eve of Grapefruit League action kicking off.

It is a decent deal for the Tigers, one-year at $1 million with incentives, which is crazy considering how everyone thought Chamberlain looked like a genius by signing a one-year deal last year because it was assumed he’d make a fortunate on the open market. He had the beard, the Zubaz and was feeling it mid-year.

After a tough month of April, Chamberlain got hot from May until the All-Star break, reaching his lowest ERA of 2.40 on July 24. From there it was a struggle, ultimately finishing with a bloated ERA of 3.57.

When you look at his total numbers, such as the WHIP of 1.286, it was not that bad of a season, but the postseason is what will be remembered, allowing four earned runs against Baltimore in the ALDS. Coming on in the top of the eighth in pivotal Game 2, Joba blew a three-run lead handed to him by the Tigers’ bats and a solid two innings of relief from Anibal Sanchez.

Unbeknownst to nearly everyone was that while Chamberlain was struggling in the second half, he was dealing with health problems with his mother. In fact he often was flying back to his native Nebraska on off-days which could have negatively affected his performance.

Chamberlain is not in the running for setup man this year, a job that was slated to be Bruce Rondon’s but was thrust upon Joba after Rondon’s injury, so he will not be relied upon too heavily.

But with that said, he had better find success in any role Brad Ausmus puts him into. The one-year, relatively low cost incentive-laden deal will be really easy for the Tigers to bail out from under.

It is hard to tell what kind of season is afoot for Joba Chamberlain, but the Tigers’ will be much better with the good Joba.

Mar 14, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joakim Soria (38) throws a pitch during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

#2: Will Joakim Soria bounce back?

After arriving from Texas near the trading deadline last year, Joakim Soria was greeted as a savior. The back end of the Tigers’ bullpen was a mess. Joba Chamberlain had started the season strong, but was faltering post All-Star break and Joe Nathan never got it started, so Soria’s arrival meant he’d move into one of those roles, right?

Soria had no clear role from the start as the Tigers’ brass seemed inexplicably willing to move Joba and/or Nathan out. This led to a rather uncharacteristic bad stretch for Soria. It is almost as if the Tigers seem cursed in the bullpen and anyone they use always implodes.

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Eventually he settled in to his role, or lack thereof. After allowing six runs in his first three appearances, and missing time due to injury, Soria allowed just one run in his final 10 regular season appearances. He got knocked around in ALDS Game 2, but really he came into an impossible situation left by Chamberlain.

Throughout his seven-year career, he has excelled except for 2011 in Kansas City when arm troubles pushed him into Tommy John Surgery. He has a career ERA of 2.58 and 1.057 WHIP.

It’s also a contract year for him so expect him to be a lock-down 8th inning option throughout this season. Could he eventually move to the closer’s role?

That is a perfect transition to our number 1….

Mar 14, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joe Nathan (36) throws a pitch during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

#1 Will Joe Nathan be closing games in September?

About a week ago I wrote that the Detroit Tigers were in denial about Joe Nathan’s eroding skills and that they seemed destined for failure by turning to him nearly every night when the game is on the line.

Surprisingly I received some push back from the learned readers of Motor City Bengals. That all made great points saying there was no other clear option, perhaps 2014 was truly just an aberration for the aging closer and that I was off-base.

I may have been–but I may have been off-base because perhaps the Tigers are not blind to Nathan’s struggles after all, at least that is according to a recent Tweet from the Detroit News’ Tony Paul:

— Tony Paul (@TonyPaul1984) March 22, 2015

This was a point I made in my article. There is nothing SHOCKING about a 40-year old suddenly losing it. The fact that Nathan has been recording outs a little more consistently since surrendering six-runs a few weeks back is irrelevant when his pitch speed and location are off and he is recording outs with smoke and mirrors–that will change when he’s facing major leaguers on an everyday basis.

So with all that said, does Nathan stay the closer throughout the season? Paul seems to be think he won’t be, but I guess stranger things have happened and he could be somewhat reliable, as he was (in fairness) during the stretch run last year.

My next question is, however, if the Tigers think Nathan will be released because he doesn’t have it anymore, why wait until May? In a newly hotly contested AL Central, a couple of blown saves could swing the race, especially early.

In April and half of May, 25 of their first 28 games are against AL Central foes. You need a reliable closer through that stretch.

Next: Ian Krol, Shane Greene, Hernan Perez and Andrew Romine