Detroit Tigers: Week 6 Heroes and Zeroes

May 14, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Al Alburquerque (62) hugs catcher Bryan Holaday (50) after the game against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Detroit won 13-1. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

#3 Hero: Al Alburquerque

We have hammered Al Alburquerque hard this season. His velocity has been down, he’s allowed a lot of homers and just does not seem right on the mound these days, but quietly he has seemed to turn things around a bit.

The nature of a reliever is you can be bad for awhile and then have a solid couple of outings before returning to what you really are, a marginal major leaguer. Al-Al has shown throughout his stint here, up until this year, that he is effective more times than not.

Weeks ago we talked about how he might have “lost it.” I don’t know if we will soon see the bad Al-Al reemerge, but like Hardy, he was very effective in whatever role the Detroit Tigers needed from him last week.

He appeared in three games, pitching three innings and earned a pair of holds. Al is still not getting the amount of strikeouts he would like (two last week), but he limited two things that have been problematic for him recently: walks and homers. He allowed just one free pass and no homers. In fact he held his opponents hitless last week.

Considering the depth of awfulness Alburquerque found himself in just a couple of weeks ago, that was a very good and encouraging week.

Next: J.D. Stands for Just Dandy