Last Monday, the Tigers enjoyed a well-deserved Labor Day like many of us: They enjoyed a day off.
They had just swept the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays for their sixth consecutive victory. The bullpen had performed terrific, while the Tigers batters found timely hitting and pushed the runners home whenever they were in scoring position.
Detroit led the AL Central Division by seven games, and the big question for the manager was how to squeeze six starting pitchers into five rotation spots.
Where's the do-over button when you need it?
Since that time, the Tigers lost five in a row, including a sweep at the hands of the lowly Kansas City Royals. Starting pitcher Nate Robertson left a game with a groin injury. Fellow starting pitcher Armando Galarraga pitched woefully after coming back from resting his elbow for two weeks. The bullpen seems to have collapsed in a heap.
And yet, neither the Chicago White Sox nor the Minnesota Twins really took advantage of Detroit's slide.
Well, some things never change.
The problem with the rotation seems to be the biggest development of the week.
Sunday, Tigers manager Jim Leyland named Eddie Bonine as the team's final starter. Leyland said Bonine will keep that job for the rest of the season. (Leyland says a lot of things, so forgive me if I take a wait-and-see approach.)
That isn't necessarily bad on its own, although it doesn't appear to be a good thing. He has just one start under his belt in the majors this season, a game which his team won, 4-3, against the White Sox on July 24. His 6.11 ERA isn't particularly thrilling, but with such limited innings it doesn't really say much. Then again his 4.41 ERA and strikeout rate of one per every two innings doesn't exactly thrill.
The reason for concern is that the Tigers' rotation now consists of ace Justin Verlander and his fellow front-line starter, Edwin Jackson, along with rookie Rick Porcello. When your third-best starter is a rookie and your team is in a playoff race, you should probably worry a bit.
Porcello ended up in that position due to the nagging injury of Jarrod Washburn. When the Tigers traded for the former Mariners' starter on July 31, they appeared to put themselves in the position of having the best top-three rotation in the American League.
Since then, Washburn has struggled mightily, both due to bad luck and poor pitching. Meanwhile, the Tigers have had him skip a start due to the knee soreness that has apparently been bothering him for much of the season.
Now the Tigers will struggle to find time to rest a rookie who, should they hold on to the Central Division, may have an increasingly important role in the postseason.
Dominoes. Things just keep toppling.
Yet as quick as all looks lost, all could change when the Tigers look for revenge this week by hosting the Royals, before heading to Minnesota to face the Twins.
Just as soon as you think you know what's going to happen, the game could have other things in store.
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