Tigers' closer situation a debacle

ON BASEBALL

Editor's Note: This, I promise, will be the last column I write this season about the Tigers' closer situation.

Hey Tigers fans, still happy that Todd Jones isn't your closer?

Here's a fun statistic for you: Jones saved 18 games in 21 tries. In five attempts, Fernando Rodney is 1-for-5. Yep, he's already blown more saves than the old, cranky guy with the mustache. Even more sad is the manner in which Rodney tanks. While Jonesy always went out in style, giving up two-run homers and the such, Rodney walks guys, hits guys, and then walks more guys.

Hey, that's no fun!

In all seriousness, though, do you really believe the underachieving Tigers are better off with Rodney as their closer? (Please don't answer that.)

Was Jones pitching well lately? No, no and no. His ERA (5.05) was atrocious, he had given up 25 hits in his last 16 2/3 innings, and he hit rock-bottom when Jermaine Dye blasted that season-killing home run on that morbid Friday night in Detroit awhile back.

Now, of course, we know that Jones was battling tendinitis in his right shoulder. He, reportedly, had been feeling discomfort for six weeks, but he didn't reveal the injury until a few games following his demotion, which occurred a day after the Dye home run. He said he hadn't felt the shoulder pain in a game until recently.

And the result is one Jonesy on the disabled list. It'll be at least a couple weeks until he's back. To the average Tigers fan, that's a good thing. They'd rather see Jonesy shot into space for 37 years than see him on a mound again.

But again, the issue comes back to this: If you're going to replace someone, you'd better have a replacement who you're confident will do a better job. Rodney is not a viable closer for the Tigers. At least not at this point in his career.

Rodney is a talented pitcher. There's no doubt about that. He's equipped with a volatile fastball and a nasty changeup. When those pitches are working, he's much harder to hit than Jones.

But the key to being a talented closer is control. Rodney has about as much control as the "Wild Thing" in "Major League."

Think about it: When a closer enters a game in the ninth inning, the other team's hitters haven't faced him. They don't know what to expect. The advantage is clearly his. If he throws strikes, he has a good chance of getting three outs. All he has to do is make the hitters beat him. Make them locate his 94 mph fastball. Make them guess what's coming with an 0-2 count.

The ability to throw strikes is one of the main reasons Mariano Rivera, arguably the best closer of all time, is so effective. He gets ahead of hitters and then throws that twisting heater wherever he likes. Batters are at his mercy.

Rodney is the antithesis of Rivera. He constantly falls behind hitters, and the only way to get back into the at-bat is by throwing the ball down the middle. Of course, Rodney prefers to walk guys. And any manager will tell you that in a one-run game, nothing is worse than a leadoff walk.

That, unfortunately, is Rodney's specialty. In 18 1/3 innings, Rodney has allowed 16 walks. That is simply unacceptable. He can't be trusted in one-run games.

Jones, on the other hand, has much better control. In 41 innings, he's issued 15 walks. Sure, his stuff isn't as hard to hit as Rodney's -- Rodney has 19 strikeouts to Jones' 14 -- but most of the time it's good enough to record a save.

I'm no baseball stats guru, but just because a batter makes solid contact with a pitch doesn't assure him of a base hit. Four balls, however, means the man in the batter's box is headed for first base -- that's a certainty. That, right there, is the difference between Jones and Rodney. Jones lets his defense save games for him. Rodney doesn't.

Before Sunday's 6-5 most-likely-season-breaking loss to the Rays -- Detroit's 18th one-run defeat and Rodney's fourth blown save -- manager Jim Leyland ripped his players, saying no one's job is safe. I would hope that one of the jobs in jeopardy is Rodney's.

But prior to that happening, Leyland should ask himself this: Who can I plug into the ninth-inning role that will do a better job? In this instance, of course, it's just about anybody. But the most obvious candidate, Joel Zumaya, continues to feel tightness in his right arm. Plus, his 18 walks in 20 2/3 innings is just as bad as Rodney's production. He, like his fellow flamethrower, doesn't possess the control to hold down the spot.

The other option is newly acquired Kyle Farnsworth, who was pitching well with the Yankees before being traded to Detroit for Ivan Rodriguez last Wednesday. But he didn't exactly make a good impression Sunday, blowing Detroit's 3-1 eighth-inning lead by allowing three runs. Also, like the other two, he's never been a full-time closer. His 27 saves doesn't exactly measure up to Jones' 319.

So what now? The options aren't exactly appetizing. The only Tigers reliever who has pitched well of late is left-hander Bobby Seay (2.41 ERA), who has a whopping one save for his career.

The Tigers sit six and a half games behind the tied Twins and White Sox with 51 games remaining. The chances of a turnaround are looking bleaker by the day, and the three-game stand that begins today in Chicago is a must-win series. Obvious statement of the day: Detroit can't afford to fall any further back.

The main objective with the bullpen, at this point, might be to groom it for 2009. That means trying to figure out whether Rodney or Zumaya can find enough control to be the Tigers' future closer. If not, then maybe G.M. Dave Dombrowski will go after Angels free-agent-to-be Francisco Rodriguez.

But if Detroit finds itself within five games of first place in a couple weeks when Jones returns -- and he's healthy -- the old fart should retake his place as the closer. No, not for 2009 or down the road. But for the final push toward October. To make this almost-lost season more like what it was supposed to be.

You can hate him all you want. You can boo him all you want. But the past week has shown us -- in a sick kind of way -- that Todd Jones remains the best closer the Tigers have got.

Even if that's a depressing thought.

Booing Jones represents pure ignorance

ON BASEBALL

One day during some future baseball season, Tigers fans will look up to the sky and ask, "Jonesy, where art thou?"

Unfortanetly, as mentioned, that day will be in the future. As for the present, Comerica Park patrons appear to love Todd Jones as much as the Michigan economy.

That, also, is unfortunate. And ignorant. And just plain stupid. Whenever Jonesy gives up a ninth-inning hit, loud groans are heard all over the ballpark. And when he allows a run -- OH MY GOD, A RUN!!! -- the booing starts. Never mind that it might not of been his fault. In Detroit, if Jones is on the mound, he's the scapegoat. No ifs, ands or buts.

Take Thursday's devastating 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Twins: Jones entered in the top of the ninth inning with Detroit holding a 6-4 lead. He promptly gave up singles to the first two batters, and both hitters ended up scoring to tie the game. What the average fan in attendance couldn't seem to grasp, however, is that if not for right fielder Matt Joyce's gaffe on the second single, which allowed the first baserunner to score and the batter to advance to third, Jones would have gotten the save.

Because the following batter flied out to left field, which in reality was a sacrifice fly but should have been, simply, the first out of the inning, and should have held the runner at first. The next batter grounded back to Jones, which -- in an errorless world -- would have been a game-ending double play.

So blame Joyce, not Jones, for what transpired. When fans mercilessly "booooooooooed!!!!!" Jones after he was pulled following a two-out single, they, apparently, didn't understand how the lead had ultimately been lost.

Ignorance.

Tigers fans have been hating Jones for years, yet he continues to deliver for their team. Not brilliantly, that's for sure, but he gets the job done. A hardworking, blue-collar city like Detroit should appreciate that. (Then again, with ticket prices and the economy these days, most fans who can afford to sit within shouting distance of the diamond are from Rochester.)

Jonesey doesn't strikeout a lot of guys like fan-favorite Joel Zumaya. He doesn't have a pitch that makes you exclaim, "Wow, that had more movement than a cakewalk full of 5-year-olds." But he gets guys out. And he saves games. Basically, he does his job.

Cue the evidence trailer:

Thanks to Joyce's dumb play, Jones has now converted only 16 of 18 save opportunities. Of the 24 closers with at least 16 saves, only two -- the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, only the best finisher, arguably, of all time; and Philadelphia's Brad Lidge -- have fewer blown saves.

Granted, Jones' 16 saves ranks just 23rd in the majors, but you can only do your job when you get the opportunity, right? Maybe the Tigers should experiment with more close games.

You want more? OK, I'll go back a year. At the young age of 39, Jones converted 38 of 44 chances in 2007. Of the 18 closers with at least 30 saves, nine had more blown saves than Jones' six. Only two of the eight pitchers with more saves had fewer blown saves. Sounds like a guy to boo, huh?

Listen, I understand where the fans are coming from. They want young blood. They're sick of the mustache and the fastballs that barely break 90 mph these days. They can't wait for Zumaya to become Detroit's closer, to run in from the bullpen as "Wild Thing" blares from the speakers. I can't even remember if music is played when Jones makes his bland entrance.

There's no spectacle, nothing to get excited about. Just nervousness, just tension. Now what kind of ninth-inning party is that??

I hear you, I hear you. And Zumaya will get his chance. Jones ain't getting younger, and at some point he's gonna say, "You know what, I don't need this any more." But for now, he's the best closer the Tigers got, because Zumaya has a tendency to hurt himself playing "Guitar Hero" and carrying around boxes (always a dangerous activity) and hard-throwing Fernando Rodney has this tendency to walk opposing batters (translation: not good).

So deal with it, folks. Todd Jones has been the Tigers closer, and he'll continue to fill that role for the time being.

If you want to boo him, fine. But just realize that a loss isn't always his fault.

And know that when it comes to saving games, he remains one of baseball's best.

Thursday, 7/19/07's main point: For two days, Tigers look like last year's version

ON BASEBALL

I'm going to try to finish this column quickly, because in a matter of hours, it could be B.S.

So let me get straight to the point: The Detroit Tigers looked like last year's version — the World Series edition — the past two games. In 1-0 and 3-2 wins over the Twins in the tricky Metrodome, the high-scoring, you-never-know-with-the-'pen Tigers did what they accomplished in '06.

Two phrases...

Timely hitting.

AND

Great pitching.

And by "great pitching" I'm not just referring to the Tigers' starting rotation, which we've known is arguably the best in the majors since the return of Kenny Rogers. No, I'm including that patched up bullpen, which finally seems to be coming into form, despite the continued absence of Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney.

Last season the Tigers weren't nearly as explosive offensively as they are this time around. They didn't have a hitter leading the majors in batting average and doubles and tied for second in RBIs (Magglio Ordonez), a hitter leading the majors in triples by a ginormous margin (Curtis Granderson) and a player second in runs (Gary Sheffield).

They were a good hitting team, but not a great one. They got the big hits when they needed them.

Well, the Tigers went back in time Tuesday and Wednesday night. They managed just 11 hits between the two games, but just about every one of them counted. Ordonez had the big RBI single in Tuesday's shutout. Wednesday night, Ryan Raburn doubled, Placido Polanco singled, and Ordonez brought them home with a double in the fourth inning.

Two innings later, Ordonez homered off Twins' ace Johan Santana, giving the Tigers the eventual winning run. So, basically, Maggs owned the night, but it should be mentioned that four of Detroit's six hits accounted for their runs. It is extremely important to take advantage of every opportunity you get against a pitcher like Santana, and that's exactly what the Tigers did on Wednesday.

At least with their bats.

I was more impressed with their pitching. That's what is going to keep them playing deep into October again. Especially the 'pen.

A year ago, the formula was pretty simple. The starter would go six or seven innings. If he went six, maybe Jamie Walker (now an Oriole) would step in for an inning. Then Zumaya or Rodney would take the eighth, and Todd Jones (I just call him Jonesy) would finish pitch the ninth. On Jones' off nights, Rodney would fill in. It was pretty darn simple. And, with the exception of Jonesy's scary outings (put two guys on with nobody out before retiring three straight), it was pretty automatic and quick.

This season has been the antithesis of '06's well-oiled routine. From night to night, we've been left to guess who will pitch prior to Jonesy. Guys have been called up. Then sent back down. To the DL and back. OK, no more dizziness.

But then came Tuesday... and Wednesday. It wasn't pretty. It certainly wasn't quick. But they got it done.

On Tuesday Macay McBride and Jonesy didn't allow a hit in two innings of work. On Wednesday, there was a bit more sweating, as four relievers were needed to survive the three innings leading up to Jonesy's one-hit ninth inning, which began with a Twins' base hit but then really lost its luster.

The previous three innings must have had Jim Leyland smoking inexorably. After allowing a run in the sixth, Jason Grilli stranded a runner at third to preserve a 3-2 lead. In the seventh, Chad Durbin survived a one-out, bases-loaded jam. In the eighth, Durbin and McBride stranded speedster Luis Castillo.

Whew!!

Again, the 'pen's work was as pretty and clean as a grafittied telephone pole, but it got the job done — giving it something in common with last year's 'pen. It's pretty clear that once Zumaya and Rodney return, at least one of the current 'pen's members — most like Grilli — will be sent down. There will simply be too much congestion, not enough relaxing space for the big guys like Zumaya and Jonesy.

But maybe until then — emphasis on maybe — Leyland has nothing to worry about.

The Tigers are hitting when they need to.

They're getting stellar starting pitching.

And their bullpen is getting its collective act together.

Which isn't too bad for a team with the best record in baseball.