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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Dec 12, 2007
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From what I've been seeing I'm not sure the starters were ready when the season started.
Verlander is just getting his fastball back in his 6th start of the season. This has helped his curve and changeup. Both Bonderman and Robertson are down a couple mph on the gun. That really hurts both of them because of the heavy use of the slider. They need their arm strength to get good motion on the slider. The sliders for both have been flat and hittable so far this season.
None of the opening day starters outside of D-train has a history of wildness. Verlander, Rogers, Willis, and Bonderman are walking and hitting batters at the highest rates in their careers.
If it was one pitcher then it might be mechanical, but it has happened for the entire rotation. They have done something different in the off-season or in spring training for this to happen. I remember hearing reports in the off-season of the pitchers (Robertson and Bonderman) waiting until later in the off-season to start throwing. Could this be a side effect as to their arms not being fit enough yet?
Side note to Chuck Hernandez - make Bonderman keep throwing his changeup!!!!!!
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jan 15, 2008
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I'm not sure what the reason is, but we did get off to an incredibly slow ( and bad ) start. Maybe we did wait too long to start throwing in the off-season, but we should be coming around and getting into game shape by now. I know it's still cold in Detroit, but come on, it's time.
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:96
Level:Superstar
Since:Feb 3, 2008
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kevin070... You bring up a great point... the whole rotation is underperforming. Is this a conditioning problem? Is this something Chuck can fix (or should have prevented)? Or is this a mental block with our pitchers?
Although starting pitching may be disconcerning, I'm not quite ready to write everyone off. These poor performances typically happen to our pitchers mid-season or late in the year, but because it's the start of the season, the ERA and W/L looks exponentially horrific.
That said, I once believed that this rotation could not only win, but dominate. Now I am happy with some quality starts. If they can string together some good games, watch for them to get into a good groove. Verlander is showing signs of emerging from his slump. Bonderman, too. Robertson isn't too far off. The two pitchers who I am most concerned with is Willis and Rogers.
*Has Galarraga been outstanding or what?
*3 Tigers pitchers have 2 wins or more... Galarraga, Rapada, and Lopez. Strange start to a season.
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:Feb 14, 2008
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The entire team got off to a slow start, everyone was playing poorly. The batters and the relief pitchers have emerged from that and have been outstanding. Our starters continue to struggle. I think they wil emerge too. There doesnt seem to be any reason, its just baseball, someone that cant be figured out why, it just happens.
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 15, 2006
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kevin070, i'd have to agree with the fact that it's probably a conditioning problem. I haven't seen many other teams around the league struggling with their pitching like the Tigers are.
The Tigers are also the only team that I have heard those reports about. It seems that this experiment, or whatever it was, did not pay off. They needed to get their pitchers going about the same time as all of the other teams in the off season instead of waiting.
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Mar 23, 2007
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They better be ready to start the season... They are paid to be ready..
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Oct 20, 2006
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It was somewhat understandable that the starters were not ready at the start of last year since the Tigers were involved in three postseason series in 2006.
But this year there is no excuse.
The cold?
Please! The cold is when the pitchers almost always have the upper hand.
I have engaged in an active debate with my coleague adrian82 about Chuck Hernandez and while I have more or less blamed the pitchers themselves for most of these early season woes, I am kind of coming around to the guy's argument that Hernandez is not much help.
C'mon now. Armando Galarraga just missed getting his third win Saturday. That would have equalled the total number of wins posted as of this moment by the combination of Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers and Dontrelle Willis.
The season is young, yes...but getting but three wins in an entire month from the five , yes count them, five of them, will not cut it!
Aside from Jason Grilli, there is no longer any mention of the bullpen being the culprit.
And, yes kevin070, Mr. Bonderman had best keep working on that changeup!
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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Were starters ready for season to start?
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