Who Are You And What Have You Done With Fernando Rodney

This afternoon Fernando came into a tight 4-3 game against the Rangers in the top of the 9th and pitched a perfect - and I mean perfect - inning to earn his first save (2.0 IP 3 K 0 ER 0 H 0 BB so far this season). Rodney got David Murphy to chase a ball outside the zone for his first put out and then just completely blew both Chris Davis and Salty away, topping out around 96 MPH, for a 3 up / 3 K inning. Has an alien stolen his body? Where is the Fernando Rodney that we all know and love that specializes in blowing games? Well, whoever you are you deserve some props for that performance.

WHO IS THIS MAN?!?

The pitching as a whole was just fantastic this afternoon. Everyone worried about Verlander (*raises hand*) can feel a whole lot better after his outing today (5.o IP 1 ER 8 K). Control is still a bit of an issue (4 BB) but Verlander was really blowing the Rangers hitters away and probably deserved the win, although he didn't get it. The inning that resulted in Verlander getting the hook wasn't even really his fault at all and it should have been over relatively quickly, but two errors (Binge, Everett) extended the inning, causing Verlander to throw extra pitches, and lead to two unearned runs. Without those two errors, the only offense Texas was able to muster was a solo shot from Hank Blalock and Verlander kept the potent Ranger offense completely in check the rest of the time. Ex-embattled starting pitcher and current middle reliever Nate Robertson ended up with the win and although I think Verlander probably deserved it, Robertson still pitched quite well, retiring all 6 batters he faced, so no biggie. Although it is well-documented that Robertson was very displeased when he first learned that he was being moved into the bullpen, I think it is becoming clearer that his ability and skillset is much better suited for a middle relief role. Sorry Nate, but this is just the way it is.

I also found it very interesting how much faith Leyland has in the young, hard-throwing Ryan Perry. Leyland brought him in to face the very hot Nelson Cruz and Jim's confidence was rewarded with a big out. This was now Perry's third appearance and although he has been a little up and down and his control still needs work, he has been very promising so far. Against Toronto he pitched a perfect inning. In his first work against the Rangers during the 15-2 shellacking on April 10th he smoked the first batter he faced, but then got a little wild and walked two guys before getting yanked. Then came in today and got Cruz out in a 1 run game. I know that Leyland probably wishes that his two young pitchers, Perry and Porcello, got more time in the minors getting polished before moving up, but the state of the Tigers' bullpen and starting rotation sort of forced his hand. Both have responded well so far however, showing maturity, great ability and a ton of promise.

On an amusing side note, Miggy was somehow voted the FSN player of the game despite going 0/4. Umm, his defense at first base was very solid I suppose (in fact, I have noticed that his defense is much improved from last year). I guess when it comes to anything that fans vote for, the heart wants what the heart wants. Sorry people that actually had a good game (Laird, Verlander, Rodney, Robertson and Polanco to name a few).

Other random musings:

• Gerald Laird is a way better player than I knew prior to the season. He is handling the pitching staff quite well and his hitting very well as well (.389 BA on the season) while flashing some wheels - he has a double and a triple through 5 games and today also caught Josh Hamilton by surprise when he tagged up on a routine fly ball to center and managed to move up a base. I love how he has just been going out and hustling every day. You can tell he likes being "the guy" for the Tigers and no longer has to constantly worry about losing playing time to Salty and Taylor Teagarden like he had to in Texas. Good start to the season for him.
  

• Although Nelson Cruz's line 2 games into the series against the Tigers is solid-but-not-eyepopping (2/8 1 HR 1 RBI 2 K 0 BB), this guy is a fantastic player. He has very real power, great defense out there in right field and an absolutle cannon for an arm. Cruz launched a laser from deep right on a Marcus Thames sac fly where Polanco was just tagging up from third and made the play much, much closer than it should have been. The future looks bright.

• What the fuck is Chris Davis doing? He is an anemic 1/18 so far this season and has made a couple questionable defensive decisions. This is the same 2008 Rangers' Rookie of the Year, right? More importantly, you're killing my fantasy team Chris. Stop it. Asshole.
  

Brandon Lyon Is Now Edwin Jackson's BFF

Brandon Lyon is in the process of continuing his further decline into mediocrity and seems determined to drag the Detroit pitching staff down with him after blowing Edwin Jackson's outstanding 7.1 IP 1 ER 4 K 2 H 1 BB gem in the second game of the season... twice. Seriously. In the bottom of the 8th Lyon served up a 3 run tater tot to Aaron Hill and then when Binge tied the game with a solo blast (does Binge only hit solo HRs? I honestly don't think I have ever seen him hit a non-solo HR) in the 9th, Lyon promptly returned to the mound in the bottom of the inning and gave the game away. What the hell happened to his pre-All Star break 2007 with the Dbacks? This guy's career has been buckling under pressure harder than Rihanna's face.

Edwin looks happy that his win was blown.

The optimist in me wants to focus on the excellent game Jackson pitched, but it's hard to have a whole lot of faith in a guy who last year had an ERA of 4.42, a downright frightening WHIP of 1.505 and was so highly thought of in Tampa Bay that they dropped him from the postseason roster. Now he's our second guy in the rotation. *smacks forehead*

At least Miggy has been looking good. He was 2/2 with 2 walks and a run scored yesterday. Umm... yay? Binge has knocked in two homers in two games (HOLY SHIT HE'S ON PACE FOR 162 HRs) but had a throwing error - and he's supposed to be there for his defense so we'll call it a wash.

Between Verlander getting hammered in the opener, Zumaya's injury maybe being even more serious that we thought, Bonderman starting the season on the DL, shady things going on with the D-Train, etc. there isn't much that seems to be going right early this season.

Maybe it's a little presumptuous of me to question a guy with 17 years of managerial experience, 3 Manager of the Year awards and a World Series championship, but I'll do it anyway (obviously). Don't get me wrong, I am not a Fernando Rodney supporter by any means (in fact, he sucks) but I just don't "get" why you bring a guy who has already blown a game once in the 8th back in the 9th to close it out. Trying to show confidence/belief/whatever in your players and trying to win games are sometimes the same thing and sometimes they aren't. This is a case where they weren't. Lyon and Rodney are both right-handers too so it's not as though there were some match up concerns with the Toronto lineup, unless something is escaping my notice. The Tigers get a shot at Jesse Litsch tonight however. Wait a second, Miner is pitching? FML.

In summation, even with the retirement of Todd Jones the Tigers' bullpen will... how should I say this... make things "exciting" throughout the year. In the meantime while Lyon tries to get his shit together, this is what Piper Palin thinks of you:

Suck it Lyon.