Joel Zumaya is Starcrossed

Nothing surprises me anymore

Bad news for the Tigers 2008 season, and the 2007 season has only been over for a month. Joel Zumaya is out until midseason after undergoing shoulder surgery. Now did he get this injury throwing? Nope. He got it....moving furniture. That's right. The Tigers lost their potential closer for half a year because he was moving furniture.

Here's the thing. Freak injuries happen, but they seem to happen to Joel at an alarming rate. Last year he tears a tendon in his pitching hand in what is called a very "weird" injury at the time, and now we get a furniture moving injury. I think I speak for every Tigers fan when I say this, Joel. HIRE MOVERS! Hell, I'll pitch in. I'm sure if we took up a drive among Tigers fans they'd all chip in to help you move your stuff. I understand that this was during the wildfires, and that's tragic to deal with, but if your shoulders are part of what makes you money you should probably do what's necessary to protect them instead of moving a few pieces of furniture that can likely be replaced.

The only good news in all of this is that free agency hasn't heated up yet and the Tigers have some options to go after to fill the void left by this injury. Obviously the first option is to resign Todd Jones. I didn't think this would happen going into the offseason as Jones is probably looking for a two year deal (the Tigers only want to give a one year deal more than likely) but this injury certainly helps those odds. And of course there's always one other option....

Mariano Rivera

He's on the market and said he wouldn't go back to the Yankees if Torre was gone. Well Torre's gone so maybe he'd give a long look at Detroit. Mariano's still one of the top five closers in baseball and if you can get him for a 2-3 year deal you go and do it. Best case scenario if the Tigers sign him is that when Joel comes back we can have him set up for Mariano in the ninth. How good would that be? I would love to see the Tigers make this move. I'd also love to see A-Rod at 3B and Brandon Inge playing somewhere else as well, and I'm willing to pay $8 for a Little Caesars Hot and Ready Pizza to make it happen. It'll definitely be an interesting off season, that's for sure.

Oh and Joel, take it easy during rehab okay?

The Tigers' Bullpen is Trying to Kill Me

This man could be the end of me....

I said I would touch upon this issue today so here goes...I think the Tigers bullpen is trying to kill me. That's the only real way to put it. Either that or they are trying to make me pull out all my hair from it's roots. Their performance as of late has me worried about every game, no matter what the score is.

Case in point, on Sunday the Tigers were up 10-3 on the Mets and I was still worried about holding onto that lead. SEVEN RUNS, and I was actually worried! Much to my non-surprise, the Mets cut the lead to four and that's when that sense of dread spilled over, at least until the Tigers scored more runs to put a good distance between them. The Tigers ended up winning, but the point is I shouldn't be worried about a game when they build a seven run lead. I should be excited about the Tigers pounding another opponent, but instead I'm nervous that our bullpen is going to cough it up. The sad thing is that Todd Jones of all people has really been the only solid pitcher in the pen the last few weeks. Everyone else seems to be a three-run homerun waiting to happen. I honestly didn't think losing Zumaya would be THIS bad, but damn.

The only solution is to trade a guy like Mike Maroth and get a decent relief pitcher in return. Hopefully this can be a pitcher that fills Zumaya's role for the timebeing as the guy you can go to for the 7th and 8th innings before handing the ball over to Jones in the 9th and praying. I know this, they need to make a move at some point because if this bullpen stays like this in October I may end up having a heart attack.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Please don't be serious. We'll have to use JOSE MESA!!!

I think that on a day like today, Tigers fans shouldn't have to work. I for one am on pins and needles waiting to hear what the diagnosis is on Joel Zumaya's throwing hand. On Saturday when he was warming up to come in he heard a "pop" and everyone from the Tigers is acting like it's pretty serious. Joel got an MRI yesterday and everyone is now waiting to hear the results.

All I have to say is this....PLEASE DON'T BE SERIOUS! Have you seen what we have in that bullpen? I know Zumaya can have his off days (fastball pitchers will always give up some home runs from time to time) but it looks like if he's out for awhile they'll have JOSE MESA in his set up role. Dear God no. I don't know if my heart can take that, especially when he's followed up by Todd "I'll always put the tying run on base" Jones.

So please be okay Joel. You can play all the Guitar Hero you want if you are.....PLEASE!

Nate The Great

Badass....

Last night Nate Robertson showed once again why he's the most underrated pitcher on the Tigers' staff by throwing seven shut out innings as the they got back into the win column with a 3-1 win in Baltimore. Nate had more strike outs (5) than hits (4) and improved his record to 2-0 with an ERA of 1.38. Very very good stuff from Nate last night and hopefully he's able to keep this up during the season. Joel Zumaya gave up the only run on a solo home run to Corey Patterson in the eighth, but as a fastball pitcher you tend to give those up sometimes. Todd Jones worked the ninth and got his fourth save of the young season, and also managed not to put the tying run on base, which is a welcome change.

As for the hitters, last night was hit and miss. Curtis Granderson continued his great start to the season going 2-3 (2 doubles) with 2 runs scored. Placido just continued being Placido going 2-3 with an RBI. The problems are coming in the middle of the order where Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez just aren't getting it done right now. Last night they went a combined 0-8 and are hitting .120 and .200 respectively. Does it bother me a little that the middle of our order is hitting so poorly? Yes. Am I really worried about it long term? No. I think a little of the Tigers hitting struggles have to do with playing in the cold weather, and that is going to change in the coming weeks. Sheffield is a great hitter and a lot of his outs have been screaming line drives hit right to outfielders, and eventually those are going to drop, so I'm not worried. Plus even with the hitting being so poor the Tigers are still 4-3 so they are weathering the storm.

All in all the Tigers got a nice win last night and another solid outing from their starting pitching. That's one thing (Chad Durbin's HORRID start notwithstanding) that has been going prety well for the Tigers thus far. Now if those bats heat up soon then this team is going to start clicking....