Valverde to AAA: Am I Supposed to Be Happy About This?

So I've been thinking about starting up a few blogs based on my interests, and here's my first post to my brand new Detroit Tigers blog, Tigers on the Run.

(Ok, really, I've just gotta vent, ya know? I don't expect to only vent on this blog, but right now, I've gotta vent...)

1. Jimmy doesn't seem to know how to use what he's got. He could have lobbied to keep Valverde and use him for the 7th inning. He'd be more effective there. He's not going to go to AAA and figure it out and come back and be the old Papa. He's just not. So it's done. 7th inning is the best anyone's ever going to get from Papa in the majors, ever again. I know, I know, 49 in a row, the streak, but how many of those saves were an error or a base hit from disaster? At least half. It was a rolaids roller-coaster, a constant flirtation with disaster. And this is not 2011. This is 2013.

2. What about fill Coke? Coke got screwed up by letting him try to start a couple years back. Worst idea ever, guy's never been the same. If anyone deserves to go to Toledo, it's Phil (sorry to say).

3. There's been talk for weeks among the fans: Smyly would make a great closer. But since he's got "starter stuff," Jimmy won't even consider using him for less than 2 innings on a regular basis, let alone put him on the line for the 9th. It takes something different and special to be a closer, you know, that "closer's mentality" that is really odd for Leyland to subscribe to given the rest of his baseball philosophy. Me, I look at if I guy has the stuff and the confidence for it. Smyly has both.

4. Al-Al's back. But will it do us much good? Albuquerque's never been an innings guy and never will. He's a strikeout guy who performs better under pressure with 2-3 runners on and 1-2 outs to get, but this year it's "gotta have him able to pitch 2 innings." BS. Give him anything but strikeout situations and he implodes. That's probably never going to change. I'm just waiting for Jimmy to put him in at the top of the 8th inning and give away a lead. He was awful shaky on Saturday against the Sox; we just had a lead built up.

5. Where's Villareal? Simple. He's at Jimmy's home for pitchers he's screwed up. Villareal's an innings/rhythm/7th inning guy and Jimmy tried to make him a strikeout/8th inning guy, put him into big pressure situations all of the time instead of just here and there. Villareal is the Ryan Perry of 2013.

6. Am I closing or not? Benoit would be fine in the 9th if Jimmy'd just give it to him so he could mentally prepare, but no, it's the closer by committee crap-shoot every day. Sorry Joachin...

7. And my favorite: Let's put Downs or some other poor guy who hasn't pitched in two weeks or who's just up from Toledo into a 2-run game and hope it sticks. If you're going to keep a guy for mop-up, use him for mop-up, not a close game.

8. Play to win? Let's face it: Jimmy doesn't know relief pitchers. The problem isn't waiting for guys to prove they can fill a role. The problem is the Tigers don't have a manager who knows a pitcher well enough to put him in a role that fits and who does so whether said pitcher wants to fit in that role or not. It's always square pegs in round holes with Jimmy... but why?

That's a topic for another post...

First post coming soon...