Former Tigers Show Stripes with New Teams

Dontrelle Willis

As Spring Training winds down to a close it may be interesting to note that a few former Tiger pitchers are showing their new teams some of the more frustrating aspects of their pitching game that we came to know all too well here in Detroit.  Former Tiger Dontrelle Willis stumbled in his bid for a bullpen spot with the Reds.  He only managed 1/3 of an inning giving up 3 walks and 3 hits, only retiring 1 of the batters he faced in his most recent outing with Cincinnati.  In similar fashion LA-Angels closer Fernando Rodney gave up 2 walks and 2 hits only retiring 1 as well lasting only 1/3 of an inning in his most recent spring outing.  A third former Tiger pitcher, reliever/closer Brandon Lyon has been more consistent than the other two former Tigers.  Even so he has given up 4 hits and 3 runs and hit one batter in his last 2 innings of relief for the Houston Astros.  The Tigers face Brandon Lyon's Astros this afternoon.

It's also been a rough Spring injury-wise for most of the former Tigers we have been following on this blog.  So much so, one has to wonder if simply making the blog is a bad omen.  Of the 18 former Tiger players we are still following 9 of them have had injury issues this Spring.

The lastest reports show that Nate Robertson will be able to throw again 4 weeks after his surgery, but most likely will not be able to play with the Mariners any sooner than June of this year.  Two other pitchers make the list this week as well.  Jair Jurrjens the Altlanta ace experienced some pain in his side and went for an MRI on March 25th.  Kyle Farnsworth hyperextended his knee while pitching a spring relief inning for Tampa Bay on March 21st, but is back pitching and expected to be available for the start of the season.

Infielders and outfielders have not been immune to the "blog-injury" effect either.

Shortly after the last former Tigers update, Adam Everett sprained his left thumb stealing 2nd.  Everett is hitting .325 with the Tribe this spring and recently returned to action in his attempt to make the team as a utility infielder.  Gerald Laird, hitting .407 this spring with St.Louis also had the injury bug going down with a hamstring issue on March 17th, returning to action on March 21st.  Recovering from injury also is Placido Polanco, back in the lineup for the Phillies at 3rd base after resting his hyper-extended elbow. 

Granderson - Strained oblique.

Outfield centerfielders Cameron Maybin and Curtis Granderson have had issues as well.  Maybin is resting a right quadricep due to tightness he experienced on March 24th, and Curtis Granderson experienced a right abdominal oblique strain during batting practice on March 22nd.  He is 50-50 for opening day against his former Tigers just getting back to batting and base running practice this weekend.

In other news another former Tiger misses the cut.  Andrew Miller is being sent down to AAA to get extended innings so he will be ready should the Red Sox need to call him up to fill a starting pitcher role.

That's it for the "Where are they now?" Tigers for this week, stay tuned.  Remember to check the "WATN Trends" page to see which way these guys are headed, with full numbers on each former Tiger on the "Where Are They Now? (2011)" page.


GO TIGERS!   ---Rob




Photo Credits:
Curtis Granderson Photo by Gene J. Puskar - Associated Press
Dontrelle Willis Photo by John T. Greilick - Detroit News