This is an interesting matchup. First of all, Jeremy Bonderman is the young pitcher that the Tigers traded away one of their best pitchers for at the time. John Smoltz was the young arm that the Tigers traded away to get a proven starter (Doyle Alexander) for the 1987 stretch run. While Alexander got the Tigers to the playoffs where they untimately lost to the Twins, John Smoltz became an all-star starter then an all-reliever and then an all-star starter again. He has 150 wins and 150 saves. He has played in postseason after postseason. What, praytell, would he have in common with Jeremy Bonderman?
A lot, actually.
Smoltz, when he got traded, was a 20-year-old, untested, minor leaguer. Bonderman, upon coming over from Oakland, was a 19-year-old, untested professional baseball player. They both went to struggling teams from perennial powerhouses, and they both started their careers a bit earlier than the timeline would have suggested.
While the Braves had already begun rebuilding in the late 80s, however, the Tigers started their rebuild with Jeremy Bonderman. They put him out there in 2003, start after start with a handful of untested players, over the hill veterans and even a few rule 5 draft picks. In Bonderman's first year, he went 6-19 with an ERA of just about 5. This, also, was with not much defense behind him.
The 1988 Braves were not much better. Smoltz got called up in late July and posted a 2-7 record with an ERA of about five and a half in his first stint in the majors. The only difference between him and Bonderman is that Bonderman pitched the entire season. The Tigers won 43 games in 2003. The Braves only won 54 in 1988.
These two pitchers got better every year. Their 21st year on the planet saw both of them go about .500. Smoltz had the better ERA under 3.00, kind of a breakout season for a sophomore effort, but his team wasn't very good behind him. Bonderman went 11-13 with a 4.89, but threw two shutouts. The 88 Braves won 63 games, the 04 Tigers won 72. People began to take notice of these two teams' young pitchers, however.
Their next years, Smoltz settled back to a 3.85 ERA. Bonderman kept moving forward with a 4.57 for an underachieving 2005 Tigers team. Bonderman, however, threw four complete games and showed more signs of brilliance. Smoltz was a great pitcher on a bad team.
Then, the next year, just each pitcher's 23rd on earth, came. What else happened? They both got new managers (even though Bobby Cox finished the season before for the Braves). They both also got achieving teams around them. The Braves won 94 games and won the National League East. The Tigers, like the late 80s-early 90's Braves, went from doormat to division winner in 4 years. Both teams won their respective league pennants.
Bonderman had his best year in the majors with an ERA hanging around 4.00. Smoltz had a better ERA by some .28 points, but Bonderman's record was much better. Smoltz, actually, hung out at just about .500 while Bonderman went 14-8 in his quest to get back to .500 for his career. After a 6-19 start, he's currently only 8 games under .500.
What is to become of Jeremy Bonderman, only time will tell, but if you look at the first four years of another player that came out of the Tigers' organization some 20 years ago, their careers are pretty much parallel. This is not to say that Jeremy Bonderman will have another sixteen years in baseball, but he keeps improving every year, and though he has never been in anyone's shadow, this could be a microcosm of the changing of the guard on the pitcher's mound today...
Update: Bonderman pitched well, but Smoltz pitched better, though he lucked out by snaring a drive off the bat of Carlos Guillen. Tigerblog seems to think that Bonderman is slated to win the Cy Young this year, though.
