Joel Zumaya where are you?
Luckily, the Tigers' makeshift starting pitching has been holding up and the team is in first place after last night's win, but eventually, the close games will start to cost them if they keep playing like this.
The Tigers have had a few big leads handed off to their bullpen of late, but they have almost blown these leads after the starter leaves the game. Last night, Jose Mesa was given a four run lead and all of a sudden, the game was within one run. Save for a Curtis Granderson ninth inning home run, and a lucky double play ball to Vladamir Guerrero, the Tigers may have gone home losers.
But you can't blame everything on the bullpen. Though Brandon Inge has picked his batting average up over the Mendoza line, he still doesn't seem to be getting the big hit. He did homer to win against Minnesota a month ago, but he left a small village on the basepaths last night, and in a couple of instances, a late home run by the Tigers providing insurance has ended up being the difference.
Two or three years ago, however, the Tigers would be about six games under .500. But this team has learned how to win, and somehow, someway, they are in first place. But Zumaya can't come back soon enough. Thank goodness that Tim Byrdak is pitching well (he must have strengthened his arm stocking shelves at Target), and it looks like Rodney and Grilli are coming out of slumps, but the Tigers cannot continue to give the ball to Jose Mesa.
A four run lead seems like a good time to put in Mesa, but he couldn't even get out of the inning after giving up a three-run jack to Mike Napoli last night. Tim Byrdak got a big strikeout, and he should have started the inning (as Jim Leyland said in a later interview). It's good to have a mop-up guy like Mesa, but the Tigers proved two days ago that no lead is safe, so they don't want to be giving up runs late in a game where they are still within four or five. Save for a great play by the shortstop on a Carlos Guillen liner, the Tigers may have won a game they went into the ninth inning down five runs.
So, like most teams, the Tigers have a pitcher to put in to eat innings when they are way up or way down in Mesa, but when they are way up and he goes in, no lead is safe, and when they are way down, they shouldn't pack it in by putting him in the game, because the players never pack it in. Jim Leyland is a great manager--manager of the year--but if he gives up by putting in Jose Mesa when the Tigers are down late too many times, it will not help.
The man had an inflated ERA, and worked it down a bit. But now he has a true ERA. He just gave up another three runs in 2/3 of an inning. His ERA should sit over 10.00 for the rest of the season now. When Zumaya gets back, as well as Byrdak is pitching and they way that Bobby Seay has pitched for the most part, Jose Mesa is the guy to send down. When Kenny Rogers is ready, it will also be hard to get rid of Chad Durbin. If Wilfredo Ledezma wasn't left handed, he'd have reason to worry as well.
But Mesa is right handed. Unlike left-handed pitchers, right-handers do grow on trees, and the Tigers have enough young arms to take over for a 40-something not named Kenny Rogers. Rogers is a gamer that wants to win and dives off the mound trying to help his team. Mesa, at his point, is just trying to earn a paycheck.
So give him his money and cut bait. He is not helping the team, and luckily, he hasn't hurt the team too much because of when he is being used. But Calvin Shiraldi, who mopped up a lot near the end of his career would likely be better than Jose Mesa even today, and he'd likely do it for the major league minimum.
Sure, there are better options out there than Calvin Shiraldi, but the point is, there are way better options out there than Jose Mesa. Also, the Tigers have enough seasoned veterans in their clubhouse that a 22-year-old wet-under-the-ears no-name would not take away from the leadership that is already there. They have Rogers, Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, and you can add people like Sean Casey and Brandon Inge to the list as well. Having Jose Mesa only takes away from what is a great ballclub, and does nothing to help the team...
