Dontrelle Willis

He's not the story of the spring yet, but with every "quiet" line that he puts up in his outings Dontrelle Willis becomes more and more noteworthy. And unfortunately, as he becomes more and more noteworthy, the question will linger - "When is the meltdown coming?"



I haven't been one to write off Dontrelle Willis for 2010 for a couple reasons. First, in that one brilliant start we saw last year, Willis showed that somewhere underneath a skin of self doubt, the pitcher that won 20+ games and had the baseball world at his feet is still there. Secondly, while the other Tigers reclamation starting pitchers all have arm issues at the core of what has derailed them, Willis' confidence and mechanical issues have little to do with the soundness of his arm. The left limb of Willis is still "live" and plenty rested.



I don't know which of the Tigers four reclamation project starters will "find it" again, but I'm fairly confident that one or two of them will. Four guys that have had as much collective success as these guys have had in the big leagues can't all be complete zeros for another whole season again - can they? Maybe they can, but I'm expecting a rebound season somewhere here from someone. And as this spring starts to develop, I find myself rooting harder and harder for that someone to be Willis.



Willis hibernated well this winter, we heard hardly a peep from him or about him. When he finally surfaced at Tigerfest, he was self effacing, humble, and downright honest about his performance since he's been a Tiger. If admitting you stink is the first step on the road back from Stinkville, Willis certainly sounded like a recovering addict that is ready to face his demons head on.



No question, the Tigers need left handed starting pitching. While they will take whoever of the reclamation projects that can come closest to being the successful pitcher they were in the past, certainly the Tigers would love to see one or two lefty starters become legit options for them. When you're in competition with the Twins and Tribe who both have excellent left handed hitting lineups in the division, and compete with other AL playoff contenders like the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels and Rangers who all have tough left handed outs in their lineup, guys that can get left handed sticks out on the mound are a premium for you.



Given what we've seen from Willis in the last two years, I don't blame anyone for being skeptical that he has anything left to offer. And even if he does continue to put up quiet lines in spring training, the questions on when the next meltdown might be coming are always going to be there. But if he can make it back and be a reliable starting pitcher again, it will be quite a pleasant success story to follow, will it not? And he seems like a guy that deserves a story like that to happen for him. I'm rooting hard for him.