Pirates game....bullpen race

11 walks? I don't know if the Tigers showed some extraordinary patience at the plate or if the Pirates pitchers were just that bad. Probably a bit of both. A few good performances as well by a few players. Scott Sizemore had a decent game, Carlos Guillen, and a couple of others. Nate Robertson had the makings of a Quality Start...4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB. Not bad. Nate keeps showing a little something. He's been a Spring Training Tease before though....we'll see what April brings.

I've said previously that 5th starters emerge at different points through the season not just in March...but Robertson has made it through the grind of 30+ starts before, so it would be great if he's legitimately claiming a spot. If he can post a league average production type of season from the back-end of the rotation then the Tigers will be ahead of the game. A long way to go before we get there however.......you know, another thing is that Robertson might be making himself marketable via trade (although I have to believe the Tigers would have to cover some of the cost). If Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis also continue to look okay and usable then maybe Dave Dombrowski is going to be able to start shopping Nate around MLB.

As for the bullpen....its starting to take a little shape. I think Fu-Te Ni is pretty close to gaining a spot. Brad Thomas and Phil Coke will probably have spots as well. It makes a lot of sense to think that Bobby Seay will open the season on the DL. So Ni, Coke, and Thomas look like the lefty contingent. Who will be the 4 righties? I'll go with Jose Valverde, Eddie Bonine, Joel Zumaya, and Ryan Perry for right now (possibly changing daily! LOL). I just have a feeling that Zach Miner's days are numbered. Zumaya is such a question mark however, that could save Miner. If Robbie Weinhardt continues to have success and Zumaya can't find the arm slot they're looking for him so that he regains some deception in his motion, perhaps Weinhardt gets a gig early on in the season.

I watched Weinhardt the other day versus the Phillies. I'd also watched him pitch in the AFL Championship Game last Fall. I can't say I'm blown away by his stuff. Its hard to tell on TV and, of course, I'm no scout. But it just doesn't look overpowering to me. His results are consistently good however at each stop in his career so far.....so that the Hell do I know!? One thing to me is that Weinhardt is "only" 6'2"...a bit shorter than a few of the Tigers pitchers. For a power pitcher those couple of inches sometimes make a difference. His stuff doesn't appear to have much up/down movement...kind of side to side on one-plane. His ball doesn't look "heavy" to me.....but, again, we're talking about a few innings on television. His peripheral stats are great and he keeps getting guys out. No reason to argue too hard with that. One thing not in his favor is that he's not currently on the 40-man roster....if a decision is tight for the last spot he'll be easy to just ship back to the minors w/o clearing a roster spot.