Avila Happy With Starting Pitching, Bullpen Moves Could Still Come
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
With MLB winter meetings winding down, the Tigers' pitching staff is beginning to take a more solid shape.
On Tuesday, Detroit added another reliever in Mark Lowe, after previous signings of Francisco Rodriguez (a closer) and two starters, Mike Pelfrey and Jordan Zimmermann.
Manager Brad Ausmus sees Lowe and Rodriguez pitching at the back end of the bullpen. Who comes before them, though, is up in the air and will become more clear in spring training.
"Guys like, certainly, (Alex) Wilson and (Blaine) Hardy have earned their way back," he said. "(Drew) VerHagen certainly would be a very strong consideration, and quite frankly that would probably be the only locks. … You could say Kyle Ryan, Bruce Rondon, even some of these young guys we've talked about, these are the guys we've got to look at a little closer in spring training and decide how these gaps are filled and see what happens between now and that time."
Rondon, who was sent home before the end of the 2015 season for "effort" reasons, has been pitching in winter ball this offseason. Tigers general manager and VP of baseball operations Al Avila said he's been getting positive reports about Rondon, who he said "goes to work every day," which seemingly was his problem before.
Ryan, should he solidify his spot, would be an "as needed" pitcher to shuttle from the starting rotation to the bullpen, although he's said he's more comfortable as a reliever. Relieving will be his focus heading into spring training.
As far as the starting rotation goes, the core would most likely be Justin Verlander, Zimmermann, Pelfrey and Anibal Sanchez, with Daniel Norris poised to take the fifth spot. With Norris' steady pitching during the stretch run last season, Ausmus said he "didn't hurt himself" and the 22-year-old is in solid position for a spot.
"Starting pitching, we can say we're happy with the way it is right now," Avila said.
And although Avila was pleased with the shape his bullpen had taken in the offseason, he still left room for more moves before the start of the 2016 season.
"It (might) be something that goes into the rest of the winter, I don't know," he said. "If we were to stop right now where we're at with Lowe and K-Rod and the guys we have coming back, in all honesty, we would be happy, but we want a little bit more and we're gonna try to get more, if at all possible."