Leyland Finally Seems To Have End Of Bullpen In Order
There have been some detours, but the Tigers hope their road to a successful bullpen has finally reached its destination.
Manager Jim Leyland has seen several combinations blow up but with adjustments he has David Purcey working the seventh, Joaquin Benoit the eighth and Jose Valverde finishing up.
The revision came about Friday when Detroit traded for Purcey, whom it turns out they had been chasing for some time.
General manager Dave Dombrowski tried to pry Purcey from Toronto for at least a year and reiterated his interest this spring. When the Blue Jays designated Purcey for assignment early this season, he put in a bid that wasn't accepted.
As soon as Toronto traded Purcey to Oakland, Dombrowski called Billy Beane and told the A's general manager that if ever the A's club wanted to move the hard-throwing left-hander, well, Detroit was definitely interested.
When Oakland needed to create a roster space for a reliever coming off the disabled list, Beane called Dombrowski and told him the price was Scott Sizemore.
After some organizational consultations, the deal was done and Leyland immediately designated Purcey to fill the seventh-inning void that has existed in the bullpen virtually the entire season.
The eighth-inning was up for grabs, too, when Benoit stumbled late in April and early in May. But after a week of inaction to correct some delivery flaws and a couple of tune-ups, Leyland returned Benoit to setup duties.
The fact that nobody else was doing the job was definitely a factor.
Valverde might have hiccups in non-save situations, but he's money when three outs are needed to secure a victory.
The Purcey-Benoit-Valverde combo was tried Sunday in the first game and the closer served up a 3-and-2 fastball that pinch hitter David Ortiz hit into the seats for a tie-breaking home run in the top of the ninth.
Benoit got an out in the second game and Valverde recorded his 12th save. Leyland won't use Benoit on back-to-back days if he can avoid it, so Al Alburquerque subbed and the trio of Purcey, Alburquerque and Valverde closed out a Detroit victory over Minnesota on Monday.
It might not last, but for the time being, the end of games are lining up the way Leyland likes them.
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