Dontrelle's Debut: Tigers take on Minnesota Twins
Dontrelle's Debut: Tigers take on Minnesota Twins
Dontrelle Willis' struggles in 2008 epitomized the Tigers' struggles in many ways. On Wednesday, the free-spirited lefty takes a giant step back into the big leagues on the road against Glen Perkins and the Twins.
There may be some bigger names pitching against each other on Wednesday – Randy Wolf for the Dodgers at the Phillies against Jamie Moyer and San Diego’s Chris Young at Wrigley facing Ted Lilly and the Cubs qualify – but this one gets my nod for the most interesting battle.
After a horrible 2008 campaign and spending the early part of this season trying to work through anxiety disorder, Dontrelle Willis will make his 2009 Tigers debut at the Metrodome against Glen Perkins and the Twins.
Willis’ failed campaign a year ago included seven starts and one relief appearance on his way to an 0-2, 9.38 ERA. That lone relief appearance was against Minnesota, and it didn’t go well with three walks, one of them intentional, a hit and a run allowed. So this will be his first career start vs. the Twins, and he has limited action against the hitters in this lineup.
The animated lefthander has been in extended spring training and slowly working his way back to the big leagues since being placed on the DL with anxiety disorder since late March. In four rehab starts at three different minor league levels, compiling a 3.85 ERA in nearly 26 innings of work, Willis will make his return against a relatively quiet Twins lineup that was averaging 4.65 runs per game entering play on Sunday (May 10), 10th in the American League.
For Perkins (2-4, 3.73), it’s been a tale of two seasons already in the young ’09 campaign. The Minnesota native opened the year with three great starts, hurling eight innings in each assignment and giving up four earned runs (1.50) with the Twins winning two of the three. Since then, the southpaw has thrown 17 innings and seen 13 runs cross the plate (6.88), all three of the games Minnesota defeats.
A groundball pitcher primarily, the most troubling stat for Perkins recently has been the three homers he’s allowed in his past two outings, the only long balls he has surrendered all season. A reliever his first two seasons in the bigs, Perkins made all 26 of his appearances last season as a starter, four of those 26 against the Tigers.
In the four starts vs. Detroit in 2008, Perkins posted a 2.73 ERA in just over 26 innings. He and the Twins won both of his starts on the road against the Tigers, and Minnesota lost both of his assignments at home in the Metrodome.
There is some concern in Detroit that upsetting the rotation to include D-Train could mess with the decent start the Tigers have gotten off to, especially with their starters performing nicely of late. The staff has posted three shutouts in their last six games, with Justin Verlander authoring a complete game whitewashing in Cleveland last weekend. But after inking Willis to a three-year, nearly $30 million extension before the 2008 season, Detroit has to at least see if they're ever going to get something out of the southpaw on the field.
Motown manager Jim Leyland made it clear last week when he announced Willis was rejoining the rotation that he expects the lefty to be ready to pitch and win.
"My expectations are for him to win games, like it is for every other pitcher that I put out there," the Detroit skipper was quoted at the team's MLB.com site in an article by David Just. "There's no bones about that. This is not a gimmie situation. This is the big leagues, and we're trying to win.
"My expectations are that he will do well. I think he's got a very good chance to do that. We will see. But I'm 100 percent behind the move to get him here and to find out. This is not a trial. This is not experimental. This is not developmental. This is the big leagues."
The two teams met just last week and split their two-game set at Detroit. Tuesday night saw Kevin Slowey and the Minnesota bullpen pitch the Twins past the Tigers by a 6-2 score to get this series rolling. The loss left Detroit (17-14, +1.50 units) just percentage points ahead of the Royals atop the AL Central. The Twins (15-16, -3.00 units) are third currently, two games behind the Tigers.
Minnesota won the season series in 2008 by an 11-7 margin, winning six of the nine played at the Metrodome.
Weather obviously won’t be a factor indoors for this one. The plate umpire should be Paul Schrieber who comes into this one with only one real trend on his season, that being that just one in seven games he's called balls and strikes has been a 1-run game.
Perkins and the Twins are drawing -141 chalk over Willis and the Tigers (+131) for Wednesday's game. The total was set at an even 10. Part of me will be rooting for Dontrelle to have a good one and flash that trademark smile of his often tonight. But my wallet says back the Twins and look for the Over to cash.
The series wraps up Thursday afternoon in Minnesota. The Tigers then head home to open a nine-game homestand that will see the A's, Rangers and Rockies come to Detroit. The Twins will take off for a seven-game road trip that begins with four in the Bronx against the Yankees before going to Chicago to face the White Sox.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com
Dontrelle Willis' struggles in 2008 epitomized the Tigers' struggles in many ways. On Wednesday, the free-spirited lefty takes a giant step back into the big leagues on the road against Glen Perkins and the Twins.
There may be some bigger names pitching against each other on Wednesday – Randy Wolf for the Dodgers at the Phillies against Jamie Moyer and San Diego’s Chris Young at Wrigley facing Ted Lilly and the Cubs qualify – but this one gets my nod for the most interesting battle.
After a horrible 2008 campaign and spending the early part of this season trying to work through anxiety disorder, Dontrelle Willis will make his 2009 Tigers debut at the Metrodome against Glen Perkins and the Twins.
Willis’ failed campaign a year ago included seven starts and one relief appearance on his way to an 0-2, 9.38 ERA. That lone relief appearance was against Minnesota, and it didn’t go well with three walks, one of them intentional, a hit and a run allowed. So this will be his first career start vs. the Twins, and he has limited action against the hitters in this lineup.
The animated lefthander has been in extended spring training and slowly working his way back to the big leagues since being placed on the DL with anxiety disorder since late March. In four rehab starts at three different minor league levels, compiling a 3.85 ERA in nearly 26 innings of work, Willis will make his return against a relatively quiet Twins lineup that was averaging 4.65 runs per game entering play on Sunday (May 10), 10th in the American League.
For Perkins (2-4, 3.73), it’s been a tale of two seasons already in the young ’09 campaign. The Minnesota native opened the year with three great starts, hurling eight innings in each assignment and giving up four earned runs (1.50) with the Twins winning two of the three. Since then, the southpaw has thrown 17 innings and seen 13 runs cross the plate (6.88), all three of the games Minnesota defeats.
A groundball pitcher primarily, the most troubling stat for Perkins recently has been the three homers he’s allowed in his past two outings, the only long balls he has surrendered all season. A reliever his first two seasons in the bigs, Perkins made all 26 of his appearances last season as a starter, four of those 26 against the Tigers.
In the four starts vs. Detroit in 2008, Perkins posted a 2.73 ERA in just over 26 innings. He and the Twins won both of his starts on the road against the Tigers, and Minnesota lost both of his assignments at home in the Metrodome.
There is some concern in Detroit that upsetting the rotation to include D-Train could mess with the decent start the Tigers have gotten off to, especially with their starters performing nicely of late. The staff has posted three shutouts in their last six games, with Justin Verlander authoring a complete game whitewashing in Cleveland last weekend. But after inking Willis to a three-year, nearly $30 million extension before the 2008 season, Detroit has to at least see if they're ever going to get something out of the southpaw on the field.
Motown manager Jim Leyland made it clear last week when he announced Willis was rejoining the rotation that he expects the lefty to be ready to pitch and win.
"My expectations are for him to win games, like it is for every other pitcher that I put out there," the Detroit skipper was quoted at the team's MLB.com site in an article by David Just. "There's no bones about that. This is not a gimmie situation. This is the big leagues, and we're trying to win.
"My expectations are that he will do well. I think he's got a very good chance to do that. We will see. But I'm 100 percent behind the move to get him here and to find out. This is not a trial. This is not experimental. This is not developmental. This is the big leagues."
The two teams met just last week and split their two-game set at Detroit. Tuesday night saw Kevin Slowey and the Minnesota bullpen pitch the Twins past the Tigers by a 6-2 score to get this series rolling. The loss left Detroit (17-14, +1.50 units) just percentage points ahead of the Royals atop the AL Central. The Twins (15-16, -3.00 units) are third currently, two games behind the Tigers.
Minnesota won the season series in 2008 by an 11-7 margin, winning six of the nine played at the Metrodome.
Weather obviously won’t be a factor indoors for this one. The plate umpire should be Paul Schrieber who comes into this one with only one real trend on his season, that being that just one in seven games he's called balls and strikes has been a 1-run game.
Perkins and the Twins are drawing -141 chalk over Willis and the Tigers (+131) for Wednesday's game. The total was set at an even 10. Part of me will be rooting for Dontrelle to have a good one and flash that trademark smile of his often tonight. But my wallet says back the Twins and look for the Over to cash.
The series wraps up Thursday afternoon in Minnesota. The Tigers then head home to open a nine-game homestand that will see the A's, Rangers and Rockies come to Detroit. The Twins will take off for a seven-game road trip that begins with four in the Bronx against the Yankees before going to Chicago to face the White Sox.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com
