Denny Bautista as his main setup man in the bullpen

Bautista to pitch 8th inning; Thomas to be 25th man?
by Danny Knobler
Wednesday March 26, 2008, 12:58 PM

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Jim Leyland said today that he'll open the season with Denny Bautista as his main setup man in the bullpen.

Bautista has never been used as a true setup man in the big leagues, but he has talent, and he also has had an outstanding spring, with a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings. With Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney both beginning the season on the disabled list, he was as logical a choice as any to pitch the eighth inning.

Leyland didn't make any other announcements this morning, but it appears there's a real chance that it'll be 24-year-old outfielder Clete Thomas. Thomas played last season at Double-A Erie, and was a non-roster invitee to spring training.

Thomas was sent back to the minor-league camp on March 12, but the Tigers have brought him back, and Leyland said he'll accompany the team to Houston this weekend. Leyland said that Freddy Guzman remains under consideration as the 25th player, and Guzman is in the lineup today in Bradenton.

As for Bautista, Leyland the decision was made mostly because of his stuff.

"I don't know how it's going to play out,'' Leyland said. "I don't know if he'll throw it in the ocean on opening day. But he has the stuff to get left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters out. He has an excellent curve, an excellent slider and a very good fastball.''

Leyland said he's still undecided on who pitches the seventh inning. He said his coaching staff was divided between two pitchers. He didn't name them, but it would figure that he was talking about Zach Miner and Jason Grilli.

I am very happy for Denny, he has been a very good pitcher all spring, and he has been thron in some difficult situations!

:bautista:


DENNY BAUTISTA
DATE .. OPP .. DEC. .. IP .. H .. R .. ER .. BB .. SO
2/27 ... NYM ..SV-1 ..1.0 .. 1 .. 0 .. 0 .... 1 .... 0
3/1 ..... CLE .. ND .... 2.0 .. 1 .. 0 .. 0 .... 0 .... 1
3/5 ..... PHI .. ND .... 2.0 ... 0 . 0 ... 0 ... 1 ..... 1
3/8 ....@TOR . ND ... 1.0 ... 0 .. 0 .. 0 .... 1 .... 2
3/11 . @CLE .. ND ... 2.0 ... 1 .. 0 .. 0 .... 0 .... 4
3/15 .... NYY .. ND ... 1.1 ... 1 .. 0 .. 0 .... 0 .... 1
3/17 . @CIN .. ND ... 1.0 ... 1 .. 0 .. 0 .... 0 .... 1
3/20 .. @ATL . L-1 ... 0.1 ... 2 .. 2 .. 1 .... 0 .... 0
3/23 ... CLE ... ND .. 1.0 .... 1 .. 1 .. 1 .... 0 .... 0

Also hope Zach Miner and Jason Grilli do well if they make it.

:grilli:

Good for Denny, best of luck to him, would like it if Grilli made it again, but not too gif of a fan of Miner.

We'll see what happens

Actually FRANCIS BELTRAN and AQUILINO LOPEZ have done great.

See http://presspass.mlb.com/dbdocs/77/113/2100_1663.pdf page two for stats.

Havent heard of Lopez's play but I know Beltran is doing good

Thursday, March 27, 2008
Jim Leyland on Denny Bautista
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Bautista has not only made the team but will be tried as an eighth-inning set-up man in Fernando Rodney's absence.

"I'm not sure about the seventh inning for sure, but right now I'm going to give Bautista a chance to pitch the eighth inning to start the season. You can print it, mark it down. I'm not tipping my hand, I'm giving it to you.

"I'm going to try him in the eighth inning to start with. I don't know how it's going to play out. I don't know if he's going to throw it in the ocean opening day."

Why Bautista?

"Because the stuff is there to get hitters on both sides of the plate out. He has an excellent curve ball, an excellent slider and a very good fastball. He has three-plus pitches in my opinion. It's just a matter of whether he can command them and throw them in decent spots. If he can do all that, at some point he'd be a closer for somebody, I suppose."