Hold that thought on Phil Coke

Hold that thought on Phil Coke
BECK'S BLOG
Posted on January 20, 2010 at 7:44 PM

I know it was a pretty big story when Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday that lefty Phil Coke would be stretched out and potentially viewed as a contestant for the fifth starter's spot. But manager Jim Leyland indicated he still sees Coke's future in relief.

"Personally, I'm looking at him more as a bullpen guy," Leyland said. "I think we're going to have enough issues when you talk about Galarraga bouncing back and Bonderman bouncing back and Nate Robertson bouncing back and Dontrelle Willis bouncing back. There's only so many innings.

"Am I ruling it out? No, I'm not. But you can only give so many innings to so many guys in Spring Training, and the one thing you want to make sure is that you're getting the guys ready that you know need to be ready."

That said, he has quite a few relievers, too. And now that he has Jose Valverde at the end of it, he thinks the rest of the bullpen is going to fall into place.

He did not hide his happiness for the Valverde deal.

"Getting a closer was just humongous for us," Leyland exclaimed. "Now you can kind of work backwards and fill in some holes here and there. Here's the sixth inning, seventh inning, eighth inning. Now Bonderman comes back, Zumaya comes back. Nate [Robertson] and Willis, you don't know how that's going to play out. But with Scherzer, Porcello, Verlander, all of a sudden you look pretty good."

He also did not hide his hope for another left-handed hitter.

"We'd like to have one," Leyland said. "It's just not that easy to find."

Other Leyland tidbits included his outlook on the catching situation, where Alex Avila's potential playing time is a looming issue to determine whether or not he sticks with the big club.

"Normally playing time is dictated by performance," Leyland said. "The better you play, the more you play. We obviously have a pretty solid everyday catcher that was as good defensively last year as anybody in the league but needs to produce a little more offensively. Alex got a little experience -- not a whole lot, but some good experience last year.

"I think Gerald put a lot of pressure on himself last year at handling the staff, learning the pitchers. I'm not making excuses for him; but I think he'll be better offensively this year. I may be wrong, but I believe that. I think last year he really concentrated on getting to know Verlander and the pitchers and make sure he was handling the running game and all those things that he did so well for us. I think he'll relax a little bit more offensively this year and produce more. We need him to produce some more offensively, there's no question about that. And he knows that."

Last Updated: January 23. 2010 1:22AM
Tigers left-handers need sorting out
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Detroit -- They're here, there. They're everywhere.

Left-handed relief pitchers.

The Tigers have a ton of them on their 40-man roster. Five, to be exact -- unless one gets traded.

And one certainly could.

Unless one of them starts instead. There is that chance, too.

As the Tigers continued their annual caravan on Friday, you needed an itinerary to figure out where all their left-handers were.

You also needed a world map.

Fu-Te Ni isn't on the caravan -- and he won't be at TigerFest today, either. Too far to come from Taiwan.

Brad Thomas also isn't here. He's Australian.

But Bobby Seay is here -- fresh off agreeing to a one-year contract for $2.475 million.

Seay has the most experience of the five. But he might also be the most vulnerable.

"Right now, I'm under contract with the Tigers, but every year is a challenge," Seay said after a caravan stop on Friday at DTE Energy Headquarters. "I think I've proven myself as an asset to this organization.

"Without a doubt I still want to be here."

Newcomer Phil Coke is on the caravan, too, but there's already been mixed signals about his projected role. General manager Dave Dombrowski referred to possibly stretching out Coke as a starter.

A day later, manager Jim Leyland said he views Coke as "more of a bullpen guy."

There won't be a disagreement on this. Leyland calls the shots as far as roles are concerned. But it shows the underlying versatility Coke brings to the Tigers after being acquired from the Yankees in the Curtis Granderson deal.

Last, but far from least, is Daniel Schlereth -- who came to the Tigers from Arizona in the Edwin Jackson exchange, and while he doesn't have much major league experience, Schlereth has outstanding stuff.

A longtime major leaguer described Schlereth this way: "More to learn but has electric stuff. Above-average fastball with a lights-out curve and a change that he needs to continue to develop.

"But has the stuff to get anybody out."

The Tigers knew that, of course. It was one of the reasons he was included in the Jackson deal.

Schlereth was No. 5 on Baseball America's list of Tigers prospects, and the publication said this of his future: "As soon as he works out his control issues, he'll be pitching in the late innings for the Tigers.

"There are few lefties with his pure stuff, and he eventually could become Detroit's closer."

On the same Top 10 list, there are two left-handers above Schlereth: Casey Crosby at No. 2 and Andy Oliver at No. 4.

They're both eventual starting candidates and a ways from the majors, but it's another indication of how deep the Tigers are stocked with lefties -- for now, for the future, starting and relief.

The current logjam, however, concerns the Tigers' 2010 bullpen -- and the fact that there just isn't room for five southpaw relievers (not to mention Nate Robertson if he doesn't win a starting job.)

With each of them there is a chance to make the team and a question regarding his role.

Seay needs no introduction. He's been a mainstay of the Tigers' bullpen the last three years, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's on the most solid ground.

He didn't have his best season getting left-handed hitters out last year. In fact, with a .261 batting average, they hit him better than right-handers (.239).

Ni had a good first season for the Tigers with a 2.61 ERA in 36 appearances. But half a year doesn't guarantee anyone a job. He'll have to prove himself again.

There were times and circumstances in which Coke was outstanding last year for the Yankees: such as limiting lefties to a .195 overall batting average, plus an 0.71 ERA in 14 June appearances and no earned runs in 12 September-October appearances.

And hard-throwing Thomas by no means is an automatic odd man out after pitching the last two years in South Korea.

"We're counting on him to be part of our bullpen," Dombrowski said when the Tigers signed him. "He has quality stuff."

It won't be easy to sort it all out in the days ahead.

tom.gage@detnews.com