The Detroit Tigers kick off their spring training slate of games today with an exciting look. Batting 3-4-5 will be Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Victor Martinez. Sitting in the 8 and 9 slots are Avisail Garcia and Nick Castellanos. Despite all of that, it is the guy taking the mound who will probably garner the most attention.
Rick Porcello was supposed to be traded months ago, wasn’t he? Yet here he remains. I doubt it’s a coincidence that the Tigers are running him out there on Day 1. Scouts from other teams in need of starting pitching are sure to be in attendance and trying to decide if the 24-year old can eventually live up to the hype.
Drew Smyly
It’s hard to bag on a guy who has started 120 games and just turned 24, but a few problems persist. Porcello still lacks true strikeout ability and is fresh off of a 1.53 WHIP in 2012. He gave up an alarming 226 hits in 176.1 innings of work. It has been well-documented that he is a groundball pitcher and likewise, that the Tigers are most certainly not a groundball defense.
The funny thing about strikeouts is that you don’t need a defense behind you, just a catcher. And that’s where Drew Smyly comes in. Not only does he fill the left-handed void in the rotation but he can rack up the punchouts at a similar rate to the rest of the rotation, a trait that management loves about him.
Anyone who thinks that Porcello has an edge over Smyly at this point is suffering from a severe case of Inge-itis or perhaps needs a Raburn-ectomy.
This much is true – the Tigers are still intent on finding a trade partner for Porcello. Even as the season opener looms just 6 weeks away the Tigers’ roster could still be in a state of flux.
The idea of Smyly starting the season in the minors is simply unfair. He is above that now. The notion that either one of the two is best suited for a bullpen role is possibly true but also not the astute way to handle a young pitcher who has almost exclusively worked as a starter since they first started throwing in little league ball.
Could you imagine having to tell Porcello, a 24-year old with a decent resume, who is working his way up the arbitration pay ladder, that he is going to be pitching out of the pen? Oddly enough, both pitchers have shown good stuff in brief stints in the bullpen but to move either one to that duty would be an injustice.
Ballplayers only get one, maybe two, shots at a big free agent deal in their usually short careers. Porcello is nearing his first crack at it and that path would be derailed by a shift to the pen. This is the point in an organization’s roster managing in which they must weigh the best 25-man unit available to them and the best interests of the players themselves.
I’m not sure that anyone will question that both Porcello and Smyly are among the 12 best Tigers pitchers, especially if Porcello was in a long relief role. Heck, he might even have Jim Johnson-type of upside. Johnson is a groundball specialist who was a lights out closer for the Orioles last season. Working in relief would allow Porcello to crank the fastball up to 96 MPH or so and eliminate the need for a stellar breaking ball that a starter so desperately requires.
One major issue is that the potential fill-in starter list gets thin very quickly assuming Porcello does get moved. Names such as Duane Below, Luke Putkonen, Kyle Lobstein, Casey Crosby, and others would likely prove to be stop gaps at best.
The theme all offseason has been that the Tigers are trying to win at any cost. One exception might apply and that is in regards to how they should handle the young careers of Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly.
To receive an email each time a new Tigers article is published, fill out the Email Notification Form
[Follow me on Twitter @isportsJoe]
About Joe White
I have to disagree with shipping Porcello out of town. I can agree with you that Tigers are still looking for the right deal, I just don’t personally think that is the right move. Think for a moment about after the 2013 season. Scherzer will have 1 year left on his contract and will most likely start hitting the higher $$$. Porcello on the other hand is an affordable arm with good enough upside. I say keep Porcello in the fifth spot and start Smyly in the minors and bring him up in injury situations or later in the season for relief options. Let’s not forget, Smyly is still quite young and it doesn’t hurt to give him another year of polishing. By doing this, it gives the Tigers Smyly and Porcello as your 4 and 5 pitchers for 2014. Scherzer then can be considered trade bait and can get traded for some future prospects that might fill that glaring SS/ 2nd base issue for years to come. Additionally, you cut the payroll so players like Cabrera and Verlander can be signed long-term.
All valid points except for the fact that Smyly is ready now, and appears to be better than Porcello. I guess we’ll see how it plays out.
I like Smyly a lot. It’s nice to have a lefty who can rack up some strike outs.
Like the idea of keeping the lefty, but this could be a very productive year for Porcello, the kid is just 24.
There is an old “saw” that you “can never have too much pitching” That goes doubly for starters. The tigers are one starting sore elbow from being shaky contenders. Keep them both. You’re going to need them before the year is over.
Hey Doug. My feeling is that once some of these teams like the Brewers start to see what they are actually planning to use as starting pitching during camp, that the phone will ring and the price on Porcello will turn out to be just fine.
They would still love to upgrade at shortstop but are willing to roll with Jhonny if need be.
Raburn-ectomy…..love it.
We all know the preference would be to move Porcello for a good return and that’s the rub, getting a good enough return. Especially when teams know that you’re a little desperate to solve the Porcello/Smiley dilemma. Have you heard anything else Joe, concerning where Porcello could land and what kind of return the Tigers would like to get?