Dontrelle Willis is (insert negative comment here). Yes, he’s struggling. A lot. If you haven’t heard he was optioned to class A Lakeland after being slapped around by Cleveland on Monday.
Here’s the silver lining in that dark cloud. You don’t option injured players. At least not those seriously impaired.
In my opinion the “problem” with Dontrelle has always been his motion. While it is deceptive and that helps him a great deal it is also his worst enemy. When you have mechanics that are not easily repeated you can fall into these slumps. Over the past two or three seasons he has, at times. looked unbeatable and at other times has looked like your local high school team could beat him.
The Tigers say his arm strength is there and his curveball has been off and on. Which is to say, more or less, that his command is off and this is borne out by the number of walks given up.
Contrast his problems with those of Barry Zito. For whatever reason his arm strength has been missing on most of his starts. That’s either injury or, more unlikely, simple fatigue. If Zito doesn’t recover that strength he will have to alter his style or he will be a tremendous drain on the Giants. You can pitch effectively with below average speed. Frank Tanana comes to mind as he was a fireballer when he first came up, was injured and had to become a finesse pitcher. And became a very good one. Jamie Moyer is another example of a finesse only guy. Ask Phillies fans how he is doing.
Back to Dontrelle. He is actually in a better position than Zito. He may not have to change his style as a pitcher. He has to iron out the kinks in his motion. I’m thinking he will.
Also working in his favor is his contract. The Tigers will move heaven and earth to get a return on their investment. If you’re a thirty year old middle reliever making 500k with a one year contract you get sent down or released and you, in effect, work it out yourself. Players like that are interchangeable in management’s view.
I’m not only thinking Willis will work it out, I’m hoping he will. He seems like a good, stand up man. Nice guys may finish last according to Leo Durocher but you hope they don’t.
Tags: Barry, Detroit, Dontrelle, Durocher, Francisco, Giants, Leo, mechanics, motion, pitching, San, Tigers, Willis, Zito
