Jeremy Bonderman's Tigers career ends with a whimper
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 2, 2010 6:01 AM EDT
in Detroit Tigers Analysis
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PrintEvery weekday between now and mid-November, we'll be looking closer at a Tigers player. For more information on the series, including a schedule, please check this post out.
Jeremy Bonderman has not had an easy time of it the past few years. During 2006, there were questions whether the Tigers would even want to hang on to him after the season. A few well-pitched games in the postseason put an end to any of those ideas, and he signed an extension a few months after the World Series. In 2007, he tried to pitch through pain in the second half of the season, which damaged his team's chances to make the postseason and did his arm no favors. In 2008, he suffered through what he thought was a dead arm, until he found out he actually had a blood clot forming that required season-ending surgery. Soon after, a rib was removed, too. That left 2009 more-or-less a lost year as he tried to work his way up to the major leagues.
And then we have 2010.
Bonderman was clearly not the pitcher fans remember him being before the arm troubles arose. His fastball lacked for velocity and went from being one of his plus-pitches to a negative one. His slider didn't make up for it. Poor results followed, as he put up the worst strikeout rate of his career--ignoring for a moment the 10.1 innings he pitched in 2009.
In every way, Bonderman was a letdown. The Tigers will not seek to sign him to another deal, unless it's of the minor league variety. During a frustrating point in the season he even spoke of retirement. What a sad ending to his Tigers career.
D.
| Year | Age | W | L | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HBP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 27 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5.53 | 30 | 29 | 171.0 | 187 | 113 | 105 | 60 | 112 | 10 | 76 | 1.444 | 1.3 | 3.2 | 5.9 | 1.87 |
As I mentioned in the introduction, Bonderman's fastball was awful.
His slider--once valued as one of the top pitches in baseball--remained above average but not greatly so. The result was a swinging strike rate that fell to just 7.7 percent from a career-high of 11.7 in 2006.
What 2010 tells us about 2011:
Looking at the indicators, Bonderman actually did get unlucky in 2010. While his batting average on balls in play was about normal, his Fielding Independent stats showed that you would have expected his ERA to be at least half a run per game better, possibly better. His FIP was 4.90, and his home-run adjusted xFIP was 4.74.
Sure, those aren't great numbers, but they paint a better picture.
Whether Bonderman is able show improvements in both stats next season is questionable. He is after all just 28 years old. Another offseason between him and the surgery could help get more of the strength back in the arm.
However, expecting Bonderman to ever resemble the pitcher he was before the surgery seems unreasonable.
Resources
I used Baseball Reference and Fangraphs.
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Goodbye Bonderman
We should have traded you to Oakland in 2007 when we had the chance. Maybe we would have received something for basically…..nothing.
Nice Guy Who Gave It His All
I’d rather have Adam Wilk as Jacob Turner prepares.
not every comment you make has to be about adam wilk
We’re talking about Bonderman here.
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 2, 2010 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
or prospects in general...
there are people in the league who have already proven themselves to not be prospects.
there are a lot of proven vets in MLB (and a few on this team)
but I’ve never read stephen’s opinions on them… just sayin.
President & Founder of the "Bring back the Big Tilde in 2k11" Campaign
A Guru I once knew . . .
. . . explained to me that we are all one with the universe.
Adam Wilk is one with the universe and is therefore relevant to every topic.
by rea on Nov 2, 2010 9:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Grade D
Not much else can be said that Kurt hasn’t mentioned. He was a good guy for the Tigers, it’s just too bad the injuries deprived him of continued success. Wish him the best.
Bonderman has been one of my favorite Tigers for a while, so it’s been frustrating to see him struggle to come back from his surgery. He showed flashes of promise in the first couple of months. Eight of his first 12 starts were quality starts and he had a 3.72 ERA on June 1. I’m not sure if he tired after that, but the lasy four months were a disaster. He gets a D.
Some team will give him a chance and he might do better his second year back after surgery, but I don’t think we’ll ever see the pre-injury Bonderman again. The Tigers are right to let him move on him.
Bondo has basically always been my second Tiger...
Polanco was my Tiger for the longest time, and Bondo was the Tiger I occasionally had an affair with. It’s really hard for me to see him go, but I have a suggestion for my Bondo…
Take a season off.
You incurred a pretty strange injury that technically wasn’t really an injury but more of a condition. That known amount of recovery time or the process in which recovery is made is a bit unknown. I still am of the opinion that you may have not of recovered fully. Take a season off, no baseball whatsoever. Surgeries require adjustment periods in which the body sometimes needs to learn how to do things in different ways. Different muscles need to be toned and strengthened to do things they had never done before. I think you started throwing again before your body was ready, and you tired easily, causing you to mechanical difficulty in the grand scheme of things.
Come back to the game in a year. Allow your body to catch up. Of course I might be pulling this stuff out of my ass, but really, do you have anything to lose at this point by taking a break?
I am of the opinion...
that I shouldn’t write before caffeine in the morning. But you guys should still be able to decipher my points.
After all, I’m not gonna start doing that silly proof reading.
After deciphering...
I’m with you. I think he might benefit from a year off and work on other things. If he can get stronger again and change up his mechanics, he can come back and be productive again.
By the way… it wasn’t too hard to understand it.
by Let's do this! on Nov 2, 2010 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Bondo beat the Yanks in the '06 Playoffs.
I will always remember his Tiger times with that great win agains the Yanks in the ‘06 Playoffs. Don’t count him out! I believe he will come back and be at least as good as he was in ‘05 and ’06, and probably better. He just won’t be pitching for Detroit. MadPoopz is right though, he needs more time for rest and recuperation.
D, maybe not a sad ending though
Am holding out hope that he falls through the free agency cracks and Tigers are able to sign him to incentive ladened two way contract. DD said he researched the injury extensively and the velocity usually, eventually, returns. This season, he finally got an offspeed pitch, in fact two (spliter and change) that are serviceable. The Tiger Brass have always projected that with an offspead pitch he would be a front of rotation guy. At 28 he is still young. Would hate to watch the velocity return making him a complete pitcher for another team, especially in the division.
Plus he is good in clubhouse guy, playing with remote control toys instead of trolling for
“Puget Sound Deb’s”, on drinking binges with Cabby and the White Sox.
"Always 1984"
D for Bondo
Never lived up to the hype. I sooooo thought all the naysayers were going to be wrong.
I was in the stands in Comerica when Bondo shut down the Yankers in the LDS for eight innings and I could swear he had finally arrived. One of the best games I’ve ever attended. Thanks for the memories, Bondo.
If you do a list where you rank the free agent starting pitchers, I can come up with ten that I’d rather have than Bonderman, and ten that I’d rather not. At this point, I’m not convinced that Phil Coke will be any better, and DD has to get a proven starter to replace Bonderman.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
What hype did he have this year.
I think we got exactly what we thought we were going to get out of him. C should be his grade. I thought we were just grading 2010?
by BennieBladesFan on Nov 2, 2010 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions
To me, a C would mean that his performance was equal to the league average
and I don’t think you can make a case that it was. I grade players vs what others in the league do at their respective positions, not vs what the expectations were, or what other rookies do, or “for a part timer”, or anything other than the standard that a club needs to meet in order to be competitive in the league. By that measure, Bondo’s season was clearly well below average, but not a total failure.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
I agree wtih a C
I really didn’t do any research but I thought the comparison should be to other 4th starters in the league. He pitched 171 innings; made 29 starts; won 8 games. That sounds about average for a 4th starter. Anyone have precise number to compare that to? What do you expect from a 4th starter?
He is only 28, maybe there is some bounce back. Somehow, I doubt it’s in a Tig uniform.
by texastigerfan on Nov 2, 2010 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions
So, a No. 1 or 2 pitcher could have better stats, but get a lower grade?
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
I love how people Give Wells a B.
When he plays a quarter of the season. He should have goten an incomplete. then they give Bonderman a D. Too funny.
by BennieBladesFan on Nov 2, 2010 12:21 PM EDT reply actions
Gave Wells an A
Perplexed at how fans can say football players are good or bad on a season of 12 or 16 games, but 40 games gives a baseball player an incomplete. Incomplete for JJ too? What else would you have had Wells do? Wells put up Star numbers in AFL/Spring Training, beat out Damon but for the contract, then got hurt. When he recoved around beginning of July, he picked up where he left off. Take a deeper look at those Minor League Stats the last couple of years and overlay of his injuries.
"Always 1984"
by Hack Johnson on Nov 2, 2010 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Less than 100 plate appearances is simply not enough to judge a player.
Otherwise, compare his four homers to the average outfielder and what do you get?
Numbers in the minor leagues are not accurately compared with major league performance.
Injuries don’t matter. What actual major league numbers does the player give to the team?
That’s the ONLY thing that matters, and compare it with the average player in the league at the same position.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
I could write you a very long response to this
but baseball is a game driven by a lot of random variation, there is less in football. it takes more games to sort out the noise.
I do think we are probably too quick to ascribe qualities to football players based on limited games.
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 2, 2010 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
I think some people are grading based on the available data
(i.e—if he played for 40 games, how was he in those 40 games?) and some on the whole season.
Mascot of the "Bring back the Big Tilde in 2k11" Campaign
Wells had 99 plate appearances.
Bonderman faced batters 754 times.
Now, which is the incomplete and which isn’t?
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 2, 2010 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions
C for Bondo
It really amazes me how many folks not only on this site but other sites as well “go with the player”. For that I mean if the player is going good they like him, if he struggles for even a short while or has an off year they dont like him. I gave Bondo a C, because his first 1/2 record could’ve been better with run support. He should’ve had close to a 500 record with the way he pitched. Was he the Bondo of old? No he wasnt, but he hasnt pitched in amost 3 years either. You dont get it all back all at once. I would even sign Bondo to an incentive laiden contract as a starter. At least give him a shot he’s only 28. He deserves a chance to redeem himself. Taking a year off (or another year off) really doesnt work for a pitcher in my opinion. Even if pitchng in minor leagues you cant replace live baseball with just throwing to someone. You have umpires calling the pitches borderline or not. You have runners on base or not, you may get out of an inning with a double play. None of these things happen “taking the year off”. So BYB fans scold me if you must, but I would at least take a look at him in spring training.
I don't even look at wins and losses, you shouldn't either
they’re a meaningless leftover stat from when pitchers threw complete games. Now pitchers go 2/3 of a game and the bullpen games 1/3 of a game so pitching record just doesn’t tell you what you think it tells you.
Anyway, I came to my conclusion based on the fact his first half was below average (average would be a C) and his second half was WAY below average. So I settled on a D.
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 2, 2010 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
You look at W-L and Felix Hernandez had an OK season.
by Let's do this! on Nov 2, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Bondo had the highest ERA in the league among qualified starting pitchers
I just don’t see how one can conclude that he was league average
I’d have to go through a lot of options before relying on Bonderman once again in my rotation
Never say never, and maybe he comes back on a minor league deal with incentives if he can’t land a job elsewhere, but I don’t see that happening.
If you survived 2003, you can get through this!
I give Adam Wilk an A and... JK
I really wish Bondo would have went out on a solid note. I don’t think it was a lack of effort or anything. Poor guy just was saddled with odd injuries that finally finished him off.
Along the lines of what TigerDog said, I will simply remember the good times.
Best of luck to Bondo. Time to move on though.
by JAYRC on Nov 2, 2010 2:21 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Maybe bring him back as a reliever?
He actually looked pretty good for the first couple months. Velocity was at least partially there. He was still getting some Ks, ground balls, and avoiding walks. By the time the season got halfway through, he was completely out of gas. I’d consider bringing him back as a 1-2 inning reliever and see if the velocity can stay around 92 the whole year.
Gave him a 'D' based on innings more than anything
He did provide some good innings for the team at times. Bondo throwing 170 innings of below average, but not simply horrible, horrible baseball allowed us to give some of the kids a chance at AAA that may have been rushed otherwise. I’m speaking of Oliver in particular. With Oliver in Detroit, I don’t think he would have put up much better numbers than Bondo, yet he was probably still the pitcher that would have replaced Bondo in the rotation. Oliver had a chance to throw at AAA and hopefully develop his off-speed pitches. Bonderman kept the team in the game on most days. If we consider him the #5, (and I guess we had two #5’s in Bondo and Mando), then he should have been facing other #5’s and he gave us a chance to win against other poor pitchers. I’ll save my ‘E’ for someone else!
Granderson was my Tiger, then Sizemore, then Willis. Since they're all gone, I'm taking Raburn and hoping the pattern holds.
I gave Bondo an E
I remember the talking baseball with friends after the 2004 season and Bondo was my number 1 reason for why I thought the Tigers were 1 or 2 years away from being in the playoffs. They laughed, but I was serious. I also will never forgive Terry Francona for selecting Matt Clement for the 2005 American League All Star rotation over Bondo esspecially when the game was in Detroit. Entering 2010 I didn’t have high hopes for him, but I figured if he could show signs of being a #4 or #5 pitcher than I would want to him back. Now he did have his moments and I perhaps an E is too harsh for one of my favorite Tigers. But the fact remains that after what I saw this year I’m not even sure I would want him back on a minor league deal. Maybe another team will give him a chance and if so I wish him the best. Still, I have been waiting since 2008 for Bonderman to be healthy and live up to his potential and I am willing to concede that that will never happen. Best of luck with whatever you do in life Bondo, but as a fan, I fine with the thought that that will not include pitching for Detroit.
I can't believe I ate the whole thing!
by tigerfaninChicago on Nov 2, 2010 6:23 PM EDT reply actions
D for Bondo
Guy gave his all for this team. Lots of memories with him. Good and bad. Time to move on though. He will likely see his career come to an end in the next couple years…
Country Strong
D (Sad to say)
I really had high hopes for him. I hope he can make a comeback someday, hopefully as a Tiger.
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