Joel Zumaya has clearly been struggling for a while now.  In six of his last eight outings, he's given up at least one run and issued one walk or more.  During that span, his ERA has zoomed (ahem) upward from 1.65 to 3.47. 

After last night's debacle, in which Zumaya failed to record an out while allowing two runs, two hits, and three walks (the fans were most certainly not saying "Zooooom!"), Jim Leyland said something was obviously wrong with his pitcher and he'd be examined by team doctors.  Even if no physical damage was discovered, however, Zumaya would likely be shut down for a while because his confidence was weakening.

Leyland followed through on that promise this afternoon, as Zumaya was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder.  Francis Beltran was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take his roster spot.  In 36 appearances with the Mud Hens this season, Beltran has a 2-5 record and 4.81 ERA, with 36 strikeouts and 43 hits in 43 innings.  He pitched five games with the Tigers earlier this season, compiling a 5.79 ERA in just 4 2/3 innings.

It seems painfully obvious now that far too much was expected of Zumaya so soon after undergoing reconstructive shoulder surgery.  Maybe he was written off initially, through Spring Training and the first third of the season, but once it became apparent that Zumaya was recovering nicely and progressing strongly through his rehabilitation, the hopes and expectations of a season on the brink was largely placed on his ailing shoulder.  The Tigers needed an elite bullpen to contend, as they had in 2006, and Zumaya had to be a big part of that. 

But how many pitchers bounce back from that kind of surgery to pitch well?  Zumaya battled injuries throughout the season trying to get back to where he once was (leading jerky, insensitive bloggers to tag him with nicknames like "Glass Joel"), which was pushing himself further than he could really go.  Maybe we'll see him pitch again in September, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if last night was the last time we saw Zumaya pitch in 2008.

I thought this photo would pretty much be retired to the BYB archives once Jason Grilli was traded to Colorado.  But Joel Zumaya is taking on the look of a gas can, and thus forced us to dust the image off.

(That one's for you, John Milton.)

The Tigers had this game.  They got another fine pitching effort from Zach Miner, who gave up only one run and five hits in six innings.  Those numbers (along with five strikeouts) should be enough to win most of the time.  Unfortunately, Miner had to leave after throwing more than 100 pitches, and the game was turned over to the bullpen that treats leads like handling a hot pan with bare hands.

Bobby Seay and Zumaya were charged with two runs apiece, but it was Zumaya who truly lit the match.  He failed to record a single out, giving up a single, a walk, a double, and two more walks (one of which was intentional).  That's not just failing to put out the fire.  That's rolling in the gasoline when you're already set aflame. 

Jim Leyland said in his post-game interview that he thought something was wrong with Zumaya and would make sure he gets checked out.  If it's a physical problem, at least that's one explanation.  But if this is in Zumaya's head - and he sure looks like someone whose confidence is shot - we could be looking at a reclamation project that will go into next spring.

The shame of it all is that Zumaya's meltdown wasted a possibly redemptive performance from Gary Sheffield.  Did his two home runs leave you flabbergasted, shocked, and blindsided?  Were you caught off-guard?  Did he just boost his value to the Tigers or increase what trade value he might have?  Regardless, Sheffield has been criticized (and justifiably so) for not getting the big hit with runners in scoring position.  Tonight, he took care of that by just driving himself in. 

Was Sheff fueled by anger?  Did Leyland inadvertently or knowingly push a button to fire up his struggling slugger?  We'll probably never know.  Hopefully, for everyone involved, this wasn't just a one-game blip. 

If only we could say the same thing about the Tigers' bullpen.  We've all fallen into a burning ring of fire.  Going down, down, down, as the flames get higher.  And it burns, burns, burns.  The ring of fire.

Roll Call

Love is a burning thing.  Why else would so many of us risk falling into the ring of fire for this team that keeps putting out cigarettes on our forearms?

Cold packs and Advil for Jerkwheat, HavocRox, dettigionswings'stons, ThaWalrus9, TFerg1103, MackAveKurt, BigAl, PBURGTIGER, Zappatista, spotstarters, rook34, Rogo, MSU4LIF, densogirl, pfuhrmeister, and ashmark to treat their burns.

Here's the speech Jim Leyland should've given his bullpen after Tuesday night's loss.  (Or Sunday's, for that matter.)  If I knew he did this, I could accept him not following through on the "changes" he promised.

Meanwhile, Dave Dombrowski should call this kid in for an interview.  He might be just the sort of new blood the Detroit Tigers need.

I bet Baldwin, Jr. here would fire Chuck Hernandez, at least.

Jack Lemmon as Kyle Farnsworth?  Ed Harris as Fernando Rodney?  Alan Arkin as Joel Zumaya?  Fox Sports Detroit should play this every time there's a save situation from now until October.

(Here's the real thing, if you want to watch it.  Not safe for work, in terms of language, but you probably already knew that.)

Much better (and probably more appropriate) train wreck photos were posted in the GameThread, actually.  It was the only way to get through 14 innings of hell.

Words cannot explain how utterly disastrous the Tigers bullpen is right now.  (Bobby Seay and Fernando Rodney - with four hitless innings between them - are excused from this discussion.)  Great efforts from Placido Polanco and Ryan Raburn (and the aforementioned relievers) were rendered meaningless by another comically horrendous failure.

Absolutely no lead is safe.  No win seems possible. 

Kyle Farnsworth and Joel Zumaya didn't just blow the leads they were given.  They coughed them up in spectactular, cataclysmic fashion, serving up fat softballs that were launched out of the park for two demoralizing, soul-crushing home runs (along with a horrible error by Edgar Renteria) that would suck the spirit out of any team, let alone one already as disheartened as the Tigers have been. 

Jim Caple says closers are overrated?  He obviously hasn't watched the Detroit Tigers this season.

Who can be trusted to pitch in the ninth inning now?  Who's left?  Where can this team possibly go from here? 

I think we could all use a day off from talking about the Detroit Tigers, but it's healthy to vent, so we're providing a safe place for you to get that stuff out of your system.  Normally, I try to encourage off-topic conversation on off-days, but not today.

There's too much to talk about after an awful weekend at Tropicana Field, one that created Mad Jim Beyond Thunderdome.  The Tigers' manager is threatening to make changes because he doesn't like what he sees (I guess he can go to the head of the line since he's the skipper), and implied he may be getting leaned on by upper management, as well.  Maybe we'll see some moves today, but I have a feeling we won't until tomorrow.  Today is probably a day of meetings and decisions among the Tigers' braintrust.

So what would you like to see Jim Leyland and/or Dave Dombrowski do?  And of course, we all have thoughts on who should go, but who really will?  Who has something to fear when they get to the ballpark tomorrow in Chicago? 

Is tomorrow night Nate Robertson's last stand as a starting pitcher?  Who should replace him?  Casey Fossum?  Eddie Bonine?  Chris Lambert? 

Have we already seen the last of Fernando Rodney as closer?  Though no one seems capable of protecting a lead at this point, who should get the next chance to do so?  Glass Joel?  Freddy Dolsi?  Casey Fien?  The Farns?  Kyra Sedgwick?

And how about the bigger picture?  Where does this team go now?  Did the season effectively end when Rodney walked in Carlos Pena yesterday?  (Of course, it may have been over long before that.)  Should the Tigers start playing for 2009 now?

Pull up a chair and say what's on your mind.  This is the BYB support group.  We're listening.  As always, just be nice to each other.

Joel Zumaya has the kind of stuff and the sort of personality that inspires many nicknames.  Some call him "Zoom."  Others call him "Zoom-Zoom."  (And maybe all they wanna do is "Boom-Boom.") "Guitar Hero."  "Guitar Zero."  "Voodoo Child."  Etc., etc.  It's all about that blazing fastball and rock star persona. 

But I'm beginning to think Zumaya might deserve another nickname, one more appropriate to the precarious status of his health, the fragile nature of his arm.  As a pitcher who increasingly seems to be the opposite of unbreakable, I'm wondering if we should start calling him "Mr. Glass."

Since experiencing tightness in his right triceps last Sunday, Zumaya has pitched in two games for the Tigers, and wasn't impressive in either outing.  Jim Leyland brought him in for key situations, hoping he could strike out some batters and shut down any big innings, but instead Zumaya left the field smelling of gasoline.  In those three innings, Zumaya struck out four batters, but also allowed two runs, three hits, and most frustratingly, two walks.  Over his last six outings, Zumaya has allowed five runs, along with seven hits and six walks, in addition to his 10 strikeouts. 

As is so often the case, the problem might be attributable to injury.  After Friday night's game, Zumaya told the Tigers' training staff that he was again feeling soreness in his throwing arm, this time "a little higher" than his triceps area.  Leyland suspected something was wrong when he noticed a problem with Zumaya's mechanics.

"It seems like he gets to a certain point and doesn't finish the pitch," Leyland said.  "Not on all pitches, but on some fastballs."

Last week, the discomfort seemed to pop up when Zumaya threw curveballs.  On Friday, however, the tightness occurred on fastballs.  As a result, Zumaya won't pitch until Tuesday at the earliest.  (The Tigers have an off-day on Monday.)  Team doctors didn't discover any serious problems when examining him on Friday, so the hope is that rest will take care of the problem. 

Maybe too much was expected of Zumaya just nine months after reconstructive shoulder surgery, and this sort of fatigue and discomfort was bound to occur.  As with other pitchers who have had procedures on their shoulders or elbows, perhaps Zumaya won't truly bounce back to full health until next year, after he's built his arm strength back up again.  Of course, this might also lend further fuel to the argument that Zumaya might be better off as a starting pitcher, pacing himself over a longer outing, rather than trying to throw the hell out of the ball in a short stint.

It's a big stretch, but one of the bright sides of last night's 5-0 loss to Cleveland is that the Tigers were able to avoid the awkward situation of Todd Jones having to come in for a save situation two days after being told he was no longer the closer.  Jim Leyland wouldn't have had a choice, with Fernando Rodney gassed out from throwing 42 pitches and Joel Zumaya's right triceps tightening up on Sunday. 

Tonight, however, Detroit should have its regular late-innings crew available to protect a lead.  That is, if the Tigers' lineup can generate any offense against Matt Ginter. (Leyland says he'll try to avoid using Rodney if he can help it, however.)

After receiving electro-stimulation treatments on the muscle, Zumaya played catch on Monday afternoon and said he felt fine.  Leyland says he could've pitched last night, if needed.  Zumaya, however, sounds a bit nervous about a relapse.  

"It's all right," Zumaya said.  "I just threw a little bit."

When asked if he was relieved that the condition turned out to be nothing, Zumaya said, "We don't know if it's nothing yet, but it felt fine.  I took a little medicine.  But you don't need to make a big deal out of it."

If Zumaya goes tonight, he might not be able to use his full complement of pitches.  According to Leyland, the Tigers' medical staff thinks the triceps tightness might be due to the way Zumaya throws his curveball.  Didn't Leyland just tell Zumaya he needed to mix his breaking stuff in with those fastballs?  Maybe Zumaya and Chuck Hernandez can tweak his mechanics before tonight's game.

6 1/2 games out of first place is better than 8 1/2 out.  It's not as catchy a slogan as "Who's Your Tiger?" and probably shouldn't be a slogan at all.  But after a weekend in which the Detroit Tigers didn't really accomplish what they hoped (or needed) to do, salvaging one victory is something of a consolation. 

Zach Miner threw his second straight quality start, keeping a hot White Sox offense in check until the Tigers' bats swung the bat with authority in the third inning.  Curtis Granderson hit a home run to put Detroit ahead to stay, while Miguel Cabrera knocked two hits for the third straight game and drove in two runs.  (Cabrera, by the way, has hit safely in his last seven games, batting .375 - 13-for-35 -  with 15 RBIs during that span.) 

But the real pitching story came in the eighth inning, when Joel Zumaya left after facing two batters.  No discomfort was obvious from watching Zumaya or trainer Kevin Rand, but it was later revealed that tightness in the right triceps was the problem that took Zumaya out of the game.  (His status is listed as day-to-day.)  That brought in the Tigers' new closer, who got the job just before game-time.

Did having to rush in and warm up on the field, rather than in the bullpen, affect Fernando Rodney upon entering the game?  We may never know, though being taken out of a routine can be a jarring thing for an athlete.  Rodney certainly seemed to be off initially, walking two of the first three batters he faced, followed by giving up a two-run single to Jim Thome.

You could hear all of Tiger Town go "Uh-oh" at that point.  It wasn't a save situation, but how was Rodney going to handle this closer thing?  Not badly, as it turns out.  After giving up those two runs, Rodney escaped further damage by getting a ground ball to end the eighth.  And in the ninth, which will be his territory for the time being, Rodney struck out the side.  When was the last time Tigers fans saw a pitcher do that to end the game?

Hopefully for the Tigers, this change wasn't made too late to make a difference in their season.

Roll Call

I wasn't sure what kind of turnout we'd get in today's GameThread.  It's been a rough weekend, and no one could be blamed for being disheartened and wanting to take a break.  But some of us just couldn't stay away.  It's in our blood now.

Thanks to ThaWalrus9, MikeMcClary, Zappatista, BigAl, MackAveKurt, HavocRox, Juskimo, rock n rye, gf206, MSU4LIF, dettigionswings'stons, tplants, Wingz, Germantiger, and pfuhrmeister for enjoying the weekend's lone victory and being on the scene when the Rodney news started to make the rounds.

Is this what they mean by "Christmas in July"?  Before this afternoon's Tigers-White Sox game, Jim Leyland finally announced the move that seemed all but inevitable after Friday night's blown save.  Todd Jones is no longer the Detroit Tigers' closer.

Curiously, Leyland saved the announcement for the radio pre-game show with Dan Dickerson on WXYT-AM in Detroit, rather than give the news to print reporters and TV broadcasters.  Maybe this was to prevent Jones's demotion from being the news, rather than today's game, or to give Jones a chance to prepare for facing the media after the game. 

So who takes over in the ninth inning?  The man who's suddenly become the most reliable late-inning reliever in the Tigers' bullpen, Fernando Rodney.  While Jones has blown three of his last seven save opportunities and watched his ERA increase by more than a full run (3.86 to 4.99), Rodney hasn't allowed a run in his last 5 2/3 innings and thrown nine strikeouts. 

More on this later, as explanations are given.  As I write this, however, Joel Zumaya was taken out of the game in the eighth inning with an apparent injury, which is terrible timing for the Tigers' bullpen.

UPDATE:  Zumaya left the game with tightness in his right tricep.  His status was given as day-to-day after the ballgame.  Apparently, this was more of a precautionary measure, rather than something extremely serious.