Tigers beat writer Jason Beck answers question weekly on the Tigers official site...this week's mailbag brought a pretty interesting question along with it:
Jim Leyland has said all along that he has a plan in place to limit Justin Verlander's innings, but he never was specific. Is the All-Star break his "plan?" Just because there was a small break doesn't mean JV's innings will be limited. He really only missed one start as he had only eight days of rest. Was that Leyland's plan, or does he have something else (six-man rotation) up his sleeve?
-- Eric, Clawson, Mich.
-- Eric, Clawson, Mich.
The six-man rotation actually is part of the plan. Leyland basically came out and said he'd like to do that at least for a little while when Mike Maroth comes off the disabled list. If you don't see it happen in August, you'll see it in September once rosters expand and the Tigers can bring up Jordan Tata and Humberto Sanchez.
The six man rotation has been discussed several times over this season, as the thought of Mike Maroth coming back and Zach Miner continuing to pitch well (which hasn't happened the last few starts) seemed to be a pretty good chance. With Miner struggling and the thought of limiting Verlander's innings this may be something very tough to implement with the Tigers without using some sort of unexperienced starter.