MVN - Most Valuable Network

Truly can’t win them all

The Tigers lost for the first time this spring, 3-1, to the Indians. No big deal, but there were still a couple notable events. Yorman Bazardo made his spring debut (as did Sheffield). I mention this not only because he threw a perfect inning that included a strikeout, but because he had missed his first scheduled appearance due to having to attend his father’s funeral in Venezuela. That’s obviously much worse than the slight injury or balky muscle I had envisioned as the reason for his absence. I’m sure we all wish him the best as he struggles to deal with the loss of his father.

Getting back to things that matter far less, Matt Mantei pitched again today and once again struggled to find his groove as he attempts his comeback. In his first outing, he threw one inning and walked two batters. Today, he took the loss as he gave up two runs on a couple hits and a walk. I’m pulling for Mantei because he could be that wild card that helps elevate the Tiger bullpen, but he’ll need to get his stuff working if he’s going surprise us and join the Tigers.

If you think I’ve donned my rose-colored glasses, I haven’t. I don’t expect Mantei to make the Tigers out of camp, and I’m not optimistic he will make a huge contribution if and when he does join the team. He just seems like one of those guys who could have helped if we eventually find ourselves looking back at the 2008 Tiger bullpen and wondering how it outperformed our expectations.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 7:41 pm and is filed under matt mantei, yorman bazardo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.