There is an interesting movement going on in the Aussie ranks within the Detroit Tigers system. Brad Thomas, who has been reasonably consistent in recent seasons, is starting to find things difficult, and is starting to lose favor with some Tigers fans. Meanwhile, Brendan Wise is starting to attract attention for all the right reasons at the Tigers' triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens. It is entirely possible the fates of Thomas and Wise could overlap in coming days or weeks.
Detroit have had some early-season bullpen struggles, and have faced challenges through injury. Brad Thomas has appeared in ten games for the Tigers, and has put up a rather unflattering ERA of 10.38 over eight innings. His opponents have put up a .417 batting average against him. This is a long way from the 3.89 ERA he put up last year, and it has a few Tigers fans up in arms. Check out some of these comments from Tigers fans baying for blood. The folks over at Detroit Tigers Scorecard are calling for him to be designated for assignment, and there is plenty of support from these other faceless critics.
Meanwhile, at AAA Toledo, Brendan Wise has been quietly putting up some solid numbers. Wise is yet to allow a run through eight games (10.1 innings pitched), and hasn't allowed a hit in his past three games. There are some other pitchers getting noticed at Toledo (mainly a bloke called Charlie Furbush), but people are starting to wise up to Brendan's efforts, and he is also getting noticed.
So, all in all, Thomas is a long way from the form he showed during Spring Training. Through Spring, I remarked that "Thomas is a guy who had probably surprised a few people with the quality of his season last year, and he is probably not quite assured of a place on the Tigers' Opening Day roster unless he can keep his form up". Unless something changes quite markedly very soon, it looks like Thomas could be headed to AAA. If he does end up in Toledo, Thomas may well pave the way for Wise to get a call up. Time will tell...
1 comment:
It is important to remember that Brad Thomas got off to a slow start in 2010. His end of season numbers in 2010 were very decent. But it took till the mid-point of the season before he started to really click. Last year people called for his blood too, and by the end of the season the silence of his critics was much louder than their screams. The Tigers pitching staff is generally a hard throwing collection. Brendan Wise has a great splitter pitch but he's not a hard thrower. I feel that he would add value at the Major League level because he contributes with a different pace. Chris Oxspring is also putting together some good work in AAA too. As a left-hander Thomas' place in the team is fairly safe.
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