Only Smyly and Below Remain In Hunt for No. 5 Starter Spot

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier
 
And then there were two. The Tigers optioned Andy Oliver to the minors after he struggled in his last couple of outings with the club. During his 15.2 innings of work for the Tigers this spring Oliver posted a 5.17 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.

While he was holding opposing batters to a .193 batting average he struggled with control on the mound, he walked 10 batters and gave up 10 runs. Oliver had been in the lead for contention for the No. 5 spot in the Tigers rotation but his last few outings were not his best and Manager Jim Leyland thought it would do him better to start the year in the minors - that just leaves Duane Below and Drew Smyly.

It appears that Detroit's No. 5 pitcher will be a lefty as both Below and Smyly are south paws, but which one could end up wearing the Olde English "D" and which one will end up donning a Mudhens uniform this April is what everyone is wondering.

Below made a few spot starts for the Tigers last year and spent time in the bullpen, but this spring he has shown that he has the stuff to be a big league starter. He has spent 12.1 innings on the mound this spring and in his time he has posted a 4.38 ERA with a 1.78 WHIP. Both numbers are a tad high but his K/BB ratio is recent at 8/6.

Smyly was the dark horse candidate to win the spot at the beginning of the spring, and he has only improved his numbers since. With a 2.87 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 12.2 innings Smyly is showing that he is the only real choice for the Tigers. His command is evident as he has fanned 10 batters while only walking five.

The rotation needs depth and either of these lefties would do well in the No. 5 spot, but looking at the numbers the job should go to Drew Smyly. With Smyly in the rotation Below should be in the running for the last spot in the bullpen.

Detroit can't really go wrong with either choice and they are in a position that most teams would envy, trying to figure out who will be their last starter while choosing from a crop of talented young pitchers. Things will shake out quickly this week, look for Smyly to get the ball going into the season.

Oliver Is Odds-On Favorite For No. 5 Spot

 

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

Coming into spring training the Tigers had five different candidates to evaluate for the No. 5 spot in their starting pitching rotation; left-handed pitcher Andy Oliver, LHP Duane Below, LHP Drew Smyly, LHP Casey Crosby and RHP Jacob Turner. Most teams across the league would love to be in the Tigers situation, having nothing else to worry about on their roster other than which young talented pitcher will be the No. 5 pitcher.

At the beginning of spring it was anyone's guess as to which pitcher would be tapped to be the No. 5 or if Detroit would simply just go out and trade for a veteran. Turner's name popped up early, he faired well in his few spot starts in the majors last season but so far this spring he hasn't done as well. In his four innings pitched he has a 3.00 WHIP and an 11.25 ERA. His six walks of the spring are an indication that he doesn't have as good of control as he did last season and will most likely begin the season in Toledo.

Drew Smyly was the next "probable" No. 5 - he was a lefty, he had solid stuff and General Manager Dave Dombrowski has an affinity for promoting players to the majors from Double-A. Smyly has struggled to get innings this spring, having appeared in just two games and started only one. However, he has still gathered four inning of work and in that time posted a 1.25 WHIP, slightly higher than one would like, and a 2.25 ERA. With a 1/3 BB/K rate Smyly could still be a dark horse for the No. 5 spot, but more likely than not he will be bumped from Double-A Erie to Triple-A Toledo after the spring.

The player who has stood out the most this spring has been Andy Oliver. Oliver has had time in the majors before but has never been able to make it stick, but that may be changing this spring in Lakeland, Fla. Despite having not yet started a game this spring, Oliver has amassed seven innings of work and recorded a 0.57 WHIP and a perfect 0.00 ERA. He has shown that he has control of his pitches having walked three batters and fanned five. His GO/AO, ground outs/air outs, is 0.88 which is an indication that he has his pitches biting and is getting opponents to hit ground balls to the infielders.

Manager Jim Leyland said that the control that Oliver has demonstrated so far this spring is more impressive than what he showed in the majors in the past. Leyland said Oliver was "getting better. No question."