Detroit Tigers' Jim Leyland on latest outing for rookie Bruce Rondon: 'It was a big step forward for him'

Chris Iott | By Chris Iott |
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on March 15, 2013 at 1:56 PM, updated March 15, 2013 at 11:15 PM
Bruce Rondon.jpg Bruce Rondon has not issued a walk in his past three outings.  
LAKELAND, Fla. -- The way some baseball fans feel about their favorite team varies by the day … or sometimes even by the inning or pitch.

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland tries to stay on an even keel. He tries to carry himself the same way after a win or a loss, during the good times and the bad times. He tries not to get too high or too low, instead believing that level emotions and a consistent approach will get the job done.

Let's try to track those feelings visually using the keys available on a standard computer keyboard:

  • Leyland: ––––––––––––––––
Well, that didn't work very well. Just assume that a graph showing how some fans feel (not you, of course, since you're so levelheaded) would resemble the peaks and valleys of the mountains. Leyland's would look like the Great Plains.

Leyland didn't put his head in his hands and declare Rondon a failure when the rookie got off to a slow start in Grapefruit League play. The sample size was too small, the pitcher too young and too raw. Rondon walked five in 3 2/3 innings, but 3 2/3 innings isn't much at all. It's not even four innings, if my math skills are correct.

At the same time, Leyland hasn't been dancing on his desk in the manager's office following Rondon's most recent three outings. Rondon has made consistent steps in the right direction over his past three appearances. (For the record, those three appearances have totaled three innings, which is an even smaller number than 3 2/3, I believe.)

But on Friday -- the day after Rondon turned in his best outing of the spring -- Leyland spoke more highly of the rookie closer candidate than he has all spring, more highly than he did even the day before. Here are some of his comments:

Rondon pitched Thursday and is scheduled to pitch Saturday and Monday
Leyland: "We're going to be running him out there. We've got a couple weeks. … He's got to pitch. He was better yesterday. With all due respect to the competition, by the time he pitched there were probably some Double-A and Triple-A guys in the lineup, but that happens. I mean that respectfully, because we do the same thing. So you might decide on those every-other-days to throw him in there in the fifth inning while the big boys are still in there."

On mixing pitches, having a game plan and pitching inside
Leyland: "He needs to be able to throw a ball inside by design. He did that yesterday. And if you saw the next pitch, the guy's ass was in the dugout and he chased a slider for strike three. That's the type of stuff we're talking about. You can't just throw it hard. You have to have some pitchability and you've got to have an idea what you're trying to do. I thought yesterday was a big step for him. I'm not talking about as far as making the team. I just thought it was a big step forward for him period, whether he makes the team or not. He's made some progress."

On relying too heavily on a fastball
Leyland: "You throw it 100 mph five times in a row you become like Iron Mike. All of a sudden guys time it and hit it. You can take a machine out there and throw it 100 mph and it'll throw the first couple by a guy, but about the third or fourth one all these guys will catch up to it and they'll hit it hard somewhere. He's doing fine. He's doing fine. It's a very interesting situation and we'll see how it plays out. He definitely showed some progress, and I'm not talking about that he got three outs, I'm talking about the way he got a couple of those outs."

Rondon certainly had his best outing, and Leyland was impressed. He seemed a slight bit excited about seeing it. So, if I may alter Leyland's graph just a bit.


Actually, that might be exaggerating just a bit. But I don't have any slashes on my keyboard that are less steep.

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