As of now, if Rick Porcello stays in the majors and keeps getting the workload he has been lately, he's on pace for 180+ innings as a 21 yr old rookie. Now i know all the old sentiment of when pitchers pitched 20 complete games a year and never had issues, but this is just a different time. Innings and pitch counts are monitored more closely than a guys heart rate or blood tests and may have helped prolong some careers. The point is still, can he hold up and if not, what can the Tigers do?
First off, Bonderman and Willis are both unacceptable answers at this point as both are bigger question marks than the rookie. Say Willis builds off his last start and turns his career around in Detroit, and he becomes a reliable 3-4 guy, it still leaves one spot and im not sure Zach Miner gets anybody other than his mother excited when he steps up there. And you can't count on Bonderman, the 2-pitch, 1st inning blues wonder who somehow manages to make it 2-3 times through a major league lineup with a fastball and a slider and a....yea that's it. As if i couldn't inspire more confidence here's another tidbit: the guy has tried to learn a third pitch for 6 years....at least....is anybody gonna call an apple an apple and finally say enough, get in the bullpen or get a 3rd pitch. Now i was always one of his biggest fans, but i just don't believe he can make it anymore on 2 pitches, especially if his fastball has slowed, as the reports say.
Although i would like to see Porcello put in a Verlander-esque rookie of the year performance, it seems more likely we are looking at a situation like '07, when guys like Durbin and Miner and a few minor leaguers made a lot of starts in that fifth spot. So let's hope 1st place is locked up tight come late July, or this could get ugly fairly quick.
So it would seem Porcello has this golden opportunity all to himself, to stay healthy or not, to mature in his pitch selection, and hopefully be a solid 6 inning, 90 pitch guy that just get's it done. For now anyway. For now until he's really ready to take that step and be a real everyday Big Leaguer who i don't have to write questioning articles about.
