Dontrelle Willis Needs to Go!

The worst mistake Dumbrowski made this season was allowing for the acquisition of Dontrelle Willis. I dislike Willis even more than Nate Robertson. The pitcher had a good season a few years back and suddenly he becomes the man we are to rely on to help pull our broken down bullpen together. I was nervous during his first start. I felt he didn’t do well, but I hoped it was just ‘new club’ nerves. After his injury, I was secretly glad that he’d be unable to play. I just wasn’t impressed and wondered why the heck the Tigers had added more dead weight to the bullpen.

When Willis went down to Toledo to rehab, he wasn’t particularly good. The Toledo pitchers did a lot better than he did and cleaned up the messes he made. While Willis went out and did fair when he made his first appearance back with the Tigers against the A’s, the Tigers should have known he wouldn’t be ready for starting. Instead, Leyland put him back in the rotation, cutting out the more reliable Galarraga. Boy was that a mistake!

I don’t often say my girlfriend, Ashtyn, is right when it comes to sports, but she really called it. When we heard Dontrelle would be pitching in the last game of a four game series the Tigers were playing against the Cleveland Indians, Ashtyn just shook her head sadly as she said, “Leyland’s making a big mistake.”

Big mistake is an understatement. Dontrelle didn’t even make it through the 2nd inning. He had to be relieved by Denny Bautista. Instead, he gave up eight runs, most of them due to his ability to walk at least five of the Cleveland batters. With the score 8-0 it was nearly impossible for the Tigers to recover from the wreck Dontrelle caused. The end score was 8-2. Not even a rain delay could give them the rest they needed to regroup and get the offense hitting enough balls to snatch away a nearly impossible win.

When Leyland was asked about Dontrelle, directly proceeding the game, all he would say was Dontrelle couldn’t get strikes and he didn’t want to talk about it. It’s not cool for Leyland to be that way. It’s just as much his fault Dontrelle messed up because he gave him the chance to start. I’m also fairly certain that Dontrelle will get the second chance he wants when he’s up next in the rotation, though I highly advise Leyland to reconsider this course of action.

Acquiring Dontrelle Willis was a mistake. The Tigers need to just suck it up and get with the program. It’s about finding the right team to win and Willis isn’t capable of giving that to this team.

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