Detroit4lyfe was on the scene in Gwinnett, GA for the Toledo Mud Hens/Gwinnett Braves game to witness Jeremy Bonderman’s rehab start. Why you ask? Because that’s just how much we care about our Detroit teams. We travel well, just like Red Wings fans.
Bonderman was coming off a solid start for Class A West Michigan going seven innings, allowing two earned runs, walking just one and striking out four in 94 pitches. Thursday, Bonderman got serious (went socks up, presumably for the southern belles) because he was facing a much better opponent given it was Class AAA and Gwinnett was tossing their 22-year old phenom prospect, Tommy Hanson. This was a hot ticket in Gwinnett.
The first 5 1/2 innings lasted what seemed like 25 minutes (and one amazing cheeseburger platter) as there were only 3 hits. However, in the bottom of the 6th, Bonderman started to tire. After walking the lead off hitter and getting an out on a sacrifice, Bonderman allowed an RBI double to Brandon Jones on which the pitch was clearly left up in the zone. Bonderman then induced a groundout to the next hitter, but Brooks Conrad broke things open a little with a 2-run blast to right field that would have been 20 rows back at Comerica Park.
So Bonderman had given up three runs in 5 2/3 with two walks and three K’s up to that point. Not too shabby of an outing if he got out of the inning. However, the next batter hit a dinky ball up the middle that shortstop Brent Dlugach mishandled. I automatically assumed it was an error and chalked the subsequent doubles (and 2 runs) Bonderman gave up as unearned. I looked to the scoreboard and saw an error and didn’t think twice about it. It was clearly an error. After giving up the two unearned runs, Bonderman got out of the inning with a nasty slider and closed the book–his night was finished. So I figured his final line is six innings, six hits, five runs, three earned runs, two walks, and four K’s. Not too shabby for a rehab start, especially considering all the runs came in his last inning which probably means he just got worn out.
I return home, however, to see that Bonderman’s line read five earned runs and seven hits. Home cooking! While I thought it was definitely an error, the hometown scorers ruled it a hit and thus, made Bonderman’s line look much worse than it really was. So Tigers fans don’t fret when you see his line.
That doesn’t mean I was totally satisfied with his outing tonight. The fact he tired in the sixth inning after getting through the first five innings with relative ease really perturbed me. In addition to the runs he allowed in the sixth, Bonderman was not throwing very hard according to the stadium radar gun. He topped out at 90 MPH on the gun that flashed on the left field wall, but was consistently around 85-87 which is not Bondermanesque. I will say that MLB guns are usually juiced so 85-87 on guns that might be borked might very well be 89-92 on MLB guns. Still, Bonderman is best when he was up around 92-94.
It will be interesting to see if Bonderman gets another rehab start. I think he could benefit from another one, plus it will allow Galarraga a chance to potentially find himself. However, Bonderman said he would be ready after one-to-two rehab starts and since this was No. 2, I’m assuming he’ll proclaim that he’s ready. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the Tigers decide to do. If they look at the box score they’ll probably say Bondo needs another rehab start. If they see the video and listen to Bondo, they might be willing to bring him up. Either way, don’t put too much stock in his final line tonight.
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