Tiger's Pitching Rotation with Bonderman

Tonight's game is a big one for Galaragga. While Bonderman's rehab start for Toledo didn't go perfectly, he still put up 5 innings of shutout baseball before things fell apart a little. Bonderman may use another rehab start in order to get ready, but it looks like he'll be back in the Bigs shortly. Galaragga has to feel some pressure because he's clearly the worst pitcher on the staff right now.

So what does that mean for the rotation? Do we send down one of our starters? Do we put Bonderman or Willis in the bullpen? If we don't send down one of the starters, who are we letting go? Can we let one of the position players go instead? That is a lot of unanswered questions in a row, lets start with an easy one.

Can we let one of the position players go instead?
The answer to this is clearly no. The spots left temporarily open to upstart youngsters by Ordonez, Guillen and Thames have created a situation that will be hard enough without having to drop an extra roster spot. Mack Avenue explains the decisions looming well.

Do we send down one of our starters?
Maybe. It would be criminal if Jackson, Verlander or Porcello to send down. Willis is currently pitching like he belongs. While Armando has had a difficult few games, his record from last year and April says that he deserves quite a bit of time to work things out. That all being said, if Armando blows it again tonight, we should probably put him on the 15 day DL with a 'sore arm' to give him time to work it out.

Do we drop one of our relievers?
The only pitcher who hasn't really performed all year is Brandon Lyon. His stuff doesn't look that great either. A 91mph fastball coupled with crap offspeed pitches simply doesn't cut it compared to the other guys in the bullpen. So if we don't put Galarraga on the DL, kick Lyon out of town. He can join Bonine and they can have a tea party for all I care.

Do we put Bonderman or Willis in the bullpen?
I think this is a very interesting question, and there's a third pitcher we have to consider to answer this question. While Ryan Perry has performed very well this year, but it's important to remember that he's still only 20 and we have a strict workload limit for him this year. Currently, Perry is on pace to finish the workload limit we had for him well before the season ends. Personally, I'd like to have the option of Perry pitching in the postseason. That being said, I'm not about to relegate Perry to long relief duty.

So how can we get everything we want? I think the answer is to run a six man rotation with some flexibility. In my plan, whoever is pitching well would be guaranteed to pitch every 5 games and the rest would rotate around the remaining spot. One pitcher would be available in the bullpen if needed.

So currently, Verlander and Jackson would pitch every 5 days with the rest splitting the remaining 4. Whoever has the week off (or anyone with a decent amount of rest) will have bullpen duty.

Just my two cents. Basically my plan revolves around a hate for Brandon Lyon and a desire to have the best arms possible in Detroit. What do you think?