Tiger Geist

I’m sure there are some, but I can’t think of any at the moment:  When was the last time an injury to a player significantly benefited both parties, the player at their respective team?  I feel Nate Robertson’s injured elbow (and subsequent surgery) is just that — an injury that will help Detroit’s win column and probably benefit Robertson’s career.

No secret here — Nate Robertson has not been very good this year.  You could interchange “not very good” with “downright awful”.  A former power pitcher, he was throwing in the mid to high 80’s.  His power slider had little power and little movement.  You could easily argue that the only reason he made the team out of camp was due to his contract ($7mil guaranteed 2009, $10mil 2010).  A month in, there was no argument — pitching out of the bullpen, Robertson did little to silence his critics.  Without any knowledge of how much his injury has affected him — Robertson had trouble getting out both AL and NL lineups this year.  Even if he was outright released, its hard to see another team adding Robertson to their major league roster.

Then, Robertson had an elbow injury, followed by surgery earlier this week.  Can’t touch a baseball for 3-4 weeks; you assume another few weeks to get his arm strength back, then a few rehab outings.  Realistically this puts Robertson to return in September at the earliest.

For Detroit?  Great news.  Already, Fu-Te Ni has been a blessing — in his first two outings, he’s pitched effectively against left handers (minus that rocket off of Ryan Sweeney) and was able to keep Bobby Seay from having to pitch in either games.  Seay has been so effective this year that he could actually be used as a setup man when Lyon and/or Zumaya are ineffective or over-used.  In essence… Detroit has another bullpen arm that Jim Leyland has been reluctant to use when Robertson was ‘healthy’.  Again, great news for Detroit (assuming Ni can assume a left-handed bullpen role effectively — so far so good).

For Robertson?  Great news.  Why?  Because he couldn’t get anybody out.  This rehab time allows Robertson to get healthy and focus on 2010 (assuming he’s basically shelved for 2009).  Where is his power?  Where is his slider?  MIA.  Now he can go find it.  If he can’t find it, he has some time to become a ‘junk ball left hander’ — think Frank Tanana, Kenny Rogers.  No idea if he can become such a pitcher, but it won’t happen overnight.  So he gives himself and Detroit another shot at pitching, this time in spring training 2010.  This might give Nate enough time to extend his career beyond 2010 without having to bounce around from team to team or in the minor leagues.  So for Nate, with the current makeup of his pitching repertoire, this gives him some time (paid) to improve it.

I would almost extend this ‘blessing’ to Dontrelle Willis, but I don’t think its the same situation.  Something bothers me about the use of the DL for Dontrelle.  When Joey Votto explained his depression and DL stint, he listed reasons.  Dontrelle keeps saying “I feel fine”; at this point, his DL stint probably benefits Detroit more then it does Dontrelle.