Time To Put Turner on the Shelf

The announcement today that has a bunch of Tigers fans in an excited frenzy, is the Thursday afternoon spot start for prized prospect Jacob Turner. What fans are probably assuming, is that he is staying on for the stretch run in the hopes that he will contribute for the rest of the season, and potentially beyond. I'm here to say I hope that doesn't happen.

If the organization follows suit with the innings limits that were also used on current rotation anchors Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello, the general consensus is he is to be limited to 150 innings for this season (give or take a few innings), and then to be shut down. Currently, Turner is sitting at 136.1 innings pitched this season in his time between Erie, Toledo and his 1 start with Detroit. His minors numbers are good, posting a 3.44 ERA, striking out 110 and walking only 35. But none of this should matter, especially since the Tigers should be able to win this division without having to even feel like they should upgrade. That said, the future looks good for the 2012 Tigers rotation.

Jacob Turner

My assumption is, and I believe all Tigers fans would welcome this, is that Brad Penny will be gone after his 1 year of service to the Tigers.  The rotation would then look like this: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, Rick Porcello, and Jacob Turner.  To me, there's no reason to throw him into a pennant race, especially if you're going to put him in a position he's not been training for, and that's bullpen duty.  If he were to stay with the Tigers, that's exactly where he'd be.  Especially if he's supposed to be on a limit of innings pitched.  Keep him doing what he's supposed to be doing, and don't ruin him with bullpen work, especially when we have seen improvement from what we have now.  Phil Coke has been very solid lately, as well as 8th inning setup man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde.  Of course, the question marks that are Daniel Schlereth, Ryan Perry, and David Pauley shouldn't be the reason that Turner stays up and comes out of the bullpen.  I don't care to see him come in out of his element because of a few questionable arms.  They may or may not come around, but Turner shouldn't be the first choice to replace any of them.

Turner will likely throw at or around the 96 pitches he threw in his debut, assuming the Royals don't do damage off of him early in the game (and why would they, they're the ROYALS), and after that he should shake a few hands, pat a few backs, and look forward to 2012.  Because it'll be a fine rotation, if the Tigers don't burn him out first.

Focusing on Jacob

Watching highly touted Tigers prospect, Jacob Turner, make his major league debut, I'll compare it briefly to that of another former super prospect, Justin Verlander.

The 2 things they have in common for their first starts, is they both pitched 5 1/3 innings, and they both lost. Verlander's day: 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts vs the Indians on July 5th, 2005. Turner's day was slightly better: 2 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts.

Admitting some nerves, and for all it's worth, he looked pretty good. One gnarly number that's concerning: the 5 stolen bases he allowed. He'll go back to the minors now, specifically to Toledo and not Erie (where he was brought up from) where I hope he'll work on holding runners close, gaining more command on what could very be a nasty curveball, and most importantly, get ready for next season.

After watching him get an ovation after Jim Leyland pulled him from his start, it's obvious that the fans are ready to watch this 20-yr-old continue to blossom. And there's no reason to believe that, like Verlander, he can't come to the big club next season and not make an immediate impact. And for those of you who think he's ready now, can take a deep breath and begin to realize that he's not there. Soon. Let him mature down the stretch.

No need to waste him. Definitely no need to trade him.