Notes, quotes and comment

Brian Dozier's home run tear this week — four homers
in five games — gives him seven on the year, while
Justin Morneau has just three long balls.

When the Twins reactivated Trevor Plouffe, I predicted here that Brian Dozier would return to the leadoff spot.

Instead, Ron Gardenhire gave Clete Thomas several games in that lineup position. Thomas didn't remind anybody of Shannon Stewart, much less Rickey Henderson, but he was more productive there than anybody else the Twins had deployed.

And then the Twins saw three straight left-handed pitchers — Chris Sale on Wednesday, John Danks on Thursday, Scott Kazmir on Friday — and the right-handed hitting Dozier was back atop the lineup, with the left-handed hitting Thomas dropping down to the eighth slot.

This is justifiable strictly on the general platoon rule. We're talking here about two marginal hitters. That Dozier entered Friday's game hitting .293/.388/.463 against lefties this year is nice but immaterial; those split stats came in a mere 50 plate appearances against southpaws.

Dozier homered in each of those three games, and it will be interesting to see if Gardenhire keeps him in the leadoff slot as the Twins start to see some right-handed pitchers again. Gardenhire has never been particularly interested in seeking the platoon advantage with his hitters (pitchers are another matter). I'd advocate getting Thomas the extra at-bats against right-handed starters; Gardenhire's habitual preference for a set lineup suggests Dozier will lead off for a while.

For what it's worth — which isn't much — Thomas has been a more productive hitter against lefties than righties over his major league time. It's not enough at-bats to establish that he's an exception to the platoon rule.

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The Jose Valverde experiment ended Friday when the Detroit Tigers designated him for assignment. I never really understood what the big idea there was; Valverde went from unwanted to closer to unwanted again, with no intermediate stops.

Some 25 years ago, Jim Leyland won a string of divisional titles in Pittsburgh without a designated closer. Since then, he's become far more conventional in his bullpen use. Perhaps he's come to equate the October failings of those good Pirate teams — they never reached the World Series — with the lack of a closer.

Anyway, Leyland indicated Thursday that Joaquin Benoit was his closer, kinda sorta:

"I'm not naming anybody closer. I'm just saying if Benoit was available right now, I would try to close with him." 

I'm not sure why Leyland's hesitant to anoint Benoit, but it's worth noting that Benoit (who's 35 years old, same age as Valverde, which just astounds me) has pitched on back-to-back days just four times this year and has yet to work three days running. The reference in the above quote to the pitcher's availability may be significant.

Another possibility is that the manager is hoping for a trade for a established closer. Or even former Twin Jesse Crain, a notion floated this week by the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers. Rogers generates a lot of  trade ideas that don't go anywhere, but trading Crain makes a certain amount of sense for the White Sox; this is the last year of his contract with the Sox, and the Sox certainly aren't going anywhere with him.

The return of Valverde

Jose Valverde in his return to the Tigers.

In Wednesday's post I commented on the return of Jose Valverde to the closer's role in Detroit and predicted it would be short-lived.

That night, "Papa Grande" picked up the save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning against Kansas City, two flies to left sandwiched around a ground ball out. Eighteen pitches, 11 strikes. Not dominating, and only one inning, but certainly nothing to send manager Jim Leyland climbing the walls.

The new two-tone goatee might, though. Blond on the right side, brunette on the left. Even though Valverde has apparently ditched his trademark goggles, he still knows how to make a spectacle of himself.

Around the division: Detroit Tigers

I am perversely fascinated by the thrashing-about of the Detroit Tigers when it comes to the back end of its bullpen.

In most regards, the Tigers look like the best team in the American League. They have a potent middle of the lineup, a good outfield defense, the best rotation in the league. For flaws — and all teams have flaws — there's this: the left side of the infield has no range, and manager Jim Leyland is excessively indecisive with his closer options.

How indecisive? On Tuesday the Tigers brought back Jose Valverde and anointed him closer. This is the same Valverde who spent 2012 skimming the edge of disaster and then went over the edge in the postseason, the same Valverde the Tigers refused to re-sign during the offseason.

The Tigers went into training camp hoping that prospect Bruce Rondon would seize the job. He didn't. They shipped Rondon to Triple A to start the season and announced that they would go with a "closer by committee." Which they didn't really do. First Leyland tried for force Phil Coke into the role, then Joaquin Benoit.

And they signed Valverde, unwanted by anybody else in baseball, to a minor-league contract.

And now Valverde's back — and Rondon has been called up as well.

Saying that Valverde has the closers job doesn't carry much weight right now. Leyland's previous statements of intent were either insincere or insecure. The Jose Valverde we last saw didn't deserve this opportunity, and his leash figures to be very short indeed.

A short leash is deserved in his case. The problem is, Leyland doesn't really trust anybody in his bullpen with the ninth inning. Not Coke, not Benoit, not Rondon, not Al Alburquerque ... and, odds are, soon not Valverde either.