Lynn Henning

Best role for Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman is starter, not reliever

One question, frequently asked, is whether the Tigers might be better using Jeremy Bonderman as a closer or set-up man rather than as a starting pitcher.

And the answer is, for now, no. But it depends on what kind of pitching profile Bonderman displays during spring training in 2010:

• In either case, he must have his hard fastball and slider back. They were the pitches behind his relative success of a few seasons ago.

• He must show that he still has the durability to start. At least technically, the question will linger considering that in 2010 it will have been almost three years since he threw any meaningful number of innings.

The second point speaks to why the Tigers are better off with Bonderman starting. When healthy, he has the durability to give them 200 solid innings per season.

There is a compelling statistical argument for branding Bonderman as a starter, only.

It developed during the 2006 season. Bonderman, along with then-Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana, was the only American League pitcher that season to throw 200 or more innings with 200-plus strikeouts.

There is your essential argument for making Bonderman exclusively a starter.

Critics who believe he would be better in the bullpen because of his two-pitch reliance on a fastball and slider have logic on their side. Bonderman also has the makeup to be a closer. He is fearless. He is one of the genuine warriors on the team.

But remember that he was a two-pitch pitcher when he was a successful starter.

Bonderman simply needs health on his side. His 2008 thoracic surgery should help, in the long run, to put more pop into his pitches. If that's the case, he'll need then to show that he can go deep into games, which his conditioning gurus believe he'll be ready to do.

As for that third pitch, Bonderman could yet pick it up. He turned 27 this season. He has a change-up. He simply needs to trust it and to throw it.

That project can be picked up next spring in Florida. So, too, can be the return of a hard-throwing pitcher, heading into the last year of his contract, who is more valuable to his team at the start of a game than he figures to be at the end.

lynn.henning@detnews.com