After tonight’s 13-6 clobbering by the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers decided to option lefty starter Charlie Furbush to Triple-A Toledo and recall infielder Danny Worth.
Furbush recently replaced Phil Coke in the rotation however it is clear that Furbush simply needs more seasoning before he can become a full-time starter in the majors.
“That’s a work in progress, but it’s a nice work in progress,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of Furbush. “I like him a lot. He’s a good-looking young pitcher.”
Now according to Chris Iott of MLive.com, the Tigers will not need a 5th starter until July 20th due to the All-Star break. As of right now Furbush is scheduled to start on Thursday in Toledo and it is yet to be seen whether or not he would return to the Tigers’ rotation let alone the roster once July 20th roles around.
“We’re going to play it by ear from there,” he said, then repeated that statement when pressed on the issue.
Saturday night Furbush allowed 9 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits in just 2.2 innings of work. Iott writes that Furbush had an 8.59 ERA in two starts for the Tigers after replacing Phil Coke in the rotation and saw his ERA rise from 2.49 to 4.03 during those two outings.
“I don’t know if it’s anything in particular,” Furbush said. “It just hasn’t been a smooth transition.”
Source: Mlive.com
