joel zumaya

[tnohren]

he gonna be the closer 100000% next year

[moochman]

Todd Jones has another year left on his contract, I believe. Zumaya stands a good chance of someday being the closer, but with Jones there they have the luxury of letting him mature a bit.

[mcqfesijiba]

Wow. 100000%. That's like a guarantee X 1000.
I still think Zumaya may eventually be given a look in the rotation again regardless of what anyone says, but IF that happens it won't be for at least a couple of seasons and his shot at closer may come before then. He's still so young and talented that I am not ready to pigeonhole him as a closer just yet. I'm also a bit of a Kevin "Why the hell am I still only in High A when these guys can't touch me" Whelan fan and dream of Zumaya being a dominant starter with Whelan being a very good closer, but that's still just a dream.

[Dannomyte]

Kevin "Why the hell am I still only in High A when these guys can't touch me" Whelan

I'm a little suprised he's still at Lakeland too but I'm sure it has something to do with his bad late May/ early June. The guy dominated in April and early May then struggled at the end of May and in to June but has been dominant again recently and even made Baseball America's "Prospect Hot Sheet" last week. Here is what they said.

"Whelan hasn’t given up an earned run since June 11, covering 17 appearances, and gave up three unearned runs in his only poor outing during that span. He got eight outs in his last outing, last Wednesday, and has 23 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings in his hot streak. "

and dream of Zumaya being a dominant starter

Doesn't look like Big Z agrees with you. Found this in todays Detroit News

DETROIT -- He still gets questions about it, but not as many as he used to.

"Mostly from fans, just regular people," said Joel Zumaya, who's met a lot of fans in his rookie season.

For instance, Zumaya signed nearly 600 autographs when his one-hour session grew to two Saturday at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn.

"They ask me if I'm going to start next year," he said. "There are a lot of them who want me to."

Zumaya breaks it to them as nicely as he can: "I tell them I'm going to be a reliever for quite a while."

Most of those who ask see only that Zumaya throws hard. But he throws hard because he doesn't have to throw a lot of pitches.

"They think that I can do for seven innings what I do for two," Zumaya said before the Tigers-Twins game Wednesday. "No chance. My arm would fall off."

Is that what he tells them?

"I just tell them that I can't throw like that for seven innings," he said. "I tell them if they want me around for a while, I'm better off throwing two innings, or sometimes three. I'm fine with outings like that."

There are those who've called Zumaya a surprise. Entering Wednesday, he was 6-1 with a 2.01 ERA, a .175 opponents' batting average and 69 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings.

What he's not surprised about, however, is how much he likes the role.

"I've had a lot of buddies who pitched in the bullpen," Zumaya said, "and they tell me they like it a lot. I was pretty sure I was going to."

Zumaya's velocity gets more attention than it used to at Comerica Park. When his fastball hits triple digits, it's not just posted on the pitch-speed board. It also gets brought to the crowd's attention in larger, flashing numerals. But it's not overdone.

For one thing, velocity alone can't be the goal. For another, Zumaya doesn't let it.

"A lot of people already think of it as a distraction to me, because I look at it often," Zumaya said of his posted velocity. "But sometimes it helps me because I get too pumped up.

"When I hear the crowd go 'oooooh,' I know I threw one pretty hard -- but that I also have to settle down. Usually when I throw one that hard, I get it up. So I put that kind of stuff to good use."

But not for seven innings.

Get over it. He's a reliever.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... 00419/1129

[mcqfesijiba]

Doesn't look like Big Z agrees with you. Found this in todays Detroit News

I don't really give a damn what Zumaya thinks. He's still very young and inexperienced, with tons of ability. I guess the question is would he throw a temper tantrum if the Tigers came to him a couple of years from now and said, "We're going to give you a look as a starter." Of course, if the Tigers don't NEED him to be a starter as the years go by, that's another story. Zumaya is flawed in his logic when he says his arm would fall off. Well, yeah, if you're throwing 102-103 mph, then yeah. That's why as a starter he would have to "settle" for throwing closer to Verlander speed. He's a reliever right now, so worries about Zumaya as a starter or reliever still may be a bit premature.