Phil Coke Pitches His Way Out Of Tigers Rotation
In 2011, the Tigers made the not-unreasonable decision to give Coke a shot in the rotation; he'd been a successful starter in the Yankees' minor-league system, and seemed to have the pitches to make it work.
And early on, it did work reasonably well. After a couple of relief outings, Coke joined the rotation and posted a 3.62 ERA -- granted, with a depressed strikeout rate -- in his first nine starts. But Coke hurt his foot in his ninth start, and spent two weeks on the DL.
In his first four starts after coming off the DL, he gave up 16 runs in 21 innings; perhaps more worrying, he issued 12 walks while striking out only six hitters. So before Phil Coke's fifth start back, against the Mets Wednesday, MLive.com's Rob Otto wrote this:
So this is the deal for Phil Coke: turn it around now, and don't falter once. The second you show a crack, Charlie Furbush is waiting.
Good luck, Phil.
Wednesday, Coke gave up eight runs against the Mets in four innings. He's not the only starter in Detroit's rotation who's been struggling -- lately it's been the Justin Verlander Show, which is why the Tigers haven't been able to take advantage of the Indians' struggles -- but Coke's the obvious candidate for a new role. Hence, this announcement by the Tigers, Thursday morning:
Leyland announced to media this morning Coke will be moved from rotation to the club’s bullpen.
No word yet on whether Coke’s slot is going to Furbush, but he does seem to be the most likely candidate, given his solid performance in the bullpen and his previous work as a starter in the minors.
