27-year old righty starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman has been up and down for the Tigers this year.  He has pitched in 21 games (20 starts) for the Tigers this year and he is 6-7 with a 4.96 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.  The Tigers are glad that he has stayed healthy this year as in 2008 + 2009 he pitched in 20 games (13 starts) in which he was 3-5 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.  Bonderman is talking about retirement after this season due to injuries but he has shown enough this season to show that he indeed has something left in the gas tank.

The Tigers have released 26-year old righty starting pitcher Billy Buckner. He pitched in 8 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Tigers and he was 3-5 with a 9.40 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP. He gave up a stunning 60 hits (8 homers) in only 37 1/3 innings for the Tigers in AAA ball before his release. Well this trade didn’t help either team as the D-Backs have cut Dontrelle Willis while the Tigers pulled the plug on Billy Buckner.

The Tigers have demoted 21-year old righty starting pitcher Rick Porcello to AAA. He has started 13 games for the Tigers this year and he was 4-7 with a 6.14 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He has given up a stunning 97 hits in only 70 1/3 innings this year as he has literally been pitching batting practice this year. This comes as a big surprise because he was pretty darn good as a rookie last year for the Tigers. Last season Porcello started 31 games in which he was 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Tigers hope Porcello straightens out in AAA because they were depending on his this year.

23-year old righty reliever Ryan Perry burst onto the scene last season for the Tigers. In 2009, Perry pitched in 53 games (0 starts) for the Tigers as a rookie and he was 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The Tigers were banking on Perry improving in his second year in the majors but instead he has regressed. Perry has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) this year for the Tigers and he is 1-4 with 1 save, a 5.82 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. His biggest problem has been his control as he has walked 12 batters in only 21 2/3 innings this year. If he doesn’t start throwing more strikes the Tigers will have to send him back to the minors.

UPDATE: (6/10/2010) - The Tigers have placed Ryan Perry on the 15-day disabled list with a case of right shoulder bicipital tendinitis.

Justin Verlander is the only Tigers’ starting pitcher who is off to a bad start. The rest of the rotation is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP so far this year. But, Verlander has started 2 games for the Tigers this year in which he is 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He has given up 11 hits (2 homers) and he has walked 4 batters in only 10 innings so far this season. I think he will turn things around soon as his problem is not with his stuff which has looked electric so far.