Empty the Bench

Ignore his lack of doctoral credentials. We don’t care if he’s only qualified to play third base, not give an accurate diagnosis of pitchers recovering from blood-clot surgery. With the Detroit Tigers’ pitching staff in disarray (yesterday starting pitcher Nate Robertson became the first Tigers hurler in 14 years to fail to retire a batter before being yanked), we’ll believe anybody close to Kenny Rogers if they say he’s ready to return to the staff.

Danny Knobler for the Tigers Insider reports that after batting against him a few times in a simulated game yesterday, Brandon Inge is convinced that Rogers could pitch right now:

“In my honest opinion, I think he’s ready,” said Brandon Inge, who batted against Rogers three times in the two simulated innings. “He could pitch right now. I think he’s ready. That’s my opinion.”

Rogers faced 11 batters, throwing 37 pitches. Inge said what impressed the hitters most was that Rogers’ fastball and changeup looked the same as they came out of his hand, making both pitches more effective. Inge hit a long fly ball that might or might not have been caught (there were no outfielders for the simulated game), and two ground balls to shortstop.

Assuming all is well, Rogers will throw a regular bullpen session on Thursday, and then the Tigers will set up the next step. They haven’t said that he’ll be ready for minor-league rehab start after that, but it would hardly be a surprise if he is. “It depends on how I feel physically,” Rogers said. “I could go out right now and pitch innings in the big leagues. I just don’t know how long I could go.”

Whenever Rogers returns, it’ll not only fortify the starting rotation but also bump either Mike Maroth or Chad Durbin into the bullpen, which is currently trotting guys out to the mound named Tim Byrdak, Jason Grilli, and Bobby Seay. Yep, even adding a struggling starter to the ‘pen would be a boon for now.