Bondermania

It's not easy being the next great thing, especially when you are 21-22 years old, in your 3rd year in the Bigs and being asked to lead a storied franchise back to prominence after nearly 2 decades of being moribund. An entire generation has been raised assuming the Tigers are the laughingstock of baseball, a "small market" team that cannot compete in the new age of corporate ownership.

Jeremy Bonderman is supposed to be the poster child of the new regime. And by all accounts, he will live up to the hype. Unfortunately, we have to watch the growing pains, and like a parent that sometimes has to watch their child fall and learn to dust him or herself off, we watch JB struggle. He showed a streak of brilliance tonight, but wasn't able to sustain it for a long enough period against a lineup he should dominate. His line: 6 IP, 8 H, 6ER. Not very good for our ace, especially (1) against a bad team, (2) at home, (3) coming off the momentum of the all star break and (4) when he had a chance to show baseball he was snubbed.

His stats for the reason are still impressive for someone at his stage of development. 11-6, 4.23 ERA, 102:36 SO:BB, .255 BAA. However, it would have been nice to see him take it to the next level. We fans are begging him to accelerate his growth curve. But we may have to be patient and content with the fits and starts, knowing that next year will be his true breakout season, and when he does, it will be our year to shine.