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Wednesday, April.24/2013

Valverde was the best option available for a club that is expected to win the American League Central Division – and possibly return to the 2013 World Series. The ‘Closer by committee’ had less than stellar results thus far- and Jim Leyland was not a fan of operating that way. The slimmer 35 Year Old from the Dominican Republic will assume the Finisher’s role immediately – and should be available for game action tonight in Detroit at Comerica Park.

By Matthew Lafave (Tigers Correspondent) Follow @MatthewLafave

Yes, Jose Valverde has returned to the Tigers and will be available as early as Wednesday night.

This all came quite quickly through the evening on Tuesday. After making three appearances for Class A Lakeland, Valverde was expected to join the Toledo Mud Hens to get some extra extended work before possibly joining the Tigers.

But Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski decided to skip some steps.

Jose Valverde 2011 Highlights – Mature Content so Parental Guidance is advised:

Jose Valverde has 277 Career Saves. At this point, he has the most Closers experience for this franchise – and has had great success in the last few years besides about a 6 week stretch last year – including a brutal playoffs, You simply have to get back there first.

The timeline was quick and unexpected –

3:57 p.m.: Craig Custance (NHL writer for ESPN who coincidently ended up on same flight with Valverde) tweets out that Jose Valverde is on a plane headed to Detroit.

Alright, nothing too crazy there. It was still possible that he was going to throw a bullpen session in front of Jim Leyland and Jeff Jones before joining the Mud Hens who were away in North Carolina.

Until this (insert Law and Order chime) –

6:54 p.m.: Another tweet from Craig Custance reads, “Spoke with Jose Valverde. Expects to sign one-year deal with Tigers. He’s not planning on going to Toledo.”

Say what?

Just minutes after the Royals and Tigers game got officially postponed due to rain, the Tigers announced what we already knew.

Jose Valverde has signed a one-year deal with the Tigers, Brayan Villarreal sent down to Toledo to make room.

Bruce Rondon also was called up for tonight’s game versus the Kansas City Royals. He will be added to the relief troops. He pitched 7.2 scoreless Innings in Toledo – Striking out 9 batters to earn the promotion.

There is still going to be a roster move to come as the Tigers must make room for him on the 40 Man Roster.

But are the Tigers making a good decision in bringing him back?

It certainly doesn’t hurt. He was a proven closer in this league for many years. Although he struggled towards the end of the 2012 season and even beyond struggled in the postseason, we cannot forget the good.

In his first season with Detroit in 2010, he was an American League All-Star – and featured a 3.00 ERA with 26 Saves.

In 2011 – he was perfect in Save Opportunities with 49 – and held down an astonishing 2.24 ERA. He was also selected as an All-Star again and finished fifth in Cy Young voting.

So what happened in 2012?

The batters began to be more aggressive in swings and he wasn’t throwing with strong command.

When the count was 0-0 the batters hit .333 off of him in 2012 compared to .259 in 2011. This usually means he wasn’t locating his pitches well, just not hitting those tight corners.

The same goes for the count being 0-1, Batters hit .306 off him in 2012 and only .167 in 2011. When you are not able to command the strike zone, it is batting practice for big leaguers.

Tiger fans everywhere can only pray that he has command like he did in years prior.

Unfortunately, May is the worst month for Valverde in his career. He is 6 -10 – with a 4.42 ERA and 6 Blown Saves. Good thing it’s still April I guess?

Incase you’re wondering what his best month is, it’s August and September. Just when the Tigers really need him.

Fans must remember he holds a 2.37 career ERA and 61 Saves against the American League Central. The Tigers Bullpen could use some excitement and leadership and Jose Valverde is that guy.

Welcome back Papa Grande!

Papa Grande had led the AL in Games Finished during each of the last 2 seasons (70 in 2011 and 67 Last Year.} he also led the AL in Saves in 2011 with 49. It was a Sept/Oct swoon of a 5.02 ERA that started his troubles – before giving up 6 Earned Runs in 1 combined Inning Pitched between the ALCS and the World Series. He remained unsigned by everyone until the Tigers gave him an incentive laden 1 Year Deal a few weeks ago f he made the big league roster.  The contract may pay him up to $5 MIL in 2013.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Tigers Correspondent’ Matthew LaFave for preparing today’s featured article.  Matthew was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan. Growing up watching all of the Detroit sports with his father,  he began to enjoy writing about them in high school.

At first started out as e-mails between his father turned into a Detroit Lions blog website titled ‘Hear Me Roar’. Matthew would go on to get a job as ‘Detroit Tigers Writer’ at the website http://www.examiner.com.

He has been writing for them for over two seasons and regularly attends games as a credentialed media member. Be sure to follow him on Twitter Follow @MatthewLafave

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