Wednesday, June 11, 2008

D-Train Derailing?

I can't help but find myself feeling bad for Dontrelle Willis. In his years here in South Florida he did so much for the Fish. Not only did he almost win the Cy Young award in '05, but even as a rookie, he had been this team's vocal leader. So to see him give up 8 runs in his return from injury definitely hurts. Willis started off the season horribly before getting injured anyways, so this is not anything new.

When Rick Kranitz arrived to be the Marlins' new pitching coach in 2006, the D-Train began a downhill path. Kranitz tried to change his unorthodox delivery,(who didn't love that huge leg kick?) and it seemed 'Trelle never adjusted properly. So from 2006 on, we began to see the decline of the man who was once a top pitcher in the NL.

I understand the Tigers are desperate for any type of a pick up to their hugely dissapointing season, but there was no reason for Dontrelle not to a get a minor league start prior to the one on Monday. So after Willis embarassed himself on national TV, he was sent down to A ball in Lakeland. Let's just hope his short return to Florida can give him any type of boost.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel for him, too. He's one of the nicest, most well-meaning, and overall pleasant people in sports - a refreshing antidote to the sludge that permeates too much of the national sports discussion these days.

DSponge said...

Yeah, and if you watched that game, you could tell Dontrelle was really frustrated. Leland may have been a little hard on him too.

ASponge said...

Let me throw my sentiments in the same direction. I think we're all pulling for Dontrelle...it's just not looking good.