Tigers Option Struggling Willis

The Tigers have optioned struggling pitcher Dontrelle Willis to Single-A Lakeland. Willis has walked 21 batters in 11 1/3 innings so far this season, and gave up eight earned runs in his last start. "Our objective is to get Dontrelle back to being Dontrelle," Tigers president, CEO and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "We don't want to put a time frame on this. We want to get it right. The arm strength is still there, on occasion. The breaking ball is still there. But we want to get him back to being comfortable throwing strikes." It is too bad for the Tigers because they gave him a three year deal worth 29 million dollars before the season.

For Willis, I think he will develop and make adjustments, but he might need to refine his windup. Otherwise, it will be a rough three years for the Tigers.