Coke leads Tigers' lean to the left
At the end of last season, the Tigers wanted to move Phil Coke into the rotation because they didn't have a southpaw slinger all of 2010.
But when 2011 ends, the franchise will be looking at a potential surplus of southpaws.
Coke returned to the rotation Wednesday after missing two starts due to a bone bruise in his right foot. He was spotty in a 7-3 loss to Texas, but he keeps showing enough to make the team think he'll be a reliable starter in a short time.
The Tigers have added two rookie lefties to their bullpen since the season began, Charlie Furbush and Adam Wilk, who relieved Coke in the sixth inning and gave up a solo home run in the seventh.
Furbush throws harder than Wilk and could wind up in Detroit's rotation in time. There's also Andy Oliver, who hasn't shown in two brief stints with the Tigers that he's ready for the rigors of major league pitching but does show that he has the stuff to pull it off.
Left-handed pitching is at a premium in the big leagues, and Detroit has traditionally loaded up on lefties in the draft.
Some of that surplus of southpaws might wind up bringing the Tigers help at the trade deadline. Some of the lefties might wind up helping Detroit next year.
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