Right-hander Jeremy Bonderman had reconstructive elbow surgery yesterday and intends to play in the Major Leagues next year, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports. The 29-year-old Legacy Sports Group client last pitched in MLB for the 2010 Tigers.
Bonderman, Detroit's first round pick in 2001, broke in as a 20-year-old with the 2003 Tigers, starting 28 games for a team that would lose 119. He improved steadily over the course of the next few seasons and eventually posted a 4.08 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 214 innings for the 2006 Tigers team that won the AL pennant. However, he underwent shoulder surgery in 2008 and posted a 5.53 ERA in 2010, his most recent MLB season.
How did he need to get reconstructive surgery when he wasn’t going to pitch for anyone last season?
Maybe he wanted to still be able to brush his teeth by the time he turned 30?
I would like to play Major League Baseball in 2013 as well.
I am willing to grant that Bonderman’s odds are better than mine (zero), but sadly, they are probably not much better.
Actually, Bonderman was drafted by the Athletics in the 2001 amateur draft. In the summer of 2002, he was the “player to be named later” in the trade that also sent Carlos Pena from the A’s to the Tigers.
Somebody paid attention during moneyball…
Seems like he’s entering the Webb, Prior, Sheets stage of his career. Where teams throw money at him to rehab and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.
Except Webb, Prior, and Sheets actually had a history of sustained success.
Ha ha ha nice, beat me by 30 seconds apparently.
Yeah, except Webb, Prior, and Sheets all had the talent and track record of performance that Bonderman can only dream about. There’s no lightning there to catch. Bottle full of #2 maybe.
Jed Clampett had a saying for that.. weeee doggie… Nice-un Chico. Factual and to the point.
Which means the Red Sox are probably drawing up a contract now.
Harden and I *think* Brad Penny went under the knife and will be competing with him next year and both are (were) far better choices as far as stuff goes.
Brad Penny went to Japan
He’s only 29! Wow
Bondo wasn’t Detroit’s first round pick! He was the PTBNL in the Jeff Weaver/Carlos Pena trade. He had been drafted by Billy Beane out in Oakland, and he didn’t want him, but couldn’t trade him until a year after he had been drafted. Tigers got Pena, Franklin German and Bonderman basically in exchange for Weaver. I’m not positive off the top of my head who New York gave Oakland(three team trade) to get Weaver, but that’s how it went down. It’s the trade that went down in like 5 minutes on the movie Moneyball, as if that’s how it could happen!
A’s got Ted Lilly.
Correct. Tigers traded Jeff Weaver, got Franklyn German, Carlos Pena, and Bonderman.
Bondo was brought up to the majors prematurely, before he had developed any sort of a third pitch. He had the nastiest slider of any RHP in the American League, and probably second only to Johan Santana’s slider at the time. He had a good four seam heater that would come and go, but hitters could sit on either pitch and 50/50 chances they’d get what they were looking for.
Unfortunately, Bondo was afraid to throw the slider to lefty hitters. He loved throwing a slider off the plate to righties and when they copped on to him and took the pitch, he was in a hole. He was terrible with runners on base and was never the brightest bulb in the chandelier when things got tough. He tried to throw a circle change that Verlander showed him right before he went permanently on the DL, but he’d use it exclusively against lefties.
I wish him luck, but I’d bet the under on a successful career.
It’s really easy to see who got who in the June draft of 2001 (or any season everyone and no subscription to any site required.. Just go to baseball reference site and you can find any year draft (just about) and find a recap of the entire 1st round..
Detroit’s first round pick in 2001 was . . . Kenny Baugh. :/
I hope a team in Japan just joined the majors, because that’s the only way he’s pitching in the majors next year.
HAHA. Don’t be so sure. Florida gave another one of those joke ex-Tigers starters by the name of Nate Robertson half a season worth of starts before finally dumping him back in 2010. Some other sucker might give this new washed up joke a few also.
A native of central Washington. Could be nice to give a spring training invite to and stash him in the minors.
Funny thing Bonderman wasn’t drafted by the Tigers he was drafted by Oakland. Someone needs to straighten out their facts.
Jeremy Bonderman had a lot of talent and was very raw,
but the guy has a “50 cent head”.
Bonderman tried to get by on only 2 major league pitches
a slider and a fastball(thought he was Nolan Ryan or Koufax lol).
If one of is pitches was not working, then Bonderman would get hit very hard
just like a batting practice pitcher.
Despite, numerous attempts to teach this kid 4 major league pitches
and how to change speeds, Bonderman refused to be coached
and was a stubborn, unteachable player.
(He was another Zumaya–just heave the ball
in there straight and challenge the batters to hit it).
Any team even thinking about signing Bonderman?!
They better have top notch infielders
and very fast outfielders, since their defense will get
quite a workout from the hitters launching screeming line drives
all over the field—that doesn’t even count the missle launches
that leave the yard when Bonderman pitches(if you want to call
what Bonderman did “pitching”.
It looked more like batting practice to me.