It’s not that Anibal Sanchez was truly ever performing well this season in the rotation, but that he was actually in the rotation, before being removed yesterday by manager Brad Ausmus and sent to the bullpen with a 3-6 record and 6.67 ERA and 1.68 WHIP.  On the other hand though, both Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer were off to rocky starts with both really pulling it together in recent outings.

Verlander’s season starts may not show his recent success at 4-5 with a 4.11 ERA and 1.092 WHIP, however since his tweet (below) about being close after getting shelled in Cleveland on May 3rd, JV has made 5 starts, is 2-2 with a complete game, averaging over 7 innings a start, shutting down teams allowing 8 earned runs (1.91 ERA), has a .155 average against and has struck out 44 in 37.2 innings (10.65 k per 9).  Is he back to 2011/2012?  No, but we’ll happily take this Verlander over the one that was 2-3 with a 6.49 ERA after his Cleveland blasting

I’m going to dominate soon! I’m close. Doubt me if you want… We’ll see. #gotigers

— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) May 4, 2016

As for Fulmer, I thought he’d see 2-3 starts and head right back to the Minors, however he is showing the ability to improve at this level and has done so in his last 3 starts.  In Michael’s first 4 starts, we saw mixed results with Fulmer starting out 2-1, with a 6.52 ERA, never making it more than 5 innings.  However, in Fulmer’s last 3 starts, he has thrown 7 innings or more 3 times, is 3-0, with a 0.40 ERA(!!), .120 average against, and average a strikeout per innings.  Granted, this is against weaker teams, this is still a positive sign.

Lets hope Anibal can work it out and that we hear from Daniel Norris again this season as at least the starting rotation is showing results