David Pauley is an improved pitcher, Jim Leyland – MLB News
These days Detroit Tigers seem very busy in their preparations for the upcoming Spring Training. The Players show up at the Tigers’ training facility early in the morning. Tigers’ coaching staff and Manager Jim Leyland are also looking to form the right
offensive and defensive combinations before the start of 2012 season.
While players such as Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder have made headlines in the last two weeks, Tigers’ pitcher David Pauley arrived at Lakeland very quietly. It will not be wrong to say that he was the least mentioned returning Tiger.
Pauley looked completely out of sorts last season as he managed a poor 5.95 ERA in 14 appearances for the Tigers
Tigers’ Manager Jim Leyland has great amount of Major League Experience under his belt. His ability to talk to each player on a personal level is what makes him an asset for the Tigers. In an interview with a leading sports website, Leyland took the time
to single out Pauley.
"I think he's better than what we saw last year," Leyland said. "When he came to us (in the Doug Fister deal), he'd been very good at Seattle. His name doesn't get brought up very much, but I don't want to slight him because he was pretty darn good over
there. Maybe he just didn't settle in with us.
"Everybody's talking about everybody else, but it gets forgotten that he was pretty good over there. He's gotten kind of lost in the shuffle, with no one saying much about him, but this guy is a pretty good pitcher,” he added.
Undoubtedly, the Tigers will find it easy to fill six of the seven bull spots. However, for the seventh spot, competition will be tough. Leyland is convinced that Pauley has improved his game play significantly from the last year and he will be the ideal
candidate for the seven spot.
The upcoming Spring Training will be very important for the pitcher. He will be hoping to make the most of available opportunities to shut his critics and revive his career. The Tigers, on the other hand, will be looking to look after Pauley to get the best
results out of him.
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