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Sinking Tigers see hope in Van Hekken
September 3, 2002
BY GENE GUIDI
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
While the sinking Tigers continued to play out the string Monday, one of the reasons they hope things will get better arrived at Comerica Park during the game.
Left-hander Andy Van Hekken has been called up from Triple-A Toledo and will make his debut tonight against the Indians.
What does Van Hekken think about the opportunity? Hard to say, since no one on the Tigers thought to tell him to stick around the clubhouse. He was gone when the media arrived following Monday's 11-1 loss.
Van Hekken, 23, was 5-0 with a 1.82 ERA for the Mud Hens after opening the season 4-7 with a 3.83 ERA for Double-A Erie.
With the Mud Hens in the International League playoffs, the Tigers had to consider if it made more sense to keep Van Hekken with Toledo or take advantage of the expanded roster and bring the Holland, Mich., native to Detroit.
"We talked about what would be better for him, pitching in the playoffs in Triple-A, or pitching for the Tigers," manager Luis Pujols said. "Everyone agreed that the big leagues is the big leagues and he should be here.
"It's his day to pitch Tuesday, so the timing seemed right."
Pujols said right-handed closer Franklyn German -- acquired from Oakland in the three-team trade for Jeff Weaver -- would be called up, but probably not until Toledo's postseason ends.
"With a reliever, it's different," Pujols said, "You only need a couple of weeks to get a look at him."
German pitched one inning Sunday and struck out all three hitters he faced; his ERA is 1.59.
Pujols said the Tigers would use a six-man rotation sometime this month, and since right-hander Jose Lima will finish the season in the bullpen, that means another Mud Hen will get an audition.
With the losses piling up, the Tigers might as well look at as many minor league players as possible in the last weeks of the season.
Former Tiger Karim Garcia helped send the Tigers to their ninth straight home loss Monday.
Garcia, who came to the Tigers in the 1998 deal that sent Luis Gonzalez to the Arizona Diamondbacks, hit a pair of three-run homers for the Tribe.
"I don't think we were making that bad of pitches today," catcher Brandon Inge said. "But this is the kind of thing that happens sometimes when a team is in a rut like ours. Everything just snowballs."
Starter Brian Powell (1-5) gave up Garcia's first homer with two outs in the first and the Tribe never looked back, turning a close game into a rout with eight runs in the last four innings.
Robert Fick homered off C. C. Sabathia (10-10) for the Tigers' run. Fick also notched his major league-leading 17th outfield assist in the eighth inning.
Tigers: Notebook
Van Hekken debuts for Tigers tonight
By Tom Gage / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The Tigers get a glimpse tonight at a portion of what they hope will be a vastly improved future when left-handed pitcher Andy Van Hekken makes his first major-league start. He'll be starting in Jose Lima's slot, which means that Lima is headed for bullpen oblivion and probably has made his last start as a Tiger.
With a 4-6 record and 7.77 earned-run average, Lima doesn't have much room to argue, but he said: "It's not the first time I've been slapped in the face. They can replace me, but they can't beat my pride. I don't need any explanation, I'm not part of the plans here. It's all right. Someone will sign me. I'm not a loser."
Van Hekken, 23, doesn't appear to be a loser, either. He pitched well at Double A and Triple A this season, but "particularly Triple A," General Manager Dave Dombrowski said.
At Erie, Van Hekken was 4-7 with a 3.83 ERA. He followed with a 5-0 record and 1.82 ERA at Toledo, where he became a vital part of the Mud Hens' drive to win the International League's West Division title. It is their first title since 1968, and they are in the playoffs for the first time since 1984.
A native of Holland, Mich., Van Hekken was drafted in the third round by Seattle in 1998 but traded to the Tigers as part of the package for outfielder Brian Hunter. In the Tigers organization since the deal, he's 44-19.
"He's not overpowering but locates his fastball effectively and likes to pitch inside," pitching coach Steve McCatty said. "The best way to describe him is that he finds a way to get it done. He's very composed, almost unflappable."
Knowing that Van Hekken already has pitched a lot of innings this year (183), and in an effort to lighten the load for his other starters, Manager Luis Pujols said he'll go to a six-man rotation when Toledo's season ends. But the sixth starter will come from the Mud Hens, it won't be Lima.
"I'll just finish the year and enjoy the ride," Lima said. "When they want me to pitch, I'll pitch. I have to earn my money."
09/02/2002 3:08 pm ET
MLBeat: Tigers call up Van Hekken
By Jason Beck / MLB.com
DETROIT -- After further review, Andy Van Hekken is too good for the Tigers to wait.
The Tigers' top left-handed pitching prospect and Triple-A phenom will be called up from Toledo to make his Major League debut Tuesday against Cleveland.
The decision marks a bit of a reversal from the Tigers' earlier stance against plucking the Mud Hens' talent heading into the playoffs. But with Toledo clinching the International League's Western Division title Sunday night, manager Luis Pujols and president/general manager Dave Dombrowski met Monday morning and changed their minds.
"He's pitched extremely well for us this season," Dombrowski said, "especially at Triple-A. The club thought a lot about it. We thought it would be the greatest benefit for him to come up to the Major Leagues."
Another factor in favor of the promotion, according to Pujols, was that Tuesday would be Van Hekken's regular day to pitch on four days' rest. Tuesday is an off day for Toledo before its best-of-five first-round playoff series begins Wednesday night. Had the Tigers waited until after Toledo's postseason, they could've been waiting until Sept. 15 -- longer if he pitched in one of the final games of the championship series.
"At this point, what is better for him -- pitching in the big leagues or to pitch in the playoffs in Toledo?," Pujols asked. "And we all agreed, the big leagues is the big leagues."
Van Hekken, 23, went 5-0 with a 1.82 earned-run average in seven starts down the stretch for Toledo after going 4-7 with a 3.83 ERA at Double-A Erie. His success proved critical in pushing the Mud Hens to their first postseason berth since 1984.
Tuesday, the Tigers will find out whether that success translates to the big leagues. Van Hekken's fastball creeps toward 90 but has gone as low as the mid-80s in some starts. He succeeds on near-pinpoint location and variety, much like current Tiger left-hander Mike Maroth. Van Hekken boasts a cut fastball, slider and a solid changeup.
"The guy knows how to pitch," said Pujols, who managed him down the stretch last season at Erie. "He always makes that pitch. When you think he's in a jam with men on base, he comes up with something to get a double-play."
Coincidentally, Van Hekken's parents came down from Holland, Mich. on Monday.
Van Hekken's pitching counterpart, Cleveland's Terry Mulholland, is old enough to be his father. When Mulholland made his big-league debut in 1986 at age 23, Van Hekken was six years old.
Lima Time is over: Van Hekken's promotion came at the expense of Jose Lima, who is out of the rotation for the rest of the year. Pujols wants with a six-man rotation later on this month to give Mark Redman extra rest, but he'll wait until Toledo's season is over to call up another Mud Hen for the sixth spot.
Pujols met Monday with Lima, who didn't take it well.
"I don't need an explanation," Lima said. "I'm not part of the plan for the Tigers. That's it. It's not Luis' fault. It's the Tigers. Luis is just the manager. Dave [Dombrowski] is in charge."
Lima's contract expires at season's end.
"This isn't the first time I've been slapped in the face," Lima continued. "Every time I got up. I'm not a loser. I've been a competitor all my life. They can take me out of the rotation, but they can't beat me."
If he finishes the season in the bullpen and goes elsewhere this winter, Lima's last start of his Tigers career will be a 12-3 loss to Oakland on Aug. 24. He gave up 11 runs on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings that night.
