Bruce Rondon

Tigers option Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo

The Detroit Tigers optioned reliever Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo.

What It Means:

Rondon got pounded for four runs while securing only two outs Sunday against the Houston Astros, watching his spring ERA rise to 9.00. He did strike out 13 batters in 10 innings of Grapefruit League work. There's still some promise here that he might turn into a reliable late-inning arm for the Tigers; it just won't happen in early 2016.

Rondon posted a 4.22 xFIP in 31 innings pitched last season, and his strikeout percentage of 24.8 percentage was above the league average of 20.4 percent. However, his 13.1 walk percentage was significantly worse than the 7.7 percent league average. If he makes it back to the big leagues this season, we expect more of the same as our projections forecast a 4.50 ERA, 22.3 strikeout percentage and 13.7 walk percentage.