Former Erie SeaWolves reliever Bruce Rondon only registered one out for the Detroit Tigers against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday.
The Tigers reliever entered the seventh inning and gave up two runs, two hits and two walks.
After the game, the Tigers sent Rondon to Triple-A Toledo.
In other moves, the Tigers reinstated former SeaWolves outfielder Avisail Garcia from the 15-day DL and optioned him to Toledo.

– Rick Green

Maybe former Erie SeaWolves reliever Bruce Rondon still has a shot at making the Detroit Tigers’ roster and being the team’s closer.

Jim Leyland told the Detroit Free Press that the Tigers thought about bringing Rondon to the bigs last season:

We still don’t know to this day if we should have brought him up to take a look at him or not, but the reason we didn’t is we were in such a tight race, we figured we wouldn’t get him any opportunity anyway, unless the game got out of hand. Down the stretch, they usually don’t get out of hand if you’re fighting for something.

Rondon is scheduled to pitch today and Monday.

He had a perfect inning in his last appearance, a 9-1 win over the Mets on Thursday. Rondon pitched the ninth.

Here’s a link to the Free Press’ coverage from that game.

– Rick Green (follow me @ETNrgreen)

23 days to go:  Bruce Rondon recorded 23 strikeouts in his short stint with the Erie SeaWolves in 2012.

Rondon made 21 appearances and went 0-1 with a 0.83 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings. Rondon entered spring training as the favorite to become the Detroit Tigers’ closer this season.

– Tom Reisenweber

Baseball season is just around the corner. How close is it? Thirty days until the SeaWolves open at Jerry Uht Park against the Altoona Curve.

Check back daily for fact or piece of trivia about the SeaWolves leading up to the start of the Eastern League season.

30 days to go: The SeaWolves had 30 saves last season, including 12 by Bruce Rondon. Rondon is fighting for a spot with the Detroit Tigers and could start the season as the team’s closer.

– Rick Green (follow me @ETNrgreen)

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Detroit Tigers released former Erie SeaWolves player Ryan Raburn today. Raburn, a 31-yeard old utility player, hit .171 in 66 games with the Tigers this season, including 14 doubles, one home run and 12 RBIs.

Detroit also added former Erie SeaWolves closer Bruce Rondon to the 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Rondon skyrocketed his way through the Tigers’ minor league system this past year. After starting in Class A, he played 21 games for the ‘Wolves. In his Erie tenure, he had 12 saves and a 0.83 ERA in 21 2/3 innings of work. He had 23 strikeouts to only nine walks. Rondon ended the season in Class AAA Toledo and appears to be the closer in waiting for Detroit. In 52 total appearances in 2012, he had a 2-1 record with a 1.53 ERA, 29 saves and 66 strikeouts.

Rondon is spending the offseason in Venezuela, pitching for the Navegantes del Magallanes. In 10 appearances, Rondon has a 4-0 record with four saves and a 0.90 ERA to go along with 13 strikeouts to four walks in 10 innings of work.

Detroit outrighted former Erie SeaWolves pitcher Tyler Stohr to Toledo. He had a 2-1 record with a 2.19 ERA and one save in 24 2/3 innings with the ‘Wolves.

–Tom Reisenweber