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Relief Pitcher Bruce Rondon Sent Home For Season Due To 'Effort Level'

By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby

Closer Bruce Rondon has been sent home from the season due to "effort level," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters on Tuesday.

"Bruce Rondon because of his effort level has been sent home," Ausmus said. "Other than saying Al Avila and myself completely agreed on it, there will be no other details or comment."

Rondon has pitched 31 innings this year as a reliever, allowing 31 hits and 22 runs (20 of them earned). Just the day before he sent Rondon home, Ausmus had said that Rondon could affect next season the most out of anyone on the team by his performance in the final stretch of the season.

According to Baseball Reference, Rondon makes $510,000 this year, and the earliest he's eligible for contract arbitration is 2017.

This is just the latest hiccup to the end of the Tigers season. This weekend, fans booed when star pitcher Justin Verlander was taken off the mound in the ninth inning, and he popped out of the dugout during the game to chide the unhappy crowd.

Detroit is all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and is in last place in the AL Central. Currently on a three-game losing streak, the Tigers will likely miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

To pile on top of poor performances on the field, a report landed earlier this month that said Brad Ausmus would be fired at the end of the season, inspiring a release from Tigers general manager Al Avila saying all personnel decisions would be made "by the end of the season." One of those personnel decisions - at least for the rest of this season - has clearly been made, with Ausmus booting Rondon.

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