Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth inning against the Royals to pick up his ninth save of the season on Tuesday. Valverde is still a high-wire act, as the Royals had a runner on second base with nobody out before he escaped without harm. Despite his uneasiness, he's earned nine saves in 11 chances and is still getting the call from Tigers manager Jim Leyland. The right-hander has struck out 16 batters in 16 2/3 innings this season.

Jose Valverde tallied his eighth save of 2013 in the Tigers' 6-4 win over Cleveland on Saturday. Valverde allowed a one-out single to Indians slugger Carlos Santana and then walked Yan Gomes, but he worked out of that jam by netting back-to-back strikeouts from Ryan Raburn and Mike Aviles. Valverde has a rough 4.02 ERA in 15 2/3 frames this season but he is locked into the Tigers' ninth-inning role for the time being.

Jose Valverde, coming on in a non-save situation, allowed a pair of solo home runs against the Indians on Friday. He also allowed a single to Jason Kipnis, and nearly blew the four-run lead that he was tasked with protecting. While he started off the season strong, he's now allowed six runs (four home runs) in his last 2 2/3 innings. With the Tigers expecting to compete for a World Series, you have to wonder how long they'll trust Valverde with the ball in the ninth inning.

Jose Valverde gave up four runs for his second blown save of the season in Friday's loss to the Orioles. Valverde entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 5-3 cushion, but gave up a leadoff homer to Nick Markakis and back-to-back singles to Adam Jones and Chris Davis. He was able to retire Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy on pop-ups, but Chris Dickerson then connected for a walk-off three-run homer to win it for Baltimore. Valverde entered Friday's outing having allowed just one run on three hits and four walks over his first 12 innings this season, so there's no reason for panic quite yet. But the honeymoon might be over.

Jose Valverde earned his sixth save of the season Monday in the Tigers' 6-5 defeat of the Pirates. Valverde allowed a one-out single to Travis Snider but retired the next two batters, finishing off the Tigers' Memorial Day victory in Detroit with a strikeout of Pirates star Andrew McCutchen. Valverde has a gorgeous 0.75 ERA and 0.58 WHIP in 12 innings this season. Maybe there really is something left in the tank.

Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth inning against the Twins on Thursday, striking out two and earning his fifth save of the season. Papa Grande -- unwanted by 30 teams a month and a half ago -- has been lethal out of the back end of Detroit's bullpen. Through 11 innings, he has a 0.82 ERA, 0.55 WHIP and 10/4 K/BB rate. He's only given up two hits and one run.

Jose Valverde shut the Rangers down in the ninth inning on Friday, preserving a one-run lead and earning his fourth save of the season. He did surrender a one-out walk, but was able to avoid further damage. It was a nice bounceback effort for the veteran closer, as he blew his first save of the season in his last opportunity against the Indians on Sunday. Despite missing all of spring training, he has looked relatively sharp in the early going, converting four of his five save chances while compiling a 1.13 ERA and 0.62 WHIP.

Jose Valverde rebounded from his first blown save of the season to pitch a scoreless ninth inning against the Astros on Tuesday. It wasn't a save situation and it was against the Astros, after all, but it was still a positive sign for the right-hander. He struck out two in the outing, his first since blowing the save against the Indians on Sunday. He's still the Tigers closer going forward.

Jose Valverde suffered his first blown save of the season Sunday, coughing up a one-run lead in a loss to the Indians. After walking Michael Bourn to start the inning and then watching him steal second, Valverde rebounded with a strikeout and a flyout. He then issued another walk to Jason Giambi, though, and Michael Brantley tied things up with a solid single to left field. Valverde owners will no doubt be thinking bad thoughts, but Brantley's hit is the lone base knock Papa Grande has given up in six appearances this season. He still has a good amount of job security at the moment.

Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth inning against the Astros on Friday, earning his third save of the season. It appears that Papa Granda is back in full force. He did allow a one-out walk to Robbie Grossman, but it didn't lead to any further damage. He's looked very impressive through his first four outings. He's yet to allow an earned run, and just one hitter has reached base against him. He's secured his place as the Tigers' primary option in the ninth inning and needs to be started in all formats.