Detroit Tigers Bullpen strong in May, in good place moving forward

New Faces

One of the reasons Detroit’s newly-configured bullpen has succeeded is because the team has mixed and matched with different bullpen options.

This has seen the likes of Ryan, Jimenez, Rondon and Cuevas head to Triple-A Toledo, but it has also opened the door for other relievers to make a mark.

Chad Bell—a hard-throwing, 28-year-old southpaw who worked as a starter in the minors—has yet to allow a run in his first 7.2 Major League innings.

Those innings came over the span of four outings, and included six strikeouts compared to just four hits and three walks allowed.

Moving forward, Bell could easily pitch in long relief. However, with the recent addition of Warwick Saupold to the active roster, it’s possible the left-hander could find more work in shorter stints as the second left-hander behind Hardy.

The Proof is in the Pudding

With Justin Wilson, Shane Greene, Alex Wilson, Blaine Hardy and Chad Bell handling the majority of the bullpen work, watching Detroit Tigers relievers pitch late in games has become much less stressful.

Since the beginning of May, the Tigers have the third-lowest WHIP among bullpens in the league.

Detroit’s relief pitchers also rank third in walk percentage, eighth in xFIP, 10^th in SIERA and 11^th in strikeout percentage.

These are marked improvements over April, when the Tigers ranked last in WHIP, owned the third-highest walk percentage and finished with the highest xFIP and the seventh-highest SIERA.

Future Success

Moving forward, there’s reason to believe that the Detroit Tigers will continue to find success.

Justin Wilson should continue to close out games. If he can rack up strikeouts at a similar rate to what he’s done so far, the Tigers will be in excellent shape.

Wilson owns a 45.5 strikeout percentage, and has struck out 15 batters per nine innings.

For reference, last season’s leaders in strikeout percentage and strikeouts per nine innings among relievers were Andrew Miller (44.7) and Dellin Betances (15.53).

The Tigers will also continue to rely on Greene, who seems to be turning a corner in relief. The former starter looked sharp in working around a pair of base runners in Monday’s 1-0 loss to Houston.

Pitching in the eighth inning, Greene rallied to strikeout the side, dropping in some nasty looking breaking balls in the process.

The reliever has allowed just one run since April 25^th. Greene has also struck out nine batters in his last 5.1 innings (20 batters faced).

Overall, he’s punched out 11.14 batters per nine innings, while notching a 28.9 strikeout percentage. Both stats rank second only to Justin Wilson among Detroit relievers.

If he continues to miss bats, the Detroit Tigers will be all the better for it.

With Justin Wilson, Greene, Alex Wilson, Hardy and Bell, Detroit already has a solid foundation on which to build on.

Fewer Poor Outings

The team will also be moving forward with fewer run-hemorrhaging outings from Rodriguez and Sanchez.

Rodriguez has a 3.86 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .125 batting average and a .263 on-base percentage in his last five outings (4.2 innings).

That stretch has seen the reliever lower his ERA from 7.82 to 7.16. Additionally he only allowed two hits and two runs in the same span.

Both runs and hits came in one outing in the 13^th inning of a loss to the Baltimore Orioles that was equal parts marathon and slugfest.

Meanwhile, Sanchez is with Triple-A Toledo after accepting an optional assignment.

Potential Future Reinforcements

Injuries and inconsistency are commonplace in a Major League Baseball season, so naturally, depth is needed.

Luckily for the Detroit Tigers, the team could have some intriguing on the way in the future.

Bruce Rondon is turning things around in Triple-A, with a 0.69 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 13 innings.

Once he gets his walks (10) under control, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the flamethrower back in Detroit’s bullpen.

Additionally, Joe Jimenez will likely return to the Detroit bullpen once he becomes healthy. The future closer recently hit the disabled list in Toledo.

Minor League Depth

The team could also turn to 40-man roster relievers in Daniel Stumpf and Victor Alcantara.

Stumpf, a left-handed hurler, has struck out 9.9 batters per nine frames. He’s also logged a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 innings with the Mud Hens.

Meanwhile, Alcantara has yet to allow a run in his first two Triple-A innings.

The former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim farmhand moved to the bullpen full time this season, and has so far thrived.

In 23 Double-A frames, Alcantara pitched to a 1.96 ERA and a 1.174 WHIP.

There is also the possibility that the team turns to the hard-throwing duo of Arcenio and Ruben Alaniz at some point.

Both were impressive in Spring Training and replicated their success so far in the minor leagues in 2017.

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