Detroit Tigers: Mike Pelfrey Is What He Is & Should Be Let Go

Mike Pelfrey should no longer be a part of the Detroit Tigers. His pitching will only hurt the team.

The Detroit Tigers will not get anything in exchange for Pelfrey and must let him go.

Honestly, it’s a mystery why the team keeps pushing him out onto the mound.

In today’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, Pelfrey pitched in 2.1 innings. He allowed six hits and five runs before he was replaced by Dustin Molleken. But, this wasn’t Pelfrey’s first time on the mound this spring.

In his three starts, he has gotten progressively worse. His first outing on February 24 against the Orioles, he pitched in two innings and allowed two hits and one run. He struck out one batter. The second outing on March 1 against the Washington Nationals resulted in four hits and two runs. While this might seem acceptable for Pelfrey, the Nats only brought a couple of big leaguers and a bunch of minor leaguers. With his experience on the mound, he should have been able to demolish this Nationals team.

Then, today hit and the Orioles got a bunch of them. As it stands right now, Pelfrey has an ERA of 12.00 and a WHIP of 2.50. Yes, this is only in six innings, but it is still unacceptable.

Pelfrey actually wasn’t too bad in the first inning, but a pitcher needs to be able to be consistent from inning to inning. In the first, he pitched to four batters and gave up a double, but no one scored. In the second inning, he took care of the side with the help of the defense. It was the third inning that gave Pelfrey trouble. He gave up four singles before recording the first out, then gave up a double. The balls were all hit into the outfield. All of the batters who reached bases off of his pitches crossed home plate in the third inning – five runs scored off of his work.

There is no secret about Pelfrey. When he was added to the Tigers prior to the 2016 season, he was hired to eat innings. Unfortunately, as he pitches, the batters absolutely devour the meatballs he throws. Those innings all count – no one should be pitching to just get THROUGH a game. They should be pitching to WIN the game.

According to an article from Chris McCosky with The Detroit News, the fans aren’t the only ones noticing this disappointing pitching in Lakeland. Brad Ausmus addressed the pitchers and said to the entire pitching squad:

"“It’s getting very old. The way we’ve been pitching has been awful. I know it’s spring training and nobody is in midseason form, but we’ve got to pitch better than this. Even in spring training."

It is getting old. So far, the Tigers have lost 9 of 12 games. The losses have been big, too. In fact, the Tigers have been outscored 51 to 12 in March through only six games. The problems are two-fold: bad pitching and non-existent hitting.

The pitching is bad. Especially when Pelfrey, Mark Lowe (10.50 ERA), Shane Greene (15.00 ERA), and Anibal Sanchez (23.623 ERA) are on the mound. Their numbers make Justin Verlander‘s 6.75 ERA look good (historically, Verlander’s spring training numbers have not been indicative of his in-season performances).

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While the pitching has been abysmal, the hitting hasn’t provided much help. Only two players have hit two home runs, Justin Upton and Dominic Ficociello. Interestingly, Ficociello and Miguel Cabrera have the same batting averages of .333. Ficociello’s other batting stats (.412 OBP, .800 SLG, and 1.212 OPS) are better than Miggy’s (.400 OBP, .500 SLG, and .900 OPS). Cabrera has only scored one run, while Ficociello has scored four. Ficociello is a non-roster invitee and has better stats than every single one of the everyday starting players.

Of the regular starters, only James McCann and Nick Castellanos have spring training batting averages over .300. Several starters have batting averages under .200. Those hitters include Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez, Upton, and Jose Iglesias. But, these men have proven that they can get it together when the season starts.

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Pelfrey has not. This is why he should be designated for assignment. While I certainly do not have $8 million of my own, the Tigers do and the organization can handle eating that salary – especially if it gets them a few more wins. It is difficult to imagine the Tigers getting anything for him in exchange, so the only option would be to DFA him. It is time for the Al Avila and the front office to recognize that he is what he is and it isn’t good.