Detroit Tigers: Let’s Talk About the Bullpen

The Current Bullpen Options

This year was supposed to start differently.

In a perfect world, Rodriguez would have continued to close games in an efficient manner. Additionally, Justin Wilson and Rondon would serve as dynamic eighth inning options.

Additionally, this scenario would have allowed the team to bring top prospect Joe Jimenez along somewhat slowly, letting him ease into pitching at the back end of games in the Majors.

However, with the month of April nearly in the rearview mirror, Justin Wilson has been the only dynamic thing about Detroit’s bullpen.

The former Pirate has yet to allow a run in 11 appearances, posting a 45.5 strikeout rate (for reference, Andrew Miller led all relievers with a 44.7 strikeout rate last season), a 1.45 SIERA and a 0.31 WHIP.

Wilson has also struck out 13.97 batters per nine frames to pace the Tigers relievers.

Outside of the southpaw however, the results have been mixed to say the least.

The Best of the Rest

Alex Wilson (3.24 ERA) and Shane Greene (2.57 ERA) have both logged solid ERAs to begin the season. However, Wilson sports a 4.53 FIP, while Greene’s FIP is higher still at 4.83.

Additionally, the 28-year-old has walked as many batters—seven—as he’s struck out.

Unfortunately, outside of Justin Wilson, Alex Wilson and Greene have been two of Detroit’s next best relievers.

Blaine Hardy sports a 1.61 FIP on the year, but he’s thrown just 3.2 innings.

It’s perfect reasonable to expect the left-hander to post reliable numbers over the course of the season, but he’s yet to receive extended work.

After Hardy, things get a bit dicey.

The Rest

Kyle Ryan, who turned a 3.33 FIP despite punching out just 5.7 batters per nine innings in 2016, has seen his FIP balloon to 6.32. What’s more, the lefty has just one strikeout compared to seven walks surrendered.

There’s also Anibal Sanchez, who continues to hold onto a roster spot despite giving up 26 hits, 21 runs (16 earned), eight walks and six home runs in 14.2 innings.

While his 15 strikeouts over the same span are helpful, the surrendering of runs simply isn’t.

This is all without mentioning Rondon, who didn’t look himself in three early outings before heading to Triple-A Toledo.

The flame-throwing right-hander surrendered six runs, four hits and three walks in only 1.1 frames.

Even William Cuevas, who appeared in just one game for Detroit, was hit hard. The former Red Sox reliever was tagged for four runs and three hits while recording just one out against Cleveland.

All of the bullpen struggles have forced the Tigers to use Joe Jimenez in more pressurized situations early. The prospect has looked promising at times, but he’s also looked like a rookie at others.

He has the talent to be extremely successful, he just needs time to acclimate without having to be thrown into the deep end so early.

Minor League Options and Hypothetical Trade Targets

It may be time for the Detroit Tigers to turn to Ruben Alaniz and Arcenio Leon. The hard-throwing duo impressed in Spring Training. Both would certainly add more strikeouts to a Detroit Tigers bullpen that could desperately use them.

So far, Leon owns a 1.12 ERA and five saves in nine Triple-A appearances, while Alaniz is sporting a a 3.12 ERA and 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings at Double-A Erie.

Rondon is another option if he can find the form he showcased in 2016. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in four Toledo outings. In other words, he could be starting to figure things out.

In terms of other options in the minors, Logan Kensing has a 2.00 ERA in nine innings.

Detroit could also turn to one of the team’s Triple-A starters.

Chad Bell (1.25 ERA and 10.4 punch outs per nine frames in 2017), Buck Farmer (2.78 ERA) and Drew VerHagen (2.25 ERA) have all found success so far with the Mud Hens. Each of the trio has also pitched in relief roles in the past.

The Trade Market

At this point in the season, there aren’t going to be many teams looking to trade away pieces.

This is in part due to clubs likely wanting to see what they have, but also because every team is conceivably in the playoff hunt at this point.

Entering Friday, of the 20 teams not leading a division or in a wild card place, 19 are within at least five games of one of the two postseason slots.

The only team that doesn’t fit that description is the Toronto Blue Jays, who are 6-16.

As of now, the American League East club is nine games back of Baltimore in the division, and six games out of the wild card.

Purely from a speculative standpoint, Toronto has a trio of relievers on expiring contracts in Jason Grilli, Joe Smith and J.P. Howell, who could appeal to Detroit.

All three have solid track records, and could help the Tigers.

Atlanta, who is already 7.5 games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East are another conceivable trade partner.

Josh Collmenter, also on an expiring deal, is a speculative fit.

Potential Solutions

At this point, there aren’t many obvious bullpen solutions for the Detroit Tigers.

The team has plenty of talented relievers. However, the bullpen has yet to put it all together.

Moving forward, one strategy would be to mix and match with different combinations until something works.

Detroit should be trying out as many relievers as possible, as the team’s current crop of bullpen arms simply haven’t gotten it done.

In addition to calling pitchers up, the Tigers should be taking fliers on players hitting the open market.

Major League-caliber pitchers are designated for assignment with frequency throughout the course of the season.

If Detroit takes enough fliers on pitchers some are eventually going to stick with the organization.

As of now, the Tigers currently have a full 40-man roster. However, the team could easily free up space by designating Sanchez or Cuevas for assignment.

This is purely speculative, but considering Cuevas struggled in his only outing with the Tigers and has a 5.73 ERA with Toledo, he could conceivably make it through waivers and stay in the organization.

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Elsewhere, if Sanchez continues to allow runs, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Detroit move on from him. The pitcher has struggled mightily since the end of the 2014 season.