Detroit Tigers: Potential in-house Anibal Sanchez replacements

Detroit Tigers fans likely won’t see Anibal Sanchez return to the team after the Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech reported the news in a tweet Friday morning. Here’s how the Tigers could replace him.

Detroit Tigers starting pitchers will likely see a new face join their ranks on a full-time basis in 2018.

As it stands, four fifths of Detroit’s starting rotation will likely be comprised of Michael Fulmer, Matthew Boyd, Daniel Norris and Jordan Zimmermann.

With Sanchez likely departing, the team will need another starter to round out the group.

Obviously the Tigers, and most every team for that matter, will need more than five starters. That being said, Detroit needs a starter to pencil in with the aforementioned four.

It’s very possible that the team may sign a free agent or two to help fill the need.

Free agents

There’s plenty of free agent starting pitchers who the Tigers could conceivably look to sign on one-year deals that could be fits.

These range from everyone from Trevor Cahill, Tyler Chatwood and Scott Feldman to Jamie Garcia, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman.

Miles Mikolas, a pitcher with 91.1 innings in the Majors from 2012 to 2014, spent the last three years dominating in the Japanese Central League.

The 29-year-old posted a 2.18 ERA, a 0.994 WHIP and 8.0 strikeouts per nine frames in 424.2 frames for the Yomirui Giants.

Mikolas is a free agent and could be a fit, as is old friend Doug Fister, who is also a free agent.

Fister is fresh off a 90.1 inning stint with Boston in 2017 that saw him log a 3.98 FIP and a 1.4 fWAR for the Red Sox.

However, if the Tigers decide to go with an in-house option, here’s a look at the potential fits to replace Sanchez in the rotation.

The Detroit Tigers predicament

The reality of the situation is that the Detroit Tigers don’t necessarily have to find the best, long-term fit.

While that would be convenient, the team has a number of prospects pitching out of the rotation at Double-A Erie who could be in the Majors anywhere from next July to Opening Day 2019.

These include arguably the organization’s top pitching prospect in Franklin Perez as well as widely regarded top-100 prospect Beau Burrows.

Right-handers Grayson Long and Sandy Baez as well as left-handers Matt Hall and Tyler Alexander also pitched for Erie and offer plenty of upside.

The Tigers certainly have options for the future, but they also have options for the present as well to hold things down until the likes of Perez, Burrows and company are ready to debut in the Majors.

Buck Farmer

Of all the candidates, Buck Farmer may be the hypothetical front runner.

Not only is the starter out of minor league options next season, but he’s shown the most success rotation-wise of all the candidates in the Majors.

Farmer twirled a pair gems in his first two starts of the season, combining to throw 13 shutout innings against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Chicago White Sox.

The former second-round pick struck out 16 during that span, compared to just six hits and three walks surrendered.

Farmer’s other starts were more of a mixed bag.

In five outings where he failed to reach the five-inning. There were also a handful of promising outings mixed in, including a start at Toronto and the pitcher’s final outing of the year against the Twins.

Still, while the inconsistency isn’t ideal, Farmer may be the best bet of the bunch.

Warwick Saupold

If Farmer is the best bet of the bunch, Saupold might be a close second.

Providing plenty of value as a reliever early in the year with his ability to soak up innings, Saupold ended up hemorrhaging runs down the stretch.

This left his run-prevention stats (5.57 xFIP, 5.39 FIP, 5.13 SIERA and a 4.88 ERA) in the “leaves something to be desired” category.

In his last 25.2 innings, the right-hander allowed 35 hits, 24 earned runs, 19 walks and four home runs.

If he can pitch similarly to how he did in the first 33.2 innings of the year (23 hits, 11 walks, eight earned runs and four home runs allowed), Detroit’s rotation will be in much better shape.

A move by Saupold would also open up a bullpen spot for a younger reliever like Bryan Garcia, Jairo Labourt or Zac Reininger.

Chad Bell

Bell’s Major League career started with plenty of promise, with no runs allowed through his first 7.2 innings and just five runs overall in his first 20.1 frames.

That being said, the next 43 innings weren’t as promising.

The southpaw faced 212 batters in those innings. In the process he was tagged for 65 hits, 43 earned runs, 24 walks and nine home runs.

So yeah, not a great ratio there.

Detroit may find it more advantageous to move Bell to a role as a one-inning reliever, where his velocity can play up more.

It’s also worth noting that the left-hander recorded exactly three outs on eight different occasions in 2017. He gave up just seven hits, three walks and two runs over that span, striking out seven.

That’s obviously small sample size, but it’s something to go on for a bullpen filled with uncertainty.

Grayson Long

We’ve reached the wild card portion of the article. In a perfect world, the Detroit Tigers would have a fifth starter locked in to allow Long to continue to develop in the minors.

Triple-A looks like a conceivable destination for the starter after he turned in a 2.52 ERA over the course of 121.2 frames for Anaheim’s Double-A affiliate in Mobile.

Still, some prospects need little time at the minors’ highest level while some skip Triple-A entirely.

Each prospect is different, but Detroit’s lack of established, Major League options makes this competition wide open.

If Long comes into Major League camp and pitches well enough to win the job, the Tigers should go with the 23-year-old in the rotation.

At worst, if he struggles early the team can send him to Triple-A and let him pitch at a level he seems likely to pitch at in 2018.

At best, Detroit has a potential long-term rotation piece who they can write down next to the likes of Fulmer, Boyd and Norris for the foreseeable future.

Tyler Alexander

Another Double-A starting pitcher, a first glance at the left-hander’s 2017 stat line doesn’t deliver much in terms of excitability with a 5.07 ERA.

However, Alexander did turn in a 4.02 FIP and a 3.51 xFIP in 138.1 innings in his second stint with Erie.

The 23-year-old also struck out 120 in 138.1 innings compared to just 23 walks.

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Similar to Long, if he shines in camp, Detroit should stick Alexander in the Major League rotation with a rotation spot waiting in Toledo if he struggles early.