Detroit Tigers Weekly Recap: Bad Weather, Worse Baseball

Starting Pitching

One of the few positives for the Tigers last week was the starting pitching. Particularly the pitching from veteran left-hander Francisco Liriano, who tossed six innings while giving up two runs on just three hits. He walked three and struck out four. Liriano now has a 2.13 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP through his first two starts of the year. While this won’t last, it has been good to see the veteran bounce back from a tough 2017 and look like a solid starting pitcher once again in Detroit.

Another positive this season has been fellow left-hander Matthew Boyd, who tossed seven innings of one-run ball, with that one run courtesy of a first inning homer by Jose Ramirez. Boyd settled in after that, only giving up three hits and one walk while striking out four. Boyd has a chance to break through as a solid mid-rotation starter this season, which would be a nice boost for a rebuilding Tigers team.

Jordan Zimmermann only threw seven pitches before a line drive off the bat of Jason Kipnis hit him square in the jaw, causing him to exit the game. He says he is fine and expects to make his next start. In his stead, Daniel Norris threw two solid innings of relief before running into trouble in the fourth, giving up four runs on six hits and getting relieved by Drew VerHagen.

It was bizarro world for the Detroit Tigers, as Liriano and Boyd looked lights out while All-Star starter Michael Fulmer got lit up by the Indians. He only lasted three innings, giving up nine runs (six earned) on eight hits, including two home runs. He only struck out two. Outings like this will be rare for Fulmer, but it was a very unfortunate time for him to implode. Chad Bell, who had recently been recalled, threw four scoreless innings in relief – although he did give up six hits and one walk.

After an excellent debut, Mike Fiers went backward in his second game. He threw 5.2 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits and one walk. He struck out four. Fiers had a bad spring, but seems to have a solid grasp on a rotation spot.

Overall it was a good week for the starters. Cleveland’s hitting has been as cold as the weather, so outside of Fulmer’s blow-up it was nice to see Detroit keep them in check. Once the hitting comes around, Detroit should be able to hang around with most teams.

Whoo boy. This was not a pretty week for the sticks. Here we go.

The Good

Leonys Martin. That’s about it honestly. He was a triple short of the cycle against Carlos Carrasco and the Indians on April 11, and went 3-for-5 with two runs the next day. He’s up to .271/.352/.396 on the year and has actually looked like a true leadoff hitter so far.

Ummm Victor Martinez hit two doubles? James McCann and Jeimer Candelario each homered last week? The next highest batting average over the last seven days (behind Martin)  is Victor Reyes, who went 1-for-4 for a .250 average. Like I said, it was not a pretty week for the hitters.

The Bad

Everyone else. Over the last week, here are some numbers for the Detroit Tigers regulars:

Jeimer Candelario: .167 (4-for-24)

Miguel Cabrera: .174 (4-for-23)

Nicholas Castellanos .217 (5-for-23)

Victor Martinez .235 (4-for-17)

James McCann .154 (2-for-13)

Jose Iglesias .125 (2-for-16)

Dixon Machado .118 (2-for-17)

The bench was not any better, with Niko Goodrum (.091) JaCoby Jones (.000) and John Hicks (.143) not doing themselves any favors to earn more playing time.

The few things to pull out of this: John Hicks appears to slowly be creeping into McCann’s playing time. It’s tough to read too far into it, as catchers get more days off than regular position players, but if McCann can’t get it together it wouldn’t be surprising to see Hicks get more time as the year goes on.

Jones and Reyes seem to be competing to not start in left field following Mikie Mahtook‘s demotion to Triple-A. If neither of them can find a way to contribute offensively, expect Mahtook to be up shortly after he is eligible to return. Between the three of them, one of them will need to stand out to earn a full-time role. Otherwise, expect either Christin Stewart or Mike Gerber to make their big league debut sooner rather than later.

The bullpen got quite a bit of use this week, with short outings from Zimmermann and Fulmer causing a roster move to give the team more arms to work with. Here’s how they fared:

Chad Bell, as was noted previously, was recalled to add a fresh arm following the 0.2 inning outing from Zimmermann. That proved to be vital, as Michael Fulmer only made it through three innings in his start, which allowed Bell to throw four scoreless innings in relief. While Bell definitely has some potential as a reliever, this outing was a bit fluky. He allowed seven base runners, but was fortunate that no one came around to score. His stay in Detroit may not be a long one as the Tigers are currently running with a three-man bench.

Buck Farmer threw 2.2 innings across three games. He had five strikeouts and four walks but was fortunate to only give up one run. He continues to be one of Detroit’s most used bullpen pieces, despite limited success.

Drew VerHagen had a great week, tossing 4.2 innings in three games. He did not allow a single hit or a run, while striking out four and walking three. He will need to work on his control if he ever wants to be more than a mop up reliever, however.

Alex Wilson has probably been Detroit’s biggest disappointment this season on the pitching side. He gave up three runs in two innings last week, bringing his season ERA up to 7.00. His 5.62 FIP tells the same story: Wilson is not pitching well right now. He will need to find a way to replicate his early career success if he wants to keep a high-leverage role with this team.

Daniel Stumpf, Shane Greene and Joe Jimenez each only threw once last week. They represent Detroit’s three best relievers. It’s a bummer they haven’t had as much opportunity to throw yet. Greene in particular has looked dominant, and Jimenez seems to be coming into his own. If this bullpen is able to rise to at least average levels, it will be on the back of these three guys.

Next: Ten Best Pitching Performances in Tigers History

This week, the Detroit Tigers will face off three times against the Baltimore Orioles. They’ll take on AL Central foe Kansas City in a four-game set right after. Hopefully the Tigers, and the weather, can get back on track in the next week.