Detroit Tigers: 5 Notable Stats from Fangraph’s 2019 Steamer Projections

Victor Alcantara – 40 Innings Pitched

The Detroit Tigers rotated through multiple bullpen arms in 2018, with very few finding success while in the Motor City. One of the few who had a solid season was hard throwing right-hander Victor Alcantara.

Across 30 innings pitched, Alcantara posted a 2.40 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP and a 1.80 BB/9. Of course, his sky-high 95.8% left on base rate and .230 BABIP indicate he had a lot of luck on his side – which is shown by his 4.53 FIP and 3.81 SIERA.

Still, he showed enough that steamer views him as one of Detroit’s more important bullpen pieces in 2018. His 40 projected innings is greater than Drew VerHagen, Zac Reininger and Sandy Baez, meaning Steamer thinks he has a good chance to be a part of Detroit’s bullpen throughout the 2019 season.

Armed with a nasty sinker that runs up to 95 miles per hour, Alcantara generates a lot of ground balls which limits his strikeout potential. As such, he’s probably never going to be a closer or even an eighth inning guy. However, he has great potential to be a solid middle reliever for the Tigers, again as soon as 2019.

A lot is going to change for the Detroit Tigers between now and opening day 2019. For now, we can take a look at these projections and determine how this Tigers team may look when the next season is upon us.