Detroit Tigers: Alex Faedo to go undergo Tommy John surgery

The latest blow to the Detroit Tigers starting pitcher depth chart is Alex Faedo. What names you could see rise up in the Tigers’ organizational depth chart?

The Detroit Tigers suffered a huge blow in 2021 as Alex Faedo will have Tommy John surgery this month and will be out for the 2021 season. The team made the announcement this morning. Fadeo missed summer camp due to COVID-19 then forearm tightness sidelined him for the year back in August.

Al Avila and AJ Hinch have both said starting pitching was a big need as the rotation are down two starters and Hinch has indicated he will stretch out Daniel Norris and Tyler Alexander in addition to what the market will be able to provide. We discussed the strength of Norris’s changeup in our latest podcast.

The expectation was that Faedo would start the year in the minors then at some point come up to the majors. With Faedo going down, that still leaves a few depth issues on either Toledo’s or Erie’s rotation, depending on where the Tigers were planning on placing him. But it would certainly seem like based on what was planned for 2020, it was going to be Toledo. Faedo will not be throwing until early 2022.

Kyle Funkhouser and Beau Burrows both started in the minors but they were converted to relievers. Could they spot start or do a bullpen start? Highly plausible. Joey Wentz will be coming back from surgery so Detroit will not rush the lefty back.

So, who will be the next starting pitching in the Tigers’ organization who could step up and get an opportunity to either move up a level closer to their goal of getting to the majors  or possibly make an appearance at Comerica Park? There are a lot of organizational pitchers but these I selected seem to have the most potential, short of the minor league signings with invites to spring training route.

Franklin Perez

What is rather unfortunate about the 2020 season is that we did not see Perez get into any type of minor league action outside of summer camp and updates from the 60-man squad in Toledo were few and far between. You must of admit, you were hanging to the edge of your seat, hoping he was throwing without any issues and from what was reported, he was.

Perez just turned 23 on December 7 and the Tigers do not want to rush him back. As James Chipman of Prospects Live observed, in addition to featuring a good fastball, he has two good secondary pitches in his curve and a changeup that both come out well from the same release point. Perez told the press via through a translator he wants to be here. If he can show that he can pitch without any injury issues, he can help with his stuff.

Logan Shore

When we last saw Logan Shore, he was starting in Erie. While Chris Brown points out his lack of velocity but does show good command.  While his strikeout numbers don’t pop out at you, (58 in 97 innings pitched over 16 starts in 2019) he could be slotted to start the season in Toledo.

Paul Richan

He and Alex Lange both came over in the Nicholas  Castellanos deal. While he has not pitched above High-A, it is possible we could see him start the season in Erie. Richan’s best pitch is a slider but as his report indicates, he is depth at this point.

Keider Montero

That name may sound familiar if you read Baseball America or Prospects Live’s updates on the Tigers system. Baseball America ($) recently named him a prospect to watch based on reports from scouts. Several evaluators were already high on Montero based on his potential and The 20-year- old Montero from Venezuela posses such a good curveball, it was rated the best in the Tigers’ system by Baseball America.

While he may up as a reliever and he is only pitched in short-season A ball, he’s a name Tigers fans should keep an eye on if he stays the track of being a starter.