Detroit Tigers: The most encouraging stat for each starting pitcher

There are many ways to describe the Detroit Tigers’ starting rotation. Young, up-and-coming, upside-filled, intriguing, frustrating, and fatiguing are all among the adjectives we could use throughout the course of a game during this season. The group is worth tuning into, though, even with these unforgiving west coast nightcaps. Just ask Spencer Turnbull.

Much of the improvement comes thanks to pitching coach Chris Fetter, who is well-regarded for his combination of willingness to incorporate technology, leverage concepts around pitch design, and ability to explore the mental aspects of pitching. Because of Chris and the Kids, the starting rotation ranks 12th in all of MLB in ERA, 11th in WHIP, and 11th in opponents batting average. A stark improvement to the grave 2020 year.

Refreshingly, the paths to success for each pitcher have been poles apart. Boyd has gotten by with high fastballs and more changeups. Mize with inside sinkers. Skubal with heat. Turnbull with his nasty slider. Urena with his own effectively wild flavor. By no means are these finished products, but the improvement we have seen has me wondering: What is most encouraging about each?

Detroit Tigers RHP Casey Mize: 0% Cutter Usage

Scrapping the cutter has been the lynchpin to Casey Mize’s improvement. When the pitch was good, it did a nice job of keeping hitters honest and would yield weak contact regularly, which in turn kept his pitch counts shiny.

In 2020, his cutter got squared quite a bit and lacked consistency. When it doesn’t move as intended, it’s essentially a batting practice fastball and despite its .244 average against, the expected batting average was .344, suggesting some luck that likely would not have lasted in a full season. Instead, he’s created another variation of the split-finger and leveraged his slurve more; both of which are rare offerings in today’s game.

Detroit Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal: 12.37 Strikeouts Per Nine in May

Some were spooked by Skubal’s start. In April, he walked 14 in 22 innings while striking out just 18 and allowing a whopping eight home runs. It led many to wonder if this was the real Skubal, who did have a past of wildness before surging up rankings in the prospect community.

After a brief bullpen stint, though, Skubal has regained form across his 16 innings in May thus far; striking out 22 and walking just five. For a left-hander with the stuff that Skubal has, he should certainly be missing more bats and averaging at least a strikeout per inning. The high strikeouts and low walks give encouraging peripherals to an otherwise pedestrian 4.50 ERA in May.

Spencer Turnbull: Zero Hits on 5/18/21

For Turnbull, this isn’t some Chris Heston/Philip Humber moment. It’s a culmination of the stuff he has flashed throughout his big league career thus far coming to fruition at the highest level. The no-hitter is not only a metaphor and mark to the improvement Turnbull has shown, though. It is a signal that the team has actual, coveted MLB assets worth hanging onto or flipping for the right haul.

We have argued the case against trading someone like Turnbull at the deadline, but one must wonder if Avila and Co. realized they actually missed the boat on Michael Fulmer and Matthew Boyd and decide to cash in on one of the more volatile assets in the game. Regardless, his no-hitter raises his status as a starter and caused the entire baseball community to shift their attention late Tuesday night.

RHP Jose Urena: Four Outings of 7+ IP

Die-hards have spoken about the luck of Jose Urena for some time now. It may be catching up to him some with a 5.14 ERA in May so far, but he has done a swift job of doing exactly what he was brought in for: eat innings.

Admittedly, I was on board with Urena pitching out the bullpen. Still, he would be an absolute weapon against right-handed hitters, where they are hitting just .167 off of his slider this season. But with the injury to Julio Teheran, the Detroit Tigers do not have such flexibilities, unfortunately.

Not only does a pitcher going deep into a game speak to their own effectiveness on the mound, but it also limits exposure to the bullpen; one that is not as deep as it once appeared on paper. Even with a couple of rocky starts in between, Urena giving his club 6-7 innings every second or third start is a massive lift necessary to account for all the innings needed in a full season.