Four things we learned about the Detroit Tigers in May

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As the Detroit Tigers headed into May, the outlook was bleak to put it nicely. Fans were upset as they were 8-19 and had the worst run differential in all of baseball. There were a few positives including the start of Akil Baddoo but once again, Miguel Cabrera was written off as a bad player.

Seems like that was a different Detroit Tigers ballclub because as obvious as this next sentence is, it’s pretty much the same players but the results are night and day. Manager A.J. Hinch has guided the Tigers through shark-infested Twitter rage, injuries to his rotation, and slow starts from regulars to provide a stat that is rather astonishing.

Baby steps: It may not be worth a raucous celebration, but the #Tigers' 14-13 record in the month of May was rather significant for the franchise. It was only their third winning month in the past five seasons.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 1, 2021

We all have seen the state of Detroit sports these days. The Detroit Pistons are rebuilding with a young core lead by GM Troy Weaver. The Lions are under new management and Steve Yzerman is trying to restore the Detroit Red Wings to glory. So this is a minor celebration in a long parade of bad baseball in which there has not been a lot of hope, sans the MLB Draft.

Why is there a minor celebration? Because even taking on Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday, one of the best pictures in baseball with a cutter that is just straight filthy, the Tigers provided one of the more entertaining games in a loss I have seen in a while. They fought, despite the lack of offense, which we will get to shortly.

The month of May has provided fans the Spencer Turnbull no-hitter as one of the best memories of Detroit Tigers baseball in quite some time and the growth of pitchers like Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and more.

The Detroit Tigers found an identity in the month of May and here are the four things that made that happen.

Four things we learned about the Detroit Tigers in the month of May

1. The Detroit Tigers starting pitching staff is growing up

There was a question tweeted out that summed it up nicely about Detroit Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter and that was simply put, “has there ever been a pitching coach upgrade as extreme as Rick Anderson to Chris Fetter?”

As far as some Detroit Tigers fans are concerned, the only comparison that may come to mind is when Roger Craig taught Jack Morris how to throw a split-finger and Johhny Sain with his pitching device changed the careers of Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, and Earl Wilson when he was the pitching coach in Detroit in the mid to late ’60s.

Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal had the best months of their professional career so far. I admit, early on in spring training, I thought Mize may need more time in the minors to start the year but he has blossomed into one of the better starters on the team.

Mize in May in comparison to April:

Skubal in May in comparison to his April:

We already have seen Matthew Boyd return to form and based on his stuff, Spencer Turnbull has turned a corner and has been much more consistent.

What about the bullpen, which was way too inconsistent in April, it was a recovery period.

Rank: 30th

fWAR: -0.8

ERA: 6.70

FIP: 5.62

Now, here’s May numbers:

Rank: 12th

fWAR: 0.8

ERA: 3.77

FIP: 4.00

So, what changed? The Fetter effect is greatly described in detail by Cody Stavenhagen in the Athletic goes over the specifics more but the bullpen has one stat that stands out in May that may have surprised even the most cynical Tigers fan. Quick, who does this stat line belong to?

12.2 IP 6H 3R 1 HR 3 BB 11SO

Kyle Funkhouser, one of the first pitchers who was sent down at the beginning of spring training. That, right there, is an example of good coaching and instruction. Funkhouser has had the stuff and showed it in flashes but it appears it is coming together.

These stats really stand out above anything else.

@tigers May pitching rankings
#9 ERA 3.60 (4th AL)
#4 3.8 WAR
#3 SP ERA 3.38 (#2 AL)
#10 RP ERA 3.77 (#6 AL)

#5 RP ERA 2.61 since 5/10 (#3 AL)

the pitching has been..outstanding
— mgorosh says get vaccinated be a good human (@sportz5176) June 1, 2021

2. Akil Baddoo’s growth into a regular

Chris Brown wrote last week how Akil Baddoo has bounced back but let’s put that into perspective from a standpoint as far as Tigers rookies go from the past, without going into the same diatribe about Chris Shelton or Brendon Bosch.

Travis Fryman had an OPS of .833 in his first 34 games after he was called up in July 1990 while Baddoo is at .826 and using the first 34 games of his 2005 season after he was called up, Curtis Granderson was rocking an OPS of .908.

Why do I use these two players of the past, Because simply put, they were cornerstones of the Detroit Tigers. A.J Hinch as Chris said in the article, gave him the opportunity to thrive and he has ran with it. He has shown tremendous upside with his speed and power. The rookie mistakes have shown up from time to time but for someone who is making the adjustment from Low-A, you have to be impressed with the output. There has not been a Tigers rookie like this in quite some time that has an eye at the plate.

3. The veteran presences of Jeimer Candelario and Robbie Grossman

Granted, there have been a few defensive lapses by Candelario but who can forget the play in the Spencer Turnbull no-hitter.

But he has been clutch when Detroit needs him to be. With runners in scoring position and two outs, he has put up a slash line of .300/.364/.300 (3-for-10) which does not blow off the hinges but for May, he has been productive .313/ .394/.490 with an OPS of .884. This was a home run that Detroit needed a few weeks back.

Robbie Grossman found his power stroke in May by going back to the swing mechanics that worked out well for him in Oakland. He has hit four home runs with a slash line of .265/.366/.480 with an OPS of .846 and continues to walk at a 15.3% clip.

He is a veteran that the Tigers actually spent money on. The value continues to show in an outfield that has been wildly inconsistent. Nomar Mazara has struggled to put together a series of quality at-bats and JaCoby Jones and Victor Reyes have both been sent down to Toledo. Even when Grossman was not hitting with power, he was still getting on base.

An honorable mention goes to Miguel Cabrera, who keeps chipping away towards 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, and with his month of May, he is now the all-time hits leader among Venezuelan players, an honor he is very proud of.

4. A.J. Hinch is not afraid of change

I agree with my podcast partner Chris Brown about how a manager on an MLB team is as good as the team is around him. The offense in April was a -2.0 fWAR and ranked dead last in the league. May? They produced a 1.9 fWAR and rose to 23rd in the league.

He is working with the parts he has been given and instead of a Voltron knockoff you find at the dollar store back in the day, Hinch has the Tigers looking like the actual Voltran with the sword and all.

As I mentioned before about how he handled Akil Baddoo, look how he has handled Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal by asking them to dig deeper and go further into games. He has given them the chance to make a decision and trust them with whatever the outcome may be and that has turned in the Tigers favor.

He pulled the triggers on Victor Reyes and JaCoby Jones and even recently, with Bryan Garcia. His faith in Jake Rogers has been steadfast, even before the season started when he wanted to rewrite the story on him.

While some may not agree on giving Willi Castro a longer leash, players like Harold Castro, who is hitting over .300 and sticking with Jose Cisnero, who was struggling for a bit but recently has been putting together a series of good appearances.

Hinch knows the Tigers have a long way to go but if you look at all the news in the AL Central with Tony LaRussa in Chicago and how his team is at odds with him, the Twins rough start and the Royals falling back to earth a bit, Hinch pulled together a solid month of baseball from a squad who was stumbling into May.

We have learned a lot about the Tigers so far but as far as A.J Hinch goes, I believe we are just seeing the beginning of his bag of tricks.

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