The Detroit Tigers candidates for a bullpen spot in 2022

3 Free Agent Relievers that are out there for the Detroit Tigers

Andrew Chafin should be the top target for the Detroit Tigers, no doubt because of his talent, and among the left-handed free agents, he posses the best numbers. What other arms could be good fits for Detroit?

LHP Tony Watson: A soft tossing lefty, a few of Watson’s numbers pop out. He average an exit velocity of 86MPH, fastball spin was among the 65th percentile last season and produced a chase rate in the 89th percentile in all of baseball.

He throws a four-seamer, changeup and slider. His slider generated a batting average of .098 last season with an exit velocity of just 78.4 that generated a 41.6% WHIFF rate. He also features a changeup and his sinker, which helps him get a groundball rate of nearly 48%.

RHP Collin McHugh:  He is a right-hander and while Detroit has plenty of righties to work with, McHugh could be a huge plus for a young Tigers bullpen with his veteran presence. McHugh’s history with manager A. J. Hinch helps, but let’s look beyond that.

He’s a damn good pitcher. He posses a cutter that produced a run value of -4 and a slider that produced a run value of -13. His slider movement…well, check it out for yourself.

LHP Brad Hand:  Hand bounced around three teams last season, starting with the Washington Nationals, hit the 10 IL early in April then was traded to Toronto for catcher Riley Adams and after struggling with the Jays, they cut him loose and he played the last month of the season with the Mets.

There is a lot here that can give you pause with Hand. His K rate last season was the lowest of his career at 21.9% but his slider, which he throws at 42.6% of the time, produced a batting average of .184. The pitch has good movement, 7.9% against the league average, but his fastball is where he saw most of his struggles. This could be a classic “kick around the tires” fix. Pitching coach Chris Fetter helped a lot of the pitchers last season.

Could Hand be next?