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The Detroit Tigers candidates for a bullpen spot in 2022

By Roger Castillo |
Sep 25, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Collin McHugh (31)0 throws a pitch in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlinsat Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Collin McHugh (31)0 throws a pitch in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlinsat Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
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The free agent market spending has begun and trades are happening. The Detroit Tigers are planning on addressing the bullpen. We will look at not only internal candidates, but the free agent market as well.

Recently here at MCB, we have been looking at various arms to fill the bullpen needs of the Detroit Tigers. From a trio of lefties in Andrew Chafin, Matt Strahm and Ariel Miranda to minor league free agent ideas, there have been many options we have written about this off-season.

So here is the current Detroit Tigers bullpen with some names that could come up from Toledo at some point during the season. There will be a few that we will highlight later.

The Tigers could see Tyler Alexander as a possibility should Detroit sign another pitcher, but when we looked at his numbers last season, he was better as a starter than a bullpen arm.

So looking at the current state of the bullpen, there are some factors to consider. Kyle Funkhouser struggled the last month of the season. José Cisnero had some elbow issues towards the end of the season. On the plus side, Alex Lange stepped up in September as he finished the month with an ERA of 2.03 with a WHIP of 0.90, with just 3 walks over his last 13.1 innings pitched.Jake went into depth more about the bullpen as a collective not too far back, so there is more to it than  meets the eye.

So let’s see what the current free agent market looks like first.

Sep 17, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Tony Watson (56) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the tenth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Tony Watson (56) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the tenth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports /

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?

May 27, 2021; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Jacob Barnes (40) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
May 27, 2021; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Jacob Barnes (40) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Detroit Tigers internal bullpen candidates

RHP Jacob Barnes:  When the Tigers signed him back in December, he told Evan Petzold of the Freep.com he solved his problem, thanks to the direct nature of the Tigers’ analytics staffers, he said in the article.

Barnes has pitched for six seasons in the majors and will come into camp as a non-roster invitee. The Tigers want him to get depth back in his slider again. He can throw hard with a fastball that can touch 98 MPH and despite his 6.28 ERA in 2021, his xERA was almost a full two runs less at 4.32. If he is healthy after throwing through injuries in 2019, this is an arm that could make a push for a spot on the 40-man roster or possibly be one of the arms they call up early on from Toledo.

RHP Angel De Jesus:  De Jesus was added to the 40-man roster this off-season. While he put up impressive numbers in Erie (13.1 IP, 0.68 ERA, K per 9 of 12.1) he struggled in his first two months in Toledo, posting an ERA of 6.60 in July. However, in his  last two months of the season, he allowed just 12 hits over 23.1 innings of work with 29 strikeouts and posted an ERA of 1.38 and 1.74 in August and September. He has to cut down on his walks but expect him to be one of the early call-ups along with right-hander Jason Foley.

RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez: After hearing the story about Rodriguez and the year he had prior to joining the Tigers, we sometimes forget how tragic events can affect players. Per the story in the Detroit News ($), his father passed away in June 2021. After making his major league debut in 2020 for Houston, shortly after his father passed away, he was designated for assignment. The Tigers picked him up, and he went to Toledo.

Despite his walk numbers last season for the Mud Hens, he could see work as a spot starter or long reliever, similar to Rony Garcia. He has a five pitch mix at his disposal and provides Detroit another depth arm to the pen that could give some innings relief if a Tigers starter has a short night or they may need someone for a doubleheader.

The idea of the internal candidates versus a trade was simple. Based on their minor league signings this season, Detroit has positioned themselves to have depth from within. I am interested in seeing how these arms progress as the season begins.

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