Detroit Tigers first half report cards

The 2022 Detroit Tigers are getting better, but they still aren’t good.

Wednesday afternoon’s win against Cleveland added a nice flourish to the first half of the 2022 Detroit Tigers season, but it’s cold comfort for fans who watched the season go off the rails by the middle of May.

There’s still half a season left to play, and these next 81 games may prove vitally important to the immediate future of the franchise. But, as we wrote in our first-quarter report cards, now is not the time for hope.

Now is the time to judge. Below you’ll find our grades for Detroit Tigers regulars over the first half of the season.

Detroit Tigers A Grades

Andrew Chafin – It’s hard for any longtime fan to believe, but the Detroit Tigers have one of the best bullpens in baseball. The quirky Andrew Chafin has been a huge part of that, posting an outstanding 2.55 ERA over 24.1 innings. He’s throwing plenty of strikes, and neutralizing batters from both sides of the plate.

Michael Fulmer – Fulmer has reinvented himself for the 3rd time in his career. He began as a hard-throwing starter, then last year he turned into a hard-throwing reliever with a starter’s arsenal. And now he’s a slider monster. Fulmer throws his slider more than 60% of the time, and why wouldn’t he? Batters are hitting under .100 against it, with just two extra-base hits and zero home runs. That’s how you produce a 2.03 ERA over 31 innings.

Riley Greene – It took Riley Greene fewer than ten games to prove he was the best, most talented player on the Detroit Tigers. He is bound to run into some struggles later in the season, but so far he is making the game look fairly simple. He made spectacular plays on defense, hit a massive walk-off home run, and reached base safely in 16 of 17 games. Since he arrived the Tigers have gone from the worst offense in baseball to a top-ten offense. That deserves an A in our book.

Alex Lange – Alex Lange has joined Chafin and Fulmer as a three-headed setup monster for A.J. Hinch. Lange’s stuff is the nastiest of the trio — he’s one of just eight relievers with a swinging-strike rate above 17% — so even though his walk rate is a tad high, he still owns the best ERA (2.01) on the pitching staff.

Detroit Tigers B Grades

Jason Foley – Another pleasant surprise out of the bullpen, Jason Foley hit the pitching lab in the offseason and drastically altered the movement profile of all four of his offerings. He still isn’t missing bats (14.9% K rate) but he IS missing barrels, and he has become A.J. Hinch’s go-to reliever when he needs a ground ball.

Joe Jiménez – Joe Jiménez came into spring training fighting for a job, and now he enters July as one of the team’s best trade chips. Jiménez is throwing harder than he ever has in the big leagues, he leads the Tigers with a 32% strikeout rate, and he’s doing that while producing a career-low 5.6% walk rate.

Wily Peralta – Wily Peralta was excellent in 2021, but the advanced stats suggested he was remarkably lucky and wouldn’t be able to repeat that performance. So far he’s doing it again, albeit in more of a one-inning role, with an ERA (2.14) a full 1.55 runs lower than his FIP (3.71). He’s still walking too many batters, but we grade on results, and his have been strong.

Victor Reyes – All of Victor Reyes’ flaws are still evident. He doesn’t walk, he doesn’t hit for much power, and he’s grading out poorly as a baserunner and a defender. But he’s currently second on the team with a 116 wRC+ thanks to his .322 batting average, which we can probably attribute to his team-high 28% line drive rate.

Tarik Skubal – Skubal spent the first two months of the season looking like the next Justin Verlander, but his last five starts have looked a lot more like Matthew Boyd. His stuff remains strong, but since June Skubal’s walk rate has leapt from 4.2% to 9.5%, and opponents’ slugging percentage skyrocketed from .323 to .489. He’s still a top 20 starter to FanGraphs, but it’s hard to give him an A with a 4.06 ERA.

Gregory Soto – Soto still struggles to throw strikes, and he isn’t as dominant as it feels like he should be, but the results are the results. He owns a 2.48 ERA through 29 innings, he’s on pace for 32 saves, and he leads the Tigers with 14 shutdowns.

Detroit Tigers D Grades

Tyler Alexander – This may seem a bit unfair, as Alexander was apparently trying to pitch through an injury during his rough early stretch this season. He has been terrific since his return, allowing just one run over 13.1 innings, but that 4.56 ERA still stings. He’s certainly trending up though.

Javier Báez – It’s been a tough season for Javier Báez. On the positive side, he’s playing strong defense and striking out at the second lowest rate of his career. But he just isn’t hitting the ball. His barrel rate and exit velocity numbers are down dramatically, and he’s being fed a steady diet of sliders, against which he is hitting just .113 with an astronomical 51.2% whiff rate.

Willi Castro – Willi Castro finally seems to have found a defensive home as a corner outfielder, where he has shown solid range and an impressive arm. But he still isn’t doing much on offense, with an 86 wRC+ thanks to a walk rate below 4% and the second lowest average exit velocity in baseball.

Tucker Barnhart – All measurable statistics suggest Tucker Barnhart should get a failing grade. He’s hitting just .219 with zero home runs and a wRC+ of 56, and he’s been average at best on defense. The only saving grace is his presumed role in Detroit’s above-average pitching all season.

Beau Brieske – Brieske’s overall numbers still point to below-average production, but he seems to be figuring some things out at the big league level. He allowed ten home runs and posted a 5.25 ERA over his first 36 innings, but in his last 33.1 innings he has given up just four homers while producing an ERA of 3.78. The next step is finding a way to miss more bats.

Alex Faedo – Alex Faedo’s route to a D has been the inverse of Brieske’s. Faedo was outstanding through his first 27 innings, posting a flat 3 ERA with just 8 walks, but in his last 25 innings he’s given out 13 free passes and his ERA has ballooned to 7.20.

Jonathan Schoop – Schoop continues to have a bizarre season. He is the worst everyday hitter in baseball, but also on pace to have the best individual defensive season since Statcast began tracking Outs Above Average in 2016. If he were merely hitting at his career average Schoop would be a top ten player by WAR this year. Instead he owns a wRC+ of 57 and a D grade.

Detroit Tigers F Grades

Jeimer Candelario – Jeimer Candelario might be even more confusing than Jonathan Schoop. From 2020-2021 he was a top five third baseman, hitting for average, taking walks, peppering the gaps with extra-base hits, and playing respectable defense. Almost all of that has disappeared this season, with his average dropping 90 points, his walk rate down 4%, and his power numbers cratering. If he doesn’t turn things around in the second half he’s a legitimate non-tender candidate.

Robbie Grossman – The best season of Robbie Grossman’s career has been followed by the worst season of his career. He’s striking out more than ever, hitting for less power than ever, and playing well below-average defense. It’s conceivable the Tigers may try to trade him or release him at some point over the next 5-6 weeks.

Elvin Rodriguez – This isn’t fair, because Elvin Rodriguez never should have been in the majors this season. But injuries led to his arrival, and his numbers are ugly. Rodriguez racked up an 11.51 ERA over 20.1 innings, allowing 28 hits, 9 walks, and 9 home runs. He showed flashes of solid stuff, but he has a long way to go to become an effective big-league pitcher.

Spencer Torkelson – We end with the saddest grade of all. All rookies are expected to struggle to some degree, but Spencer Torkelson is having a historically bad debut season. He’s walking at a decent clip, and playing solid defense at first base, but Torkelson ranks dead last among qualified hitters this year to both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. He’s hitting .193 with very little power, consistently missing pitches over the heart of the zone, and batting just .037 against offspeed pitches. It’s a conundrum.

Detroit Tigers Incomplete Grades

Akil Baddoo, Daz Cameron, Kody Clemens, Derek Hill, Garrett Hill, Matt Manning, Casey Mize.