3 Detroit Tigers players most likely to have a breakout season in 2023

3. Why Tigers reliever Alex Lange can have a breakout year in 2023

Tigers reliever Alex Lange may have the closer role this season which would allow him to jump up onto the radar of many baseball fans even beyond Detroit. This 27-year-old acquired back in 2019 in the Nick Castellanos trade with the Chicago Cubs has been a big part of Detroit’s bullpen for two years now. He’s coming off of an impressive 7-4, 3.41 ERA season in 63.1 innings of work. He showed off some brilliant stuff by fanning batters at a rate of 11.7 per 9 innings of work.

The Gregory Soto trade with the Philadelphia Phillies helped move Lange up the depth charts where he looks more than ready to finish off wins for the Tigers in 2023. As fickle as relievers can be, he has shown enough in the majors for us to put faith in him having a breakout year.

What’s interesting about Lange is that he didn’t have much success in the minors. A converted starter who has worked his way into the good graces of Tigers fans, this is the year for him to shine and hopefully carry over his success into the closer’s spot.

Fans can expect plenty of trade chatter about Lange later on this year. The Tigers would be wise to hold him for a ransom. He’s only about to embark on his third season. Let Lange develop more and become the star closer they’ll need when the team is ready to make its next serious push.