4 overreactions to the Detroit Tigers beatdown in the spring training opener

Overreaction #3: Mason Englert's outing is a sign of bad things to come.

Conversely, to the comments about Olson's outing NOT being a big deal, Mason Englert's outing was even more gruesome for the Detroit Tigers. Englert got tagged pretty badly. He threw 2.0 innings, and while he did not issue any walks, as was the issue with Olson, he did struggle with keeping hitters off his stuff.

Englert certainly did not help the Detroit Tigers cause to try and climb back into this game. He gave up three hits, all of them being home runs. This included a mammoth of a home run hit by Spencer Jones. He hit the ball a reported 470 feet, according to the Statcast data, and it was an absolute moonshot.

The Tigers saw Englert throw 25 pitches, and while 19 were strikes, three landed well beyond the outfield fence. The former Rule 5 Draftee settled in with the Tigers last season, where the longball was a problem. The year's first outing is certainly not looking good for correcting that.

Englert pitched in 31 games for the Tigers in 2023, where he accumulated 56.0 innings pitched. He managed a 5.46 and 1.50 WHIP while walking 17 and striking out 41 opposing hitters. He also allowed 12 home runs last year, working on the Tigers pitching staff after his Rule 5 Draft selection.

It's Spring Training, so there's time to work on things, but that first outing where Englert gave up three runs is not the best way to start off a season. He has time to fix things but needs to get back on track before Opening Day; if not, the long ball will be a problem for him again in 2024.