Detroit Tigers: Alex Faedo may be here to stay

Alex Faedo has come up huge for the Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers have suffered several significant injuries to their starting rotation. Casey Mize likely won't pitch this season, and both Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning have missed significant time this season. Spencer Turnbull is also currently on the IL. They needed someone to come in and eat some innings for them, and Alex Faedo has done that and then some.

Faedo has been a godsend for the Detroit Tigers. In four starts, he has a 4.15 ERA, which is nothing crazy, but his expected ERA is 3.53. He's allowed six home runs already, but he's walked just one batter in 21.2 IP. He's throwing strikes, which is key.

Last night's start against the White Sox was his best start as a big leaguer. He went six innings, allowed two runs, struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter. He was outstanding.

There was once a debate as to who gets demoted once one of the injured pitchers returns, and we may have that answer. It's going to be Joey Wentz barring a massive turnaround. Faedo has done exactly what the Tigers needed him to do: keep the team in the game.

He looks so much better than he did in spring training. His fastball was a flat 92 mph and all he threw was his slider, which looked fine, but hitters caught on pretty quick. What we later found out was he was in the midst of going back to his old mechanics.

When he was drafted out of Florida in 2017, the Tigers were worried that if he kept going with the mechanics he used there, he would get hurt, so they had him raise his arm slot. Well, he ended up having Tommy John surgery anyway.

Now, he appears to have fully adjusted back to his old arm slot, and it's starting to show. His command has been sharp. His fastball has life again. His slider looks as nasty as ever.

The one thing he still struggles with his leaving pitches over the middle, which has led to the homers. If he can limit the mistake pitches, he becomes that much better.

You really don't want a first-round pick to be a back of the rotation starter, but at this point in his career, if that's what Faedo ends up being, that's a huge win for the development team.

What Chris Fetter, Juan Nieves, Gabe Ribas and company have done with Faedo is nothing short of a miracle. Again, he looked done in spring training. Now, he's throwing 95 again with a wipeout slider and solid changeup. What a turnaround.

If this is the Alex Faedo the Tigers continue to get, that's huge. It gives them another arm that, at the very least, can be depth in the organization. But if he's going to pitch like this, he'll be much more than that.