Detroit Tigers: Designing the perfect arsenal based on the 2023 pitching staff

Pronating a changeup like Detroit Tigers RHP Mason Englert.

Now, it might be a bit more shocking to select the changeup from the Detroit Tigers Rule 5 Draftee, but Mason Englert has a nasty changeup with tons of arm-side fade. We do not need Englert's whole arsenal, so adding this into the arsenal as one pitch could be beneficial. Again, this is all fictitiously thinking, but it could make for a threatening arsenal to add this changeup in with a Jason Foley power sinker already covered.

That being said, let's take a look at what Englert has to offer with his change piece. Englert utilized the changeup just 6.7% of the time during the 2023 season in his first go-round with the Tigers. But make no mistake, the movement is great and plays to the advantage of this arsenal that is being pieced together.

The changeup averages around 83.6 mph with the ability to kill spin down into the 1,900s, which is what you want from a changeup, an inefficient spin to create some fade. He got a 29.0% whiff rate and a 16.0% PutAway % in 2023 on his changeups, which speaks to the good movement that he can create.

If you look at the video of Englert on the mound courtesy of Baseball Savant, it's easy to see why this pitch was selected. It has some hump to it, fading well with good depth to it, which is part of the reason that this pitch was added to the arsenal. Rounding things out on the arsenal.