Scott Harris gushing over Drew Sommers all but confirms next Tigers closer

During his post-season press conference, Scott Harris used a lot of words to say that the Tigers weren't going to be major players on this offseason's free agent market (again).

When asked whether or not he regrets declining to add a veteran bat in the offseason, he redirected to praising Kevin McGonigle, Eduardo Valencia, and Max Clark, and said that even more internal options were just months away from the major leagues. He acknowledged that the bullpen needed work (and a lot of it), but talked about up-and-coming minor league arms who could be converted into relievers, and singled out rookie reliever Drew Sommers for his contributions to the club this season.

"We are currently growing more backend relievers. I think Drew Sommers ended up with the fifth-highest punch rate in all of baseball, and he's going to be controllable for a really long time. We're going to grow that type of backend bullpen that's going to give us more depth," he said.

Sommers did sport a very impressive K/9 rate through 39 2/3 innings: 14.1%, with 62 strikeouts to 14 walks (that does need some work). Though he failed to meet the innings mark for a qualified reliever, his Baseball Savant page is absolutely covered in red.

Drew Sommers might be the Tigers' closer of the future after strong rookie season

Sommers' fastball, though far from elite in terms of velocity, was stunningly effective, yielding just a .191 average and .232 slugging percentage against and accounting for over half of his strikeouts. His sinker, the most-used pitch in his arsenal, and his fastball have almost imperceptibly different movement, with only 0.1 MPH separating them in average velocity.

The Tigers will probably be saying goodbye to Kenley Jansen at the end of the season and, if they're smart, should also part ways with Kyle Finnegan. Will Vest's status by Opening Day in 2027 is still up in the air, as he's coming back from two separate surgeries, and it's hard to gauge any players' performance after long IL stints, but he and Sommers could cycle between eighth and ninth (though Vest is dramatically better in the eighth).

There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Sommers, even if Tigers fans would still like to see the front office spend on top. His 2.18 xERA suggests he fell prey to some bad luck and bad defense. The Tigers had a lot of the latter this season, so if they can clean up their acts, Sommers could be in a very good position to thrive next season.

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