Tigers pitcher returning from 15-month absence seems to be part of Scott Harris' plan

Alex Cobb and José Urquidy have been afterthoughts throughout the entire season, but the Tigers have another injured pitcher who's been gone even longer. Former first-round pick Alex Lange last pitched in the majors on May 22, 2024. He was optioned to Triple-A after a one-inning outing when he gave up four runs, and then his season was over by late June when he underwent surgery to repair his back muscle.

Still, like Urquidy, the Tigers have frequently brought up Lange as an internal option who was working his way back, mostly when Scott Harris is arguing in favor of his lackadaisical approach to bullpen help at the trade deadline.

Kyle Finnegan has proved to be Harris' best acquisition, but Codi Heuer already hasn't worked out, Rafael Montero is still iffy, and Paul Sewald may not pitch for the Tigers at all.

Lange has the chance to prove that Harris' strategy is going to work out. On Monday, he was recalled to the 26-man roster and will be available to pitch during the Tigers' series opener against the Astros. Bailey Horn, who came back up on Thursday, is headed back down to Triple-A.

Tigers welcome back reliever Alex Lange after 15-month absence following lat surgery

Lange's two full seasons out of the Tigers' bullpen in 2022 and 2023 yielded a 3.66 ERA — certainly middling results for a former first-rounder. He drew the ire of Tigers fans in 2023 especially, when he was moved into Detroit's closer role for most of the season. He racked up 26 saves in 32 opportunities, but he also had an abysmal June that yielded an 11.57 ERA in just 9 1/3 innings. That was after he'd blown all of the save opportunities he was given in 2022.

The Tigers' bullpen looks different now. They have Finnegan and Will Vest firing on all cylinders and swapping between closing duties, so Lange is most likely to function as a middle reliever or setup man at best. But there's an infrastructure around him in order to get him assimilated somewhere in the middle to provide worthwhile depth.

He didn't look especially great in his rehab assignment, which took him to both High-A and Triple-A and included multiple starts and stops. In Toledo, he pitched 13 1/3 innings and put up sevens almost across the board — seven hits, seven earned runs, seven walks (and 17 strikeouts). But now that the Tigers have more dependable high-leverage arms, they won't have to use him in pressure cooker situations before he's proven he can take them on again.