DETROIT — From A.J. Hinch’s first days managing the Detroit Tigers, he set an edict. “If we’re going to do this right, we gotta get the pitching right,” Hinch said.
Now into his fourth season as manager in Detroit, chances are this is not exactly what he had in mind.
By the start of August this season, the Tigers were again under .500 and sellers at the trade deadline. They flipped Jack Flaherty, the year’s biggest pitching success story, and sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Casey Mize and Reese Olson were hurt. Dominant as Tarik Skubal has been all season, it was otherwise unclear how the Tigers were going to fill innings throughout August. A dismal finish to the season seemed likely as the Tigers lined up bullpen game after bullpen game, leaned on rookie starter Keider Montero and called up no-name relievers like Bryan Sammons and Sean Guenther.
“I’ve been happy with our bullpen days,” Hinch even cautioned at one point, “but you pay the price eventually if you do a bunch of them.”
Here we are a month later, trying to make sense of how in the world the Tigers are doing this. Despite this patchwork pitching staff, the Tigers finished August with a 3.06 ERA, second only to the Houston Astros for the best in baseball. After dispatching the Red Sox 4-1 on Sunday, the Tigers have now won five of their past six series. After all but waving the white flag at the trade deadline and setting an eye toward the future, the Tigers are only four games out of a wild-card spot.
The Tigers have done this thanks largely to a pitching staff that has not relented. Players such as Sammons, Brant Hurter and Ty Madden have made their MLB debuts over the past month. Beau Brieske has pitched late in games and worked as an opener. Shelby Miller has recaptured some of his form. Tyler Holton, whom Hinch called an “incredible savior,” has continued to be a do-it-all machine and posted a 1.06 ERA in August. Brenan Hanifee has emerged as a strike-throwing machine and has a 1.62 ERA over 16 2/3 innings. On and on it goes.
Many of the contributors are unexpected. Many of the roles are new and fluid. Somehow, it’s all working to near perfection.
“You knew when these guys got called up that they had it in them,” first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “To see them stay composed and make pitches when it matters, it’s awesome.”
Along with his assistants, pitching coach Chris Fetter has helped orchestrate the Tigers’ surge in August. (Junfu Han / USA Today)
The success of the pitching staff over the past month is a testament to the will of the players and also a reflection of the coaching staff. The Tigers’ pitching triumvirate of Chris Fetter, Robin Lund and Juan Nieves has a growing reputation as one of the most adept in the game. Their work with pitchers such as Flaherty and Michael Lorenzen last season serves as the showcase evidence. But this year, their ability to get more out of players on the fringes of the roster has proven huge. In spring, the Tigers were banking on massive steps forward for pitchers such as Mize and Matt Manning. Instead, Mize missed two months with an injury, Manning has pitched only five games in the majors and free-agent signing Kenta Maeda has been moved to the bullpen.
The staff leading the Tigers’ charge back to contention looks much different from the one that broke camp in late March. But the mantra from the coaches has largely remained the same.
“One thing that (Fetter) has preached over and over and over again has been the importance of challenging the strike zone,” Hinch said. “Especially the better the team, the more you got to challenge the strike zone and get into good counts.”
Telling pitchers to throw strikes is one thing. The Tigers, somehow, have turned strike-throwing into a more precise science. Detroit is second in the major leagues with a 64.3 first-pitch strike percentage as a team. In August, Tigers pitchers fired first-pitch strikes 65.1 percent of the time. Despite lacking power arms outside Skubal and averaging only 8.17 K/9 over the past month, the Tigers have maximized count leverage and limited their August opponents to an average exit velocity of only 88 mph.
“Their readiness has been impressive,” Hinch said of the entire staff. “I think Fett and Robin and Juan do a really good job at keeping them grounded in whatever their role is gonna be.”
The contributions are too numerous to list in full, but the way the Tigers have used their pitchers is also fascinating. They have leaned into using openers and kept the bullpen fresh by having “bulk” arms such as Hurter and Maeda pitch four to five innings at a time. Pitchers have thrived despite an influx of unconventional roles and unfamiliar situations.
Sunday, the Tigers called on Hurter — a starter who just a couple of weeks ago had a 5.80 ERA for Triple-A Toledo — in the second inning after Brieske stirred up trouble with back-to-back walks. With rookie catcher Dillon Dingler behind the plate, the left-handed Hurter entered against lefty batter Wilyer Abreu. He fired a first-pitch sinker on the inner half of the plate, and Abreu promptly grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
“It was a cool feeling,” Hurter said. “I was actually talking to Beau about it. I’d never really gotten that opportunity playing baseball for 20-something years.”
After entering with inherited runners for the first time in his career, Hurter went on to finish the day throwing five innings and surrendering only one run.
In the seventh and eighth innings, right-handed reliever Will Vest, who fares well against lefties but isn’t often used in such a role, faced and retired four left-handed hitters. He climbed back from 3-0 and struck out the powerful Rafael Devers on three straight fastballs to end the eighth inning. In the ninth, Jason Foley picked up his 20th save of the season.
A wild-card chase that even a week ago felt like a pipe dream is now within reach. By day’s end, players packed their bags and donned their favorite football jerseys and prepared to head west.
After their latest pitching wonder, they could be entering their biggest road trip of the season.
(Top photo of Brant Hurter: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)
