The Detroit Tigers have been one of the better teams in baseball this season, and with a postseason berth likely on the horizon, the team’s working out the kinks before the games become very important.
One of those areas is with the bullpen. While there are teams around baseball with a core set a relievers, with one dominant closer who gets the save opportunity every night, the same can’t be said for Detroit.
In a piece from Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch revealed the new bullpen strategy in Detroit and why he’s using such a strategy.
Hinch is Utilizing Tigers’ Bullpen Depth
At the MLB trade deadline, the Tigers landed a few bullpen arms. Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero, Codi Heuer, and Paul Seawald make up the cast of relievers added at the deadline. They also traded for Chris Paddack and Charlie Morton.
Ever since making those additions, the Tigers have been cycling through relievers frequently at the MLB level. In doing so, Hinch and the Tigers are executing a strategy that not many teams could replicate. They’re using their strong depth in the bullpen.
“It’s depth,” Hinch said. “The depth and the quality of arms that we have, we literally can configure the bullpen in a lot of different ways and feel equally as comfortable. I don’t know that every team can say that. We try to focus on strengths.”
Aside from their bullpen additions at the deadline, the Tigers have a solid cast of relievers. Will Vest has a 2.55 ERA this season, while Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter, Alex Lange, Troy Melton, Brenan Hanifee, Tommy Kahnle, Chase Lee, Sawyer Gipson-Long, and Bailey Horn make up just part of the Tigers’ incredible bullpen depth.
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While not all of the Tigers’ relievers are the best, they have a ton of options that they could turn to. The overall options in the bullpen are significantly deeper than other teams in baseball, regardless of how good they’ve pitched this season.
This depth allows the Tigers to run a bullpen-by-committee. If a series dictates more left-handed relievers, the Tigers can make some changes in the bullpen for said series.
Come the postseason, this bullpen depth will be a great asset. If a reliever goes down with an injury, then the Tigers will have plenty of intriguing options to choose from to take his place.
Hinch and the Tigers plan to utilize their great bullpen depth the rest of the year, as they also determine the best group of relievers for the postseason. With a little over a month of the season left, Detroit has time to figure out the best configuration of its bullpen, thanks to the constant rotation of relievers.
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