After taking two of three from the White Sox, the Blue Jays (22-26) travel west on the 401 to Detroit, where they’ll start a four-game set against the Tigers (23-26) tonight. With plenty of talk surrounding the team potentially trading off assets at the trade deadline, the team will look to take advantage of a soft spot in their schedule and get to .500. After Detroit, the team’s road trip continues in Chicago, where they’ll they take on the White Sox once again. Let’s take a look at how the Tigers have fared this season and what they bring to the table this week.
Nuts and Bolts
Thursday, May 23rd, 6:40 EST: Kevin Gausman (2-3, 4.89) vs Jack Flaherty (1-3, 3.79)
Friday, May 24th, 6:40 EST: Alek Manoah (1-1, 3.00) vs Matt Manning (0-1, 4.88)
Saturday, May 25th, 1:10 EST: Jose Berrios (5-3, 2.98) vs TBD
Sunday, May 26th, 11:35 EST: Yusei Kikuchi (2-4, 2.64) vs TBD
Tarik Skubal, 99mph Fastball (ball) and 91mph Back Door Slider (backward K), Individual Pitches + Overlay
That's mean, Tarik. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/TXyn1fhjyC
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 22, 2024
Starting Pitching
The Tigers’ pitching has been a bright spot for the team so far, as their team ERA of 3.63 places them 10th in the Major Leagues entering action tonight. Their starting pitcher’s ERA ranks 12th, with Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal leading the charge. Skubal sits at 6-1 on the year with a 2.25 ERA and sparkling 0.85 WHIP, suffering his first loss at the hands of the Kansas City Royals just yesterday. The Jays are fortunate not to be seeing the lefthander this weekend, as he’s currently lined up to start at the beginning of next week.
Tonight’s starter, Jack Flaherty, has been a great addition to the club this year after spending the 2023 season split between the Cardinals and Orioles. Flaherty has a 3.79 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, with just eight walks through 54.2 innings pitched. Another solid starter for the Tigers has been Reese Olson, who sports a 2.16 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, but little run support has him at 0-5 on the season. Olson exited his last start against the Royals on Monday but is expected to start against the Jays on Saturday.
After the top three Tigers starters, things have been a bit shaky. Friday starter Matt Manning has battled control issues (12 walks in 27.2 IP) en route to a 4.88 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. Sunday’s starter will either be Casey Mize, who’s coming off his worst outing of the season, or Kenta Maeda, who may be ready to return from the injured list. Both pitchers have struggled this year, with Maeda’s 6.75 ERA particularly disappointing.
The Tigers bullpen is just every type of guy at any given bar in the Midwest pic.twitter.com/jFLfenP2FK
— Matt Coggins (@MattCoggins) April 22, 2024
Bullpen
The Tigers bullpen has surprised this year, as their 3.58 team ERA places them 9th in the Major Leagues. Closer Jason Foley has been notably good at finishing games, as he’s converted 10 of 11 save opportunities to go along with a 2.45 ERA. He does, however, have 7 walks in 18.1 IP, leading to a shaky 1.36 WHIP on the season.
Alex Faedo and Will Vest have been the team’s go-to righthanded relievers, with both sporting a sub 1.10 WHIP on the season. Lefthanders Andrew Chafin and Tyler Holton have done a nice job of locking things down in middle relief, with Holton’s 0.79 WHIP currently leading the team.
The bullpen’s leader in appearances is Alex Lange with 21, but a recent blow up outing had him sent to the Minor Leagues. Lange had just two really bad outings all year, but control problems have been an issue for him for the duration of the season (17 walks in 18.2 innings). Other than Lange, only Shelby Miller has an ERA over 4.00 for this relief core, as they’ve got consistent – albeit unspectacular – performance from a number of guys.
No doubt about this one: Kerry Carpenter hit a 434-foot, opposite field home run for the Tigers in Kansas City.
Video: @BallySportsDET
pic.twitter.com/x16b9xGWaf— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) May 21, 2024
Hitting
The Tigers rank 23rd as a team in OPS, as they’ve severely lacked juice in their lineup for several years now. The biggest bright spot has been outfielder Riley Greene, who has finally started to realize his top-prospect status this year. He leads the club with nine home runs and 29 walks but has been in a bit of a slump lately. A quiet last couple of weeks has him sitting at a .790 OPS entering play Thursday, his lowest mark of the season.
Another bright spot has been outfielder Kerry Carpenter, who’s .879 OPS is the highest on the team. Carpenter isn’t the most patient hitter (just eight walks in 46 games), but he seems to always hit the ball hard, leading the team in extra-base hits with 20. The Tigers’ hottest hitter is 2nd base/outfielder Wenceel Perez, whose .873 OPS through 31 games falls just behind Carpenter. Perez is one of three Tigers with four triples on the year (along with Carpenter and Matt Vierling), and has been slotting in as the three hitter for the club over the last couple of weeks.
The biggest disappointment for the Tigers has to be former number-one overall pick Spencer Torkelson. After bopping 31 homers last season, it took the former Arizona State Sun Devil 38 games to hit his first this season. He’s now at three home runs, but a lack of contact and patience has his on-base percentage under .300, with his OPS sitting at just .618. Speaking of a lack of patience, perhaps no Major Leaguer is more known for his free-swinging nature than Javier Baez. Despite playing decent defence at shortstop, Baez ranks 158th out of 159 qualified hitters in OPS with a .510 mark. It appears that his days of hitting 30 home runs a season are long gone.
The team has received mostly mediocre and uninspiring production from the rest of the lineup, as their +0 run differential on the season is mostly credited to their quality pitching staff.
Final Verdict
If the Jays want to prove to their fanbase as well as themselves that they can compete in the AL East this year, they better take three of four games in Detroit this week. If they can do so, there’s a realistic path back to .500 before the end of the month.
