After the trade of Gregory Soto to the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason, the Detroit Tigers find themselves without a closer. With the way the game is managed today does Detroit really need to name someone the “closer” moving forward? Or can AJ Hinch go with a “closer by committee” type situation during the 2023 season?
I’m not sure any team truly needs a closer in today’s game. I would prefer to see the committee type rotation of the bullpen late in games, using specific relievers in “high leverage” situations dictated by game situation and what the analytics say at that instance. The Tigers currently have three internal options to use as “high leverage” relievers, in my opinion.
These options are: Alex Lange, Will Vets and Jose Cisnero (pending arbitration).
Alex Lange
Lange probably should have been the Tigers All Star representative in 2022, unfortunately, he didn’t get the nod over Gregory Soto. Lange had put up some solid numbers prior to the All Star break, posting a 4-1 record along with a 2.04 ERA, 44K, 1.10 WHIP and 11.3/K/9 in 35.1 innings. His walk% was a little high, but it was offset by his 30.3 K% which was more than 8% higher than the league average of 22.1% in 2022. Lange also found himself well above league average in the following categories:
xBA (87th Percentile)
K% (87th Percentile)
Chase Rate (95th Percentile)
Whiff% (100th Percentile)
It wouldn’t be surprising if Alex Lange becomes the go to high leverage reliever throughout the season. His 2022 season was an impressive campaign and he’s shown the ability to lock down high stress innings.
Will Vest
Vest is an intriguing arm out of the Tigers bullpen. He put together quite a few solid outings during the 2022 season as well as some solid months of performance, however, he still remains a bit of a question mark being a Rule 5 Draft player that was returned to the organization by Seattle. It makes sense to give Vest some high leverage looks during the 2023 season.
During the 2022 campaign Vest was extremely reliant on his fastball, using it 56% of the time while on the mound. While his fastball velocity was above average (74th Percentile) he was only in the 14th Percentile for spin rate. He will also need to have a more effective pitch mix with his slider and change up to increase his Chase Rate (34th Percentile), Whiff% (32nd Percentile) and K% (51st Percentile).
If Vest can repeat his performances from April, May and July of 2022 he could become a monster arm out of the pen for Detroit.
April: 2.08 ERA, 10K, 0.69 WHIP, 11 K/9
May: 2.16 ERA, 12K, 0.60 WHIP, 13.3 K/9
July: 2.13 ERA, 13 K, 1.42 WHIP, 9.6 K/9
Jose Cisnero (Arbitration Pending)
Despite having missed significant time during the 2022 season, Cisnero was able to return from the IL and put up solid numbers late in the season for Detroit; he’s had an overalls solid tenure in the Old English D. After returning from injury, he surrendered only 3 earned runs in 25 innings pitched, good for a 1.08 ERA. Unfortunately, the walk rate was elevated (19 walks; 18.1%) in those 25 innings, leading to a WHIP of 1.36. His 2022 WHIP was significantly higher than the 1.26 league average.
Cisnero did receive some late/close situation innings in 2022; 6.1 innings to be exact. Yes, these innings are a small sample size, but Cisnero did not surrender a walk and struck out 7 leading to a 0.32 WHIP in those innings. He also had an above average fastball during the season, posting a Fastball Velocity in the 77th percentile and a spin rate in the 79th percentile.
All these internal options are right-handed pitchers. Unfortunately, as it currently stands, the Tigers only have Tyler Alexander as a lefty coming out of the pen. There are a few left-handed relievers (Will Smith, Andrew Chafin and Brad Hand) who remain on the market and could be worth kicking the tires and could quite possibly provide solid innings in high leverage situations out of the pen.