The Detroit Tigers made a lot of moves at the trade deadline, all of which involved pitchers in some capacity. Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack were starters, but the rest of the additions were in the bullpen.
Kyle Finnegan has been dominant for the Tigers, while Rafael Montero, Codi Heuer, and Paul Seawald make up the other Tigers bullpen additions. They join Brant Hurter, Will Vest, Tyler Holton, Brenan Hanifee, Troy Melton, Chase Lee, Alex Lange, Beau Briske, John Brebbia, and Tommy Kahnle in the Tigers' deep bullpen.
They have plenty of other options aside from those relievers, making up a deep bullpen, which finished August with a 2.89 ERA, second-best in the Major Leagues. But according to MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, this strong August is a bit deceptive.
Detroit's Dominant August Bullpen Not Really That Great
While the Tigers had a good August from their bullpen, there are still two statistics that are of concern for the Tigers heading into the final month of the regular season, and eventually the postseason.
"Still," Rosenthal writes, "the bullpen entered Monday ranked next-to-last in strikeout rate, a lingering concern."
This concern is something that could derail the Tigers' bullpen in October. Getting strikeouts in the postseason is a huge boost for a team, especially since if they can't strike batters out, there are more chances for hits and errors in the field.
"Consider the 'pen's performance in August." Rosenthal writes. "While it ranked second in ERA and third in opponents' OPS, those numbers were deceptive. More telling: The bullpen ranked 25th in Fielding Independent Pitching for the month, and its opponents' .219 batting average on balls in play was by far the lowest in the league."
MORE: One Jack Flaherty statistic that should concern Tigers fans
FIP is a measure to determine how pitching actually pans out if balls in play aren't counted. While there are times when a poor defense can make a team's FIP lower than its ERA, in the Tigers' case, it's the opposite.
Detroit's bullpen isn't striking out many batters, and while they've gotten by in August, no guarantee that come October, the bullpen will get as lucky as they did in August.
It's a big concern if Rosenthal's fears come true, as the Tigers, despite their plethora of bullpen moves, could be in a situation with a shaky bullpen when it matters most.
While Detroit's bullpen has certainly been better as of late, the lack of strikeouts and luck on batted balls in play might turn the opposite direction, which could make the Tigers' elite August bullpen look like a mirage.
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