The Detroit Tigers are expecting their setup man to return soon.
Right-handed reliever Buck Farmer tossed 15 pitches in a simulated game Wednesday at the alternate training site in Toledo and is preparing to rejoin the team, pitching coach Rick Anderson said.
Farmer was placed on the 10-day injured list Aug. 10 with a groin strain. Manager Ron Gardenhire expects him back with the Tigers on Thursday or Friday.
“He felt great,” Anderson said Wednesday. “Everything was good. Ball came out of his hand and all his pitches were good. We’re excited to get Buck back.”
In seven games and 6⅓ innings this season, Farmer has a 2.84 ERA and 1.105 WHIP with one strikeout and three walks.
[ Detroit Tigers’ Buck Farmer has matured to the point of asking Casey Mize for advice ]
Here’s everything else Anderson touched on:
On his conversation in the dugout Tuesday with left-hander Tarik Skubal: “He was caught in-between. He was trying to be calm, telling himself to be calm. Sometimes, when you do that, it works against you when you’re trying to get after it and finish your pitches. He was in-between yesterday, sometimes not being as aggressive as he usually is. That’s stuff you’re going to see. He was trying his best to keep his emotions in check. The biggest thing was, ‘Hey, we got that first one out of the way. Now let’s take off running.'”
[ Making sense of Tarik Skubal’s rocky debut with Detroit Tigers ]
On expectations for right-hander Casey Mize’s MLB debut: “You just never know until that first outing. I’m sure I may have to make a trip in that first inning or two, but we’re excited having these kids up here. That’s what it’s all about.”
On getting Mize, Skubal to MLB: “When we lost (Ivan) Nova (to 10-day injured list, there were) things we were starting to throw out there. Casey really threw the ball well in that spring training 2, and he’s been throwing the ball well down there (in Toledo). We just wanted to get them a little more work. Skub was a little late (because of COVID-19), but they say he’s been throwing the ball really well. It’s time. Let’s see what we got. For me, it’s the perfect type of season. There’s no fans there. The big leagues is the big leagues, but it’s just a little different this year. It’s the perfect time to get them started.”
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On Mize’s splitter: “That’s a pitch he had all through college, and he was successful. You’ve got to run with that. I remember over in Minnesota, that was a big no-no. We’ve usually done that (with pitchers) when you’re running out of chances with what we’re doing, maybe add another pitch. It’s not something we really want to teach in an organization, but it’s something he had coming in. And it’s been successful.”
On working on Skubal’s curveball: “That was one that, in the first spring, we really didn’t have as much time with him, and he missed the second spring. That’s a pitch he wants to keep going. I like his slider a lot, but the curveball is a different speed, different shape. He’s got the makings of four plus-pitches. The changeup last night, he was cutting it. He was choking it and trying to do too much. But I like the shape of his curveball and the shape of his slider. Tomorrow, we will do a bullpen and calm him down. We’ll make adjustments when we need to.”
On Matthew Boyd’s struggles (9.74 ERA): “It’s been a process. He came back after the delay, and his slider wasn’t the slider it used to be. And the command of his fastball wasn’t. Both of those were his bread and butter. His fastball command is showing a lot of pitches down the plate, and usually, he can get it to both sides. The slider is flattening out. The positive, last game, he threw a lot of pitches early, but his slider was a lot better. He got his fastball to the inside corner like he likes to. I had some words with him after the second inning. I said, ‘You’ve thrown two innings and you’ve thrown 66 pitches and one changeup. That’s not going to work, Matty. You’re not a two-pitch guy.’ In the last two innings, he used the changeup a lot and rolled through the last two innings. It was easy. He’s got a lot going through his head. Hopefully, he’s getting a lot closer to what he should be.”
[ Detroit Tigers’ Matthew Boyd: ‘I stepped away from what brought me success’ ]
Om long-relief options besides left-handers Daniel Norris and Tyler Alexander: “You got Rony Garcia, who is a guy we wanted to keep stretched out. We’re trying to get guys stretched. It backfired on us the other night (Monday). You have Rony Garcia throw a real good first inning, and then in the second inning, he gave up a couple. And then you saw (Kyle) Funkhouser like an All-Star his first inning, so good in the shape and command. He went out the second inning and wasn’t the same guy. We need some of those guys out of the bullpen to give us more than one inning or we could run into trouble.”
On Tim Anderson’s success for White Sox: “We’ve got to make him uncomfortable. You’ve got to change his posture, move his feet, whatever. He’s very, very comfortable.”
Roster moves
Utilityman Harold Castro suffered a left hamstring strain sustained in Tuesday’s game, sending him to the 10-day IL.
The team moved right-hander Dario Agrazal, who has been out since early in the season with right forearm tendinitis, and first baseman C.J. Cron, to the 45-day injured list.
To fill Castro’s spot, the Tigers added outfielder Jorge Bonifacio to the 40-man roster and called him up from Toledo to the big leagues. He is starting in right field Wednesday for his debut with the organization after a three-year stint with the Kansas City Royals from 2017-19.
“I just tell myself to keep working every day and try to get better,” Bonifacio said Wednesday. “I was talking last night to my brother (Emilio Bonifacio), and I got the same feeling as the day I got called up (in 2017). I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about a lot of good things.”
In 187 career games, Bonifacio, 27, has slashed .247/.319/.408 with 21 home runs and 66 RBIs, the bulk of which — 17 homers and 40 RBIs — came in 113 games as a rookie for the Royals in 2017.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporting intern at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here’s how you can gain access to our most exclusive Detroit Tigers content.