Oh, what a year it’s been.
Not for the Detroit Tigers, though, yeah, they’ve seen some things, man.
No, we’re thinking of Miguel Cabrera, who one year ago today was circling the bases in Toronto with home run No. 500 finally crossed off his career bucket list. Since then, Cabrera has added hit No. 3,000, All-Star berth No. 12 (though maybe you missed it during David Ortiz’s walk-and-talk through the Dodger Stadium dugout last month) and question No. 5,000,000 (though that’s just our rough estimate) about his plans for 2023.
That last number will only go up as Cabrera muddles through the final, er, leg of the season on a glaringly bad knee that’s limiting him to roughly one game per series. If, in previous seasons, Cabrera gave off “Main Character Energy” (as the kids say) even while struggling with injuries, this month has him reduced to “Guest Star Who Has Clearly Read His Contract” status, as he’s 2-for-13 with seven strikeouts in five games since the Tigers announced his limited role going forward. (Since hitting No. 500 last year, by the way, Cabrera is hitting .248 with six homers, 113 strikeouts and 32 walks in 452 at-bats.) If Miggy misses any more starts, maybe the Tigers can get one of those CGI Hulks from Disney+ to take some swings in his place.
Hello, and welcome to the Dog Days of Summer Newsletter.
Speaking of suddenly rare appearances, we apologize for the couple of weeks between missives in your inbox, but — in yet another example of this injury-plagued season for the Tigers — we landed on the 10-day IL this month with the dreaded “non-COVID illness.” (And trust us, dear reader, when you are too banged up to write a once-a-week newsletter, you are too banged up to do anything much at all.)
How long has it been since last we wrote? We started August with Michael Fulmer and Robbie Grossman wearing the Old English “D,” Al Avila working as Tigers GM, Tarik Skubal arguably rounding back into ace form for 2023, Lou Whitaker waiting to have his number retired and Vin Scully and Johnny Wockenfuss still among the living.
Well, at least Sweet Lou had a good day.
But let’s try and catch up on the past week, look ahead to what’s next — and see what else pops up along the way.
Brave new world
Start with the Aug. 2 trade deadline, which saw Michael Fulmer change clubhouses in Minneapolis and Robbie Grossman head to Atlanta. Fulmer has been solid, striking out 10 with two earned runs over 7⅔ innings (as the Twins went from a game up in the AL Central to 1½ games back), but Grossman has been a revelation. The switch-hitter is, well, a switch-hitter again: After posting a .430 OPS from the left side of the plate with the Tigers, he has a .995 OPS there with the Braves. Why? As the Freep’s Evan Petzold points out, the Braves found a quick fix in his swing, and it tells us a lot about what the Tigers should be looking for in Avila’s replacement as GM. Head here to find out what that is.
Summer slam
Of course, the subtraction of Fulmer and Grossman (and, yes, Avila) did little to help the Tigers on the diamond; they’re 6-13 since the trade deadline passed. In all, it’s been a bummer of a season that’s threatening to infect the normal enthusiasm that pops up in August for the Lions, Spartans and Wolverines on the gridiron. If you’re already looking ahead to September’s football openers, the Freep’s Jeff Seidel explains how the Tigers have affected his predictions for the fall (though he still likes Jim Harbaugh for 10 wins at Michigan).
Hiring season
But back to baseball. The Tigers still have a glaring hole in the front office they’ll need to fill before the offseason market heats up. While there are big names out there, such as Theo Epstein, Jeff Luhnow and Brodie Van Wagenen, owner Christopher Ilitch seems likely to go with a candidate without prior GM experience. Head here to get a rundown of the lesser-known names popping up around baseball with a shot at the top chair in Detroit.
Skubal’s final dive
Another reason to get a GM hired sooner rather than later: The Tigers suddenly have a gaping hole in their starting rotation after left-hander Tarik Skubal — already shut down for 2022 — underwent surgery Wednesday to repair his left flexor tendon (located on the inside of the wrist). While the recovery time isn’t as long as that of Tommy John surgery, it’s still set to take a chunk out of Skubal’s 2023 season as well. How much? Our Man Petzold examined that here with the most recent Tiger to have a similar injury: Matthew Boyd.
Plugging in E-Rod
The pitching gods take with one hand and give with the other, and thus we have Eduardo Rodriguez back with the Tigers. He made his first big-league start since May 18 on Sunday against the Angels, dealing five scoreless innings against Shohei Ohtani (y’know, that “unicorn” that the Freep’s Carlos Monarrez wishes would speak more), Mike Trout & Co. (If you missed the game, check out Our Man Petzold’s recap here.) It has been a long, strange trip for Rodriguez in his return from a rib cage injury and personal issues that led to him ghosting the team for about a month. Our Man Petzold was there Friday for Rodriguez’s return to active duty.
Of course, opening with a strong outing likely went a long way toward mending fences with his teammates. But there’s still work to be done, and Rodriguez’s teammates talked before his return about how they’d adjust to him in the final six weeks of the season (and presumably the final four years of his contract). Check it out here.
Farm report
Speaking of positive pitching news, a pair of Tigers prospects have had a good August. First, there’s right-hander Austin Bergner, a 2019 ninth-rounder who was promoted to Triple-A in early August, then got name-checked as Chris Ilitch talked up the farm system while discussing his firing of Al Avila on Aug. 10. While we’re not sure about the logic of “I’ve fired the guy overseeing the rebuild, but here’s some great players from him on the way,” Our Man Seidel caught up with the North Carolina alumnus and found out that he’s a strike-thrower, first and foremost. Click here to find out why Bergner is finally ascending in the Tigers’ system.
And then there’s the name we know: Jackson Jobe, the team’s top pick in 2021 (and No. 3 overall) out of high school in Oklahoma. The 20-year-old righty, newly anointed as the organization’s top prospect, was promoted to High-A West Michigan after 18 starts in Lakeland, Florida. Jobe’s 4.52 ERA so far isn’t sparkling, but a pair of strong starts in early August convinced the Tigers to be aggressive. Our Man Petzold has the story here on Jobe’s 2022 thus far. (And if you feel like taking a road trip, Jobe reportedly will start Wednesday in Grand Rapids, with two more starts likely left in the season.)
3 to watch
The youth movement continues, with three first- or second-year players to keep an eye on:
KERRY CARPENTER: After homering twice in his first five big-league games, the 24-year-old is 0-for-9 in his past three.
RILEY GREENE: The rookie knows what he needs to fix during a second-half slump (and looked good doing it Sunday).
MATT MANNING: The 24-year-old has two seven-inning gems in four starts since returning from the IL on Aug. 2.
Happy birthday, Tork!
Spencer Torkelson, the Tigers’ OTHER top hitting prospect turns 23 on Friday; Monday also marks a month since Tork made his debut with Triple-A Toledo after hitting .197 with 76 strikeouts in 83 MLB games. Don’t expect a return to the majors this week, though: Tork has a .223/.333/.379 slash line in 27 games for the Mud Hens, and that’s boosted a bit by his five-game stretch in Columbus this week, in which he went 8-for-19 with four walks and six strikeouts against the Cleveland Guardians’ affiliate. But he’s still in touch with the Tigers’ brass. Our Man Petzold has the story here (once you scroll down a bit) on his recent talks with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.
Other Tigers birthdays this week: Drew Hutchison (32 on Monday), George Kell (would have been 100 on Tuesday; died in 2009), Justin Upton (35 on Thursday), David Price (37 on Friday), Jordy Mercer (36 on Saturday), Buddy Bell (71 on Saturday).
Mark your calendar
With just 39 games remaining — less than a quarter of the schedule! — this season, we’re reaching a lot of season “lasts.” Such as, the last interleague series of the season, as the San Francisco Giants hit Detroit for two games (Tuesday-Wednesday), the last week with two scheduled off-days (Monday and Thursday), and the last time we bring up the middle-infielder spending spree the Rangers and Tigers underwent on their way to sub-.500 finishes, as the two squads meet in Texas on Friday-Sunday. That would be $85.5 million this season alone going to Javier Báez ($20 million), Jonathan Schoop ($7.5 million), Corey Seager ($33 million) and Marcus Semien ($25 million). Of course, we may not see all of them on the field in Globe Life Park/Stadium/Field/TexaMegaDome after Schoop injured his right ankle Saturday. Click here to get the latest on that injury, which had him on a rolling scooter Sunday afternoon.
TL;DR
Vin Scully and Johnny Wockenfuss were beloved by a generation of Tigers fans for obviously different reasons; Scully’s mellifluous tones and copious research made him the soundtrack to some of the most stirring sporting moments of the 1980s, even for Michiganders. (Our Man Monarrez had more of a daily exposure growing up in L.A.) Meanwhile, Wockenfuss’ swing was anything but, well, fluid, but it worked for several underrated seasons in Detroit, just as his departure paved the way for the Tigers’ 1984 World Series run (featuring a masterclass from Scully in letting the crowd tell the story, as we remembered here.)
But what they shared was a versatility, an ability to think differently, that made them great. It’s a good reminder, as this Tigers season winds down, to savor the big moments and the weird swings wherever you can find them, even if they’re not on the baseball field.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.