LAKELAND, Fla. — Four weeks ago, Detroit Tigers right-hander Alex Faedo met John DeRouin.
“We clicked immediately,” Faedo said.
DeRouin, a 23-year-old community college dropout, is the Tigers’ new rehab pitching coordinator. He serves as a conduit for information passed from pitching coach Chris Fetter and assistant pitching coach Robin Lund to pitchers recovering from injuries at the spring training facility.
All three of them played a key role in fixing the former No. 18 overall pick.
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After the Tigers drafted Faedo in 2017, former coaches in the organization feared an injury in the future, so they instructed him to raise his arm slot. Turns out, the new coaches have rebuked the advice from the old player development regime six years ago.
Now, Faedo is back to using a three-quarters arm slot.
“It’s more of my natural arm slot,” Faedo said. “They’ve always been like, ‘When did you start trying to raise your arm slot?’ I was like, ‘When I first got here.’ It was one of those things with prior people (in the organization) that I wasn’t throwing correctly. As a player, you’re like, ‘All right, I have to change, this is what I’m being told.’ (The new coaches) relayed to me that was incorrect. What I was doing (in college) was correct, like the guy that they drafted.”
The journey to his old arm slot began with a hip injury last season.
Faedo, 27, made his MLB debut in May and posted a 5.53 ERA with 25 walks and 44 strikeouts across 53⅔ innings in 12 starts. His fastball averaged 92.7 mph. He logged a 2.92 ERA in his first seven starts, then an 11.34 ERA in his final five starts.
“I was pretty horseshit when I was throwing with a hurt hip,” Faedo said. “I was a little too stubborn trying to pitch. Missing two years, I didn’t want to be hurt again. … Eventually, it got to a point where I wasn’t only hurting myself, but I was hurting the team.”
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Faedo has a long history of injuries. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees in September 2016 after his sophomore season at Florida. He also underwent Tommy John surgery in December 2020 and missed the entire 2021 season.
This time, Dr. J.W. Thomas Byrd — a hip specialist in Nashville — found various issues to fix in late September. “I had a torn (hip) labrum, torn (hip) capsule, and then (the doctor) shaved down both sides of my pelvis,” Faedo said. His 6-foot-5 stature and lanky build led to the hip problems.
After a third surgery, the Tigers took a deep dive into the data — collected from Faedo’s bullpens in Joker Marchant Stadium, equipped with Hawk-Eye technology — and discovered the former top prospect needed to lower his arm slot.
DeRouin accompanied Faedo to the ballpark.
“He talked to Fetter and Robin about how my body moves,” Faedo said, “and how maybe I was compensating on certain things because of injuries. They went through all the numbers and wanted me to move more efficiently for how my body works.
“I feel as comfortable on the mound as I’ve ever felt. I think I still have a little bit stronger to get, just because I had surgery, but off the mound, I haven’t felt that comfortable in a long time, maybe since before my knee surgery in college.”
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In November 2022, DeRouin officially became the Tigers’ rehab pitching coordinator. Mutual connections with Tigers director of pitching Gabe Ribas, as well as an advanced understanding of analytics, brought the two sides together. Before joining the Tigers, DeRouin pitched for Community College of Rhode Island and trained pitchers, both professionals and amateurs, at Hop’s Athletic Performance in Rhode Island.
Around the same time this offseason, Lund — a longtime professor in Northern Iowa’s department of kinesiology — joined the Tigers’ big-league coaching staff after four years as Iowa’s pitching coach.
Lund specializes in sports science and biomechanics.
“I talked to him in person for the first time (Monday),” Faedo said. “A lot of this stuff has been relayed to me through John. They’ve been talking a lot about me and my throwing. … Between (Lund), Fett and John, my circle of pitching guys over the last couple of weeks, I feel like we’ve made a lot of strides.”
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Since arriving in Lakeland, Faedo has thrown about 10 bullpens and feels ready to be an active member of MLB spring training, but he is focused on maintaining a day-by-day approach to his recovery. The full group of pitchers and catchers reported Wednesday.
Faedo is scheduled to throw a bullpen Friday.
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As for the Opening Day roster, the Tigers have five starting pitchers in Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Manning, Matthew Boyd, Michael Lorenzen and Spencer Turnbull. Faedo throws three pitches — fastball, slider, changeup — and could compete for a spot in the bullpen, but considering the refined mechanics, the Tigers might want to continue his development as a starter.
If so, he will likely report to Triple-A Toledo.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster because you got a taste,” Faedo said. “You know what it’s like, you know what it takes to be a big leaguer. You have to work each and every day to be consistent. That’s the hardest part of being a big leaguer. I learned a lot up there, and I try to take it into my day-to-day routine and be better from it.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.