BALTIMORE — The Detroit Tigers want all their pitchers, especially right-hander Michael Lorenzen, to throw strikes. So far, Lorenzen has answered the call.
The 31-year-old, who signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract in the offseason, was shelled in his first start for the Tigers. He walked two batters and thought his individual pitches were better than the end result: six runs, including a pair of two-run home runs, over four innings.
In Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Lorenzen walked one batter and felt his pitches matched the result: five scoreless innings. Relievers José Cisnero and Jason Foley gave up runs in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively, with the Orioles winning on a play at the plate in the ninth.
“It was good,” Lorenzen said. “I simplified my attack with these guys more so than last start. I felt like I attacked the (strike) zone pretty good, and I had some good defensive plays behind me to make some innings efficient.”
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Lorenzen posted a 50.6% in-zone rate in his first start, then a 47.1% in-zone rate in his second start. That means — based on his career 47.3% in-zone rate — he pitched inside the strike zone at above-average and average clips in his two outings. He also threw 66.7% first-pitch strikes in the two starts, a significant improvement from the 59.8% rate for his entire career.
Too many walks have always been the issue.
Lorenzen had a 10.7% walk rate, 130th among 134 starting pitchers with at least 90 innings pitched, with the Los Angeles Angels last season. This season, he has walked three of 39 batters for a 7.7% walk rate.
“The walks for me, I’m struggling to throw strikes during the game,” Lorenzen said. “The walks for me come like with (Cedric) Mullins. I just lost it for a hitter and walked a guy. It’s not like every hitter that comes up I’m struggling to throw strikes. I’m usually generally around the zone, and then for a hitter, I’ll spray four fastballs. And then it shows up I have three walks, when really, I wasn’t wild at all. I just lost it for three hitters.”
Walking Mullins, the leadoff hitter in the fourth inning, forced Lorenzen to face the heart of the Orioles’ lineup — Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander — with one of the fastest runners on the bases. (Mullins leads MLB with nine stolen bases in nine attempts.)
Lorenzen retired all three and stranded Mullins at second base.
Rutschman, a switch-hitter batting from the left side, struck out swinging on a changeup in the dirt. Lorenzen’s cutter and changeup to left-handed hitters, in particular, were outstanding weapons.
He worked ahead 0-1 in the count to 10 of 17 batters, and threw 45 of 68 pitches for strikes.
“That’s generally my attack,” Lorenzen said. “I’m pretty good at getting to 1-2 (counts). I take that to heart, getting ahead. Big targets early, then expanding late. But sometimes, it may not look like that because I’ll lose it for a hitter.”
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Lorenzen, who worked around a two-out double in the fifth inning, delivered five scoreless innings with three hits, one walk and four strikeouts. He could have pitched deeper into the game, considering he threw 79 pitches in his first start, but Tigers manager A.J. Hinch opted for left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve rather than letting Lorenzen face the Orioles for the third time through the batting order.
Hinch picked all the right matchups Friday.
“He was really good,” Hinch said. “We’re still building him up in his second start coming off the injured list, but he threw the ball great. I thought he mixed well. He saved some pitches later in the game that he didn’t expose early in the game and was able to punch a couple guys out late.”
Lorenzen threw seven different pitches in five innings: 18 changeups, 16 four-seam fastballs, 12 sliders, 11 cutters, seven sinkers, three sweepers and one curveball. He didn’t throw the sweeper or curveball until the fifth inning and planned to use them in the sixth before his start ended at 68 pitches.
He recorded six swings and misses with five different offerings. His fastball peaked at 97.5 mph and averaged 95.6 mph. His pitches were tough to hit.
“He did great,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “The ball was coming out good, and he was mixing his pitches well. He was throwing inside to guys, keeping guys honest in, and then going soft away. He did a really good job of mixing all stuff and making quality pitches.”
Lorenzen can be nearly impossible to hit for damage when he’s locked in. He showed that Friday.
It’s why the Tigers need him to keep throwing strikes to avoid the free passes, even if the walks are blips in the radar.
“We want to simplify things with Michael,” Hinch said before Friday’s loss. “We want him to attack the strike zone. He’s got so many weapons that there’s a couple of different ways he can go against this group. I think Michael will settle back in with the routine he started developing.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.