Detroit — The plan was for lefty reliever Chasen Shreve to complement his elite splitter with a sweeping slider; the former sinks and fades; the other, ideally, would stay on a horizontal plane through the strike zone.
“It’s not working,” Shreve said Tuesday.
Well, it depends on how you define “working.”
“When I first did it in spring training, it was pretty good,” he said. “And slowly, over time, it’s getting smaller. Not in a bad way. But (the break) is getting smaller and later.”
In other words, it’s morphed into a more traditional, gyro slider.
“But, I wanted that sweep,” he said. “I don’t know where it went.”
The positive is, the regular slider has been effective. He’s thrown 35 of them, and hitters are 2-for-7 against it. The bigger issue for him has been his four-seam fastball. He’s putting too many in the middle of the plate — particularly against Orioles hitters.
Seven of the nine runs he’s allowed this season have been against Baltimore. Anthony Santander and Jorge Mateo both clubbed home runs off his fastball.
His splitter continues to be almost unhittable — opponents are 1-for-15 against it with six strikeouts.
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The Tigers summoned right-handed reliever Brandon White from Triple-A Toledo to serve as the 27th man Wednesday.
“Feels great,” said White, who had allowed just three runs in 13 innings with 14 strikeouts with Toledo.
He was out to dinner with his parents in Toledo Tuesday night. The Mud Hens were rained out and when he heard the Tigers also were rained out, his mind started to whirl.
“We actually talked about it at dinner,” White said. “Then I got the call around 8 p.m., just as we were walking out of the restaurant. It’s pretty exciting.”
White made a bid to win a bullpen spot out of spring training with his firm four-seam fastball and elite slider.
“His stuff is really good,” Hinch said. “He’s got a good mentality on the mound, a great demeanor. He’s attack-first. I know he’s walked some guys (six), just being over-aggressive and trying to throw too hard or throw the nastiest of nasty sliders.
“That’s something he’s working through, just trying to control his adrenaline. But, he has a lot of characteristics of guys who stick in the big leagues in the bullpen.”
Hinch cautioned that, unlike with Short last week, who came up as the 27th man and stayed, White will likely be back in Toledo tomorrow.
“It’s a special day for him, regardless of the circumstances,” Hinch said. “It was nice to see him bouncing around the clubhouse saying hello to everybody. We had him in camp and this is a great acclimation day for him.”
White, who last pitched Sunday, understands the drill.
“Just do my job,” he said. “I’m here to get outs. If my name gets called, just keep it simple and do what I do.”