Alex Faedo walked down the Detroit Tigers‘ dugout, high-fiving his teammates. Chest bumping. Back slapping. Handshakes all around.
His work was done, and the Tigers were losing 3-0, but despite the score, this was a day of significant progress for this 27-year-old pitcher.
Making his second start of the season, Faedo got through six innings for just the second time in his career. Most impressively, he struck out seven — all on whiffs — with just one walk while scattering four hits.
“I thought he was really good,” manager A.J. Hinch said after the Tigers’ 5-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners. “I thought it was a step forward for him.”
Faedo’s seven strikeouts tied a career high.
“First time getting through five, first time getting six innings this year, I thought I threw the ball pretty good, threw a lot of strikes, overall good game, not good enough to get the win, but I think more often than not, I’ll take that game, keep us in the game, six innings, three runs, not too bad,” he said.
Not bad indeed.
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In fact, it’s encouraging in the big picture for a starting rotation that just lost Spencer Turnbull to a neck injury and is still waiting for the return of Matt Manning, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal.
So Faedo’s performance is a bolt of good news. For a rotation that needed it.
He is exactly what the Tigers want: a guy who fills up the strike zone.
In 10⅔ innings, he has eight strikeouts and one walk.
That’s the epitome of the Tigers’ mantra: Control the strike zone.
One horrible pitch
Faedo threw one particularly bad pitch, and Teoscar Hernández crushed it.
But here’s the crazy thing. Faedo had him right where he wanted him.
After getting Hernández down 0-2 on a slider and fastball, Hernández homered on an 82 mph mistake.
“The two-strike cement mixer to Teo was a mistake,” Hinch said. “And you know, that’s going to happen from time to time.”
Now, here’s the silver lining. He can still grow from this.
He can learn from that pitch.
Like, hmm, bury it in the dirt.
“The one Hernández hit, which was a really bad miss by me,” Faedo said. “I got him 0-2. If you are gonna miss, miss in the dirt. I just got to be a little better at that, to try not to make it perfect and really just got to try to miss below the zone with that pitch.”
You hear that? That’s a young pitcher learning in real-time.
That’s a young pitcher who had a fine outing, and he’s gonna grow from it.
“He missed bats today with multiple pitches,” Hinch said. “He threw behind the count offspeed, his fastball was a step better, even a tick better velo-wise, like everything I thought was better than his last start. So it was nice to see him settle in.”
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Ya gotta be kidding me
Faedo did give up one other homer.
One to Jarred Kelenic, which was just cruel.
Kelenic hit a 94 mph fastball that few humans can even reach. It was up and in, outside of the strike zone.
“Fudgsicles,” Faedo mouthed.
Or something like that.
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“Obviously the Kelenic homer is …” Hinch said and let out a sigh. “I mean, he executed up in and outside the strike zone, kind of neck-high and he pulls it, keeps it fair.”
So yes, mumble under your breath and tip your cap.
It was Kelenic’s eighth homer of the season.
“He’s a good hitter, so I’m not surprised,” Faedo said. “We’d beat him with some fastballs away. That’s why I wanted to go in there.”
Overall, Faedo’s performance was so encouraging for the Tigers.
Not just because Faedo was so efficient.
Not just because he found more things to learn and grow from.
But because there was a deeper truth.
“It’s a reminder that his best is good enough,” Hinch said.
It was a reminder that Faedo doesn’t have to be Superman.
His best is good enough to go deep into a game and give the Tigers a chance to win.
And that’s a tremendous step forward.
Even in a loss.
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Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.