DENVER — Michael Lorenzen signed with the Tigers as a free agent in December believing they could help him take the next step in his career. He still isn’t where he wants to be yet, but his progression now includes his first career All-Star selection.
The Tigers will be represented at the All-Star Game by a pitcher for the sixth consecutive time, but Lorenzen’s honor hits a little differently. Not only is he the first Tigers starter to go to the Midsummer Classic since Michael Fulmer in 2017 — Detroit has had relievers at the past four games — Lorenzen is the rare case of a veteran who became an All-Star in his first year in Detroit. Jhonny Peralta did it in his first full year as a Tiger in 2011, less than a year after the Tigers acquired him in a trade from Cleveland. Edwin Jackson did it in 2009 after he was traded from Tampa Bay.
But no veteran had become a first-time All-Star as a Tiger immediately after signing with Detroit as a free agent since Cecil Fielder’s 51-homer season in 1990 after the slugger returned from Japan. The 31-year-old Lorenzen gets his first such honor in his ninth Major League season. He spent his first seven seasons in Cincinnati, most of them working out of the bullpen, before becoming a full-time starter last year with the Angels.
While Eduardo Rodriguez garnered most of the All-Star speculation among Tigers starters before his finger injury, Lorenzen quietly has put together a solid campaign that belies his 2-6 record. His 4.28 ERA includes six quality starts in his last 11 appearances, including seven innings of one-run ball on two hits with six strikeouts against the White Sox on June 3 in Chicago. He took a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning against the White Sox a week earlier at Comerica Park and tossed six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the Pirates on May 16.
Lorenzen mentioned after his last start Friday in Colorado that he’d like to improve his strikeout rate, currently at 6.8 per nine innings. His whiff rate currently ranks among the bottom 20 percent of Major League pitchers. But with his lowest walk rate of his career ranking him among the top 16 percent of MLB hurlers, Lorenzen has used his wide-ranging arsenal to limit his damage while keeping hitters off-balance.