Right-handed reliever Alex Lange has served as the de facto closer for the Detroit Tigers throughout the entire 2023 season. Manager A.J. Hinch doesn’t like to name bullpen roles, but he hasn’t shied away from using Lange in the ninth inning.
But lately, Lange has struggled, issuing too many walks, for the past two months.
In Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, Lange walked three batters and recorded two outs in the ninth inning. Beau Brieske, a fellow right-handed reliever without end-of-game experience, replaced Lange to get the final out for the first save of his professional career.
“We’ll see how it all maps out,” Hinch said of Lange’s role. “I’m staying non-committal because I want to read the games as they come and go in the best direction we can. Maybe that’s part of why I generally don’t love naming things, so when you do make a slight alteration here or there, for whatever purpose, it’s a little easier on the player.”
SOUTHPAW STARTER: How Tigers’ Tarik Skubal overcame latest challenge in ‘laser-focused’ sixth start
Dating back to June 4, Lange has a 7.32 ERA with 23 walks and 22 strikeouts across 19⅔ innings in 21 games. He has walked six batters while recording just four outs in two appearances in August.
He seems mentally defeated while searching for strikes.
“There’s certainly a mental component to it because he carries the burden of the last three outs in most of the times that he pitches,” Hinch said. “He feels like he lets down a lot of people when it doesn’t go well.
“He’s really good at getting himself to the next day and getting himself refocused on what he needs to do. The preparation is never a problem. The care factor is never a problem. The accountability is never a problem.
In 2023, Lange has a 3.89 ERA with 34 walks (17.4% walk rate) and 56 strikeouts (28.7% strikeout rate) over 44 innings in 45 appearances, racking up 17 saves in 20 opportunities as the closer. He was the American League’s Reliever of the Month in May.
His miserable walk rate ranks 161st — ahead of only Jake Diekman (Tampa Bay Rays) and Daniel Bard (Colorado Rockies) — among 163 qualified relievers.
Lange threw just six of his 20 pitches for strikes in Saturday’s outing, and only three of those were located inside the strike zone. He has a below-average 34.8% in-zone rate this season, much worse than the 48.5% MLB average, and a below-average 50.5% first-pitch strike rate.
“I understand leverage a ton,” Hinch said. “I don’t think anytime you hand the ball to a reliever in the game it ever feels unimportant, so he’s going to have to get in the strike zone in that situation, too. If I bring him in medium leverage in the sixth inning, and he walks guys the way he is now, I’m going to get questioned as to why we didn’t go with somebody in that situation. There’s no easy landing spot.”
The chase rate on his 95.7 mph sinker has dropped from 28.1% in May (10 games) to 17.3% in June (11 games) to 7.1% in July (nine games) to 0% in August (two games). His chase rate, as a whole, has dropped from 35.3% in 2022 to 30.2% in 2023.
DEALING: How Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal overcame latest challenge in ‘laser-focused’ sixth start
Most importantly, though, Lange hasn’t been able to throw strikes consistently for two months. Controlling the strike zone is a pillar of what the Tigers are trying to do under Scott Harris, their new president of baseball operations.
“I think we have to continue to work through the issues, and he knows that more than anyone,” Hinch said. “There’s always considerations on how to do it. … We’re always looking at creative ways to do it, and certainly under the circumstances, we’re going to have to consider all of our options.
“Regardless of what inning that Alex pitches, the strikes have to increase for him to stay effective and stay in leverage. We’ll continue to push him and work with him. To answer your question, of course, we’re going to look at different scenarios to get to the finish line if we need to.”
The big fight
In his third year as a manager in the American League Central, Hinch reacted to the on-field fight between José Ramírez (Cleveland Guardians) and Tim Anderson (Chicago White Sox) in Saturday’s game at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
The showdown occurred after Ramírez slid safely into second base, with Anderson applying the tag. Anderson started the fight, but Ramírez dodged a pair of punches and dropped him to the ground with a right hook to the side of his face.
“I haven’t seen too many guys square up and box,” Hinch said. “I probably enjoyed Tito’s postgame commentary as much as I enjoyed the competition. … There were a lot of texts going on about it. It will be the talk of the league. There are disagreements all the time, but actual hockey-style fights with dropped gloves are very rare.”
REMEMBER WHEN: Why Tigers, White Sox stormed the field in September 2021: ‘It wasn’t intentional’
Here’s what Terry Francona, the Guardians’ manager, said about the fight: “It’s not funny, but coming in (to the clubhouse) and listening to Hammy (broadcaster Tom Hamilton), it’s hard not to chuckle.”
Here’s what Ramírez said in Spanish, with Agustín Rivero interpreting: “He’s been disrespecting the game for a while. It’s not from yesterday or from before. I even had the chance to tell him during the game, ‘Don’t do this stuff. That’s disrespectful. Don’t start tagging people like that.’ In reality, we’re here trying to find ways to provide for our families. When he does the things he does on the bases, it can get somebody out of the game. So, I was telling him to stop doing that, and then as soon as the play happened, he tagged me again really hard, more than needed, and then he reacted and said, ‘I want to fight.’ If you want to fight, I have to defend myself.”
Anderson has not yet spoken to reporters.
Scratched again
The Tigers scratched Javier Báez from Sunday’s starting lineup as he continues to deal with a death in the family, but the 30-year-old will be available off the bench in the series finale against the Rays.
Báez will likely be placed on the bereavement list soon.
He can be away from the team for 3-7 days.
Pitching plan vs. Twins
The Tigers will start left-hander Joey Wentz on Monday (against Pablo López), lefty Eduardo Rodriguez on Tuesday (against Sonny Gray) and right-hander Reese Olson on Thursday (against Kenta Maeda).
There’s an opening in the starting rotation for Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, which could be filled by right-hander Alex Faedo. For that to happen, though, the Tigers need to make a roster move.
The Tigers also pushed back left-hander Tarik Skubal from Thursday against the Twins at Comerica Park (on four days of rest) to Friday against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park (on five days of rest) for precautionary reasons.
It will be Skubal’s seventh start since returning from left flexor tendon surgery.
“We’re going to be crazy-disciplined with him, to the point of frustrating everybody except for us making the decision,” Hinch said. “We’re going to give him extra rest. He may have a start on regular rest in the rest of the year, but generally, we’re going to slide somebody in there, or an off day is going to help, or we can do a bullpen game.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.