Taylor Swift has Paramore, HAIM and, in Detroit, Gracie Abrams, Girl in Red and Owenn. The Detroit Tigers have Will Vest.
We’re talking opening acts, of course, and Vest took the stage in Minneapolis over the weekend with a bit of franchise history.
Last Friday and Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, Vest became the first Tigers starter in 50 years to take the mound for the start of two games in a single series since lefty ace Mickey Lolich did it to open and close a five-game set against the Yankees in New York on June 21 and 24, 1973.
Of course, Vest’s Twin Cities experiences were a bit different than Lolich’s battles in the Bronx: Whereas the veteran lefty threw a total of 14⅓ innings against the Yanks — six innings on June 21 before rain wiped out the final three frames at Yankee Stadium, and then 8⅓ innings on June 24, as the Yanks walked it off on a Graig Nettles home run to right field — Vest, faced just seven batters, recording five outs total on Friday and Sunday.
That season, Lolich accounted for 308⅔ innings — think of it as an MLB equivalent to T-Swift’s epic Nashville performance last month — which could explain why the Freep’s game story on June 25, 1973, didn’t even mention the scant two days’ rest for Lolich. To be fair, Vest also faced the Twins on Thursday night, albeit for just an inning — demonstrating not quite a rubber arm, but not too shabby, either.
Hello, and welcome to the For Openers Newsletter.
Vest is one of four relievers the Tigers have used as an “opener” in a game this season, going into a start planning to face just a few batters before passing the baton to another pitcher. He’s had three turns, while Tyler Alexander, Mason Englert and Tyler Holton have each gotten a short shift on the mound to start games this season.
The Tigers’ six games with an “opener” — call it less than three innings pitched and less than two runs allowed — are tied for the third-most in the majors this season, with the — gulp — Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals, who are battling it out this season for the worst record in baseball. Then again, the No. 2 team — the San Francisco Giants, with 10 — is eight games above .500 (40-32) and deep in the race for the NL West.
And the No. 1 team? That would be the squad with MLB’s best record at 51-24: The Tampa Bay Rays, who have gone to the “opener” 17 times already this season. The Rays were the first franchise to rely heavily on the plan, back in 2018. That season, the Rays used an opener at least 54 times — including right-hander Ryne Stanek, who finished the season at 66⅓ innings despite starting nearly 30 times.
This isn’t Tigers manager A.J. Hinch’s first season turning to the opener as a short-term fix for the Tigers’ rotation, however. In 2021, his first season in Detroit, the Tigers sent a starter to the mound for three innings or less while allowing two runs or fewer 19 times — the 12th-highest total for a team over the past decade. (The 2018 Rays, 2019 Rays, 2022 Rays and 2021 Rays occupy spot Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 on that list, by the way.)
Of course, the Tigers’ approach that season was slightly different; Hinch mostly used starters, rather than relievers. Two of those starts were by Matthew Boyd, who left early with injuries. But four of the starts went to Casey Mize and three to Tarik Skubal, all in July or later as the Tigers attempted to keep their inning totals manageable in their first full MLB seasons.
It’s tough to argue too much with the reliever-heavy version this season: The Tigers are 3-3 with an “opener” in 2023. It’s not quite up to T-Swift’s winning percentage, but we’ll take it for now.
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Foley artist
Vest isn’t the only Tigers reliever putting in some extra work; Jason Foley picked up the first two-inning save of his career to close out Sunday’s victory, striking out four and allowing just one hit in two scoreless innings. How did he keep his cool? As Foley told the Freep’s Evan Petzold, “I knew there was a pretty decent chance that I was going to go back out (for the ninth inning). I figured I would try to stay focused.” Head here to find out how Foley avoided spending — as he put it — his “emotional energy.”
Tork-ed up
Another star of Sunday’s win over the Twins: First baseman Spencer Torkelson, whose two-run homer gave the Tigers their second lead of the afternoon. That’s part of a June that has featured Tork bashing four homers in 17 games. Are we witnessing the Great Tork Awakening — the Tork-ening, if you will — this month. Our Man Petzold sees good things coming; head here to find out why.
Vier right
But the Tigers’ best hitter in June — though only over six games — has been outfielder Matt Vierling; the righty has a 1.383 OPS that’s third among all MLB hitters with at least five games played this month (behind only David Villar’s 1.444 in five games for the Giants and Shohei Ohtani’s 1.439 in 17 games with the Angels). Yes, that’s a small sample size, and, yes, Vierling was scratched Sunday with back spasms, but he’s still drawing some viral All-Star Game chatter online, with the hashtag #VierlingASG. Our Man Petzold has the reasons behind that here.
Colt 21
While we’re talking hot hitters — and really, when’s the last time the ol’ Newsletter got to talk good hitting? — Colt Keith (who doesn’t turn 22 till August) is still crushing Double-A pitching for Erie. The third baseman has a .302/.383/.679 slash line this month with the Seawolves. But don’t expect to see him in Detroit too soon; Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris pumped the brakes on a too-rapid promotion while talking to reporters on Monday at Comerica Park. Head here to find out why Harris thinks a stop at Triple-A could be vital in Keith’s development.
Jung at heart
A rung down from Keith is 2022 top pick Jace Jung, who has found his stroke with West Michigan this month — he has a .317/.382/.617 slash line in 68 June plate appearances. In his own words, the infielder is “staying in control and relaxed in the box and getting a good pitch and putting a good swing on it,” as he told the Freep’s Jeff Seidel. But he has also taken some inspiration from a gift from his late grandmother. Head here to find out what that is, and why it’s so important to him.
3 to watch
But back to the relievers (and one special ex-Tiger) this week …
MASON ENGLERT: Arm trouble for the Tigers’ Rule 5 draft pick, who’s already at 40⅔ innings this year?
ANTHONY MISIEWICZ: The ex-Anchor Bay and MSU lefty is waiting in Triple-A Toledo after a waiver claim.
WILLI CASTRO: The ex-Tiger is thriving with the Twins thanks to the versatility he learned in Detroit.
Happy birthday, Jake Wood!
Former Tigers second baseman Jake Wood turns 86 on Thursday. The New Jersey native reached the majors in April 1961 as the first Black position player to rise through the Tigers’ farm system; he was electric that season, leading MLB in triples (14) and finishing third in the AL in steals (30) en route to finishing sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Unfortunately, he also led the majors in strikeouts in 1961, with 141 in 731 plate appearances while posting a .258/.320/.376 slash line. He topped 400 PAs just one more time in his career, with 404 in 1962, and played in 592 games in all with the Tigers, followed by a 16-game stint with the Cincinnati Reds in 1967.
Other Tigers’ birthdays this week: Bobby Seay (45 on Tuesday), Ian Kinsler (41 on Thursday).
Mark your calendar
The Tigers are already 1-0 this week, with a rally on Monday night in the opener of their three-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park. (You can catch up on that game from Our Man Petzold here.) They’ll wrap up that series with a 6:40 start tonight and a 1:10 p.m. start Wednesday, then take Thursday off before welcoming the AL Central-leading Twins — we’re going to keep typing that phrase as long as it’s both accurate and absurd, considering their record dropped below .500 again Monday — for a three-game set beginning Friday.
TL;DR
The Tigers’ franchise record for most starts of fewer than three innings, if you were wondering, was set in 1937. Those definitely weren’t openers, though, as 27 of the 32 featured a starter allowing at least four runs — the Tigers rotation’s ERA that season was 4.88, seventh in an eight-team American League and more than a quarter of a run worse than the league average of 4.59.
Despite Vest’s handiwork, the rotation’s numbers are even worse this season, at 4.97 — 13th in a 15-team AL and more than half a run worse than the league average of 4.39. Then again, perhaps Vest will get another shot at the two-fer this weekend when the Twins are back in town.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.