DENVER — Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen has been selected to the 2023 All-Star Game, scheduled for July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
There were other potential candidates, namely high-leverage relievers Alex Lange and Jason Foley and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, but Lorenzen was chosen to represent the organization.
The game between the American League and National League starts at 8 p.m. and will be televised on Fox. The latest edition of the Midsummer Classic marks Lorenzen’s first All-Star Game in his nine-year MLB career. He’s the first Tigers starting pitcher to make the AL squad since Michael Fulmer did so in 2017.
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The Tigers signed Lorenzen to a one-year, $8.5 million contract in December 2022. The 31-year-old right-hander will become a free agent after the 2023 season, so the Tigers are expected to trade him before the Aug. 1 deadline.
In 2023, Lorenzen has a 2-6 record with a 4.28 ERA, 20 walks (6% walk rate) and 62 strikeouts (18.6% strikeout rate) across 82 innings in 14 starts. He posted a 1.83 ERA in six starts, spanning 39⅓ innings, from May 3 through June 3.
But Lorenzen owns a 6.28 ERA in five starts since then, including giving up five earned runs in five innings on Friday in Denver.
The Tigers lost their best two players, left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and center fielder Riley Greene, to injuries at the end of May. Left-hander Matthew Boyd, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract in the offseason, underwent Tommy John surgery last week to fix the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow.
Lorenzen has produced 0.8 fWAR in his 14 outings this season, third among members of the Tigers’ pitching staff behind Rodriguez (1.6 fWAR) and Foley (1.1 fWAR). The position players are led by Greene (1.6 fWAR), Jake Rogers (1.6 fWAR), Zach McKinstry (1.6 fWAR) and Akil Baddoo (0.8 fWAR).
He has a 4.12 ERA in his 327-game career, which includes 58 starts.
Lorenzen, nicknamed “Zen Master,” has played for the Cincinnati Reds (2015-21), Los Angeles Angels (2022) and Tigers (2023). He worked out of the starting rotation for the Reds in 2015, the Angels in 2022 and the Tigers in 2023.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.