A disastrous bullpen squandered a dominant run differential, as Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen headlined a relief corps that sabotaged Detroit’s postseason hopes with 32 blown saves.
The Detroit Tigers bullpen was beyond putrid this season. A direct result in Detroit having the fourth high run differential at +71 but still coming up ten games short of .500.
Nearly half of the 86 losses the Tigers wound up with where in large part, thanks to the horrendous bullpen that scared people more than watching the movie’Haunt’ before going to a haunted house.
Tigers fans would quiver in fear anytime manager A.J. Hinch came out to the mound to relieve whichever starter had gone enough to get Detroit the lead heading into the final few innings.
As soon as the starter was pulled it seemed the opposing team took out their torpedo bats and teed off on our bullpen.
Overall the Tigers finished with 32 blown saves and completed 32 saves as well giving Detroit an exact 50/50 split.
Leading the way in baseball and in Detroit was Kyle Finnegan. Not the category you ever want to lead the league, let alone your team, in. Detroit traded for Finnegan last year after he was delivering seeds to home plate with Washington. Finnegan came over to Detroit and looked very good actually last year.
Tigers GM tried his best to bolster the bullpen before the trade deadline was done but in result just made a meme out of himself getting some of the worst bullpen arms the MLB had to offer, except Finnegan. He zigged when all the other acquisitions zagged and actually threw well for Detroit last year.
That was a major reason as to why the Tigers re-signed Finnnegan this offseason.
Now after watching Finnegan blow a career high and 2026 MLB high as well as Detroit Tigers high ten blown saves, Finnegan has forced the Tigers hand to move on.
Finnegan may have accounted for nearly 33% of the blown saves, he had a lot of help.
Both Drew Anderson and Kenley Jansen finished with six blown saves each, thus accumulating for 12 more of those 32 blown saves.
Anderson proved by the end of the year, forcing him into save chances what more idiotic from Hinch than it was genius. Anderson carved out a role in the starting rotation by years end and was dealing early and often once put in his normal position.
Jansen, the man brought in to defy father time and be the tigers ultimate closer. Only thing was this ended just like when the Tigers tried to sign aging closers in the past, terribly and as more of a gimmick then a real baseball move.
Jansen did pull it together at the end of the season and did finish with 22 saves, leaving him just two saves away from 500 total career saves. Yet still it was his incompetence midway through the season that proved to Tigers fans and hopefully the organization that Jansen has lost his moves and can’t put the Tigers in these perdicaments.
Will Vest helped out the cause blowing five of his seven save opportunities as he dealt with an injury that turned out to be more seriosu than thought as he missed a lot of the season after making sure the Tigers missed chances tro win games.
Overall the bullpen was worse than a pile of flamming garbage and that will need to be addressed.
Scott Harris says he’s going to continue to look within, which is not a bad move if you have the right coaching.
But no matter the journey the result needs to finish with a Todd Jones like closer so that Tigers fans don’t have to break five TVs in one season.
