By Just Baseball

Copyright yardbarker

The graphic above shows each of Vest’s offerings’ average miles per hour by month. In September, his four-seamer and sinker are down 0.3 mph, his changeup is down 0.4 mph, and his slider is down 0.2 mph. It’s nothing drastic, but those are season lows across the board.

Vest has still been productive, and considering how steady he has been for the past few seasons, I do believe he’ll be fine. But, it is worth monitoring, especially considering he is by far the Tigers’ best arm and will likely be used more and more once games start to become crucial in the playoffs.

Vest isn’t the only arm seeing more innings. Troy Melton, the rookie who has emerged as one of the team’s few trusted options, has also set a new career high in innings. Last season was the first time he surpassed 100 innings (100.2), and he is already at 111.2 across the minors and majors this year.

Melton has been a starter throughout his time in the minors, so a larger jump in innings was expected and prepared for. However, a change in role to the bullpen has come with throwing harder, which could complicate things. We are in wait-and-see (while crossing your fingers) mode.

Of course, bullpens are fickle. We have seen them turn around overnight and string together good stretches. We’ve even seen it from this bullpen at times this year. So, with the playoffs around the corner, how can the Tigers make this work?

How the Tigers Bullpen Can Get Right

For starters, getting Kyle Finnegan back will make a huge difference. Not only back on the roster, but back to form. It might take a few outings to get his feet under him again, and luckily, the Tigers will have time for him to do so before the playoffs get going.

Even when Finnegan comes back, Detroit is going to need more than just Vest, Melton, and Finnegan if they want to reach their goals. Brant Hurter is going to have to replicate what he did last season when the Tigers called his number to fill multiple innings.

If the Tigers are forced into doing some variation of pitching chaos again, it will only succeed if Hurter can continue to pitch to his 2.45 ERA/3.86 FIP level. Yes, some starter(s) will shift to bullpen role(s), which could help take some innings off Hurter, but I do not trust those options as much as the second-year lefty.

The Tigers will also have to get the good Tommy Kahnle, who has been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde while struggling to find the strike zone in the second half. His command has faltered, and so has his swing-and-miss stuff, but he still brings playoff experience and enough of a track record that a turnaround is not impossible.

Detroit would then turn to the likes of Beau Brieske, Rafael Montero, and potentially Paul Sewald. Brieske was an important part of last season’s run but has been far from the same pitcher in 2025. Montero has shown flashes, but there’s a reason fans squint every time he takes the mound. As for Sewald, he’s 35 and coming off an injury with just over 50 innings pitched across the past two seasons.

I’d love to include Tyler Holton in this discussion, but he has not given me enough confidence to do so. Despite what he has shown the past two seasons, Holton has been significantly worse this year and is pitching through a bad stretch.

I know, I know, these aren’t answers to getting the bullpen right. That’s mostly because there are no very clear answers to doing so. A hope and a prayer might be your best bet.

After getting by last season, the front office did not do enough during the offseason or at the deadline to make you feel like the bullpen is anything other than a weakness.

Final Thoughts

The way that I, and most, feel about the Tigers is a bit odd. Not often does a team with a recent history of being awful flip the script, likely finish in first place, and have one of the highest win totals in the American League, only for us to feel like they are going into the playoffs without much hope.

However, here we are feeling like pitching will hold them back. Looking for answers from pitchers who really shouldn’t be asked to be in these situations. Asking two or three guys to do it all and pull off what continues to feel like an ever more impossible task.

Let’s also not forget last year. Essentially the opposite feeling, but similar premise. When hope was all but gone, the impossible became possible. Maybe, just maybe, the Tigers have a little magic left.