CLEVELAND — The Detroit Tigers have lost six games in a row, but that’s not their biggest problem heading into the American League Central-defining series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
The reason to worry?
It’s the two left-handed relievers in the Tigers’ bullpen.
“I’m not as concerned about handedness as maybe some of you,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
The Tigers have taken a series-by-series approach to constructing their bullpen to get matchup advantages for the past three months, but in the most important series of the season, the Tigers hindered themselves with Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter as the only left-handed relievers available.
Three lefty relievers would’ve given the Tigers an advantage.
“It is what it is,” Hinch said Tuesday, Sept. 23, before the opener of the three-game series against the Guardians. “We need all of our guys to get through a series like this.”
The Guardians have seven left-handed hitters (and three switch-hitters) among their 14 position players. The surplus of lefty hitters includes two of their best three players: Steven Kwan and Kyle Manzardo.
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Kwan is hitting .250 with a .590 OPS against lefties, while Manzardo is hitting .177 with a .668 OPS against lefties, but the Tigers have only two lefty relievers to counter them.
The Tigers’ best lefty reliever understands the importance of his role against the Guardians.
“Mentally, you’re more ready to get in there,” said Holton, who owns a 3.74 ERA across 74⅔ innings, with lefties hitting just .197 against him. “That’s probably the only question I ever ask whenever we’re going into a new series: How many lefties do they got? We know these guys. I expect to be in there.”
Why don’t the Tigers have another left-handed reliever?
Bailey Horn and Drew Sommers — the only other lefty relievers on the 40-man roster — are stuck in the 15-day option cycle after being optioned to Triple-A Toledo, with Sommers not eligible until Friday and Horn not eligible until the postseason. (Brenan Hanifee, a right-handed reliever with a 3.00 ERA across 60 innings, is stuck in the option cycle until the postseason, which is why the Tigers have Tanner Rainey — and his 14.09 ERA — in their bullpen.)
The Tigers prioritized Horn as one of three left-handed relievers in the recent three-game series from Tuesday-Thursday against the Guardians at Comerica Park, joining Holton and Hurter, then the Tigers optioned Horn on Friday when right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan returned from the injured list.
Pitchers optioned to the minor leagues aren’t eligible to return for 15 days, barring an injury, which is why Hanifee and Horn aren’t with the Tigers for this AL Central-defining three-game series against the Guardians.
It doesn’t help that the Tigers already parted ways with a handful of lefty relievers who have found success elsewhere: Andrew Chafin with the Los Angeles Angels, Matt Gage with the San Francisco Giants, Dietrich Enns with the Baltimore Orioles and PJ Poulin with the Washington Nationals.
All of those lefty relievers were in the Tigers’ organization to start the 2025 season.
The Tigers could use any one of them right now.
“These are playoff games,” Hinch said. “Whether you have one lefty, two lefties, three lefties — those guys, half their bullpen is left-handed — we’re just going to go with the guy that we think could get the outs at that moment in time. The configuration of your bullpen doesn’t change your usage. The urgency of the game changes your usage.”
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers’ bullpen is reason to worry in AL Central vs Guardians