Michael Lorenzen’s Future with the Detroit Tigers Hangs in the Balance
DETROIT — Michael Lorenzen said he was not thinking too much about the elephant in the ballpark. Not with his hometown team on the other side. Not with last year’s teammates coming up to face him in the batter’s box. Not with Shohei Ohtani sending down batters in order, sending Lorenzen back out to the mound inning after inning before he could wipe the sweat from his brow.
But the scouts in attendance and observers across the league — if they could take their eyes off Ohtani for a moment — were well aware of the obvious. Thursday could have been Lorenzen’s final start as a Detroit Tiger.
“Maybe if it was a different team, I’d think a little bit more about the other stuff,” Lorenzen said, “but the fact it was my hometown team and the team I played for last year, I just wanted to come back on top, and Shohei made sure that wouldn’t happen.”
With Ohtani — who threw a masterful one-hitter in the front end of the doubleheader and homered twice in the second game — now staying put with the Angels, the starting pitching market could begin falling into place. The Tigers have already fielded calls on several of their players. And given Lorenzen’s status as a one-year rental on an affordable $8.5 million deal, there will be more calls about him before all is said and done.
The trade deadline can be unpredictable, but as Aug. 1 nears, it’s possible Lorenzen has eclipsed Eduardo Rodriguez as the most likely Tiger to be dealt. Lorenzen comes without the complications of Rodriguez’s opt-out. He does not have the proven front-end stuff of Rodriguez, but he is also in the midst of the best season of his career. He entered this most recent start with a 21 2/3 innings scoreless streak. Thursday against the Angels, he allowed three earned runs over five innings and also struck out seven batters. Nothing flashy, but another solid outing for a right-hander who has posted his share this season.
This year for the Tigers, Lorenzen has been close to a best-case scenario. The Tigers signed him believing in his upside, believing they could unlock more if they continued down the path of last September, where Lorenzen posted a 2.36 ERA over his final five starts with the Angels.
In Detroit, Lorenzen continued to simplify his arsenal. He tweaked his changeup and fine-tuned his mechanics and release points. He raved about working with the Tigers’ pitching coaches. Team management raved about Lorenzen’s willingness to learn and implement change.
He started the season on the IL, and his first few starts were pedestrian. But Lorenzen had a 1.95 ERA in May, and by July, he looked up and was a surprise All-Star selection despite an ERA that started with a 4.
Since the break, Lorenzen has been at his best, validating that All-Star nod, dropping his ERA to 3.58 and showing flashes of improved swing-and-miss stuff (his 7.07 K/9 is still something other teams could view as a concern).
Now we are in the final days before the deadline, and the Tigers have a chance to sell on Lorenzen when his stock is at its highest. That’s the dream scenario for a one-year deal. And with starting pitching in demand, it’s easy to see the Tigers acquiring the type of quality young hitter their system needs in return. Scott Harris already got Justyn-Henry Malloy and relief pitcher Jake Higginbotham for Joe Jiménez in his first trade as the Tigers’ president of baseball operations over the winter. One rival evaluator estimated the Tigers could get at least a second-tier prospect in return for Lorenzen.
The Tigers, of course, could remain open to the idea of extending Rodriguez or even Lorenzen. The mutual admiration between player and team makes the idea of Lorenzen sticking around intriguing. But there are currently no indications of meaningful extension talks, and Lorenzen’s potential value in free agency could be climbing quickly. Given where the Tigers are at, given the state of their farm and given their desire to add talent to the system, trading Lorenzen makes all the sense in the world.
So what might the next few days be like for Detroit’s 31-year-old starter?
“I did my shoulder program right after my start,” Lorenzen said. “I got a spa day tomorrow with all the recovery stuff. I’m just getting ready for my next start, to be honest. I think that was my 18th start. I have about 12 more left. That’s kind of where my mind’s at. Just getting ready for my next one.”
We shall see what the market holds. But Lorenzen’s next one might just come in a different uniform.
(Photo: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)