Five Things We Liked From Last Week, February 28th

Welcome to “Five Things We Liked From Last Week”, a weekly mishmash of… five things we liked from last week:

1. Andrew Chafin

On Monday, news broke that old friend Andrew Chafin was returning to the Tigers on a minor league deal, that could be worth up to $4 million with incentives per Free Press beat writer Evan Petzold.

The Tigers’ bullpen was deep coming into camp, and the addition of Chafin only strengthens the unit.

In the past 4 seasons, there are only 4 lefty relievers who have thrown more innings than Chafin, which speaks to his durability and effectiveness. His 27% strikeout rate over that time ranks 21^st among all qualifying lefty relievers, his .77 HR/9 ranks 19^th, his 3.12 ERA ranks 9th and his 3.2 fWAR is tied for 8^th. In 2024, Chafin ranked in the 97^th percentile in chase rate, the 96^th percentile in whiff rate, the 85^th percentile in strikeout rate, and the 84^th percentile in hard-hit rate amongst all MLB pitchers.

In short, Chafin has been one of the best lefty relievers in the game for several seasons now, and his best work has come with the Tigers.

With Chafin’s arrival, there appears to be just one spot open in the Tigers’ pen barring injury, which could be filled by a starter that doesn’t make the rotation.

2. Bullpen depth

Despite there possibly being just one spot open in the Tigers’ pen, this spring, we have already seen the depth Detroit has in the bullpen, not only for this year, but for years to come.

While the sample size is of course quite small, Tyler Owens has looked very solid in two appearances so far, and Chase Lee has held his own while flashing 3,000 rpms on his side-arm sweeper. It wouldn’t be a surprise for either of the two to crack the Tigers’ bullpen this season and provide meaningful innings.

Non-roster invite Jordan Balazovic has also looked impressive in 4 innings so far. The eye test says his changeup is formidable, and although the velo on his fastball isn’t great, it is tough to square up with close to 20 inches of induced vertical break. And while 2021 5^th round pick Tanner Kohlhepp may be a little further away after spending the 2024 season in West Michigan, he showed some impressive stuff on Wednesday as well, with a sinker that touched 97 and a changeup that should be illegal in all 50 states. Kohlhepp’s changeup averaged close to 2850 rpms on Wednesday, which is unheard of. As noted by Brandon Day of Bless You Boys, the highest average spin rate of a changeup last year was from now New York Yankee closer Devin Williams, at 2720 rpms. Kohlhepp, like Tyler Owens, Chase Lee, Jordan Balazovic and several other relief prospects, will be worth keeping an eye on throughout the ’25 season.

3. Kenta Maeda

In last week’s “Five Things”, we talked about how the 2023 version of Kenta Maeda would provide a solid boost for the 2025 Detroit Tigers. If first impressions mean anything, Maeda is well on his way to helping out this year’s Tigers.

On Saturday, Maeda threw two scoreless innings while punching out 4 batters. Even more impressive was the velocity on his fastball, which according to Jason Beck of MLB.com, averaged 92.4 mph. On Thursday, while Maeda did allow a home run, he struck out five Red Sox(es?) in just 3 innings, and his fastball velocity averaged 91.8 mph per Evan Petzold on Twi X. While it’s only two games, the last time Maeda averaged 92 mph on the heater was 2019.

It’s an open question whether Maeda can hold that velocity through the course of a normal game, much less a full season; but his first two appearances in camp were encouraging either way.

4. Jace Jung

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past 4 months, third base has been an on-going question for the Tigers throughout the offseason. There was a free agent named Alex Bregman that many Tigers fans were hoping the team would sign, but he ended up signing with the Boston Red Sox instead.

If you were living under a rock, congratulations that you got out and are reading this. If you weren’t, you know that Jace Jung has emerged as potentially option number one as the starting third baseman for the Tigers to start the ’25 season.

Last season, Jung got called up in mid-August and ended up with 94 plate appearances to finish the year. Due to a massive 16% walk rate, his wRC+ ended up at a very respectable 102; however, he did struggle to hit for power and also struggled in the field.

Jung had been dealing with a wrist injury during the 2024 season, which ended up requiring surgery. As relayed by Mlive.com’s Evan Woodbery, Jung felt bone on bone every time he swung the bat, which seems less than ideal. The surgery appears to have helped though, as Jung scorched a few doubles on Sunday in his first two plate appearances of the spring. He’s also made a few solid plays in the field at the beginning of spring training.

Here’s a wild prediction for 2025: Jung will be a solid third base option for the Tigers this season.

5. Yes Serwa

While this transaction didn’t quite happen within the past week, way back on January 17^th, the good ole’ days, news broke that the Tigers signed pitcher Kenny Serwa to a minor league contract.

Serwa joined The Valenti Show on January 22^nd and discussed his career so far. After pitching for four different colleges from 2016-2022, Serwa hit the indy circuit in 2022 and continued pitching for the Chicago Dogs of the American Association in 2024. He explained that on the advice of former college teammate Cody Whitten, he went to Tread Athletics after the ’24 season, and put in that work. That work resulted in throwing a knuckleball at 88.5 mph, the fastest knuckleball ever recorded in baseball history, per Brian Murphy at MLB.com.

Serwa went viral based on the video of a bullpen session at Tread, which has to be seen to be believed. Watching another human being fight for their life doesn’t bring me joy, so this is hard to say. But just take a look at that poor catcher trying to corral Serwa’s knuckleball.

It will be fun to track Serwa’s progress in 2025, and see if affiliated catchers have more success actually being able to catch his knuckler. In reviewing Serwa’s ’24 season, he performed fairly well, and this was without his new-found velocity. Among starters with at least 50 IP, his 4.22 ERA ranked 22^nd in the American Association (the ERA for the whole league was 4.91), and his 1.165 WHIP was 6^th among starters with at least 50 innings pitched. Serwa excelled at keeping the ball in the park (0.5 HR/9) and also limiting walks, tying for 3^rd in the league among all pitchers with a 1.7 BB/9 (just ahead of old friend, former Tiger Zac Reininger).

The Tigers have excelled in tuning up pitchers over the past few years; let’s see what the pitching department can do with Serwa.

Editor’s Note (by Rogelio Castillo): One thing we don’t like from recent news is that Matt Vierling won’t be ready for Opening Day due to a right shoulder injury. According to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Vierling has been dealing with soreness that has now sidelined him indefinitely. This is a frustrating setback for the Tigers, as his versatility and right-handed bat were expected to be key assets early in the season. With his absence, the team will likely have to shuffle its outfield plans—again—before the season even starts.

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