Five Things We Liked From Last Week, March 7th

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

1. Reese Olson

While the proverbial sun has set on the Al Avila era in Detroit, it’s easy to forget that a good chunk of the current Tigers roster was brought in by Avila and his staff. Perhaps the best trade of the Avila era occurred on July 30, 2021, when Avila traded left-hander Daniel Norris to the Milwaukee Brewers for a youngster named Reese Olson.

Fast-forward almost 4 years, and Olson is looking like quite the steal. In 2023, Reese put up 1.5 fWAR in just shy of 104 innings with the Tigers, posting a 3.99 ERA with solid peripherals. In 2024, Olson took his game to another level. His chase, whiff, barrel and groundball percentages were all in the 75^th percentile or higher. His 3.53 ERA ranked 36^th out of 110 starters who threw at least 110 innings, his 50.6% groundball % ranked 10^th, and his .56 HR/9 ranked 5^th. Keeping the ball on the ground and in the yard while limiting walks, Olson’s 3.17 FIP ranked 13^th among that group of 110 starters.

In looking at Olson’s pitch mix, one thing that sticks out is the whiff rate on his 4-seamer and sinker. In 2023 and 2024, Olson generated at least a 30% whiff rate on all of his pitches, except the fastball and sinker, which have been in the 10-15% range the past 2 years. However, last Friday, something muy interesante was happening with Olson’s fastball mix; he was averaging 96 mph, up almost 2 mph from his average in 2024. He followed that up Wednesday by averaging 95 mph on his 4-seamer and sinker while building up his workload.

The newfound velocity could just be an early spring training blip, but if Olson is able to sustain that extra oomph during the course of the season, he could take his game to an even higher level in 2025.

2. Casey Mize

During the aforementioned Al Avila era in Detroit, Avila had two chances at the number one overall pick in the MLB draft, and in both seasons, there was a fairly consensus choice as to who the Tigers should pick. In 2018, that happened to be one Casey Mize.

Mize made quick work of the minor leagues in 2019, and was up in the big leagues during the pandemic shortened 2020 season, which I think we would all just as soon forget, including Mize. However, in 2021, Mize began to establish himself as a legitimate starting pitcher in the bigs, as he put up a 3.71 ERA in just over 150 innings. Unfortunately, injuries struck in 2022, and the right-hander was essentially missing in action during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Mize returned to the Tigers rotation in 2024, and all things considered, had a fairly respectable season after battling back from two injury filled seasons. While his 4.49 ERA was nothing to write home about, does anyone really write home about anything anymore? His 3.95 FIP and 4.04 xFIP hinted that there was at least some bad luck at play, and another encouraging sign was that Mize gained an average of close to 2 mph on his fastball from 2021-2022 to 2024, where he averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball. On Saturday, Mize averaged 96 mph with the heater, and also sat close to 90 mph with his splitter.

While velocity isn’t everything, just like with Reese Olson, if Mize can sustain these gains during the ’25 season, he should provide a much-needed boost to either the Tigers’ rotation or bullpen, especially if he can find success with one of his sliders.

3. Keider Montero

Heading into this spring training, there appeared to be 7 starters fighting for one spot in the Tigers’ rotation: Jackson Jobe, Casey Mize, Kenta Maeda, Matt Manning, Keider Montero, Brant Hurter and Ty Madden. With Alex Cobb dealing with a hip injury, that one spot became two; and a few front runners have emerged from the group of 7. One of those front-runners is Keider Montero.

Montero was not only a pleasant surprise for the Tigers in 2024, but along with Tarik Skubal, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say he saved the Tigers’ bacon by providing valuable starter innings when no one else was. The highlight of Montero’s season came in September, when he fired a complete game shutout against the Colorado Rockies.

Montero followed Reese Olson in Saturday’s spring training game, and to use a technical term, was straight nasty. As has been a trend with many Tigers pitchers this spring, as well as in this “Five Things”, Montero’s velocity was up on all of his pitches, as was his spin rate.

Montero struck out four Phillies in just two innings, with one walk and no hits. Whether or not he makes the rotation out of spring training, Keider is setting himself up to be a major factor for the Tigers in the ’25 season.

4. Jahmai Jones

“Great moments are born from great opportunity, and that’s what you have here tonight, boys. That’s what you’ve earned here tonight.”

While this speech was technically delivered by Kurt Russell as Coach Herb Brooks in the movie “Miracle”, it may as well have been delivered by A.J. Hinch to Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones.

Jones signed with the Tigers as a minor league free agent this past offseason, to little fanfare. But due to injuries to Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling, he now finds himself battling for an opening day roster spot with Detroit.

It’s a great opportunity for Jones, and he’s done nothing but impress in spring training, with a .278/.409/.722 slash in 22 plate appearances. If Jones keeps this up, he could become at minimum a part-time outfielder for the Tigers to start the ’25 season. Jahmai has historically hit lefties well, which is what the Tigers need, posting a .883 OPS against lefties last season in the minors, and a massive 1.023 OPS against lefties in the minors in 2023.

Jones absolutely smoked two balls on Wednesday off Phillies’ lefty Jesús Luzardo, which only helped his case. If Parker Meadows starts the season on the IL, don’t be surprised if Jones gets some starts in center field for Detroit, especially against lefties.

5. Dan Dickerson

Finally, if you have around 30 minutes to spare, do yourself a favor and check out our own Rogelio Castillo and Chris Brown’s recent podcast with the legendary Dan Dickerson.

I think fans sometimes take for granted just how awesome it is to have Dan Dickerson on the radio for Tigers games, but this pod was a reminder of just how excellent, knowledgeable and downright pleasant he is.

As mentioned in a previous “Five Things”, Tigers fans are lucky to have two of the best in the biz calling play by play on TV and the radio.