Framber Valdez's 2026 season was a disappointment, although we could have expected part of his regression, as he fell from the 98th percentile to the 38th in breaking ball from 2024 to 2025. Framber continued to be among the elite pitchers at generating ground balls, finishing 2026 in the 96th percentile in GB%, but he stopped generating whiffs and strikeouts, plummeting to the 12th percentile in Whiff% and the 16th in K%, the worst marks of his entire career.
However, when Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize were traded at the trade deadline and it seemed that the Detroit Tigers' rotation would collapse, Valdez stabilized the rotation over the rest of the season. After posting a 4.41 ERA and 1.4 fWAR in his first 22 starts, he finished with a 3.19 ERA and 0.6 fWAR in his final nine, increasing his GB% rate from 53.5 to 59.9 and reducing his allowed BABIP from .304 to .266. Even so, his FIP was identical in both stretches, at 4.14, and his xERA was better in the first stretch, at 4.35 compared to 4.44. That said, we cannot say that the Framber Valdez of the end of the season was more dominant, but he did manage to become a slightly safer bet for the Tigers.
In any case, I think there is no discussion that Detroit will need a leader in the rotation that it does not have right now, and I don't think betting on a Valdez bounce-back is the most encouraging option. That said, there are opportunities in free agency that the Tigers should take advantage of. And even if they don't manage to find the perfect pitcher, there are some very interesting options that could strengthen the top three spots in the rotation.
San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King (34). Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
I would love to know what you think, but King seems to me like an option that could fit perfectly as the leader of this young rotation the Tigers will feature. After declining his player option and becoming a free agent, King quickly became one of the most coveted starting pitchers.
King declined the final two years of his contract (valued at $58 million) and accepted a $5 million buyout to enter the market. Over the last three seasons, in which he was a key piece of the Padres' starting rotation, King led the team in wins with 29 and FIP with 3.29, in addition to finishing with the second-highest fWAR mark, at 7.5, only behind Dylan Cease , who led the aforementioned span with 8.2. King, 31, had a great bounce-back season in 2026 and finished with a 12-10 record and career highs after making 32 starts and throwing 185 innings, posting a 3.21 ERA and 2.6 fWAR.
He finished the regular season in the 93rd percentile in Pitching, once again placing his Offspeed among the elite, in the 97th percentile, and his breaking in the 86th percentile. Although his strikeout rate declined, King regained his ability to generate ground balls, finished in the 89th percentile in Hard Hit% and managed a much more useful complement: his durability, securing 18 quality starts. In 28 of his 32 starts, he pitched at least five innings; in 22, he secured at least six and in 23, he allowed fewer than four runs, which was key to avoiding the workload that San Diego's bullpen was subjected to throughout the entire year.
San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King (34). Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Even so, I think that, to compete in the short term, the Tigers would have to get one more arm for the rotation and strengthen the bullpen, but the mere fact of being able to guarantee the presence of a pitcher like King would be a great added value. We saw another great example of that during the postseason, where he finished with a 1-0 record, seven scoreless innings with one hit allowed against the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Series, a save against the Brewers, and 14 innings with a 0.64 ERA.
Now, the question here is whether Detroit is willing to spend or will move forward, trusting all of its young arms.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/tigers/onsi as Tigers Have an Opportunity to Find the Leader Their Rotation Is Missing .
