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How Detroit Tigers plan to help veteran reliever Andrew Chafin locate pitches again
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- How Detroit Tigers plan to help veteran reliever Andrew Chafin locate pitches again
Left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin has the ability to be successful in high-leverage situations, but he struggled during the one-year hiatus in his relationship with the Detroit Tigers .
He wasn't the same pitcher with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers .
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Some of the underlying metrics were similar between 2022 with the Tigers and 2023 with the Diamondbacks and Brewers, though the results on the field were polar opposite.
The Tigers believe Chafin, under the guidance of the Chris Fetter-led pitching department, can return to his previous form. That's why the Tigers signed him to a one-year, $4.25 million contract with a club option . The deal was agreed to Sunday, and the contract became official Tuesday.
THE DEAL: Tigers bring back reliever Andrew Chafin on one-year contract with club option
"He will probably be the first to tell you that he can do a better job of executing his stuff," Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Tuesday. "For us, it was encouraging to see that the underlying stuff was very similar to what it was in recent years. We trust Andrew to be able to command the baseball a little bit better when he's back in a Tigers uniform."
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Andrew Chafin pitches in the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on June 11, 2023.
Off-the-field discomfort, as a result of being too far away from his wife and children in Ohio , possibly factored into his on-field struggles with the Diamondbacks and Brewers, but still, the results were bad.
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In the 2023 season, Chafin posted a 4.73 ERA with 28 walks (12.5% walk rate) and 63 strikeouts (28.1% strikeout rate) over 51⅓ innings in 63 relief appearances.
The struggles, for the most part, occurred in the second half of the season.
Chafin logged a dominant 2.83 ERA, 9.8% walk rate and 35.2% strikeout in his first 36 appearances, followed by a miserable 7.15 ERA, 15.7% walk rate and 19.6% strikeout rate in his final 27 appearances.
"I think it really was an execution issue for him," Harris said. "I think there are some ways that we can support him and help his body move a little bit better to stay a little bit more repeatable. There are some targeting things we can do. I think, at the end of the day, we trust the human."
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THE WHY: What made Andrew Chafin return to Tigers? Plus more MLB winter meetings notes
For the Tigers in 2022, Chafin owned a 2.83 ERA with 19 walks (7.8% walk rate) and 67 strikeouts (27.6% strikeout rate) over 57⅓ innings in 64 relief appearances. Those results were closer to career norms in his 10-year MLB career.
His walk rate was the biggest difference between the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. His ground-ball rate got worse, as well, from 52.6% in 2022 to 40.2% in 2023.
"When he's right, he's inducing a ton of chase and a lot of ground balls," Harris said.
On the positive side, however, the Tigers were pleased to see his fastball velocity increase from 91.6 mph in 2022 to 92.2 mph in 2023, all while his nasty swing-and-miss slider maintained the same shape and effectiveness. The sinker-slider combination is what Chafin relies on for success.
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Chafin also maintained above-average results in two important categories — whiff rate (31.8%) and chase rate (31.2%) — for high-leverage relievers to miss bats and produce strikeouts.
His slider generated a 60.4% whiff rate in 2022 and a 55.8% whiff rate in 2023.
"We think there is going to be some natural regression in his strike-throwing to career norms," Harris said, "but we also think he has a good relationship with Fett and our pitching group, and we can provide a supportive environment that can get him back to the type of performance that we saw for a couple of years."
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Chafin already has a relationship with Fetter, but he is about to get to know assistant pitching coach Robin Lund. The Tigers want to optimize the way Chafin moves his body to create a consistent delivery, which means Chafin will work closely with the biomechanics expert when he reports to spring training.
Lund, who joined the Tigers before the 2023 season, could be the key to getting Chafin back on track.
Chafin will benefit from locating his pitches (and staying healthy) because he can earn up to $1.25 million in incentives for his appearances: $125,000 for 50 games, $250,000 for 55 and 60 games, $300,000 for 65 games and $325,000 for 70 games. If Chafin improves, the Tigers will benefit because of the $6.5 million club option for the 2025 season.
Manager A.J. Hinch is fond of Chafin's presence, both on the field and in the clubhouse, and finally has a second left-handed reliever in his projected bullpen, along with Tyler Holton . Fellow left-hander Joey Wentz could join the Tigers' bullpen if he isn't used in the starting rotation in Triple-A Toledo.
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"I know what Andrew's role is going to be," Harris said. "I'm not really sure about all the downstream effects on all of the other players."
Holton — who had a 2.11 ERA in 85⅓ innings last season — will continue to serve as a multi-inning reliever capable of pitching in any situation, while Chafin is expected to handle one-inning stints. He will typically pitch at the end of games with Alex Lange and Jason Foley .
The Tigers were a perfect fit for Chafin because he wanted to be closer his home in Ohio, and Chafin was a perfect fit for the Tigers because they needed a lefty reliever for high-leverage situations.
"I think he fits our bullpen really well," Harris said. "I think he does a few things for us. First, he strengthens the back end of our bullpen. Second, he adds another left-handed reliever that A.J. can use to match up at any time during the game. Third, his presence in our bullpen frees A.J. to use Tyler Holton in a variety of roles. Giving A.J. options strengthens our team."
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Detroit Tigers plan to help Andrew Chafin locate pitches again
