Detroit Tigers' Andrew Chafin stays busy on family farm, adds workouts to offseason routine

Andrew Chafin has been busy on his family farm.

He wakes up around 4 a.m. each day and sneaks off into the shop for a few cups of coffee. He sips on his coffee for about an hour while going through "emails and all the dumb stuff you've got to do." After that, Chafin gets to work on one of the many projects on the to-do list at his family farm outside of Massillon, Ohio.

Right now, Chafin is building a new house, preparing to open a wedding venue and fixing a go-kart.

"I've been doing a lot of excavating work this offseason," he said.

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"We're building a house, and I didn't want to pay somebody to move all the dirt from the backyard to the front yard," Chafin said Thursday. "I went out and got a big ol' dump truck and a bigger excavator. Just been working in the dirt, not playing, working in the dirt."

He likes to help out in the home when his children wake up in the morning, and every once in a while, he runs errands during the day. By 4 p.m., though, Chafin always returns home to join his wife, Shelbi, and three children for dinner.

With all that on his plate, Chafin might be looking ahead to mid-February, when the farmer and entrepreneur will return to his other job until at least the beginning of October: Baseball player — specifically, left-handed reliever.

The 33-year-old signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract with the Detroit Tigers for the 2024 season with a $6.5 million club option for the 2025 season. He can earn a maximum of $1.25 million in incentives in each season if he pitches at least 70 games.

His career in baseball, as well as the investment from the Tigers, explains why Chafin — for the first time in his 10-year MLB career — is traveling to Kent State, his alma mater, for offseason workouts in preparation for spring training.

"Usually, I don't throw any actual bullpens until I get to spring," Chafin said, "but after last year's bumpy road, I feel like we can get ahead of the curve a little bit and push it a little bit harder going into spring."

President of baseball operations Scott Harris said coaches and support staffers from the Tigers will be "in constant contact" with Chafin throughout the offseason. The Tigers have promised to provide everything and anything he needs to be ready for spring training.

There won't be any excuses for not being prepared health-wise.

"I know he's working on his farm a lot," Harris said. "I also know that he's been working out at Kent State quite a bit. He just came in for his physical. He looks good. He has the right mindset to come into camp ready to go."

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Chafin previously pitched for the Tigers in 2022.

In his first stint with the Tigers, Chafin signed a contract on March 17, 2022, during spring training and posted a 2.83 ERA with 19 walks and 67 strikeouts over 57⅓ innings in 64 appearances. Before the success, however, Chafin suffered a groin injury in late March and couldn't make his Tigers debut in the regular season until April 27, 2022.

The Tigers had a 6-10 record during Chafin's absence— which turned into a 9-23 record through May 12 — but the relievers had a dominant 2.22 ERA without Chafin's presence in the bullpen. Still, his performance as a Tiger led him to decline his $6.5 million player option after the season and became a free agent in search of a multi-year contract.

(In 2023, even without Chafin on the roster, the Tigers had a 2-9 record to start the season and went 76-75 in the final 151 games.)

The Tigers can't afford for Chafin, who is the lone left-handed high-leverage reliever in the bullpen, to miss the beginning of 2024 because of an injury that could have been avoided.

"It's going to be important for us to get off to a good start for next year," Harris said. "The work that our guys are putting in this offseason gives us a better chance to get off to a good start. Andrew knows that. We talked to him about that."

Chafin won't lift weights, but he is currently working through bodyweight exercises and will eventually throw bullpens.

"I avoid the weight room as much as I can," Chafin said. "I don't see a real need in lifting weights for how I approach everything. Getting my body stronger as a whole, moving into spring, I think is going to make for a smoother transition into a successful season."

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As for joining the Tigers, it was a family decision — more so than a business decision — for Chafin. He regretted declining the player option in his contract with the Tigers after the 2022 season, especially when a multi-year offer never showed up in free agency.

He was miserable in 2023 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, then with the Milwaukee Brewers after the Aug. 1 trade deadline. His wife was pregnant and gave birth on July 19.

"I'm not going to use this as an excuse by any means, but I don't know if I want to call it homesickness or what, but just being that far from my family started to get to be a bit," Chafin said. "I kept beating myself up about that. Some other stuff that doesn't necessarily need to be talked about. It was just stupid stuff between my ears. That's in the past now, so we're ready to rock and roll."

He struggled on the field, too.

In 2023, Chafin posted a 4.73 ERA with 28 walks and 63 strikeouts over 51⅓ innings in 63 relief appearances. The two problems: His walk rate went from 7.8% in 2022 to 12.5% in 2023, and his ground-ball rate went from 52.6% in 2022 to 40.2% in 2023.

"I've been pretty consistent my whole career, and it was a bit of a smack in the face, a wake-up call — 'Hey, it ain't always going to be that easy' — kinda thing," Chafin said. "I feel like I can actually use that to my advantage, and now that I've learned how to work through some outstanding circumstances, if anything else arises in the future, it's going to be a lot easier to get over it quickly and get back to where we need to be."

Chafin, who jumped at the opportunity to sign with the Tigers, will be close to his wife, daughters, infant son and family farm throughout the 2024 season. He will live in his RV at a campground in Michigan located 45 minutes from Comerica Park and 105 minutes away from his Ohio home.

It's the best-case scenario.

Chafin is working out at Kent State for the first time in his career, pleased to know he will be playing in Detroit for the second time in his career and motivated to pitch well more than ever before.

The new workout routine, as well as Chafin's overall happiness and nasty sinker-slider combination, should benefit the Tigers in 2024.

"The last three seasons, I signed and the next day we're gone (for spring training)," Chafin said. "Now, we've got ample time to get everything lined up. I've already got my camping spot reserved for the year. We got that set up. I need to find a spot in spring yet, but I got a lot more time than usual. On the baseball side of things, I can get after it and push myself a little harder than normal without the worries of stuff."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Andrew Chafin finally adds workouts to farming routine