Detroit Tigers Newsletter: Is May the month to turn the home run power on?

The first month of the 2022 season is wrapped up and, well, the Detroit Tigers have been lights out.

Lights out, in that no team in baseball had less fence-clearing power than the Tigers in April: five Tigers combined for eight homers, two fewer than the next-worst team, the Baltimore Orioles.

Lights out, too, in that no team in baseball had a more effective bullpen than the Tigers in April: they took an MLB-best 2.02 ERA into May’s opener in Los Angeles, then lowered it to 1.97 with 2⅓ scoreless innings in a loss to the Dodgers.

Which brings us, finally, to: Lights out, at 7-14 and in last place in the American League Central, 5½ games back.

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Perhaps it’s not quite lights out for the Tigers’ hopes of a winning record in 2022 — considering their 68-61 finish a season ago, going 75-66 or better to finish this year isn’t out of the question. But “Worse than the Orioles” was not a concept the Tigers were hoping to entertain at all. And yet, the O’s have eight wins (in 22 games) while the Tigers have seven (in 21 games).

It’s May now, though, and the Tigers are the home run kings of the American League! That’s thanks to two homers — one each from Miguel Cabrera and Jeimer Candelario in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, on Sunday afternoon. The only teams with more homers THIS month are the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies, who each hit four Sunday.

What a difference a day makes.

At least until the Pittsburgh Pirates get to town Tuesday.

A call to the ’pen

As we wrote, the bullpen has been outstanding, with 19 earned runs allowed, 79 strikeouts and 33 walks over 87 innings. And that’s without the services of right-handers Jose Cisnero and Kyle Funkhouser, both still on the injured list. What has made Tigers relievers so effective? Embracing individuality, manager A.J. Hinch told the Freep’s Evan Petzold: “You don't want a cookie-cutter version of a bullpen where everybody's throwing from the same slot and the same release point with a different name attached.” Petzold has more on the surprising start here, including why Joe Jimenez (yes, THAT Joe Jimenez) appears to have turned things around.

18 swings

Then again, even that performance from the relief crew hasn’t been enough to keep the Tigers close to .500. The Freep’s Jeff Seidel took a shot at explaining it (hint: defense) before the weekend series against the Dodgers. Head here to find out why he wrote, “I still haven’t given up on this team.”

Trimming down

But that’s in the past. Even with an off-day Monday, the Tigers will have some tough decisions: MLB rosters shrink by two — from 28, to compensate for the reduced spring training, to the usual 26 — on Monday. Teams can still keep 14 pitchers through the end of May, which probably makes the Tigers’ choices a little easier, considering the aforementioned excellence of the relief staff. Our Man Petzold has the breakdown of who’s on the roster bubble here, and why the cuts will likely come from the hitting side of things.

Javy being Javy

One player who’s not headed to Toledo? Shortstop Javier Báez, who leads the Tigers with an .833 OPS and 11 RBIs. Back from the IL for a week, Báez played the hero again in Hollywood on Saturday night, delivering a double to right in the seventh and then basking in the boos from the L.A. crowd. The hit, and the crowd’s reaction, was energizing for Báez, Our Man Petzold writes, even if it’s tough to tell why Dodger fans seem to hate him. Head here to find out what had Báez saying, “I just laugh about it. When I have success, I let them know."

Speaking of friends and enemies, Báez also had a signature moment last week in Minnesota, delivering a go-ahead homer in the top of the eighth on Tuesday. (Let’s not talk about the bottom of that inning, OK?) The blast came with one of the AL Central’s other premier free-agent shortstops on-field for the Twins: Carlos Correa (who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts that night). We may not know which team got the better deal for a while, but as Our Man Petzold noted here, the two former teammates on Puerto Rico’s 2017 World Baseball Classic champs are set up for a classic rivalry in the AL Central.

(And in case you were wondering why Correa opted to pass on the Tigers’ offer, well, Our Man Petzold has the answer to that, too.)

Beau knows

Also not probably headed to Toledo is rookie righty Beau Brieske, who withstood Saturday’s spotlight on Clayton Kershaw’s Dodgers franchise strikeout record and delivered five strong innings in his second MLB start — despite allowing a leadoff homer for the second straight game. Then again, maybe that helped him. Click here to find out from Our Man Petzold how Brieske responded to the homer with this: "You're like, 'Damn, I need to make a pitch right here.'"

Bunt-try and western

In 20 at-bats this season, outfielder Derek Hill has five hits — but three of those came on bunts. (He’d have had another, if not for a foot on the grass Friday night.) So what’s his secret? He’s not entirely saying, but he did spill a few beans to Our Man Petzold on why “the push bunt is going to be a big part of my game this year."

Three to watch

Will we see homer No. 504 for Miggy to tie Eddie Murray on baseball’s all-time list this week?

MIGUEL CABRERA: You know the economy’s a mess when even Miggy is planning to keep working after he retires.

ROBBIE GROSSMAN: The vet walked Sunday (and stole his first base of 2022), then was plunked, which is not the ideal way to have a 1.000 OBP.

MATT MANNING AND CASEY MIZE: They’re throwing in Lakeland, but they’re not hurrying back, either. (Scroll down for the full update.)

Mark your calendar

If you like a steady stream of Tigers baseball, May is your month; today is one of two days off, with the other coming May 19. (Don’t worry, the Tigers have two doubleheaders — against the A’s on May 10 and against the Twins on May 31, both at Comerica Park — to make up for those.) Of course, this week, it’s still just a six-game week: Two games at the CoPa against the bargain-basement (and yet still 9-13) Pirates, followed by four in Houston against the Astros and an old friend … Niko Goodrum. (That other old friend, Justin Verlander, is scheduled to start Wednesday, meaning he’ll miss the series against the Tigers.) The former Tigers utility player signed a one-year, $2.1 million deal with the ’Stros in March and has been getting extra playing time with star second baseman Jose Altuve on the 10-day injured list. It hasn’t helped Goodrum's bat much, though; he’s 5-for-30 (.167) with two doubles, though he had two hits on Sunday.

Happy birthday, Meads!

Tigers outfielder Austin Meadows turns 27 on Tuesday. His bat cooled off for a stretch in April, but he’s riding a four-game hit streak with six hits in 16 at-bats. Unfortunately for the Tigers, all six of those hits have been singles, and he’s still looking for his first home run. (As we noted earlier, that can be said for a lot of Tigers right now.) Even without the fence-clearing power, Meadows is slashing .319/.420/.406, giving him am .826 OPS that’s second on the roster. (Isaac Paredes, the 23-year-old the Tigers sent to Tampa Bay in the trade last month, hit .270/.356/.500 in 19 games with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate to earn a call-up on Sunday.)

Other Tigers birthdays this week: Neftali Feliz (34 on Monday), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (37 on Monday), Gates Brown (would have been 83 on Monday; died in 2013), Rick Leach (65 on Wednesday), Dick Wakefield (would have been 101 on Friday; died in 1985), Wily Peralta (33 on Sunday), Alfredo Simon (41 on Sunday).

TL;DR

The Tigers’ eight homers in April are the fewest for the franchise in that month since 1983. (Though we’re not counting the five they hit in April 1995, as the end of the MLB lockout limited them to just five games before May.) The good news: That 1983 team eventually found its power stroke, finishing with 156 homers (led by catcher Lance Parrish, who hit one in April and 26 the rest of the way), good for fourth in the AL. The Tigers also found a winning formula, as they went from 8-9 in April to 92-70, good for second in their division. Lights out, indeed.

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers Newsletter: Even Miggy plans to work after retiring