Detroit Tigers option reliever Alex Lange to Triple-A Toledo to work on throwing strikes
The Detroit Tigers optioned right-handed reliever Alex Lange to Triple-A Toledo on Thursday after an all-too-common meltdown in the seventh inning of Wednesday's 8-3 loss against the Kansas City Royals.
Lange, who worked as the closer last season, surrendered four runs on three hits and two walks with one hit-by-pitch. The 28-year-old has struggled to throw strikes for his entire four-year MLB career, especially in the past two seasons.
To replace Lange, the Tigers recalled right-handed reliever Mason Englert from Triple-A Toledo.
"His role has changed a little bit," manager A.J. Hinch said, "and that was due to his struggles with the strike zone, and as it continued yesterday and he started falling further and further behind in the role category in a bullpen, we decided the best place for him to go work on that is in Toledo."
Lange has a 4.34 ERA with 17 walks and 21 strikeouts across 18⅔ innings in 21 relief appearances for the Tigers in the 2024 season. Since June 4 of last season, Lange owns a 4.92 ERA with 51 walks (18% walk rate) and 66 strikeouts (23.3% strikeout rate) across 60⅓ innings in 64 games.
His walk rate is the problem.
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Sending Lange to Triple-A Toledo takes place after a one-sided meeting between Hinch and Lange on the mound in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game at Kauffman Stadium.
Hinch did almost all the talking, seemingly scolding Lange, for eight seconds before returning to the dugout without a pitching change. After the game, Hinch declined to explain what happened on the mound, other than that he delivered a message.
"That's exactly what it was," Hinch said, "and it's going to stay between me and Alex."
Royals play-by-play broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre said he saw Lange request a new ball after giving up a crucial two-run double, and when Lange requested the new ball, he showed his frustration by throwing the old ball at the Tigers' dugout in a reckless way.
Once the ball hit the net, Hinch climbed out of the dugout for the meeting on the mound. Roughly 24 hours later, Hinch went out of his way to explain that Thursday's demotion had nothing to do with Wednesday's emotion.
"I'll answer the obvious question: After all the emotion yesterday, is this a reaction to something? The answer is no," Hinch said. "We've talked about Alex in recent weeks, or actually, for the entirety of his major-league career, about strike-throwing and execution."
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Lange will pitch Saturday in Triple-A Toledo, his first game as Mud Hen since 2021.
"It could be a short stint," Hinch said. "We've sketched out his next week to 10 days."
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 send P Alex Lange to minors to work on throwing strikes
