Here's how 29 ex-Detroit Tigers are faring with their new teams

This has been quite a run of reunions for the Detroit Tigers: last weekend, it was former catcher James McCann, followed by former aces Max Scherer and Justin Verlander in the middle of the week and then former reliever Drew VerHagen this weekend in St. Louis.

OK, some reunions are a little more meaningful than others. Still, we’re six weeks into the 2023 MLB season, which makes it as good a time as any to check in on some “old friends” around the league. Here’s how the 11 Tigers who moved on from last season’s squad are faring this year, plus a look at 18 ex-Tigers who’ve been gone a bit longer:

All stats through Thursday’s games

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C Tucker Barnhart, Cubs

After posting a .554 OPS with the Tigers in 2022, the Indiana native stayed close to home with a one-year, $3.25 million deal (with a player option) in Chicago. He’ll probably be picking that up, as his .184/.238/.211 slash line through 42 plate appearances this season won’t likely draw much interest in free agency.

3B Jeimer Candelario, Nationals

His brutal 2022 (.633 OPS) cost him a spot in Harris’ rebuild, and so he landed with the also-rebuilding Nationals on a one-year, $5 million contract. He’s hitting better than he did last season — on pace for 36 doubles and 20 homers — but 29 strikeouts and just seven walks in 135 plate appearances doesn’t suggest the 29-year-old will fulfill the promise shown in his 42-double 2021 season.

UTIL Harold Castro, Rockies

The altitude in Colorado can only do so much, as “Hittin’ Harold” (on a one-year, $1.3 million deal) is finding out: He has a .501 OPS in 49 plate appearances, but that’s with a huge home/away split — .737  in 25 plate appearances in Denver and .255 (yes, that’s his OBP combined with his SLG) in 24 plate appearances on the road.

UTIL Willi Castro, Twins

Whatever magic Castro had (like, say, a .448 batting average on balls in play) during his 2020 season, when he finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting, is gone now. Castro is hitting just .189 (with a .231 average on balls in play) in 44 plate appearances with the Twins (though he does have five walks).

RHP Andrew Chafin, Diamondbacks

The ’stache is still strong in the desert: After signing a one-year, $6.23 million deal (with a team option for 2024) with Arizona, Chafin has struck out 19 and walked just five over 11⅔ innings en route to a 2.31 ERA for the surprising Diamondbacks.

UTIL Kody Clemens, Phillies

A throw-in in the Gregory Soto deal, Clemens still isn’t making much contact, with a .152 batting average, but when he connects, it tends to leave the park; three of his five hits this season are homers. (Oh, and The Rocket’s son has closed out two games on the mound for the Phils, with a 9.00 ERA, after pitching seven times for the Tigers last season.)

RHP Michael Fulmer, Cubs

After being shipped to the Twins at least season’s trade deadline, Fulmer landed with the Cubs in March on a one-year, $4 million deal. He might be looking again this offseason, as his 16 strikeouts in 12⅓ innings are OK, but nine earned runs are not. Then again, six of those runs came in back-to-back appearances on April 20-23.

OF Robbie Grossman, Rangers

Grossman, who credited Braves coaches with fixing his swing after the trade deadline last season, seems to be applying the lessons with his home-state Rangers (his high school in Cypress, Texas, is about 250 miles from Arlington) on a one-year, $2 million deal. His .253/.330/.405 slash line in 91 plate appearances is fueled by a .782 OPS in 64 plate appearances vs. righties. (His OPS vs. righties was .509 last season.)

RHP Joe Jiménez, Braves

The trade in the offseason for a package that included prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy may be a deal that makes everyone happy: Malloy is slashing .324/.452/.490 in Triple-A, while Jiménez has been serviceable in middle relief for the Braves, with 13 strikeouts, two walks and a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings.

RHP Derek Law, Reds

Law, who made franchise history in his Tigers debut last season, hasn’t been nearly as catastrophic this season, his second in Cincy. In 14⅔ innings, Law has struck out 17 with a 3.68 ERA, albeit while walking nine batters.

LHP Gregory Soto, Phillies

It didn’t start out great for Soto in Philly, with a four-run, no-out appearance on Opening Day and a run allowed in his third outing a week later. But since April 7, the 28-year-old has been his familiar dominant self, striking out 12 in 11⅓ innings without allowing an earned run.

More ‘old friends’

We counted 18 ex-Tigers who were on the team before the 2022 season that are also taking up roster spots on other teams in 2023 (not counting former Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias, who signed a minor-league deal with the Padres this spring and is mashing for Triple-A El Paso, with three doubles in seven games).

OF Nick Castellanos, Phillies: In the second season of a five-year, $100 million deal, Castellanos has four homers and 11 doubles in 134 plate appearances (though his first homer didn’t come till April 22).

1B C.J. Cron, Rockies: A Rockie for three seasons since his injury-shortened 2020 season in Detroit, Cron is slashing .250/.296/.481 this season — and that’s despite a slugging percentage that’s 40 points higher on the road.

UTIL Brandon Dixon, Padres: The 31-year-old had a five-game stint last month in which he went 2-for-12 with no walks and eight strikeouts; in Triple-A, however, he has a ridiculous .259/.444/.698 slash line over 14 games.

RHP Buck Farmer, Reds: After a brutal 2021 in Detroit (6.37 ERA), Farmer has settled in over two seasons in Cincy, including 10 strikeouts, six walks and a 3.77 ERA over 14⅓ innings this year.

OF Avisail Garcia, Marlins: Other than a 29-homer season with the Brewers in 2021, the now-32-year-old never quite delivered on his “Mini-Miggy” nickname. Then again, his numbers this season — .188 average, three homers, three walks and 23 strikeouts in 76 plate appearances — look a lot like Cabrera’s, unfortunately.

UTIL Josh Harrison, Phillies: Yes, the 35-year-old is still going, despite a putrid 2019 stint in Detroit (.480 OPS in 36 games); he’s on his fourth team in three seasons with a .209/.261/.302 slash line in 16 plate appearances in Philly.

DH J.D. Martinez, Dodgers: Also still going at age 35, Martinez landed in L.A. on a one-year, $10 million deal; he has nine doubles, four homers and — no, really, two triples already in 98 plate appearances this season. (Though he’s striking out more than 30% of the time, too.)

C James McCann, Orioles: In the third season of a four-year, $40.6 million deal he signed with the Mets, McCann has settled in as the backup behind Baltimore star Adley Rutschman while posting a .225/.262/.400 OPS. Both his home runs this season have come off the Tigers.

LHP Matt Moore, Angels: His Tigers career lasted all of 10 innings in 2019 (without allowing a run); he’s been almost as good since moving to the bullpen in 2022 — his 1.95 ERA over 74 innings with the Rangers last year has been followed with a 1.10 ERA with 17 strikeouts over 16⅓ innings in 2023.

3B Isaac Paredes, Rays: Last year’s Paredes (and a pick)-for-Austin-Meadows deal just looks worse and worse, with Paredes continuing to develop for the Rays, with a .775 OPS, including four homers and six doubles, over 109 plate appearances this season.

LHP Nick Ramirez, Yankees: After spending all last season in Triple-A in the Mariners’ organization and opening this season with a 1.74 ERA for the Yanks’ affiliate, the 33-year-old was called up last week. In two games, he has struck out three and walked two.

LHP Robbie Ray, Mariners: The 2021 AL Cy Young winner with Toronto had a rough first season in Seattle — capped by allowing the series-winning run to score in relief in the ALDS — and an even rougher second; he lasted just 3⅓ innings this year before departing with an injury, later diagnosed as needing Tommy John surgery.

RHP Max Scherzer, Mets: Year 2 of his three-year, $130 million deal in New York has been rocky, with a 10-game suspension for an illegal substance on his hands, followed by a thrashing by the Tigers’ bats on Wednesday night in Detroit.

RHP John Schreiber, Red Sox: The Gibraltar Carlson alumnus has thrived since getting cut by the Tigers after the 2020 season; in his third year with the BoSox, he has a 2.30 ERA with 20 strikeouts and seven walks in 15⅔ innings.

LHP Drew Smyly, Cubs: The star-crossed lefty has made just 30 starts since the Tigers sent him to Tampa Bay in the 2014 David Price trade, but maybe this will be the year? He hasn’t missed a turn in the rotation yet this season, posting a 2.83 ERA over 35 innings that included holding the Dodgers to one hit over 7⅔ innings last month.

RHP José Ureña, Rockies: To put it succinctly, the 31-year-old’s stuff has not fared well in Denver’s high altitude, with a 8.76 ERA over 12⅓ innings at Coors Field, or anywhere else, with a 12.00 road ERA leading to a 9.84 ERA in 18⅓ innings this season.

RHP Drew VerHagen, Cardinals: After two seasons in Japan (2020-21), VerHagen returned to the U.S. with the Cards, though he hasn’t exactly been good, with a 6.65 ERA in 21⅔ innings last season and a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings this season.

RHP Justin Verlander, Mets: Injury delayed the longtime Tigers ace’s debut as a Met until Thursday in Detroit, when he gave up two first-inning homers and lasted five innings in a 2-0 loss.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Not many ex-Detroit Tigers thriving with their new franchises