Wilmer Flores a Detroit Tigers future starter or bullpen fixture? It depends on 1 pitch

There is always a chance Detroit Tigers right-hander Wilmer Flores sticks as a starting pitcher for the rest of his career, but the prospect appears to be trending toward a role in the bullpen as he gets closer to making his MLB debut.

The Tigers added Flores to the 40-man roster in November, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft and opening the door to his big-league arrival.

Flores has the potential to help the Tigers for a long time, beginning as soon as the 2024 season, but the best role for him remains unknown. He lacks a reliable changeup for left-handed hitters behind a swing-and-miss curveball and a fastball that touches 97 mph.

"There's so many factors to that, including the team," said Ryan Garko, vice president of player development. "Where do we need him the most? Probably the biggest factor is, where do Scott (Harris), Jeff (Greenberg) and A.J. (Hinch) ultimately see him helping the team the most? That's probably the biggest answer to that question."

Harris, who is in his second year as the president of baseball operations, revealed that Flores will show up to spring training as a starting pitcher. The same is the case for fellow bullpen candidates Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo, Joey Wentz and Mason Englert.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Lakeland, Florida, in mid-February.

"We think he has a mix that can play as a starter," Harris said of Flores on Dec. 5 at MLB's winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. "Beyond that, we have a pretty deep collection of starting depth. Wilmer is a good example, but there are a lot of other young pitchers that are giving us more depth than most at that position."

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The Tigers moved Brieske and Faedo to the bullpen in 2023. Each had success in their new roles, with Brieske's fastball velocity jumping from 94.3 mph as a starter in 2022 to 96.7 mph as a reliever in 2023. Other pitchers are expected to transition from starter to reliever at some point in 2024.

Flores is a member of the group under consideration for a position change based on the construction of the roster. He is the Tigers' No. 7 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

"Does that mean they're relievers moving forward? Absolutely not," Harris said, referencing Brieske and Faedo. "It just meant the strategy that fit our personnel was to put them in the bullpen. We may do some of that this year, but just about all those guys are going to come to camp as starters, and then we're going to see how to put together the best team possible."

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Flores has pitched almost exclusively as a starter within the Tigers' organization.

He logged a 4.65 ERA with 33 walks (8.8% walk rate) and 90 strikeouts (24% strikeout rate) over 89 innings in 21 starts last season, including a 3.90 ERA in 18 starts for Double-A Erie. He suffered a right hamstring strain in late July and didn't return until late August.

Flores journeyed to the Arizona Fall League for extra innings, and while in the desert, he averaged three innings per outing and primarily pitched out of the bullpen for the first time in his career.

He flashed a 4.00 ERA with four walks and 22 strikeouts across 18 innings in six games (two starts), allowing 25 hits.

Flores worked as a reliever Oct. 2 (two innings), Oct. 9 (three innings), Oct. 14 (three innings) and Oct. 20 (three innings). He entered those four games after four-inning starts from right-hander Jackson Jobe, the top pitching prospect in the Tigers' farm system.

Flores started Oct. 27 (three innings) and Nov. 2 (four innings) — taking Jobe's place in the starting rotation — to finish his six-game stint in the Fall League.

"The months of May, June and July were really good," Garko said. "His Fall League was really good. He was striking everybody out and he wasn't walking anybody."

Flores has four pitches in his arsenal: 93 mph four-seam fastball, 84 mph slider, 78 mph curveball and 83 mph changeup. His fastball missed bats inside the strike zone last season.

He threw his slider in the zone for weak ground-ball contact and threw his curveball out of the zone for strikeouts. His curveball had a 34.6% whiff rate and was responsible for 42.4% of his strikeouts, whereas his slider had a 27.6% whiff rate and was responsible for 13.1% of strikeouts.

Developing a reliable changeup continues to be the biggest challenge.

Here's what Flores said last offseason, when asked about the ever-present changeup dilemma: "My other pitches break to the glove side, so I need something to go to the arm side. ... It will be necessary for my arsenal if I want to be a starter in the big leagues."

He wants the changeup for left-handed hitters.

"I think he is a starter, and he's shown he can do it at pretty much every level, and we'll see how he continues through the organization," Garko said. "Finding the changeup, continuing to improve that changeup, is going to be really important for him, but the curveball is a really good weapon against left-handed hitters, too. It's not like he's out there without a weapon against left-handed hitters."

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Flores also needs to recapture the 2022 version of his mechanics.

His training last offseason at Tread Athletics, located in North Carolina, seemed to do more harm than help, specifically because he lost the feel for his optimal delivery and never harnessed a consistent changeup. Strikeouts per nine innings decreased from 11.3 in 2022 to 9.1 in 2023, and walks per nine innings increased from two in 2022 to 3.3 in 2023.

Adjustments were made to correct the broken mechanics last season, and more adjustments will be made throughout the offseason and into spring training.

Flores might start the 2024 season in Triple-A Toledo's starting rotation, but unless he develops a changeup or cleans up his mechanics, his long-term role in the big leagues could be as a high-leverage reliever in the bullpen.

"I think he's right on the cusp of impacting the team," Garko said. "How he preforms and then the needs of the club probably end up determining where he makes his impact."

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Wilmer Flores' role with Detroit Tigers depends on 1 key pitch