While the Detroit Tigers have not fallen too far out of the race just yet, they just lost one of their most consistent pitchers to the 10-day DL.
In Spring Training of this year, the Detroit Tigers made a late addition to their pitching staff in Francisco Liriano. At the time, Liriano was coming off of a couple of down years, and it made sense for a rebuilding team like Detroit to take a chance on him as a bounce-back candidate.
Initially, there was some question as to whether the Detroit Tigers would use Liriano as a starter or a reliever. In mid-March, it was announced that he had earned a rotation spot. So far in 2018, Liriano has pitched just as well, if not better than anyone could have expected.
Through 10 starts, Liriano is 3-2 with a 3.90 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. It is perhaps worth noting that his peripherals aren’t great (4.97 FIP, 4.85 xFIP), but he is still having a very nice season.
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Liriano did have a rough start in his last outing, however. He allowed five earned runs on six hits over five innings of work against the Chicago White Sox. Prior to that start, his ERA sat at 3.42.
On Tuesday, Jason Beck on MLB.com reported that the Tigers had placed Liriano on the 10-day DL with a right hamstring strain. Injuries have been an issue for Liriano throughout his career. The 34-year-old has made over 30 starts just twice.
Per Beck, Liriano spoke of his hamstring soreness following his loss against the White Sox. Left-handed reliever Daniel Stumpf was also placed on the DL. Ryan Carpenter and Johnny Barbato have been called up to take their spots on the active roster.
Liriano as a trade chip
Although the Tigers are currently in second place in the AL Central, they are six games under the .500 mark with a record of 24-30. Speculation has already begun that the Tigers could be sellers again. Recently, Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports mentioned Liriano’s name as a trade candidate.
Depending on the severity of his injury and the length of time he spends on the DL, Liriano could still be a nice trade chip later on this summer. He will likely be seen as an affordable rental who can give a team quality starts. Perhaps teams might also be interested in trading for him as a reliever, though he has certainly pitched well enough to be a starter on most team’s rotations.
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With ace Michael Fulmer struggling a bit this year, Liriano and Matt Boyd have been huge for the rotation. In Liriano’s absence, the Detroit Tigers will undoubtedly need a few guys to step up to avoid falling further behind in the standings.