Detroit Tigers won't abandon 'pitching chaos' strategy. Here's why
The Tigers have been using a reliever as an opener followed by a starter as a bulk reliever roughly twice every five or six days recently.
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Hinch believes in the approach.
"The strategy is sound," Hinch said Sunday, June 22, before the Tigers' series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. "I think the opener part is a little bit misconstrued as to, it's good when it works and it's bad when it doesn't."
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Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walks off the field after a pitching change during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Monday, May 19, 2025 in St Louis.
The goal of the strategy is to limit how many times the primary pitcher faces the top hitters in the opposing lineup. In 2025, the Tigers have used Brant Hurter, Tyler Holton, Beau Brieske and Sean Guenther as openers, with starters Keider Montero and Sawyer Gipson-Long serving as bulk relievers.
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The Tigers don't apply the strategy on days that Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize start.
"It impacts things that you don't necessarily see all the time," Hinch said. "It'll affect lineup construction. It'll impact how they space their hitters, which can impact decisions later in the game."
The data proves the opener-bulk strategy is effective — but it's not perfect.
In 2024, openers had a 2.05 ERA in 30⅔ innings and bulk relievers had a 3.65 ERA in 103⅔ innings. In 2025, openers have a 4.50 ERA in 14 innings and bulk relievers have a 4.89 ERA in 38⅔ innings.
This year, is the strategy the problem?
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Or just poor performance?
"When you don't execute, it's hard," Hinch said.
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Don't be surprised if the Tigers use the opener-bulk strategy again as soon as Thursday, June 26, against the Athletics — starting with a lefty reliever like Hurter or Holton to face left-handed hitters Lawrence Butler, Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom and JJ Bleday, who typically occupy the top seven spots in the lineup, before handing the bulk of the innings to Gipson-Long.
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Or the Tigers could give Gipson-Long a traditional start.
Or the Tigers could promote left-hander Dietrich Enns from Triple-A Toledo.
Unpredictability is another benefit of the "pitching chaos" strategy — from not knowing who will start to not knowing how long the "starter" will pitch. The uncertainty makes opposing managers uncomfortable as they try to prepare for games against the Tigers.
"It's not perfect, but it is a strategy," Hinch said, "and it's been effective for a while now. There's no reason to really abandon it."
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 won't abandon 'pitching chaos' despite 2025 struggles
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