Alex

Lange

Harris refused to endorse an official timetable, but it sounds like there’s optimism Lange could potentially be ready for the start of next season. The 29-year-old righty, who served as Detroit’s closer for the majority of the 2023 season, suffered a torn lat in mid-June while pitching for Triple-A Toledo, which ended his season. There should be some clarity on his status once spring training kicks off.

Lange was optioned to the minors last month after a bizarre incident on the mound during a relief appearance when he hurled a baseball into the protective netting above Detroit’s dugout in a moment of frustration. His season is most likely over.

Englert will take Alex Lange’s spot in the bullpen. The 24-year-old has been solid in Triple-A with a 2.35 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 23 innings while striking out 34 and walking nine. He has not yet been able to carry that success over to the major-league level but perhaps now is the time.

Lange was publicly chewed out by his manager A.J. Hinch on the mound during Wednesday’s game and despite Hinch claiming that had nothing to do with the demotion, we find that hard to believe. Going into Wednesday’s game, Lange had allowed just four earned runs in his previous 14 appearances. His command will certainly come and go, and it had been poor in the last three appearances, but the 28-year-old only has two bad outings all season. This feels like a situation that is heading for a break-up and if Lange is able to find his way onto a team that can improve his command, he still has a future as a solid reliever.

The good news for Lange is that the Tigers probably weren’t winning the game anyway, as he came on in the seventh with the team already down 4-0. Still, this was ugly; after getting the final out of the seventh, he retired just one of eight batters in the eighth. He gave up almost as many hits today as the six he had previously allowed in 14 innings this season, and his ERA, which was deflated by the fact that six of the seven runs he’d given up had been ruled unearned, went from 0.67 to 3.07. This can’t help his standing in the saves mix in Detroit.

The Tigers really mixed things up relief-wise in this one, turning to Jason Foley for two outs in the seventh and Joey Wentz for four outs through the eighth. Wentz allowed an unearned run, narrowing Detroit’s lead to one, and Andrew Chafin, given a rare chance to close, made that go away by giving up a homer to David Fry. Lange went on to get the final out of the ninth. In the 10th, he got an out on a sac bunt and then gave up the winning single. While Foley remains the favorite for saves in Detroit, it looks like this is going to be a frustrating situation going forward.

Jason Foley had pitched three of the previous four days, so Lange got the call today. Since giving up five unearned runs in the 12th inning in a loss on Apr. 13, Lange has pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings with a 9/2 K/BB ratio in seven appearances.

Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch has mixed and matched with his bullpen in the late innings this season, and while Jason Foley has seemingly been the go-to option in the ninth, he was called upon to work the eighth against the heart of the Athletics’ lineup on Friday. Andrew Chafin then began the ninth inning with a pair of left-handers due up, but ultimately it was Lange who was called upon to face Zack Gelof with two-men on and two outs. He did his job, needing just four pitches to punch out Gelof to seal the victory. Look for Foley, Shelby Miller, Chafin and Lange to continue to share the load in the late innings for the time being — with Foley the best overall bet for fantasy purposes.

Interesting. Alex Lange was reportedly available for this outing, but it was Foley who got the final two outs to pick up the save. Lange was widely assumed to receive the bulk of the save chances during the 2024 season, and while that still may be true, there’s at least some intrigue in seeing Foley get the final two outs. Fantasy managers who roster Lange will want to pay close attention to this situation.

Lange gave up three runs in his spring debut and another run his second time out, but he’s pitched scoreless ball his last two times out. Any thought of Jason Foley overtaking him for the closer’s role this spring can be forgotten.