A weekly article from the Woodward Tigers podcast, “Inside the Numbers” goes into a dive of Detroit Tigers stats

If you are a listener of the Woodward Tigers podcast, each week, we do a segment called “Inside the Numbers” in which we take a baseball stat and discuss it at length. For this weekly piece, I will take a few Detroit Tigers stats and discuss any changes or new items that stand out.

1. 96.6 and 94.6

That is the max velocity from right-hander Garrett Hill’s fastball in his relief appearance on Monday night against the Houston Astros. The 94.6 was his average, which was 3 miles higher than normal.

Since the beginning of September, the Tigers have been using Hill out of the bullpen. Garrett started the season in Double-A Erie and quickly moved up to Toledo. He struck out 52 in 32 innings pitched for the SeaWolves while posting an ERA of 2.25. Hill’s first start came on July 4th, which he allowed just one run on two hits in six innings of work.

In his relief appearance on Monday, he raised his hands over his head in his delivery. When I asked manager A.J. Hinch about the change in his delivery, he said the goal wasn’t velocity, but to create more rhythm in his hands. Hill had a hard time separating, which Hinch said, creates more drag and bad execution on his pitches. Hinch mentioned he was working with pitching coach Chris Fetter and assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves on the delivery.

Last, Hinch said the velocity change was the change in job description as he is not going 5 and 6 innings. By the looks of it, it was a quick evolution.

91.5MPH Average, 93.5 MPH Max on September 1

93.5 MPH average, 94.6 MPH max on September 5th                                         

96.6 Max 94.6 Average September 12

2. 110 and .271

The 110 is the WRC+ of outfielder Riley Greene since August 11. The .271 is his batting average during the same time span (32-for-118)

3. The number 2.0

The 2.0 is the leading WAR leader according to Baseball-Reference.com for the Tigers. That would be shortstop Javier Báez. Some fans may of not expected that.

Photo credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Rogelio Castillo

Detroit Tigers beat reporter