One Staggering Tigers Stat Helps Explain Why Season Is Slipping Away
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The Detroit Tigers are now 22-36 and sit at the bottom of the AL Central, 11.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians. The team is struggling, and one thing keeps standing out — the bullpen, and not in a positive light.
The Tigers have an apparent bullpen problem. It is subtle and it sure isn’t new but one thing is true, it just got worse.
Detroit enters the final day of May with 14 blown saves. If that isn’t discouraging enough, it is also important to note that the Tigers lead MLB with another dismal stat. They have suffered seven walk-off losses this season. According to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers that’s the most in MLB.
This is certainly not the position the Detroit Tigers thought they would be in this season, but here they are. Those blown saves have compounding consequences that the Tigers are going to have a very hard time recovering from.
The Tigers Culprits
The blown saves are spread across the bullpen. Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen lead the way with four apiece. Will Vest has three, Drew Anderson two, and Tyler Holton one.
It would be easy to stop there and just say Finnegan and Jansen haven’t performed, but when you dig a little deeper, the true story emerges.
Jansen was signed to anchor the back end of the bullpen. He has a 4.80 ERA and has been truly unreliable all season. He has converted seven of 11 opportunities, and to make matters worse, he is now on the 15-day IL with right groin issues. He has no clear timetable to return.
Vest has been the most damaging arm to the team. He has posted a 7.41 ERA in 17 innings of work, where he has converted exactly zero of his three save opportunities.
Finnegan is frustrating for sure. He has a 2.03 ERA in 26 appearances, which suggests he is effective, but four leads have slipped through his hands.
The Irony of Brant Hurter
Looking across the season, it is hard to deny that the Tigers have been unlucky and self-defeating. The bullpen is leading the stats there, too.
Brant Hurter, who is Detroit’s best reliever so far this season can boast about having zero blown saves. He has 21 appearances with 25.1 innings of work. In that time, the left-hander has a 2.84 ERA with a 0.07 WHIP and a 4-1 record. He has been getting the job done for the Tigers.
Of course, he is now on the 60-day injured list. The best reliever was put on the 15-day IL on May 24 and then transferred to the 60-day on May 29. This is terrible news for the team who is struggling to find a way to win.
A Staff Ravaged by Injuries
The blown saves are a problem, and excuses don’t fly, but the truth is, Detroit has an injury problem, maybe a catastrophe. The injury list has undermined everything the team has tried to do in 2026.
The bullpen lost Hurter to the 60-day IL, Burch Smith to shoulder inflammation, Ty Madden suffered forearm contusion, Bailey Horn sits on the IL due to an elbow injury. Jackson Jobe underwent Tommy John in 2025 and hasn’t made his return yet.
The rotation? Well it hasn’t fared any better. The biggest headline happened when Tarik Skubal suddenly needed surgery. He’s been on the IL since May 1. Justin Verlander is out with a hip injury, but should be making his return soon. Casey Mize suffered a groin issue.
Position players haven’t been excluded from the IL either. Gleyber Torres, Kerry Carpenter, Javier Baez and Parker Meadows are all sidelined currently.
This is a team that has been destroyed by injuries. The talent is there, and the team has been getting leads, but the bullpen drops the ball statistically about every four days, and that just isn’t acceptable.
So, What Now?
In 2025, the Tigers blew a 15.5-game lead in the AL Central. That’s something the fans won’t forget any time soon. So, maybe they aren’t out of the running yet? Maybe 2026 is the year that they can overcome an 11.5-game deficit?
Yes, it seems implausible at this point. But, if Skubal can return sooner rather than later, as pitched by his agent Scott Boras, and seemingly backed up by his recovery so far, there is some reason for optimism in the back half of the season.
Detroit has talent of the likes of Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, but the bullpen has to recover. A few players can’t carry this team if the bullpen doesn’t do its part.
Finnegan has the talent to be reliable. Anderson’s stats of 39 strikeouts and a 4.13 ERA show more good than bad. Ty Madden should be back by June. The pieces exist, but the puzzle has to be put together.
The good news is that things can get better. The bad news for Detroit is that it has to, and it better happen soon, to have any shot of playing in October.
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Laura Lambert resides in Wiggins, Colo. with her husband, Ricky and two sons, Brayden and Boedy. She attended the University of Northern Colorado while studying economics. She is an accomplished rodeo athlete and barrel horse trainer along with being a life-long sports fan. Over the years, Laura has been active in journalism in a variety of roles. While continuing to cover western sports and country music, she is currently enjoying expanding her reach into multiple sports including MLB, NFL, and WNBA. Laura covers the Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Rodeo for On SI. You can reach her at lauralambertmedia@gmail.com