The Detroit Tigers and host Philadelphia Phillies, both bolstered by late trade-deadline upgrades, open a three-game series Friday night, each looking to sharpen their playoff push with a fresh wave of veterans.
The Phillies addressed their biggest need by acquiring one of the majors’ best relievers, Jhoan Duran, from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for two top prospects. Duran, who has 16 saves and a 2.01 ERA in 49 appearances this season, bolsters a bullpen that was one of the worst in the big leagues.
“This guy’s one of the best closers in baseball, and we’ve turned the bullpen into a really good bullpen as far as I’m concerned,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
On Thursday, Philadelphia also picked up Duran’s former Twins teammate Harrison Bader to play in either center or left field and provide better production against left-handed pitching.
“He’s gonna play a lot,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “The lineup will be (Thomson’s) decision, of course. We’re happy to get him. He’s played well this year offensively and defensively. He’s hitting the ball with some pop. We think he’s going to help us.”
Philadelphia will waste no time in calling on Duran in hopes of cooling off the suddenly resurgent Tigers. Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez (8-4, 2.59 ERA) will get the start in the series opener. In two career appearances (one start) vs. Detroit, Suarez is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA.
After losing 12 of 13 games, the Tigers have regained their confidence with a four-game winning streak. Detroit beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, then recorded a three-game sweep against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers’ offense awakened during the streak, outscoring opponents 34-9 and hitting eight home runs.
“We kind of got cold there, obviously, and we just weren’t kind of getting anything going,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “We all kind of got cold at the same time and here we are piecing things back together, scoring runs. That’s ultimately what we want to do is just score runs.”
Right-hander Jack Flaherty (6-10, 4.51 ERA), who helped kickstart the Tigers’ current streak with six shutout innings against the Blue Jays, will square off against Suarez. Flaherty is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in two career appearances against Philadelphia.
Like the Phillies, the Tigers strengthened their bullpen this week.
Detroit acquired Rafael Montero from the Atlanta Braves, Paul Sewald from the Cleveland Guardians, Kyle Finnegan from the Washington Nationals and Codi Heuer from the Texas Rangers. Sewald, who has been recovering from a strained right shoulder, is on the 60-day injured list and will not be eligible to return until Sept. 10. Heuer will begin with Triple-A Toledo.
The Tigers also traded for Baltimore Orioles right-hander Charlie Morton, who adds depth to the rotation. Morton is the second starter obtained by Detroit, which also dealt for starter Chris Paddack from the Twins on Monday.
“We did what we did today because we believe in our offense,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “We believe in these young players. We believe they’re still getting into their prime years and will continue to get better.
“It’s the same belief we had in this group last winter, and we’re being rewarded for it this year with a nine-game lead in the AL Central.”
–Field Level Media
