Detroit Tigers: 3 pitchers to watch during 2020 shortened season

The Detroit Tigers should hope that left-handed reliever Gregory Soto can find a role in the bullpen.

The Detroit Tigers have struggled with the bullpen immensely in recent years, and they could massively benefit from adding a power lefty to the mix of late-game arms. Gregory Soto could be that hard-throwing left-handed pitcher used in a variety of games.

During the 2020 season, Soto should find himself with a plethora of opportunities to get work in out of the bullpen and truly develop into a flamethrowing lefty. This Tigers bullpen would only benefit from having a lockdown left-hander that can come into a game and be reliable.

The 2019 season was Soto’s first season in the big leagues, and it was not as pretty as would be expected. He was not a focal point of the Tigers bullpen last season, but he still found his way into 33 games on the 2019 season.

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Over those 33 games, Soto would total 57.2 innings pitched with seven games started and nine games finished.

He would post a 5.77 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts while walking 33 opposing hitters.

His 2019 numbers were a bit ugly, but the 2020 season should allow him to make some changes.

The left-hander has some things to work on, like being able to throw strikes and get outs consistently, but summer camp has shown Soto appearing to make improvements.

While on a break due to the COVID-19 stoppage, Soto was able to work on his development in the Dominican Republic, which has paid off.

Soto has refined some things when it comes to his mechanics and delivery that makes things look cleaner and has allowed him to be more productive on the mound. In his summer camp outings, Soto has looked to be a much better pitcher than in 2019; hopefully, this is the case.

In an ideal world, Soto will be an asset for the Tigers 2020 bullpen, making strides in his development. As long as Soto can put up better numbers than he did in his 2019 big league debut, Soto will be much better off.

The Detroit Tigers should expect all three of these arms to show improvements during 2020 and start becoming the pitchers they are expected to be or once were depending on which pitcher.