Series vs. Orioles could have Draft implications

DETROIT -- While Spencer Torkelson was presumably enjoying a Friday night at Arizona State, and Emerson Hancock was likely doing the same at Georgia, the Tigers were trying to dig their way out of an early deficit against the Orioles at Comerica Park. They strung together two sixth-inning runs and four hits off Aaron Brooks and Shawn Armstrong, putting the potential tying run on base, and came no closer after Armstrong struck out Harold Castro to end the threat.

The fact that the Tigers came up short in a 6-2 defeat to the Orioles, their 103rd loss this season, could well end up being one of the more important results in the big picture of their ongoing rebuilding effort. With a 4 1/2-game gap between the two clubs for the Majors’ worst record, the Tigers crept closer to grabbing the first overall pick in next year’s MLB Draft.

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The losses now could well end up netting them results later in the form of Torkelson, the slugging first baseman currently projected as the top hitter available in the Draft, or Hancock, the projected top pitcher. How many of these current players could still be around to see either player in a Detroit uniform is a matter of projection, but it’s nonetheless the undertones behind what would otherwise be a quiet four-game series between two non-contending teams in mid-September.

The idea of teams eyeing the draft order in the waning days of the season is nothing new. The Tigers’ rights to the top pick in the 2018 Draft, which eventually brought them top pitching prospect Casey Mize, were largely determined by their September struggles that year. But it eventually came down to a Pablo Sandoval walkoff home run for a Giants win, pushing San Francisco ahead of Detroit in baseball’s overall standings. By contrast, the O’s finished with the Majors’ worst record by an 11-game margin last year, and selected Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman first overall in this year’s MLB Draft as a result.

With the top pick, too, comes spending power for picks down the line. Beyond Mize, having the first overall pick last year gave the Tigers the wiggle room to draft Parker Meadows in the second round and sign the high-school outfielder away from his commitment. It also allowed them to spend above slot money in the ninth round on a little-known left-hander named Tarik Skubal, now their fourth-ranked prospect and part of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 overall.

Rarely, however, do two teams so close at the bottom of the standings meet so late in the season. According to STATS, the 201 combined losses between the Tigers and O’s entering Friday set an American League record for two teams starting a series. Both teams are already above the 98-loss mark the Tigers finished in 2017 in taking the first overall selection in the ‘18 Draft.

From the moment Jonathan Villar’s squibber rolled foul down the line, then swerved fair and hit first base for a single to open the game, Friday’s series opener had a strangeness to it.

“First batter of the game there,” Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann said, “I throw a backdoor curveball and he hits it off the end [of the bat]. I’m running at it and I see it bounce probably six inches fair. The next time I see it bounce, it’s probably an inch or two foul. At that point, I’m right on top of it, so I just let it go thinking it should be in the grass on the foul side. Somehow, it just takes a left turn and rides the chalk line all the way to the base.”

Villar scored two batters later to put the O’s in front, then DJ Stewart’s two-run homer helped them pull away against Zimmermann in the fifth. The Tigers’ sixth-inning rally was nullified by Trey Mancini’s two-run homer the following inning.

Brooks tossed 5 1/3 innings without recording a strikeout in his start against the Tigers, who lead the Majors in strikeouts. Yet Brooks didn’t allow a run until Jordy Mercer’s RBI single chased him in the sixth. Mercer finished with three hits, but he also made an out at the plate trying to score from second on Travis Demeritte’s two-out infield single in the fourth.

“We talk about it all the time, trying to get the ball in the zone,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That doesn’t happen very often. But you know what? If you can look for a bright, shining star, that might be one of them. We didn’t strike out [against Brooks] tonight. But we still lost the game.”

In the end, that is Gardenhire’s concern -- wins and losses, not draft picks. Though Tigers chairman/CEO Christopher Ilitch complimented Gardenhire for his handling of the big league club amidst the system-wide rebuild, and games wear on him regardless.

“Gardy is doing a fine job, and I really admire the resolve that both Gardy and [general manager] Al [Avila] have shown through this whole rebuilding process,” Ilitch said, “because it's a grind and it's not easy.”

Days like Friday don’t make it easier, despite the support.

“We have a good relationship. He’s a very nice man,” Gardenhire said of Ilitch. “He has a lot of things going on other than baseball, but he loves his baseball team. He understands what we’re trying to do. That’s a big part of it.”