Buck Farmer

Farmer continued his evolution into a setup man in his second season as a full-time reliever. His 73 appearances tied for seventh among major-league pitchers, and he shared the team lead with 15 holds. While his 3.72 ERA and 1.27 WHIP were rather pedestrian, they represented noticeable improvements over the 4.15/1.56 marks he posted in 2018. Farmer's growth was evident in other areas, too; his 25.3 K% was the highest of his career and nearly 7% better than his previous campaign, while his 8.3 BB% was also a career-best and a 5% improvement over 2018. That's not to say that Farmer did anything exceptionally well -- he fell below the 80th percentile in every Statcast metric last season -- but he wasn't exceptionally poor in any category, either. On a team with a paucity of bullpen options, he's likely to take on a large workload and have the opportunity to notch double-digit holds again in 2020.

Farmer began the 2017 campaign toiling at Triple-A Toledo. He was summoned for a couple first-half spot starts, tossing 13 scoreless frames, fanning 16 with only three walks in a pair of victories. After getting lit up in his ensuing two starts, Farmer was sent back down to rejoin the Mudhens before getting the call again in mid-August. Farmer's Triple-A peripherals of a 8.3 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 0.65 HR/9 offered some optimism he'd perform closer to his two outings earlier in the season than his last two. That glimmer of hope was quickly extinguished as went on to sport a 6.82 ERA and 1.68 ERA over 30.1 innings to close the season. While Farmer may make the team as a reliever, he's more likely to start in the Triple-A rotation until an injury clears a spot for him to struggle again at the major-league level.

Farmer once again split time between Triple-A Toledo and Detroit in 2016, and once again he failed to find any real big league success. While he improved on his 7.36 ERA from 2015, that's not saying much. Farmer earned just one spot start in 2016 and yielded four runs in five innings. He struggled mightily with his command at the major league level, allowing a 6.1 BB/9. On the bright side, Farmer held a 3.96 ERA and much better 2.5 BB/9 over 20 starts in Toledo in 2016. His four-pitch arsenal suggests that he might still have the potential to become a back-of-the-rotation starter one day, although he'll need to demonstrate the ability to command the strike zone better at the major league level in order to get another starting opportunity for the Tigers.

Poor Farmer — Google turns up more returns for male deer and deer farms than it does for the player himself. The Tigers saw Big Buck as a back-end starter when they drafted him in 2013, but their outlook has likely changed after 2015. Farmer throws with power, but he was eaten alive as an MLB starter last season. Converted to middle-relief, Farmer's heater became more dominant, but that led to the dreaded forearm tightness diagnosis in early September. His MRI came back clean, but that extra velocity could be an issue on that tender arm going forward. His 7.36 ERA, 1.74 WHIP and .323 OBA with the Tigers in 2015 all point to a conversion to the bullpen, but spring training will tell that tale.

The Tigers selected Farmer in the fifth round of the 2013 first-year player draft. Farmer got off to a quick start with Low-A West Michigan last season, going 10-5 with a 2.60 ERA and 116:24 K:BB ratio in 103.2 innings. He was old (23) for the Low-A level at the time, but his success and a rash of injuries to the Tigers’ rotation forced the team’s hand to call upon Farmer for a couple of spot starts. Unsurprisingly, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound righty struggled in his time with the Tigers, compiling an 11.57 ERA and 11:5 K:BB ratio in 9.1 innings. Despite the rocky debut, the Tigers still view Farmer as a potential backend starter in the future. His fastball usually sits in the low-90s, but he has shown the ability to touch 95 mph. He always has a changeup, curveball and slider in his repertoire, and all three pitches have the potential to be major-league quality with some work. In an ideal situation, Farmer would have spent more time in Double-A Erie and/or Triple-A Toledo last season. Most likely, the Tigers will make up for that lost development time and have Farmer work primarily at those two levels in 2015. He’ll once again be a spot-start option, but Farmer’s first long-term look in the majors will likely be 2016 if he shows growth this year.

Signed a contract with Detroit in June 2013.