AL Central Notes: Tigers, Morton, Lugo, Bergert, Wallner

A year after reaching the playoffs due to a late-season surge, the Tigers are now facing an opposite scenario in 2025.  The scorching-hot Guardians are on an eight-game winning streak and have won 13 of their last 14 games, while Detroit has lost seven of its last eight games — including a three-game sweep at home against the Guards.  The Tigers’ AL Central lead shrunk to just 2.5 games after a 10-1 loss to the Braves on Friday, as starter Charlie Morton was torched for six runs in just 1 1/3 innings.

Acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline, Morton has an 11.65 ERA over his last five starts, and a 7.09 overall ERA across his 39 1/3 innings in a Detroit uniform.  Speaking with the Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other reporters yesterday, Morton was at a loss to explain his sudden inability to throw strikes, and said “I’m personally really disappointed in myself.”  Given these struggles, Morton is “not expecting anything” in terms of another turn in the rotation, and manager A.J. Hinch was also non-committal on the subject.

The problem with removing Morton from the rotation is that the Tigers don’t have a ready-made replacement.  Chris Paddack was already moved to the bullpen due to his own struggles, Jose Uriquidy is pitching in relief after his long injury layoff, Troy Melton or Tyler Holton are more long men than true starters, and Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the 15-day injured list.  The Tigers could use some combination of all the healthy pitchers in this season’s version of their “Pitching Chaos” tactic, yet there are no easy answers in what has suddenly become a very tense pennant race.

More from the AL Central…

• Seth Lugo’s return before the end of the season seems like a “long shot,” as Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters.  Lugo hasn’t pitched since August 29 due to a lower back strain, and he had a setback following a bullpen session on Monday.  Quatraro said Lugo is now feeling better in the aftermath of that bullpen but hasn’t resumed throwing, so the veteran righty is simply running short on time to get fully ramped up.
• In other Royals pitching news, Quatraro said that Ryan Bergert is dealing with a mild flexor strain, and is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training.  Bergert was placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week with an ominous diagnosis of forearm tightness and he already has a Tommy John surgery in his history, so it counts as good news that his MRI revealed a relatively less-serious issue.  The right-hander has a respectable 3.66 ERA over 76 1/3 innings in his rookie season, with Bergert coming to Kansas City from the Padres at the trade deadline.
• The Twins placed Matt Wallner on the 10-day IL yesterday due to a right oblique strain, so the outfielder’s season is all but officially over.  This is the second IL stint of the year for Wallner, who missed over six weeks dealing with a hamstring strain early in the season.  Wallner will finish with a .202/.311/.464 slash line and 22 homers over 392 plate appearances, which translates to a 114 wRC+.  While respectable numbers, more was expected after Wallner posted a 148 wRC+ over 515 PA during the 2023-24 seasons.