April
This month he appears in 11 games, striking out 12 batters and compiling a record of 1-1 with 7 saves and an ERA of 4.26. An average month I think for him.
May
He makes 4 appearances as closer before it finally happens! Sometime between the 7th and the 14th, The Bird finally cracks the starting rotation. As of the end of the month he is 4th in the rotation.
The first start of his major league career comes on the 15th against the Mariners at Tiger Stadium. The first batter he faces as a starter is Paul Molitor, whom he gets to groundout to third. For the rest of the game, he pitches 6 innings, giving up 5 hits and one earned run (which is a solo homer by John Lowenstein in the 6th inning), and strikes out 4 in a 5-4 Tigers home win.
He starts three more games over the rest of the month. For the month he has 1-1 record with 1 save, an ERA of 1.64 and a WHIP of 1.09.
June
He makes five starts and does fairly well, compiling a record of 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA and a WHIP of 1.54. He also strikes out as many batters as he walks with 15 each. Fidrych is also on the All-Star ballot but as a reliever.
July
Fidrych makes five starts and has his best month so far record-wise. His record for the month is 4-0. His ERA however is 5.45 and his WHIP is 1.68. He did not make the All-Star game.
August
Another excellent month for The Bird. He yet again earns a 4-0 record but with 2.62 ERA, 22 strikeouts (the most he's had in a month this season) and a WHIP of 1.16, all over 44.2 innings of work. Let's see if he finishes the year off just as strong.
September
He has a down month to end the year, starting 6 games and compiling a 1-3 record with a 6.49 ERA and 25 earned runs, the most he's given up in a month this year. His WHIP for the month is 1.99.
The Tigers again finish 3rd in the AL East but with a record of 96-66 in quite a top-heavy division, as you can see below:
Playoffs
Both defending league champions are defeated in their respective League Championship Series, so the Athletics and the Mets meet each other in the World Series. The A's go on to win the series in six games two give them their second championship this decade.
Here is The Bird and his carreer stats up to the end of this season:
I probably don't need to say it, but he had his best season yet this year. His ERA+ suggests it was due to the fact he played on a good team but his WAR says otherwise. Although this is the first time I've captured him looking happy, he clearly isn't happy with the team chemistry. He is eligible for arbitration this offseason so it's possible he may not stay with Tigers.
Let's head to the offseason and find out!