April
Fidrych appears in 3 games in relief and does very well, posting an ERA of 2.70 over 6.2 total innings.
May
Mark makes 9 appearances this month and over 16.2 innings strikes out 8 and walks 8. However his WHIP is down to 1.59 from 2.40 last month.
June
He makes 6 appearances for the Tigers this month. He pitches just 9 innings over the course of those games and has a rough time of it with an ERA of 11.00 and a WHIP of 2.56.
On the 26th, The Bird is optioned to the Triple-A
Evansville Triplets where he pitches a couple of games. While he collects both wins, records show he had a rough go of it there as well. His ERA for both games is 4.40 and he walks 9 and only strikes out 3. At the end of the month, the Tigers call him back up to the majors.
July
The Bird makes one appearance, on the 5th, before the Tigers send him down once again to Evansville, where he starts two more games. He is credited with the win in the second game. He strikes out 11 batters and compiles a WHIP of 1.38 over those two games but posts an ERA of 5.06.
On the 20th, the Tigers recall him back and he appears in five more games. Over 6 MLB appearances this month, he compiles an ERA of 6.97 and strikes out and walks 7 batters each along with a WHIP of 1.84.
August
Fidrych becomes a closer for the Tigers this month. Over 7 games he posts a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 4.35. He stills strikes out and walks batters at an even clip. This month he strikes out 7 and walks 6.
September
The Bird appears in 14 games this month. As a closer he earns 4 saves but an ERA of 5.06 in 26.2 innings. The Tigers finish the season once again at the bottom of the AL East with a record of 71-91.
Playoffs
The Boston Red Sox defeat the San Francisco Giants 4 games to 1 to win their first World Series since 1918. Rick Miller is the series MVP
Here is a look at Fidrych at the beginning of the offseason:
This was definitely a down year for him, but he continues to work towards his potential. Maybe next year he'll finally crack the starting rotation?
On to the offseason!