Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris ‘really excited’ about Chris Paddack
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris talks to reporters July 28, 2025, about the Chris Paddack trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Chris Paddack is leaving the Detroit Tigers for three days after a death in his family.
Paddack — whom the Tigers moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen — struggled Tuesday, Sept. 2, against the New York Mets at Comerica Park, allowing six runs across 1⅓ innings in his first relief appearance for the Tigers. He pitched while grieving the death of a family member.
“We’re human beings,” Paddack said after Tuesday’s 12-5 loss. “I want to be there for my family. A.J. (Hinch) and them, they’re giving me three days to go spend time with my family and be there. Hopefully, that’s a little reset for me, to be able to go back home and hug the loved ones. The reason why I play this game is for them.”
Paddack, 29, is facing a difficult stretch — mourning the loss of a family member at home while adjusting to a transition from the rotation to the bullpen at work.
He teared up as he spoke about his family.
The Tigers shifted Paddack to the bullpen for performance reasons, with a 6.89 ERA in seven games (six starts) since being acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the July 31 trade deadline. He had a 5.40 ERA in six starts, so the Tigers sent him to the bullpen in hopes of better results in shorter spurts.
“The hope for anybody that you send to the bullpen is that it’s going to ease the pressure at the beginning of the game,” Hinch said after Tuesday’s game. “I think the hope is that the velocity ticks up, the changeup, the swing and miss. By getting a limited look, maybe an uptick in stuff could help him.”
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Paddack didn’t object to Hinch’s decision.
“We’re in September,” Paddack said. “We have a really good team. I haven’t met some of my expectations as far as some numbers go across my stat line. There’s really no arguing that decision. I’m here to contribute any way I can.”
His first relief appearance was a night to forget.
“Mentally, this game has done some things to me this year,” said Paddack, who has a 5.37 ERA in 28 games (27 starts) in the 2025 season. “I’m proud of myself for keeping my head up and continuing to get ready for tomorrow.”
Facing the Mets, Paddack allowed six runs on eight hits with one strikeout across 1â…“ innings, throwing 41 pitches. He recorded the final two outs easily in the sixth, then surrendered all eight hits for six runs in the seventh.
He thinks he might’ve been tipping his pitches.
“Something I did notice is they swung at every single changeup besides one,” Paddack said, with the Mets swinging 10 times at 11 changeups, including on back-to-back home runs from Juan Soto and Pete Alonso in the seventh. “I might do some digging to see if I’m tipping that pitch or not or if I’m tipping something out of my delivery. It might be more out of the windup. I’m not 100% sure, but definitely some things that I got to fix.”
Paddack, who is from Cedar Park, Texas, has a 4.63 ERA in his seven-year MLB career, spanning 113 games (109 starts). Before Tuesday’s game, he hadn’t pitched out of the bullpen since Sept. 30, 2023, with the Twins.
The bereavement list in MLB allows a player to leave their team for a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven days due to the death or illness of a family member. Teams can recall a player from the minor leagues to replace the player who has been placed on the bereavement list.
Paddack expects to be gone for three days.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold. Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.