The Detroit Tigers are off to a strong start in the 2025 MLB season and are currently in first place in the American League Central. Tarik Skubal is in the Cy Young conversation with a 6-2 record and a 2.16 ERA through 13 starts. Casey Mize is 6-2 with a 2.95 ERA, and Jack Flaherty is 5-6 with a 3.41 ERA.
In the bullpen, they have a number of talented players, most notably being veteran reliever Tommy Kahnle. He has a 1.24 ERA to lead the team with eight saves and nine holds in 28 games thus far this season.
As it turns out, Kahnle’s go-to pitch is his changeup. In fact, with the New York Yankees, Kahnle threw 61 straight changeups during their 2024 postseason run. But while everybody expects it, his changeup is still nearly impossible to hit.
Tommy Kahnle Gets ‘Unicorn’ Message From Tigers Manager
Kahnle reflected on throwing 61 straight changeups, per Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
“I wasn’t really sure what the number was,” Kahnle said, reflecting on his 61 changeups in a row, “but in the back of my head, I’m like, ‘I have not thrown a fastball in a long time.’ It was working.”
Furthermore, Tigers manager AJ Hinch spoke about the uniqueness of it despite everybody knowing what pitch is coming their way.
“Speaking of unicorns, it’s a pitch where everyone in baseball knows how he pitches, and yet he finds a way to get soft contact and miss bats and continue to pound the zone. Fun player because he can be utilized at any point of the game, and he doesn’t change.”
This season, Kahnle is throwing the changeup 84% of the time, a career-high, but he is still enjoying a strong start to the year, somehow.
Tommy Kahnle, Dirty 90mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/iHiYD9l8HO
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 28, 2025
It’s nothing new for him, either, per Petzold.
“I always had a great changeup,” Kahnle said. “We just didn’t utilize it a lot because I had an elite fastball at the time. Eventually, we made the switch. Every year since then, the usage has just gotten higher and higher.”
In his career, he has had stints with the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers before signing a one-year deal with Detroit.
But he is off to a massive start in what has been a bright spot for the Tigers’ bullpen. It’ll be interesting to see how long his unicorn run lasts.