After a slow start, the Detroit Tigers have been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season. At the start of June, the club*sat two games under .500, and was in fourth place in the American League Central.
Since then, the team has gone on a tremendous run. Over the past three months, Detroit has combined to go 48-34. After Sunday’s tight 6-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals, the club now sits in second place in the AL Central, and is currently tied for the AL’s second wild card spot.
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The win didn’t come easy. The game-tying run was stranded at third base after Tigers closer Francisco Rodriguez was able to induce a groundout to end the contest. With the appearance, Rodriguez notched his 424th career save. That ties him with former New York Mets reliever John Franco for fourth on the all-time list.
Perhaps it’s fitting that Rodriguez*now plays for one of baseball’s biggest surprise stories. Following a rough 2012, it was tough to imagine Rodriguez would continue to pitch this well this late into his career.
With the Los Angeles Angels, Rodriguez, nicknamed K-Rod exploded onto the scene as one of the best relievers in the game. He wasn’t just dominant early on, notching four straight seasons with a strikeout rate over 30 percent, but he also pitched a ton. Rodriguez threw over 80 innings in each of his first two seasons, and was a true workhorse reliever. Though his strikeout rate slipped a bit in 2008, he*still put up strong ERAs.
Francisco Rodiguez picked up his 424th career save Sunday. (Getty Images/Dave Reginek) That changed in 2012. Rodriguez had a rough season by his standards, posting a 4.38 ERA over 72 innings. His strikeout rate dropped, his walk rate rose and questions started to emerge about whether he could continue to be effective. At age-30, Rodriguez was no longer hitting 95 mph with regularity, and there was no question his arm had seen a lot of innings up to that point in his career. He wasn’t even the club’s closer that season, saving just three games.
In response to his diminished velocity, Rodriguez developed a killer changeup to compensate. Since 2012, Rodriguez’s changeup has produced a 37.1 pitch value according to FanGraphs. That’s easily the highest in the league over that period. Tony Watson, who sits second on that list, has a 24.6 pitch value with his change over that same stretch.
It’s because of that pitch Rodriguez has continued to remain effective in the late innings despite his age. Over his last 221 innings, he’s posted a 2.69 ERA.
Though the accomplishment is significant, moving to fourth on the all-time saves list doesn’t guarantee Rodriguez induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. None of the players ahead of Rodriguez are currently in the Hall. Franco, who Rodriguez just tied, is also not in the Hall.
That’s slightly misleading, though. Mariano Rivera isn’t eligible for election just yet, but he seems like a safe candidate to go in on the first ballot. While Trevor Hoffman didn’t make it in his first year, he received 67.3 percent of the vote. There’s a good chance that figure will rise in the coming years, meaning Hoffman could eventually get elected. Rivera and Hoffman are currently first and second respectively on the all-time list.
Lee Smith is third on the all-time list with 478 career saves, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Smith received just 34.1 percent of the vote*in 2016. He is entering his final year of eligibility in 2017, and doesn’t seem likely to reach the 75 percent threshold.
Rodriguez is just 34, and could pass Smith with another solid season or two. That’s probably as high as he’ll get, though. In order to reach Hoffman, Rodriguez would need to save another 177 games before he retires. That doesn’t seem likely.

Still, based on his ability to adapt once in his career, Rodriguez could make for an interesting case if he can continue to pitch effectively for a few more years. Getting induced into the Hall of Fame may prove to be difficult, but just being in the conversation is impressive enough considering*he looked to be a declining player four years ago.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik