Detroit Tigers, Game 33: One thing I loved, one thing I didn't

The News' Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers' 5-4 loss to the Rangers on Friday:

One thing I loved

Hao-Yu Lee isn't a finished product, of course.

But he's starting to look more and more comfortable in his first stint in the big leagues, especially in the field, where he made several impressive plays at third base in Friday night's game.

Lee also had a big hit with family and friends in the ballpark from Taiwan — a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning to pull the Tigers within 4-3 (they tied it in the fifth, before losing to fall back under .500, at 16-17).

Lee, 23, doesn't get cheated at the plate, which will come to thrill Tigers fans at times, when he connects. But too often still, he doesn't connect, like when he chased ball four, instead, for strike three in the sixth inning. He now has 10 strikeouts in 10 games. He'll need to cut down the swing, especially with two strikes, and the command of the strike zone needs work. But watch closely enough, you'll notice at least some progress on that front. On that sixth-inning strikeout, he did deftly work the count to 3-2. A couple weeks ago, he doesn't get to that point.

Again, he's a work in progress. Stay tuned.

One thing I didn't

The Tigers aren't exactly crying "Mayday" on May Day. But they have some issues with the rotation.

The top two has been good, as expected, with Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez. But beyond that, things are starting to look pretty dicey, with Justin Verlander (hip) and Casey Mize (groin) on the injured list, and Jack Flaherty mired in one of the worst stretches of his career.