LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers examine each combination for the starting rotation.
There are no wrong answers.
Some answers might be better than others, but an argument could be made for any combination of three pitchers to be in the five-man starting rotation on Opening Day. Matt Manning, Casey Mize And Reese Olson are fighting for the last two places, with three places already occupied by Tarik Skubal, Kenta Maeda And Jack Flaherty.
“There are days when you can’t go down fairly,” manager AJ Hinch said. “From a pitching perspective, we have a week left, there are a much larger number of applicants than we could have asked for, even optimistically.”
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The Tigers will not use a six-man rotation or tandem starters.
Manning, Mize or Olson should be optioned to Triple-A Toledo.
Returning one of the pitchers will be a tough decision, but barring an injury in the final week of spring training games, it’s a decision that will have to be made by Hinch, president of baseball operations Scott Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg. before opening day on March 28.
All three understand that it is a fierce competition.
“They’re a tough team to field,” Manning said March 3. “I just do what I do.”
“I’m competing right now,” Mize said on March 8. “I know it.”
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“I try to focus on what I can control,” Olson said Sunday. “I’m just trying to do what I do.”
The Tigers assumed that one of the three starters would underperform or that one of the six starters would suffer an injury. None of those things happened in five weeks of spring training.
Manning, 26, has a 3.75 ERA with four walks and 15 strikeouts in 12 innings in four games; Mize, 26, has a 3.38 ERA with seven walks and 10 strikeouts in 10⅔ innings in four games; Olson, 24, has a 3.68 ERA with four walks and 14 strikeouts in 14⅔ innings over five games.
“These guys, they all do it,” Hinch said.
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The three pitchers also show themselves beyond the box score.
Manning, the No. 9 overall pick in 2016, is he’s finally missing bats with his fastball and improved secondary pitches, and his fastball increased in velocity; Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, is honing his mastery of his fastball, which has also increased in velocity, returning from elbow and back surgery, and his slider was as dominant as ever in his last start; Olson, optimized by the Tigers’ pitching department after being acquired at the 2021 trade deadline, remains as stable as ever with its nasty secondary pitches protecting his fastball at high speeds, and when he locates his fastball, he becomes unstoppable.
It was mentioned in Free Press opening list prediction 4.0, but it’s worth noting again: The Tigers have nothing to gain by opting for Mize and Manning, but that’s not the case for Olson, who has 123 days of service. It is currently at the limit of Super Two Status – an extra year of salary arbitration – if he remains on the major league roster for each of the next two seasons, but if he gets an option to Triple-A Toledo for a few weeks, he won’t have a chance to qualify for Super Two Status.
From a performance standpoint, there is no wrong order when ranking the competitive trio of Manning, Mize and Olson. Everyone has MLB experience, including Olson’s 1.44 ERA in September last season, and no one has done anything to hurt his chances in spring training.
But the Tigers won’t put all three in the Opening Day starting rotation.
Three starters for two rotation spots is the biggest topic in the final week of spring training, but Hinch, Harris and Greenberg must make other roster decisions before March 28 against the Chicago White Sox, like three relievers. for two right-handed pen locations Beau Brieskeright-handed Alex Faedo and left-handed Joey Wentz.
“There are still roles to play,” Hinch said. “There are still rounds to be had. There are decisions we have to make that we will communicate to the guys, but it’s nice and competitive.”
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow it @EvanPetzold.
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