If you\u2019re a Detroit Tigers fan worrying about what the postseason rotation will look like beyond Tarik Skubal, relax.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that big a deal.<\/p>\n
In a handful of recent games, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has provided a glimpse of how he might operate in October. He was not afraid to yank his starters early, and by the postseason, his bullpen should be deep enough for him to manage with the same type of urgency.<\/p>\n
Frankly, the Tigers\u2019 greater concern might be an offense that entered Monday with the fourth-highest strikeout rate in the majors. The only teams that were worse \u2013 the Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates \u2013 are all non-contenders. And the Tigers\u2019 swing-and-miss tendencies mitigated their baserunning proficiency: They led the league by a wide margin in extra-base taken percentage.<\/p>\n
Pitching should be less of an issue, and not just because of Skubal\u2019s dominance. Last season, Hinch\u2019s \u201cpitching chaos\u201d strategy helped the Tigers make a remarkable run to the playoffs. This season, functioning with a more stable rotation, things look more conventional. But come the postseason, Hinch again figures to attack opponents in waves.<\/p>\n
The Tigers, of course, will not be the only team relying heavily on its bullpen in October. A year ago, the average postseason start lasted less than 4 1\/3 innings, second-lowest all-time after 2021.<\/p>\n
The San Diego Padres, in particular, can unload one star reliever after another. The Toronto Blue Jays could use Eric Lauer as a piggyback-style reliever. The Los Angeles Dodgers could get creative with Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow. Other clubs also figure to operate with short leashes. It\u2019s just the way the modern game is played.<\/p>\n
One of the Tigers\u2019 non-Skubal starters \u2013 Jack Flaherty, Charlie Morton or Casey Mize \u2013 will be in the mix to be a bulk reliever, at least for the Division Series. The choice of which one moves to the bullpen might depend more on matchups than how each pitcher is performing at the time.<\/p>\n
If, for example, the Tigers\u2019 opponent is more vulnerable to Mize\u2019s split-fingered fastball and Flaherty\u2019s spin, then Morton could become a weapon out of the \u2019pen \u2013 just as he was for Hinch with the Houston Astros when he pitched four innings of relief to close out Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. Then again, Morton has struggled in his last two outings after giving the Tigers three quality starts in his first four after his trade from the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n
The Tigers also are awaiting the returns of two potential bullpen weapons who have yet to throw a pitch for them \u2013 Jos\u00e9 Urquidy, who is on a rehabilitation assignment completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and Paul Sewald, whom the team acquired from the Cleveland Guardians at the deadline while he was on the injured list for the second time this season with a shoulder strain.<\/p>\n
Neither, obviously, is a sure thing. But the Tigers should be in pretty good position even without them. And Hinch already is showing that he will not hesitate to turn to his bullpen early when the situation dictates:<\/p>\n
Hinch will not be wedded to quick hooks with his non-Skubal starters. Flaherty, who returned to the team last offseason on a two-year, $35 million free-agent contract with an opt-out, almost certainly will be the team\u2019s preference to start Game 2. If he pitches the way he did Saturday against the Royals \u2013 one run, 5 2\/3 innings \u2013 Hinch will read the game and react accordingly. Ditto for the others.<\/p>\n
Flaherty, at his best, is a perfectly viable Game 2 starter. But his performance this season has fluctuated as wildly as it did for the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year\u2019s playoffs, when he followed his two best starts with poor ones. He warrants only so much trust.<\/p>\n
With the emerging Melton, Holton and perhaps Brant Hurter, who is currently on the injured list with back soreness at Triple A, the Tigers will not lack for bulk-inning candidates. Urquidy could be another. And with Tommy Kahnle seemingly coming out of a two-month slump, the rest of the \u2019pen should be in good shape.<\/p>\n
Finnegan has pitched 14 1\/3 scoreless innings since arriving from the Washington Nationals, striking out 19 and walking only three. Vest has been mostly excellent. Still, the bullpen entered Monday ranked next-to-last in strikeout rate, a lingering concern.<\/p>\n
Consider the \u2019pen\u2019s performance in August. While it ranked second in ERA and third in opponents\u2019 OPS, those numbers were deceptive. More telling: The bullpen ranked 25th in Fielding Independent Pitching for the month, and its opponents\u2019 .219 batting average on balls in play was by far the lowest in the league. To win in the postseason, the Tigers might need to keep overcoming the lack of strikeouts from their relievers. It won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n
For a team that owns the second-best record in the majors and has led the AL Central virtually all season, the Tigers will find October to be the ultimate test. The way Hinch lines up his rotation behind Skubal will remain a topic of discussion. But in a way, the conversation misses the point.<\/p>\n
Beyond aces like Skubal, the performances of starting pitchers in the postseason means only so much. The quality of the staff as a whole is what matters most.<\/p>\n
-The Athletic\u2019s Cody Stavenhagen contributed to this story<\/p>\n
(Top photo of A.J. Hinch: Thearon W. Henderson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re a Detroit Tigers fan worrying about what the postseason rotation will look like beyond Tarik Skubal,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":194149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1885,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-194148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-detroit-tigers","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115134820760431109","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}