Monday was originally supposed to be the midpoint of the Tigers’ stretch of 20 games in 20 days to begin their 60-game season. Then came the postponement of their four-game series against the Cardinals, who have been quarantined in Milwaukee while they deal with the impact of positive COVID-19 tests. Now, the Tigers have a few days of workouts planned before picking up their schedule Friday night in Pittsburgh.
For that and other reasons, it seems like as good a time as any to open the Tigers Inbox and answer some questions:
I do think we’ll see Casey Mize, the club's No. 1 prospect, pitch for the Tigers this year. I do not know when. Manager Ron Gardenhire would probably like Mize here yesterday. I don’t think it’ll be until the Tigers get at least some stability to their schedule and can guarantee a regular routine for Mize. And it might not be right then, either.
Every indication suggested Mize was at least an option for Sunday, but now that the Tigers-Cardinals series is off, Detroit’s starters are off their schedule of pitching every five days or games. For the next few days, the Tigers’ pitching staff will be doing the same side work and simulated games in Detroit that Mize and the other pitching prospects have been doing at the alternate training site in Toledo, Ohio. And the Tigers had to suspect that was a strong possibility before they decided on a starter for Sunday, having seen the process play out with the Marlins last week.
Though Daniel Norris maybe could have used another outing in Toledo to stretch out his pitch count before joining the Tigers’ rotation, Gardenhire said he was next in line. But with rosters scheduled to whittle from 30 to 28 players later this week, the Tigers won’t have as many relievers available to cover innings. Tyler Alexander’s 10-strikeout relief outing Sunday has put him next in line for a spot. After that, unless the Tigers stretch out Beau Burrows in Toledo, Mize would appear to be in line.
General manager Al Avila has said service time is not a factor. In terms of free agency, it’s moot; the date for which players could be called up and still get a full year of service time has passed. The next deadline is Super Two arbitration eligibility, in which the top 22 percent of players between two and three seasons of service time qualify for arbitration. That’s coming up later this month.
Harold Castro is starting to get some regular playing time, having started three of the last four games between shortstop and third base. If Jeimer Candelario continues to struggle at the plate, Castro could be in line for more starts at third against right-handed pitching, though Candelario’s two-hit game Sunday against the Reds was a step in the right direction.
I don’t think we’ll see Isaac Paredes that soon. The Tigers like Candelario’s defense so far; it’s just a matter of hitting. They’re looking for opportunities for Castro to start and they still have Dawel Lugo on the bench, barely playing. Both Candelario and Lugo are out of options, and with the Marlins dealing with depth issues, putting any player on waivers right now is a risk.
They hit Reds starter Luis Castillo on Friday night, which was surprising, especially since nearly all the production came from the bottom of the order. They probably deserve a stretch of games against a rotation other than the Reds to make a determination.
There are metrics that suggest the Tigers should be hitting better than they are. According to Statcast, Miguel Cabrera entered Monday one off the AL lead in hard-hit balls (95-plus mph exit velocity), despite starting the year just 5-for-35. Christin Stewart has a barrel rate in the top eight percent of the league, but the strikeouts have to be a concern.