Tigers ace Tarik Skubal gave the team a scare last week when he exited his start due to tightness in his left side. The obvious initial concern was that Skubal had suffered an oblique or intercostal strain that could necessitate a notable absence, but subsequent testing did not reveal a major injury. Several days of rest appear to have eased any discomfort the Cy Young front-runner was feeling. Skubal told the Tigers beat yesterday that he felt “100 percent” one day after a bullpen session.
“If anything, I probably worked a little bit harder just to make sure that I was good to go,” Skubal said of Monday’s bullpen session (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). “There was nothing there. It was all good.”
Skubal added that he fully anticipates making his next start tomorrow. He called last week’s early exit “one of those weird things” and wasn’t sure what had caused the discomfort, but for now, it seems the issue is largely behind him. For a Tigers club that’s already lost Reese Olson and Jackson Jobe for the season, Skubal’s ostensibly clean bill of health creates an even greater sigh of relief.
Outside of Skubal, Detroit’s rotation has been a mess since the trade deadline. Neither Charlie Morton nor Chris Paddack, the Tigers’ two rotation additions ahead of the deadline, has bolstered the staff. Morton sports a woeful 5.92 ERA in eight starts since coming to the Motor City, and Paddack has already been moved to the bullpen after posting a 6.38 ERA in five starts. Jack Flaherty (5.14 ERA in his past eight starts) and Casey Mize (4.85 ERA in his past eight starts) have also been limping to the finish line. Overall, the Tigers’ rotation has a 4.77 ERA dating back to Aug. 1 — and that number skyrockets to 5.40 when subtracting Skubal’s contributions.
The Tigers deployed their “pitching chaos” tactic to great effect late last season, using Skubal as their lone traditional starter and otherwise deploying an all-hands-on-deck approach. They haven’t reverted to that form just yet, and it’s worth noting that both Mize and Flaherty have had some strong starts in the past couple weeks. Presumably, Flaherty and Mize are the favorites for postseason starts behind Skubal right now, but last year’s approach showed that the Tigers aren’t beholden to conventional setups with their pitching staff.
Detroit is also hoping for some reinforcements in the bullpen sooner than later. Yesterday’s injury report from the club indicated that right-hander Kyle Finnegan tossed a bullpen session yesterday. He landed on the shelf earlier this month due to an adductor strain. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Finnegan, who tossed 14 1/3 shutout innings after being acquired from the Nationals in July, could embark on a rehab assignment in the near future.
Fellow deadline pickup Paul Sewald has already started his own rehab assignment as he works back from a July shoulder injury. He’s allowed one run and punched out four hitters in 4 2/3 innings of rehab work — most recently pitching two-thirds of an inning just last night. A return shouldn’t be too far off, barring any late setbacks.
While the updates on Skubal, Finnegan and Sewald are largely positive, the news regarding outfielder/third baseman Matt Vierling is far less rosy. Vierling, out since early August due to an oblique strain, began a minor league rehab assignment earlier this week. However, the Tigers announced in their latest injury report that Vierling has been pulled from that rehab stint after just one game due to continued soreness in his oblique region.
“I’m going to stop short of calling it a setback because I don’t know that yet,” manager AJ Hinch said last night (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). “But it’s clearly slowed down our plan with him. He’s pretty bummed out about it and he should be. We are, too. It’s just a matter of being re-evaluated and seeing what he can tolerate and what we can hope for.”
Hinch didn’t declare Vierling out for the season but conceded that the best he could answer regarding Vierling’s playoff availability was a simple, “I don’t know.” Presumably, Detroit will have more information on his status in the next few days.
It’s been a frustrating season for Vierling, who turned 29 the same day he had to be pulled from that rehab stint. He’s been limited to just 31 games and 100 plate appearances due to a pair of shoulder injuries and a pair of strains in his left oblique. When on the active roster, he’s turned in a tepid .239/.310/.307 batting line.
That pedestrian line is a far cry from Vierling’s quietly solid .257/.312/.423 performance during a 2024 season that saw him connect on a career-high 16 home runs. Vierling also set highwater marks in doubles (28), games played (144) and plate appearances (567). On the other side of the ball, he chipped in passable glovework at third base and above-average defense across all three outfield spots. It’s still possible he makes it back to the roster, particularly if the Tigers go on a deep run in October, but a return doesn’t appear to be on the immediate horizon.
Does Paddack or Horn get the ziggy when Sewald is promoted? Presumably the other gets it when Hanifee is called back up.
Seems like Paddack is the most likely. I’m surprised they’ve given him the long leash. I thought he would have been DFA’d weeks ago.
The best pitcher in all of baseball is Sk….
My guess would be Paddack since Horn has options and is our third lefty. Harris might not want to admit he made a bad trade for Paddack but he needs to so we can cycle guys in and out.
I think the Tigers have the “ability” to choke away the division title. (MVPs? – Harris and Illitch)
I really believe they let us down at the trade deadline…..they said they wanted to preserve our “future” by not trading away too many decent prospects, but hey, the future (and the playoffs) is NOW! We sure could have used a better starting pitcher than Morton (has-been) or Paddack (never was)…..
I think you need to break it down more because there were wins and losses at the dealine. Overall I think they did decent but certainly could have done more.
Despite the up and down pitching and numbers, I’ll take Morton’s experience and strikeout stuff in a playoff series but agree Paddack didn’t work out. Agree another starter would have been great.
The bullpen adds of Finnegan and Montero on the other hand were brilliant. Sewald is TBD and I have high hopes for him too. Good bullpens win playoff games.
A complimentary bat would have been nice but they decided to “dance with the one that brought you” instead. Ha Seong Kim is a guy I look at as a lost opportunity (if he was even available). Hindsight is 20-20 but the cost for Suarez may not have been as high as we thought. Would they have upgraded the offense? Maybe.
It doesn’t seem like the Tigers could have successfully obtained a quality starting pitcher regardless. They would have had to give up guys in their Top 5 prospects and that wasn’t ever going to happen.
What team gave up a top 5 prospect in a trade at the deadline? Other teams likely asked for one, but they didn’t get one. Yet players were still moved. Could be the lack of experience on the Tigers POBO and GM.
Yes, you’re correct no team was willing to do that. I believe that’s what it would have taken to land a Joe Ryan, Sandy Alcantara, and possibly even Mitch Keller. No teams wanted to meet the asking price, which was interesting.
Wrong
Merrill Kelly was in reach and would have been nice to add instead of Paddack. Given how Morton was pitching just before they got him and his playoff history and ability to strike out batters,he made sense.
What other teams tradedis not necessarily what teams were asking from the Tigers. When teams have a deep farm system the ask is usually going to be higher as other teams view them as being able to give more, it decreases leverage when negotiating a potential deal.
The Tigers went into the season also thinking that Cobb was one of the 5 starters. So along with Olson and Jobe, are missing 3 starters. They took a gamble on Paddock, and Morton. If either makes the post season roster, and performs, it could still work out. Personally, I would keep K. Montero over either.
If Verling is healthy, I think I would still keep Jones as the extra RH bat over him. He has been a solid part of the bench. If they cut back one pitcher, they can keep both Verling and Jones.
I don’t think the Tigers could have become a WS contender with what was available at the deadline. As much fun as the past calendar year has been, this is not a championship team yet. They are too flawed.
The offense needs upgrades, as does the pitching staff. The offense goes completely dead far too often. I don’t trust the bullpen to maintain a lead.
This is a key upcoming offseason for Harris. Will he pick up some difference makers? We’ve had plenty of time to see what we have in the system.
Why I advocated at the trade deadline to upgrade the future with Torres and Flaherty….the team would have still been competitive.
Central teams all on a low, in a traditionally “weaker” division.
Tigers fans are the only fans in pro sports who actively root for their team to fail.
don’t see anyone doing that.
They are too busy harassing the female staff.
Should have traded for Merrill Kelly but at least Harris still has his prospects.
Urquidy is back and pitched fairly well in his first outing. I have a feeling if there’s a must win, Troy Melton is a strong possibility in the post season. I think he’s the Tigers second best “starter type”. He’s been fire.
I wonder if we might not see Melton pitch a playoff game or split 3-4 innings with another starter?
That would probably be the best if they aren’t starting him they should let him pitch the other half of an outing from say Morton or urquidy might be really good for the team.
Mize is lucky he plays on a good offense team which has helped him a 14-5 record
That and he has pitched well this year, especially in the first half when he made the all star team.
I wouldn’t exactly say that we are a good offensive team we are definitely mid smmfh
So is it going to be Skubal, Flaherty and then pray for snow flurries?
Skubal, Mize and Flaherty. I wonder if they won’t use some combo of Morton and Melton for 3-4 innings. Montero and Hurter can do multiple innings too. Lots of options to co er the #4 starter innings.
Those second half pitching stats are hard to believe when all I ever read about in these comment sections is how good of a coach Fetters is. Front office dumpster diving at the deadline didn’t help the team any.
This site should do an article with stats comparisons of all trade deadline players.
What a disaster this has been since the trade deadline, Harris didn’t do anything to help this club, and it’s showing every night
He improved the bullpen. Finnegan and Montero have been excellent and Melton has been good…well, not today. Still…not a good way to head into the playoffs.
Tonight’s game, WOW. The best part about sports, there’s always next year. GO TIGERS !
We are wasting the last years of Skubal in a Tigers uniform. Harris and his 2025 season dumpster-diving have blown our run with the ace. Unless he wakes up and makes a run for 2026 … what a waste of a generational talent who could have been our WS hero.
Don’t lose hope.
The Tigers can still make it DESPITE the FACT they F’d up in Belton and didn’t hire the Superfife = sat there talking smack instead of doing the right thing, the gentlemanly thing, and make a proper introduction of themselves…..
Geez, all the solid advise they missed out on….
It’s obvious now.
*advice
It’s a Commie conspiracy….
I mean, you can’t really be shocked two starters like Paddack and Morton have been non-factors. They weren’t strong additions to begin with. And have shown that. I remain hopeful for a deep run in the playoffs, but I’m not going to be shocked if it’s a first-round exit either.
Me neither. Especially the way they’ve played since the All-Star break.
Makes me curious if the Tigers will target Bo Bichette or Kyle Tucker this offseason. They need a major offensive upgrade in the lineup. Torres will most definitely test the FA market, as planned, making the offense even worse.
Will McGonigle and/or Max Anderson be in the mix next spring? When’s Max Clark realistically due? I imagine Parker will get one more chance to put up or shut up next year, and I doubt anything drastic will be done with Baez.
Also, there are a lot of decisions to be made on Rule 5 protection, which could prompt some trades. Looking forward to a very interesting winter for the Tigers. Can Harris put the finishing touches on a roster that can win a championship in his 4th year?
They should cut Paddack but Morton’s experience and strikeouts could be good in the playoffs paired with someone like Melton. Split 6 or 7 innings
I would honestly flip Morton for Melton in the pen.
They probably would if they weren’t trying to keep Melton’s IP’s down. But one has to wonder if there’s really a big difference. If you figure Melton could get you 5 IP in a start, then two, 3-IP relief stints within 5 days is even more IP.
Agree for the playoffs but keep Melton to 3-5 IP and give 3 IP to Morton. Let them go all out for a shorter stint.
Uggghhhh….Morton sucked hard tonight!
Yeah he did. It’s all or nothing with him.
I don’t understand why AJ sent Paddack out for a 5th inning. He had 4 scoreless IPs and the Tigers weren’t officially out of it yet. 6-1 is difficult to overcome, especially with Detroit’s anemic offense. But 8-1 is insurmountable. Maybe that was AJ’s postseason test for Paddack.
Of course, at this rate, any postseason success is suddenly looking less and less likely.