Tigers Pitcher Chris Paddack Will Be Away From Team After Death in His Family
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There was some news reported on Tuesday that Chris Paddack's role was going to change with the Detroit Tigers going forward, but that paled in comparison to what the pitcher later revealed.
According to Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press, Paddack said that he will not be with the Tigers for three days after there was a death in his family. This came after he made his appearance out of the bullpen on Tuesday where he gave up six earned runs on eight hits in 1 1/3 innings pitched.
"We're human beings. I want to be there for my family. A.J. (Hinch) and them, they're giving me three days to go spend time with my family and be there. Hopefully, that's a little reset for me, to be able to go back home and hug the loved ones. The reason why I play this game is for them," Paddack said, per Petzold.
Petzold also noted that Paddack teared up when talking about his family.
How Tigers Will Utilize Their Pitching Staff
In the meantime, it's going to be all hands on deck for Detroit to find pitching options behind Tarik Skubal. Because Casey Mize has started to regress in the second half of the year and Charlie Morton is beginning to falter after having a good showing following his acquisition at the trade deadline.
Sawyer Gipson-Long was called up as part of the MLB roster expansion. He had been getting work as a starter with Triple-A Toledo, and it's expected that's going to be his role going forward. But he allowed six earned runs on five hits in his start on Tuesday, which calls into question his viability as a rotation option.
The Tigers are in a similar situation as they were last year, with there being real question marks when it comes to filling a group behind Skubal. If manager A.J. Hinch wants to go with the same "pitching chaos" strategy that he employed last postseason, the good news is this bullpen has improved following the trade deadline.
However, the whole reason Detroit went out and signed Jack Flaherty this past winter was to have a legit Game 2 starter in a playoff series. That could still be the case, but he has been hit or miss all year in his own right.
Once Paddack returns to the team, that will give the Tigers a better idea of how they can put together their pitching staff. But the most important thing right now is that he takes the requisite time he needs to deal with this death in his family.
