Two Detroit Tigers Pitchers Making Strong Early Cases for Rotation Spots

Following the 2024 season, arguably the biggest need for the Detroit Tigers in the offseason was to upgrade the depth in their starting rotation.

The group was anchored by Tarik Skubal, who won the American League Cy Young Award, but there was not much reliable help behind him.

Injuries were a major culprit, along with Jack Flaherty being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the deadline.

Over the winter, the Tigers made sure they shored things up, bringing Flaherty back on a two-year, $35 million deal and adding Alex Cobb on a one-year, $15 million deal.

Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Matt Manning are healthy in spring training, while Keider Montoer and veteran Kenta Maeda remain in the mix as well.

What was viewed as a weakness just a few months ago is now a strength for the team, especially if they receive some better injury luck.

Right now, Skubal, Flaherty and Olson look to be locks for rotation spots. The competition for the final two spots behind them will be hotly contested during the spring.

Along with Mize, Manning, Montero and Maeda, the team also has top prospect Jackson Jobe vying for a spot in the Opening Day rotation.

They are going to have to earn those spots with strong performances in spring training, which Manning got off to in his first appearance.

The production wasn’t where he wanted it to be, as he faced six batters and allowed three hits and one walk, resulting in three earned runs.

What was important for Manning was that he was on the mound pitching in live games after dealing with injuries last year. He appears to be incredibly healthy, as Pitch Profiler on X shared that his velocity is up and his splitter has developed into an incredibly nasty pitch.

So Matt Manning added velocity and has an INSANE splitter??? pic.twitter.com/RsPHv5myH2
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 22, 2025

In that game againt the Philadelphia Phillies, Maeda also made his Grapefruit League debut in 2025.

He struggled mightily in 2024, making 29 appearances and throwing 112.1 innings with a bloated 6.09 ERA. For the first time in his career, his K/9 was under 9.0 at a very low 7.7.

That resulted in a ghastly -1.7 WAR, as Maeda struggled through the worst season of his MLB career and was relegated to the bullpen.

It is going to be difficult for him to break through as a starter again given how crowded the depth chart is, but his 2025 spring training debut was certainly a step in the right direction.

As Pitch Profiler shared, his stuff was a lot better against the Phillies than it has been in years.

Good news for Tigers fans—Kenta came out firing today!

His added velocity helped push him over the 100 proStuff+ mark for the first time in a while, a great sign following last season. pic.twitter.com/KUQO1DQ0Wu
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 22, 2025

Like Manning, he is showing an uptick in velocity in the early going, which will certainly help get him back on track.

His splitter, slider and sweeper were all getting the job done in his two innings of work, as he faced six batters and retired them all, striking out four of them.

That version of Maeda is one that can help Detroit win games this upcoming campaign.

Recommended Articles