Tigers Starting Rotation Might Finally Welcome Back Much-Needed Arm on Saturday
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Lately, watching the Detroit Tigers has been something that can only be described as a dumpster fire, as injuries, ejections, suspensions, and losses have been the only headlines coming out of this organization.
Going into this series against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tigers are in desperate need of something, or someone, to spark some life into this team, and they might get it as Casey Mize will be eligible to come off the injured list.
Mize's name has been etched next to Tarik Skubal's and Justin Verlander's on IL after a right adductor strain happened mid-start at the end of April against the Atlanta Braves. But he has thrown a couple of bullpen sessions, and if all things go well, then Mize will be eligible to take the mound on Saturday.
To say Detroit is in desperate need of a starter to rejoin the pitching staff would be the understatement of the century, and if it can't be Skubal, then Mize is the next-best arm that the ballclub has to offer.
Mize This Season
If there was going to be someone giving Skubal a run for his money this season, the first guess would be that it was the $38 million-dollar arm attached to Framber Valdez. But that isn't the case.
Mize is the only other starter on the team with a sub-3.00 ERA (2.90). That pairs nicely with a 1.19 WHIP and 35 strikeouts in 31 innings. To say he has been missed doesn't capture his absence correctly.
Less Than Ideal Stretch For the Rotation
The Tigers' pitching staff has been dismantled right before our eyes, which started when Hall of Fame-bound Justin Verlander hit IL on April 4 with swelling in his hip. He now sits on the 60-Day list, while Skubal hit the dreaded list a month later.
The back-to-back Cy Young Award winner had to have surgery to remove a loose body in his elbow. Luckily, that went well, but when the news broke, and Detroit needed Valdez to step up in his absence, he crumbled.
Not only did Valdez have a start that is inexcusable for a veteran, but he then went and hit Boston Red Sox Trevor Story in the back after giving up back-to-back homers. Benches cleared, Valdez was ejected, then eventually suspended.
Framber Valdez stepped up when the Tigers needed it most:
— DataBase Hit (@DatabaseHit) May 14, 2026
6.2 IP | 5 H | 2 ER | 2 BB | 7 K
24% Whiffs
36% CSW
84.9 mph avg ev pic.twitter.com/O71vRENqgK
Valdez took the mound for the first time since the suspension on Wednesday and was excellent: 6.2 innings, five hits, seven strikeouts, two earned runs. That is the guy the team needs.
If the Tigers can get Mize back and ride the wave until Skubal returns, then the division is anything but lost. If it isn't Saturday that he gets off of IL, then hopefully it will be early next week, because Detroit cannot afford to keep dropping games.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.