Tuesday’s rainout compresses the Colorado Rockies series in to two days, and the Tigers will use the opportunity to keep their staff rested.
In the early going, the Detroit Tigers appear to be preparing for a long 2025 season that extends into October. At each opportunity, they’ve pushed their starting rotation back a day. Tuesday’s rainout in Colorado, which will be made up in a doubleheader on Thursday, provided them with another opportunity to do so, and instead of starting the final game of the series on Thursday, the Tigers will push their ace, Tarik Skubal, back to Friday. He’ll thus be able to fly home early and be rested and prepared for the first game of a new homestand against the Texas Rangers .
Jackson Jobe will handle the first game of the Rockies series on Wednesday, as planned. Jobe hasn’t pitched since April 30th, so he’s gotten a little extra rest due to the rain out. Casey Mize will get an extra day as well. He was originally set to pitch on Wednesday in Game 2 of the series. Now that start will occur on Thursday in the first of a doubleheader to conclude the series. Skubal will pitch on Friday at home against the Rangers.
So the question is who pitches the second game of the doubleheader, and we’ll assume the answer is again Keider Montero. The Tigers can use Montero on an extra day’s rest as well, on Thursday in the second game of the doubleheader as the 27th man, and then return him to Triple-A Toledo. No announcement has been made, but everything lines up well for Montero to get the nod. Whatever the plan is, the Tigers will have already flown their choice for 27th man out to Denver to be ready to help in the doubleheader. Montero would normally be scheduled to pitch for the Toledo Mud Hens on Wednesday on regular rest, but it’s currently Lael Lockhart Jr. set to start for the Hens. Presumably this is to set Montero up to pitch for the Tigers in Game 2 of the doubleheader, but we’ll have to wait to be sure.
Also worth noting is that serving as the 27th man for a doubleheader doesn’t count as being optioned, so it doesn’t weigh against the total of call-ups a team can use on a player in an option year.
Taking these opportunities to get the starting rotation an extra day’s rest has been wise planning by A.J. Hinch, Chris Fetter, and Scott Harris. Most pitcher injuries occur early in the season, as pitchers are still stretching out and getting into the flow of the season. Building in extra rest days in April and May is just smart, forward-thinking management from a team that expects to be in the thick of things in October. It’s also in keeping with their whole organizational philosophy.
Pitching prospects in the Tigers’ system this time of year typically are not allowed to throw more than 70-80 pitches until we get into the summer months. The Tigers want them to stay healthy and be able to develop over the course of the season, and still have enough gas in the tank to finish strong. For the major league starters, they have to handle their share of the load from the start and go as deep into games as they are able. But the ability to push them back to six days rest a few times early in the season, rather than the usual five, should set them up for success over the course of the long baseball calendar.
The Tigers will be a little hard pressed as they begin the homestand on Friday. After playing a doubleheader, they’ll fly back into Detroit late and then get right back at it against a tough opponent in the Texas Rangers the next day. If the position players are a little jet-lagged on Friday, at least they’ll have a well rested, defending Cy Young award winner ready to lead the way.