Tigers resolve rotation battle, sending starter to Toledo
The Detroit Tigers optioned right-handed pitcher Matt Manning on Friday, meaning Casey Mize and Reese Olson will open the season in the team’s starting rotation.
The three pitchers had been locked in a monthlong battle this spring. All three pitched well, bringing the decision down to the wire.
Opening Day starter Tarik Skubal and veteran acquisitions Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty join Mize and Olson in rounding out the five-man rotation.
Additionally, the Tigers announced that veteran non-roster invitee Drew Anderson, a right-handed reliever, has been reassigned to minor-league camp.
That leaves four relievers battling for the final two bullpen spots: left-hander Joey Wentz; and right-handers Beau Brieske, Miguel Diaz and Alex Faedo.
Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (left groin strain) is still in camp, but he is expected to open the season on the injured list.
The Tigers must finalize their 26-man roster before Opening Day on March 28 in Chicago against the White Sox.
Manning, 26, was selected by the Tigers out of high school with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft. He has the rare distinction of being a consensus top-100 prospect for five consecutive seasons in both the Baseball America and MLB Pipeline rankings.
Manning has accumulated 45 big-league starts over parts of the last three seasons, although he’s been vexed by sometimes fluke injuries.
On April 11 of last season in Toronto, he caught a line drive in his right foot, breaking a toe. He missed 10 weeks.
On Sept. 6 in New York, he was smacked in the same foot, broke a different bone and missed the final four weeks of the 2023 season.
Manning posted a 3.58 ERA in 78 innings over 15 starts in 2023. Other metrics were less optimistic than his ERA. His FIP (4.81), expected FIP (5.35), expected ERA (5.39) and Deserved Run Average (5.79) were notably higher.
Manning pitched well this spring, with a 3.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings, but six of his eight hits allowed were home runs.
But the decision to go with Mize and Olson ahead of Manning was less an indictment of Manning than an acknowledgment that a deserving pitcher would have to be left behind. Manning was the odd man out.
Anderson, who turned 30 on Friday, spent the last two seasons pitching in Japan. Before that, he played briefly in parts of five big-league seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers.
He turned heads with his increased velocity this spring and was the final non-roster invitee to get cut, suggesting he’ll have a chance to see action in Detroit at some point this season.
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