KANSAS CITY, MO – The rotation was the biggest strength for the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day.
Now, it’s a reason for uncertainty.
Left-hander Tarik Skubal, right-hander Justin Verlander and right-hander Casey Mize are on the injured list, while left-hander Framber Valdez is suspended. Those situations have left inconsistent right-hander Jack Flaherty as the only remaining member of the original five-man rotation.
“We’ve been fortunate to be able to put somebody out there every inning of every game,” manager A.J. Hinch said Friday, May 8, before the first of three games against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Facing the Royals, the Tigers had right-hander Keider Montero listed as the starter for Friday’s game, followed by to-be-determined starters for Saturday and Sunday. Before Friday’s game, right-hander Ty Madden appeared as Saturday’s probable pitcher.
Will Madden actually start for the Tigers?
“I don’t know,” Hinch said.
The Tigers recalled Madden to replace Skubal, who recently underwent elbow surgery to remove a loose body from his left elbow without a return-to-play timeline.
Madden pitched in Skubal’s absence in Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park, throwing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in an impressive 81-pitch performance out of the bullpen.
In that game, Madden served as the bulk reliever.
It could be a traditional start this time.
“I’ll let Q [Matt Quatraro, Royals manager] know tonight after the game,” Hinch said, “depending on who we use and how we go into tomorrow. I’ll trade him out for Sunday’s starter.”
Left-hander Noah Cameron is scheduled to start Sunday for the Royals. He was scratched from his last start due to back tightness, but he has avoided a stint on the injured list.
The Tigers are gearing up for more pitching chaos.
Valdez was supposed to start, but he will continue serving his five-game suspension issued by MLB for intentionally throwing at a Red Sox hitter.
“It’ll be guys who are here, and we’ll mix and match like a traditional bullpen game, whatever that means,” Hinch said. “We’ll handle the volume based on the next two days in who is available to us, but the group that’s down there is the group that’s going to get us through that day.”
This story will be updated.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers’ Ty Madden listed as starter vs Royals. What is plan?