If the Tigers fancy themselves a better team this season, perhaps even a playoff team, they'll get to prove it in April. Nine of their first 12 games come against playoff teams from last season, and they close out the month with a road trip that ends against the Dodgers. They'll need a young rotation to set the tone. A.J. Hinch is confident that it will.
"We’re going to see some pretty good teams, which (makes it) important for us to play clean baseball in April. Where I feel good about it is, our rotation’s in a better place," Hinch said Monday on 97.1 The Ticket. "I think Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal going into the season are in a completely different stratosphere when it comes to their readiness for the big leagues than they were a year ago. Eduardo (Rodriguez) at the top can set the tone. The starting pitching is going to be really important."
Mize and Skubal have both looked polished this spring, Skubal in particular. The 25-year-old lefty, who set a franchise rookie record for strikeouts last season, has allowed two runs in three starts with 13 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings. Mize, 24, has allowed three runs in three starts with 10 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old Matt Manning hasn't been quite as sharp, but his talent is clear. Together, they are poised to take the next step in their careers.
"These guys can be really good," said Hinch. "The concern that I have for the messaging is they don’t have to be perfect. They don’t even have to be overly dominant. They just have to be themselves. Casey Mize can be pitch-efficient, get outs and not punch guys out and because he’s Casey Mize, people overly criticize the lack of swing and miss. On the flip side, if he starts punching guys out and his pitch count goes up and I start pulling him after five, then he’s not a starter that’s going deep enough into games. So I don’t want it to be unfair that he has to be anything other than himself and get outs. He led our team in innings, for the most part aside from a couple blow-up games last year, he had a really incredible season to step forward. I expect him to be a very stable pitcher who gets us pretty deep into games and wins a lot of games."
Compared to a year ago, Hinch also likes the way the Tigers look up the middle, though an injury to potential starting center fielder Riley Greene is an admitted blow. The additions of shortstop Javier Baez and catcher Tucker Barnhart give the Tigers stability they were lacking last season.
"From the position player standpoint, we’re not as unpredictable as we have been. Having Javy at short, having Schoop at second, all of us, including me as the manager, love the stability in the middle of the field. Tucker Barnhart, the two middle infielders. We still have a question in center now with the injury so there’s still some work to do, but that stability I think will lead to a better April," said Hinch.