The Big Three is But One, beaten and battered as the Tigers limp to the finish. But the last man standing is standing tall.
"I’m throwing the ball pretty well right now," Matt Manning said Wednesday after delivering six shutout innings against the Giants. "I feel good with all my pitches."
In an underwhelming season, this is a welcome understatement. Manning is raising his own bar. Six years after he was drafted ninth overall and a year after he was kicked in the teeth in his first taste of the bigs, the 6'6 right-hander is finding his bearings in Detroit. He's only 24.
He's a year younger than Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, and he arrived in the bigs a year later. Mize's breakout came last year, but he may not pitch again until 2024 due to Tommy John. Skubal's came this year, but he may not pitch again until mid-2023 due to an elbow injury of his own. It felt like Manning's breakout would have to be delayed until next year when he missed nearly fourth months this season due to a shoulder injury. Maybe not.
In five starts since returning from the injured list, Manning has allowed eight runs. In conjunction with his two starts in April prior to being sidelined, he has allowed 10 runs in seven starts this season. That puts him in exclusive (if arbitrary) company in a franchise that's seen some of baseball's best starting pitching this century:
Wednesday might have been the best start of Manning's young career. On top of six scoreless innings, he racked up eight strikeouts, 16 swings and misses ... and zero walks. He ramped his fastball up to 96, used his curveball when he needed to and got tons of whiffs with his slider. It could have been a short outing after a long first inning. Manning could have succumbed to the heat. Instead he finished with a flourish, striking out the side, 1-2-3, and striding off the mound.
"He escaped the issues early and really finished strong," said A.J. Hinch. "That’s about as good a finish as you can have when you’re in the 90’s pitch-count wise and he’s emptying his tank. It’s just nice to see him walk off the mound with a lot of confidence. He’s pitching well and I think he knows it. It’s a good vibe around him right now."
The 16 swings and misses marked a career high for Manning. Catcher Tucker Barnhart deserves some credit for helping him find his groove. But this owes mostly to Manning's growth in being able to execute a plan, namely by getting ahead. That's when his daring arm becomes dangerous.
"It starts with strike throwing," said Hinch. "He sprayed the ball early and didn’t didn’t get those swings and misses until he got into leverage (counts). He can finish with the fastball, he’s got the good slider going these last couple outings and he’s sequencing pretty well. I think that's helping him in going to areas in the strike zone and executing. It's where we talk about advanced scouting and trying to get guys out."
Manning puts it more simply, a man of few words with the media. He said he was just focused on putting "some good at-bats together" by throwing "as many first-pitch strikes as I could." Sometimes it's a simple game. The Tigers were playing the long game with Manning when they drafted him out of high school at the age of 18. It's starting to pay off, one start at a time.