DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers' pitchers and catchers reported to spring training Wednesday, and we learned an injury has opened up a spot in the starting rotation.
Alex Cobb injury
Alex Cobb, one of Detroit’s free agent additions this offseason, is dealing with right hip inflammation and got a PRP injection last week. The injury arose while the 37-year-old was building up his arm for spring training, according to the Tigers' injury report.
With Cobb unlikely to be ready by Opening Day, the Tigers have a newly available spot in their starting rotation. Sure, they made a playoff run with “pitching chaos” last year, but the last thing A.J. Hinch wants to do is tax his staff right at the start of a 162-game grind.
Who’s in the rotation?
I was working under the expectation that Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, and Cobb would be joined by top-10 prospect Jackson Jobe in the rotation.
Obviously, Jobe needs to perform well in spring training to earn his own spot, but there’s no reason to believe that won’t happen. The Cobb injury only helps his chances.
Jobe’s first small taste of MLB action didn’t go well last year, but he came into a nearly impossible situation, and as long as he’s healthy, his minor league track record suggests he can be overpowering.
Plus, if Jobe is on the Opening Day roster, the Tigers are eligible for extra draft picks if he qualifies for awards.
6 options to replace Alex Cobb
The Tigers have a handful of players who could start the season in Cobb’s spot in the rotation.
They would love to see Kenta Maeda earn the spot after a disastrous first season in Detroit. Maeda couldn’t hang onto a rotation spot last year and got dumped into a low-leverage relief role.
Maeda, 36, might not have much left in the tank, but he’ll get a shot to prove himself this spring.
My current vote would go to Brant Hurter, a 26-year-old lefty who pitched well in 45.1 MLB innings last season.
Hurter doesn’t miss many bats, but he checked all the boxes needed to survive that one major flaw. He kept the ball on the ground at an elite rate, threw a ton of strikes, and limited hard contact.
Even though he wasn’t dominant, the underlying numbers loved Hurter, to the tune of a 2.27 expected ERA, 3.03 FIP, 3.32 xFIP, and 3.19 SIERA. I’d like to see him get an extended look.
Hurter technically only started once last season, but six of his 10 outings went at least five innings. If the Tigers heavily value regular-season results, Hurter will have an edge.
He’s not the only young player who showed flashes at the MLB level, though. Ty Madden and Keider Montero both had their moments.
Montero will probably get some support because he threw that high-profile complete game last year. But there are some major concerns about his profile.
Montero paired extremely low strikeout and whiff rates with average walk, ground ball, and hard-hit rates. He’s only 24 years old, so there’s certainly room for improvement, but his 5.24 xERA painted a pretty scary picture.
Madden didn’t get nearly as much of a look as Montero, tossing only 23 innings at the MLB level. He kept his head above water, but the 1.43 WHIP and low strikeout rate -- combined with an 8.32 ERA in 79 innings at Triple-A -- don’t inspire a lot of confidence.
Then you’ve got the former top-10 prospects, Casey Mize and Matt Manning.
I’m not even going to dive into the numbers because we all know Mize and Manning have underwhelmed after emerging as two faces of the Tigers' rebuild. If either of them wants to have a chance to get into the starting rotation, they need to stay healthy and start missing bats.
Mize and Manning were dominant in the minors, but as soon as they reached the MLB level, the whiffs vanished. I think they’re both more likely to become bullpen pieces at this point, but technically, Cobb’s injury could crack the door open if either has a great spring.
