Note: This is the first of a two-part series of midterm assessments of the Tigers’ roster. The grades for position players are coming in Friday’s editions.
Detroit — They started the season without two of their top young starting pitchers: Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal. They lost Matt Manning in April. They lost veterans Spencer Turnbull and Eduardo Rodriguez at the beginning and end of May, respectively.
And they lost Matthew Boyd at the end of June.
It was one calamity after another.
Throughout the month of June, the Tigers were using a four-man rotation — which, at times, included rookies Joey Wentz and Reese Olson, plus Alex Faedo — and deploying some semblance of a bullpen game for the fifth spot in the rotation.
As for the bullpen, they came into the season having traded or lost four of their top relievers from last season: Gregory Soto, Michael Fulmer, Andrew Chafin and Joe Jimenez. Another of their top relievers from last season, Will Vest, didn’t make the club out of spring training.
And yet, despite that daunting sequence of events, as we sit here at the All-Star break, the pitching hasn’t been the primary culprit in the Tigers’ 39-50 record. The bullpen, especially, has held up remarkably well, especially given its heavy workload in the month of June.
And going into the second half, the Tigers expect to return to a healthy, five-man rotation with Rodriguez, All-Star Michael Lorenzen, Olson, Manning and Skubal. Alas, just in time for the trade deadline.
Rodriguez and Lorenzen are both expected to draw serious interest from contending teams around the league. And given their age and contract situations — Rodriguez has an opt-out after this year and Lorenzen is on a one-year deal — the Tigers will certainly look to deal.
Here’s an assessment of how each pitcher fared in the first half of the season.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky