Detroit Tigers,White Sox,Tigers,Detroit Tigers: Injuries and roster moves present concern for Opening Day,
2022-04-09
Welcome to the Detroit Tigers‘ 2022 season! Spring is here, baseball is back, and Spencer Torkelson is in the Opening Day lineup.
All should be well, right?
Well, with every season of hope comes terrifying concerns that all Tigers fans are all too accustomed to with any competitive team over the past several competitive cycles.
Let’s be completely honest: the Detroit Tigers’ pitching is horrifically understaffed. Right now, three major pieces are starting the season on the IL (Kyle Funkhouser, Andrew Chafin, Jose Cisnero), and three proven veterans are starting the season in the minors to loosen their arms (Chase Anderson, Wily Peralta, and Michael Pineda).
That means that two unproven youngsters and two veterans with rocky resumes will be taking the reigns on roster spots. Will Vest and Elvin Rodriguez, both young guns, and Drew Hutchinson and Jacob Barnes, both veterans. Frankly, this seems to be cause for massive concern, and it seems that gracious overlord Al Avila has no interest in addressing it.
This is confusing, given the willingness to immediately fill the hole left by Riley Greene’s absence. Maybe those are different circumstances given that Derek Hill is also hurt, but to right away find a replacement, it just seems odd that there has not been the same momentum for finding pitching help.
The Detroit Tigers’ pitching staff has several question marks to start the season.
