The Major League Baseball season continues to roll on as we get closer to the month of July. Friday night's Apple TV+ matchup pits the Detroit Tigers (26-43) against the Arizona Diamondbacks (32-39).
The two sides are coming into this game after losing their last time out, and both sit in fourth place in their respective divisions.
The Tigers have had their starting rotation decimated by the injury bug, as only one of the five starters from Opening Day remains healthy. For this game, the team turns to right-hander Rony Garcia.
Garcia is 1-2 in 2022, with a 4.97 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched. This is the sixth start for the 24-year-old Dominican pitcher.
At the time of this writing, the Diamondbacks have yet to name a starter for the game. This turn in the rotation belonged to Luke Weaver, but it seems as if he is being relegated to the bullpen after giving up nine runs to the Minnesota Twins in his last start.
The Diamondbacks are planning to utilize their fifth start despite not needing to until early July. Manager Torey Lovullo mentioned that left-hander Dallas Keuchel is a possibility to pitch this weekend.
The former AL Cy Young Award winner signed a minor league deal with the D-Backs earlier in the month. The deal reportedly includes three opt-outs if he isn't promoted to the Majors. The first of these opt-outs comes up on Saturday. With Keuchel having started a game in rookie ball on Monday, the earliest he could be used is Saturday.
“The big thing that I was happy about, he got a lot of swing and misses on pitches that were in the strike zone,” pitching coach Brent Strom said of Keuchel's outing. “Not just chases, which often happens when you’re facing 19-year-old kids. That was good.”
The Tigers are stumbling this season. After what seemed like a step forward last season, expectations were higher for 2022. However, the team has spiraled due to injuries and underperformances.
“I’m as angry as anybody, more angry than anybody,” general manager Al Avila said, via The Athletic. “We’re all angry. And we’re all accountable — including the players. Right now, we’re re-evaluating and scrutinizing everything in the front office, player development, scouting, our staff and our players. When this happens, it’s not person or one department or one player. This is team-wide.”
The Tigers should get a victory here over their Arizona hosts. Shortstop Javier Baez seems to be coming back into his own. He has a seven-game hitting streak and has homered in consecutive games.
Detroit also owns one of baseball's best bullpens. Their team bullpen ERA is 3.14, good for sixth-best across all of major league baseball. It won't be a win that turns the season around completely, but it'll inject a bit of confidence back into the Tigers for sure.
