Detroit’s playoff pitching strategy is coming into focus — and Skubal won’t be carrying the load alone

Glenn Kaplan

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Detroit’s playoff pitching strategy is coming into focus — and Skubal won’t be carrying the load alone image

Danny Medley

The Detroit Tigers have an 80-59 record and are currently the number one seed in the American League. There will not be any questions about Tarik Skubal being the Game 1 starting pitcher for Detroit in the ALDS, but there will be questions about what the rest of the starting rotation will look like for them.

For now, the other starters on the Tigers roster are Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Chris Paddack, and Charlie Morton. Will Detroit go with three starters in the playoffs or will they go with four starters?

MLB Insider What the Detroit Tigers Could Potentially Do After Tarik Skubal in the Playoffs

There is no doubt that there are some questions about Detroit's rotation once the playoffs arrive after Skubal. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic wrote about on Tuesday about how Tigers manager A.J. Hinch could potentially deal with approaching the rotation outside of Skubal. Rosenthal said,

"Flaherty, at his best, is a perfectly viable Game 2 starter. But his performance this season has fluctuated as wildly as it did for the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s playoffs, when he followed his two best starts with poor ones. He warrants only so much trust.

With the emerging Melton, Holton and perhaps Brant Hurter, who is currently on the injured list with back soreness at Triple A, the Tigers will not lack for bulk-inning candidates. Urquidy could be another. And with Tommy Kahnle seemingly coming out of a two-month slump, the rest of the ’pen should be in good shape."

The interesting thing is that Flaherty has a 7-13 record and a 4.74 ERA in 2025. In 142.1 innings pitched, he has struck out 169 batters. As for Mize, he has a 12-5 record with a 3.95 ERA during the 2025 MLB season. Mize has pitched 120.2 innings and has struck out 107 batters.

Some of the numbers show that Mize should be the Game 2 starter and Flaherty should be the Game 3 starter in a series. After, it will be all status quo. Hinch could potentially use pitching chaos out of the bullpen once again in the postseason and it has worked for him for the most part over the last two seasons.  

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Glenn Kaplan

Glenn Kaplan is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He has experience covering the MLB, college football, college basketball, NBA, NHL and NFL, bringing a well-rounded perspective to his work. Glenn has contributed to outlets including FanSided, Wisconsin Sports Heroics, Gridiron Heroics and Pro Football Network, and began his career with Towson University’s student newspaper.