The Detroit Tigers may retain 13 pitchers for a short Wild Card Series

Detroit- Veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda and utility man Matt Vierling are the only two players on the Tigers’ active roster with playoff experience. And it’s likely Maeda won’t be on the postseason roster.

Maeda was the team’s starter Sunday in Game 162, which appears to disqualify him from inclusion on the postseason roster that must be submitted to the league Tuesday morning.

However, manager AJ Hinch has not completely ruled out the possibility, but Maeda’s role has steadily shrunk since his withdrawal from the rotation team in July.

“This day is difficult,” Hinch said before the game. “They only have one day off and start a three-day series in the wildcard round. We need to be aware of the workload and it impacts future decisions.”

Conventional wisdom holds that teams in a best-of-three series are not required to have their full complement of pitchers, 13. However, the Tigers are under no obligation as they have used their pitching staff this season have to conventional wisdom.

“The biggest question will be how much pitching you can handle,” he said. “It sounds easy. Like, ‘Oh, you can just roll out a small number of pitchers.’ Then you realize playoff baseball is managed and played differently, with a sense of urgency that comes from the first runner to get on base.”

The only thing that was certain before Sunday’s game was that Tarik Skubal would start Game 1 on Tuesday, regardless of whether the series was in Houston or Baltimore. Additionally, there is no guarantee that Hinch will use another traditional starting pitcher.

Part of the driving force behind the Tigers’ furious finishing was Hinch’s combination of opening, bulk relief and late-leverage relief. In this respect, he has been in playoff mode since August.

“You manage playoff games differently,” he said. “It creates such a sense of urgency, then considering how successful we’ve been over the last few months, it’s the ability to go to the bullpen whenever we want. “That’s going to lead to us taking more pitches than not.

“There is a limit of 13. But does it get to 13, 12, 11? We need to have these conversations.”

The opponent and the matches will be part of this discussion. The Tigers, for example, played the Orioles six times in two weeks earlier this month. They never met Skubal, but they saw a lot of Keider Montero and Ty Madden.

“Depending on the opponent, everything could be different,” Hinch said.

Hinch said all 28 players who finished the season, as well as several others who trained on the taxi squad in Toledo, will be on the team plane Sunday night. The decision on the final 26 squad positions will be made on Monday evening.

Clean table?

Hinch spoke before the game about the balance between competing for seeds and positioning players for the Wild Card Series?

“We want to get some momentum back that we didn’t have on Saturday and go into the postseason on a positive note,” he said. “But we have to be clear about the toll we are taking on the people we use today and how that impacts the next three days.”

The reality is, as Hinch knows all too well, the playoffs are a different emotional beast than the regular season. The momentum from the regular season doesn’t necessarily carry over.

“From a mojo standpoint or a vibe standpoint, I’m not sure anything can affect what these guys are going to feel,” he said. “So when we get on the plane and fly to our destination, we will immediately feel energy and adrenaline.”

And it will only grow as they take the field for practice on Monday and then go into the game on Tuesday.

“I don’t want to have a bad game today, but if it doesn’t go well it wouldn’t matter,” he said. “And if today went well, the adrenaline level will increase many times over. Playoff baseball is unmatched when it comes to your energy level and enthusiasm.”

Hagerty reunion

He’s not necessarily in favor of the series being played against the Orioles, but in favor of it Riley Greeneit wouldn’t be the worst outcome. It would make for a pretty unusual matchup.

“I have sent Ryan (Mountcastle) a text earlier this week,” Greene said. “I asked: Are three boys from Hagerty High School going to be on the same show?”

Yes. Greene, Mountcastle and Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin All graduated from high school in Oviedo, Florida. Greene, 24, and Mountcastle, 27, were teammates. Eflin, 30, graduated several years before them.

“Me and Mountcastle train together in the offseason,” Greene said. “After the first few weeks after the season, we see each other every day. And we compete in everything. Sled pushing, sprints, we talk crap to each other all the time.”

Will the banter stop next week when they play each other?

“I’ll probably send him a few messages,” Greene said. “Just nonsense.”

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The Detroit Tigers may retain 13 pitchers for a short Wild Card Series

ByJasper

Clean table?

Hagerty reunion

By Jasper

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