Latest news with #startingpitcher
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Who replaces Jackson Jobe in Detroit Tigers' rotation? Watch for Sawyer Gipson-Long
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Detroit Tigers need another starting pitcher after right-hander Jackson Jobe landed on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right elbow, which is expected to sideline him for at least one month. Help is on the way. Advertisement Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long is one candidate — and possibly the preferred candidate — to start Tuesday, June 3, against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, taking Jobe's spot in the rotation. For the opening, the Tigers will not activate injured starters Reese Olson or Alex Cobb. "The closest to the big leagues is Sawyer, just given where he's at in his buildup and what he's done to date," said manager A.J. Hinch, adding Olson isn't throwing all of his pitches in bullpens yet. "He's really the only candidate of the guys you mentioned that would be under consideration." MORE ABOUT HIM: Tigers' Sawyer Gipson-Long has two journals, a nasty changeup and a bright future Detroit Tigers pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long walks into the room for picture day of spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. Gipson-Long is recovering from right elbow and left hip surgery. Advertisement But Gipson-Long has already completed five starts during his rehab assignment, whereas Olson (right ring finger inflammation) needs at least one rehab start and Cobb (right hip inflammation) needs multiple rehab starts. Gipson-Long made his latest rehab start Thursday, May 29, with Triple-A Toledo, throwing 53 pitches over 5⅓ innings. He has thrown more than 45 pitches in each of his past three rehab starts, including more than 50 in his past two starts. In Thursday's start, Gipson-Long allowed one run on one hit and zero walks with five strikeouts. His sinker averaged 91.5 mph, and his changeup generated a 50% whiff rate. "It's nice to see him on the mound again," Hinch said. "He was very aggressive. His pitches were really good. His spring training build up, getting out of rehab and into competition, has been a work in progress. The stuff played great." Advertisement SHUT DOWN: Tigers rookie Jackson Jobe suffers right elbow injury, expected to return in 2025 The Tigers have an opening for Tuesday's game. Until then, the Tigers are covered with their four healthy starting pitchers: Casey Mize on Friday, May 30, Tarik Skubal on Saturday, May 31, Keider Montero on Sunday, June 1, and Jack Flaherty on Monday, June 2. Gipson-Long will join the Tigers on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City — not to play against the Royals but to throw a bullpen in front of pitching coach Chris Fetter and assistant pitching coaches Robin Lund and Juan Nieves. "And then we can make a determination of what's next for him," Hinch said. Advertisement [ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ] Pitchers are limited to 30 days on rehab assignment. Gipson-Long made his first rehab start May 8, which means he must join the Tigers or be optioned to Triple-A Toledo by June 7. He hasn't taken the mound in an MLB game since September 2023, when he registered a 2.70 ERA with eight walks and 26 strikeouts across 20 innings in four starts. He then underwent Tommy John surgery on April 22, 2024, and hip surgery on July 9, 2024. The other option for Tuesday's game if it's not Gipson-Long is 'pitching chaos.' Advertisement "We'll have to talk about Tuesday," Hinch said. "That will create some conversations about how to go about it, whether it's a starter, whether it's a bullpen day. We have time before the next series." Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@ or follow him @EvanPetzold. Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at Order your copy of 'Roar of 125: The Epic History of the Detroit Tigers!' by the Free Press at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Sawyer Gipson-Long could replace injured Jackson Jobe
Fox News
28-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Tarik Skubal wants to be an inning-eating workhorse, even if MLB has changed
Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional and the Detroit Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games. In this era, teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings and the reigning AL Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers. "The game's changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they've ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game," Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. "I want him thinking a lot about it. I don't want it to be an easy decision. "That's kind of that's what starting pitching is — you take the ball and you eat innings. There's probably been a little bit of less value in that in today's game as it was five, 10 years ago." Justin Verlander laments that fact. "Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning," he said. Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Giants, understands clubs try to limit innings starters pitch in part to avoid injuries. The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons. "Even at that time, that was a little old school," Verlander said. "Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on, and do it every five days." When Skubal makes his next start on Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing lefty wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual. "I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning," he said. "There's going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I'm not too proud of those ones. I'm proud of ones I'm in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys." [Related: Last Night in Baseball: Tarik Skubal goes Maddux, historically so] In Skubal's last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included just 22 balls and no walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors, and a complete-game shutout thrown in under 100 pitches is nicknamed a "Maddux," in honor of Greg Maddux, a leader in efficiency in an era of inflated pitch counts. That kind of efficiency is also what allowed Skubal to throw a record 102.6 mph, per Statcast's measurement, on his final pitch of the game. Which was also the fastest recorded velocity of any pitch 75+ pitches into a start. Skubal has yet to surpass 96 pitches in a start in 2025, and exceeded the 100-pitch mark just four times in 31 starts a year ago, while averaging over six innings per start – Skubal made it to the seventh inning throwing between 74 and 91 pitches on nine occasions in 2024. He's averaging nearly 6.1 innings per start in 2025, with the same level of pitch efficiency. If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient as Skubal was on Sunday, then Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning. "If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in," Hinch said. Hinch said it's not an indictment on starters when they don't last deep in games, adding it's not a "healthy badge of honor," to just leave pitchers on the mound because they're having a good day. Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter. "As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest's first pitch? Or, Tommy Kahnle's first pitch? Or, Brant Hurter's first pitch?" Hinch asked. "The answer is no." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Associated Press
28-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Tarik Skubal hopes to make it tough for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to take him out late in games
DETROIT (AP) — Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional and the Detroit Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games. In this era, teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings and the reigning AL Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers. 'The game's changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they've ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game,' Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. 'I want him thinking a lot about it. I don't want it to be an easy decision. 'That's kind of that's what starting pitching is — you take the ball and you eat innings. There's probably been a little bit of less value in that in today's game as it was five, 10 years ago.' Justin Verlander laments that fact. 'Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning,' he said. Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Giants, understands clubs try to limit innings starters pitch in part to avoid injuries. The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons. 'Even at that time, that was a little old school,' Verlander said. 'Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on, and do it every five days.' When Skubal makes his next start on Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing lefty wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual. 'I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning,' he said. 'There's going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I'm not too proud of those ones. I'm proud of ones I'm in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys.' In Skubal's last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included just 22 balls and no walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors. If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient, Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning. 'If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in,' Hinch said. Hinch said it's not an indictment on starters when they don't last deep in games, adding it's not a 'healthy badge of honor,' to just leave pitchers on the mound because they're having a good day. Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter. 'As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest's first pitch? Or, Tommy Kahnle's first pitch? Or, Brant Hurter's first pitch?' Hinch asked. 'The answer is no.' ___ AP MLB:
