Detroit Tigers: Predicting the 2020 Starting Rotation
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Tigers are going to be atrocious in 2020, but they still have to field a team, and a better question may be, who is going to trot out to the mound for the team in 2020? Take a look at the starting pitchers who will most likely make up the Tigers 2020 starting rotation.
No. Casey Mize will not be in the starting rotation on March 26th when the Detroit Tigers open the season up against the Cleveland Indians. Mize and Manning may see their Triple-A promotions and possible spot start for a taste of the big leagues, but if fans have learned anything about this Tigers’ rebuild, the team is TAKING ITS TIME with the pitching prospects.
The dark horse prospect is Tarik Skubal, who was gotten things to click but won’t be a big-league starter in 2020. So if Mize and the other prospects are not cracking the rotation to start the season, then who is?
Even with trade rumors already started, it is no secret that Matthew Boyd is not going anywhere, he will remain a Tigers pitcher heading into 2020 while General Manager (GM) Al Avila remains clueless. Boyd will spearhead the Tigers rotation as the ace, hoping to start with the same success he had at the beginning of the 2019 season.
Even though 2019 did not end with Boyd having the most favorable numbers down the stretch, hopefully, 2020 will be a different narrative for the left-hander. Boyd will be twenty-nine when he makes the 2020 Opening Day start, providing that is whom Ron Gardenhire starts.
The prodigy of Michael Fulmer finally returns after arm injuries caused him to require Tommy John Surgery. Fulmer will most likely join the rotation at some point, having begun his rehab, but he is still not fully healthy yet.
He will most likely join the rotation as a two or three starter, assuming he can return to the pitcher he was before the arm issues caused a downhill spiral. The last time Fulmer has toed the rubber for the Tigers was September 15th, 2018, where he would exit the game before recording an out, allowing two hits on five pitches. Hopefully, Fulmer can remain healthy, avoid any setbacks and get back to the mound for the Tigers in 2020 and provide some hope of real pitching out on the rubber.
The 2019 season treated Tigers fans to their first look at a full season of Spencer Turnbull. Starting things off, Turnbull looked like he would be an American League (AL) Rookie of the Year candidate, but not so much by the end of the year.
Turnbull would finish the season 3-17 with a 4.61 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and 146 punchouts over 148.1 innings of work. Injuries kept Turnbull off the mound for a couple of different stretches in 2019. It is hard to say that Turnbull will turn things around, playing for this Tigers team, but fans can hope for it.
Ideally, the twenty-seven-year-old right-hander will be able to keep the Tigers in some ballgames before it is turned over to the bullpen. With a lack of offense, it cannot be said that Turnbull will win more games this year, but winning more than three, I would sure hope so.