DETROIT -- If Michael Fulmer starts the season in the bullpen and Daniel Norris starts the season on the injured list, the Detroit Tigers still have a viable candidate to be their fifth starter.
His name is Tyler Alexander, and he looked pretty sharp in his second intrasquad appearance on Monday morning at Comerica Park.
“He knows how to pitch, and he’s one of those guys you can go a lot of different ways with,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s very resilient, kind of got that rubber arm. He threw some really good pitches, good change-ups, a nice breaking ball. He reads hitters really well.”
Alexander leads off our takeaways from Game 6 at Comerica Park on Monday. Scroll to the bottom for the box score.
1. Alexander the Great
The Tigers will surely find a spot on the roster for Alexander, who threw three scoreless innings Monday, striking out four. But it’s not clear exactly what he’ll do.
Norris’ absence and the uncertainty surrounding Fulmer’s status has opened up the fifth spot in the starting rotation.
But Alexander might be more valuable as a swing man or piggyback starter, potentially throwing three innings every three days instead of five innings every five days.
“I want to start, but I’m down to do absolutely anything as long as I’m here,” Alexander said. “We’re going to need a lot of guys in the bullpen that can cover a lot of innings and I’m hoping to be one of them.”
2. About Fulmer...
This is only his second outing in about 22 months, so there’s no reason to be harsh. Yes, he had a shaky first inning on Monday, walking two batters and hitting his pitch limit with the bases loaded, but he looked progressively better in the second and third innings.
Veteran infielder Jordy Mercer, who got a hit off Fulmer, said he was encouraged by what he saw.
“It seems like the ball is jumping out of his hand, even though I know he wishes he had more velo. It’s got some cut on it,” Mercer said. “It’s just good to see him get out there and compete. The stuff’s there. He just needs to refine it, which is going to take a little bit of time. You can take a lot of positives out of today. He just needs to continue to get innings. You don’t want to see anybody labor, but I think it’s a good thing that he did.”
If Fulmer continues pitching every five days, his next two dates would be July 18 and July 23.
Opening Day in Cincinnati is July 24 and there is no game scheduled on the 23rd. Fulmer could still get work in a bullpen session, of course, but it’s more likely the Tigers are not currently thinking of Fulmer as a full-blown starter, but either as a bullpen option or a “piggyback” starter capable of going three innings before calling it a day.
“(Fulmer’s) competing out there. He’s excited,” Gardenhire said. “We have options and at the end of the day we’ll figure it out.”
3. Greene Day
Riley Greene’s spectacular catch got all the attention, and rightfully so, but he also got his first hit of the intrasquad season on Monday, driving in two runs with a single in the sixth inning.
Another high-profile rookie hasn’t fared as well in very limited action. No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson is 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.
4. Cam’s crew
Greene said no one in the dugout was more “hyped” about his catch than Cameron Maybin.
In the empty stadium, it’s easy to hear Maybin rooting on his teammates from right field, or helping them out on fly balls when a runner is tagging up or going halfway.
Maybin had two hits, including a home run on Monday.
“He’s a class act to have in the dugout,” Gardenhire said. “He’s a very vocal player and a very positive person. When the outfielders are doing their drills, he’s very professional out there. Hitting that ball today I’m sure felt good. We plan on this guy being able to help us.”
5. Adios, Zack.
Gardenhire said the Tigers liked right-handed pitcher Zack Godley but ultimately weren’t going to have room for him on the roster, so they cut him loose as early as they could.
“More than anything else, we just wanted to give him an opportunity to catch on with somebody else,” he said.
The Tigers still have 26 pitchers participating in camp for what will likely be 15 or 16 roster spots.
“We’ve got young men lined up here. We’ve got lots of options here.”
| Detroit Tigers at Detroit Tigers | ||||||||||||
| Jul 13, 2020 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Detroit () | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Detroit () | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||
| W: Alexander (1-0) L: Fulmer (0-2) | ||||||||||||
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Niko Goodrum | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
| Jonathan Schoop | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .278 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .250 |
| C.J. Cron | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .182 |
| Jeimer Candelario | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| Spencer Torkelson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Austin Romine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| Jake Rogers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Jorge Bonifaco | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .231 |
| Brandon Dixon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .154 |
| Derek Hill | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .222 |
| BATTING: 2B: Rogers (2). 3B: Candelario (1). |
||||||||
| BASERUNNING: SB: Hill (1). |
||||||||
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| JaCoby Jones | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .214 |
| Riley Greene | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| Cameron Maybin | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .357 |
| Brady Policelli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Christin Stewart | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Harold Castro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .412 |
| Frank Schwindel | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
| Jordy Mercer | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 |
| Grayson Greiner | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .182 |
| Eric Haase | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Dawel Lugo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .067 |
| Willi Castro | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
| Victor Reyes | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| BATTING: 2B: Greiner (1), Policelli (1). HR: Maybin (1, fifth inning, nobody on, vs. Bryan Garcia); Schwindel (2, sixth inning, nobody on, vs. Perez). |
||||||||
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Michael Fulmer | 2.1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6.23 |
| Joe Jimenez | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bryan Garcia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 |
| Franklin Perez | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Tyler Alexander | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Hector Santiago | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Gregory Soto | 1.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8.18 |
| PITCHING: WP: Soto (1). |
||||||||
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