Series Preview: Detroit Tigers open up road trip with 3 games at Arizona Diamondbacks

The month of May has been quite unkind to the Detroit Tigers, who lost all four of their series so far after dropping two of three at home to the Miami Marlins this past week. The Motor City Kitties have struggled a bit at Comerica Park and perhaps the upcoming six-game road trip will cure what ails them.

The first stop on the two-city tour is Phoenix, where the Arizona Diamondbacks welcome AJ Hinch’s squad to Chase Field for a three-game set starting on Friday night. It has been a streaky month for the home team, which started off losing three straight before stringing a four-game stretch of wins.

All said, the ‘Backs are 7-6 this in May and won their last series against the visiting Cincinnati Reds, two games to one.

Below is a look at the pitching matchups lined up for this weekend’s interleague action.

Detroit Tigers (21-22) at Arizona Diamondbacks (21-23)

Times (ET): Friday: 9:40 p.m.; Saturday: 8:10 p.m.; Sunday: 4:10 p.m.
Place: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
SB Nation Site: AZ Snake Pit
Media: Bally Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 44: LHP Tarik Skubal (5-0, 2.02 ERA) vs. RHP Ryne Nelson (2-2, 5.33 ERA)

Skubal looks to continue his torrid pace so far in the 2024 campaign on Friday night having now strung together five-straight quality starts. The 27-year-old’s five-pitch arsenal continues to stymie his opponents and Detroit has won six of his eight starts.

Nelson is now in his third major league season and has essentially picked up where things left off after last season — which is not a good thing. In 2023, the 26-year-old recorded a 5.31 ERA, 5.07 FIP and 1.42 WHIP; two of those numbers have improved in a small sample this year but his WHIP has ballooned to an ugly 1.70. The righty’s percentile ratings tell a somber story.

Game 45: RHP Jack Flaherty (0-3, 3.88 ERA) vs. RHP Zac Gallen (5-2, 2.86 ERA)

Flaherty’s impressive stint with Detroit has been marred by his win-loss record, but it is worth noting that his strikeout and walk rates are better than that of staff ace Skubal. The 28-year-old’s WHIP is currently a sparkling 1.05 while his strikeouts per walk is a major league-leading 10.5.

Gallen’s traditional stats show that the sixth-year hurler has continued his success from last season in which he earned an All-Star Game appearance plus Cy Young and MVP votes thanks to a 3.47 ERA, 3.26 FIP and 1.12 WHIP. The 28-year-old is putting up similar numbers save for an improved ERA (but higher FIP), though his strikeouts-to-walks ratio has diminished a little.

Game 46: RHP Matt Manning (0-1, 4.37 ERA) vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.76 ERA)

Manning gets his fifth big league start of the season on Sunday after bouncing back and forth between Toledo and Detroit; he currently holds Kenta Maeda’s spot in the rotation, who is out with an illness. The 26-year-old has been a perfectly acceptable innings eater but has not exactly been fantastic either.

Montgomery takes the bump opposite of Manning now in his eighth major league campaign, having struggled so far with stats that have regressed significantly since 2023. The 31-year-old’s most concerning issues are his elevated WHIP (1.41) and diminished strikeouts-per-walk rate (1.9). The southpaw is certainly a step behind his peers this season.

Series Outlook: Gotta stop the bleeding

Detroit is 4-9 in May and is now under the .500 mark after its spring swoon, much to the dismay of the fanbase. The Tigers are No. 26 in team OPS (.655) and No. 24 in runs scored (168) while its pitching staff is No. 6 in ERA (3.33) and No. 5 in WHIP (1.13) — it is pretty easy to see where the blame falls. The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, are No. 9 in OPS (.714) and No. 5 in runs scored while the hurlers are No. 20 in ERA (4.21) and No. 19 in WHIP (1.30). It’s also worth noting that Chase Field’s overall park factor is almost perfectly neutral at 99 and the Tigers are 11-9 away from home.