The Detroit Tigers have struggled on their current road trip, earning just a single win over the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins, respectively, while dropping the other five. Still, three games remain on the team’s venture away from Comerica Park.
This weekend, AJ Hinch’s squad heads to Ohio to face the Cincinnati Reds in the Great American Ballpark for a three-game series. The home team comes into play… ahem… red hot on the heels of a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
Cinci is third in the National League Central sitting 9.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers and 3.5 games out of the wildcard race.
Below is a look at the pitching matchups set for this weekend, with a TBD for the Tigers on Saturday. Hopefully, the Motor City Kitties can rev things up and win their first series in the last four tries.
Detroit Tigers (39-48) at Cincinnati Reds (42-45)
Times (ET): Friday: 7:10 p.m.; Saturday: 4:10 p.m.; Sunday: 1:40 p.m.
Place: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, Ohio
SB Nation Site: Red Reporter
Media: Bally Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 88 Pitching Matchup
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
| Olson | 89.1 | 21.7 | 7.0 | 2.90 | 2.3 |
| Spiers | 37.1 | 18.7 | 4.5 | 2.68 | 0.9 |
Game 88: RHP Reese Olson (2-8, 3.32 ERA) vs. RHP Carson Spiers (2-1, 3.13 ERA)
Olson earned his third-straight quality start last time out against the Angels, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out a season-high nine batters over six innings. Over his last three outings, the 24-year-old has put up a 1.46 ERA and 1.37 FIP while striking out 11 over 12 1⁄3 frames; the Tigers won two of those three games.
Spiers is doing quite well in his second season of major league action after a rough debut last year. The 26-year-old’s efforts in June were commendable, logging a 3.04 ERA and a 2.57 FIP over four games stretching across 23 2⁄3 innings with 21 strikeouts against four walks. The righty utilizes a four-seam fastball (27.0%, 92.6 mph), sweeper (22.5%, 81.5 mph), sinker (18.2%, 92.3 mph), cutter (17.2%, 88.0 mph) and changeup (15.18%, 86.8 mph), respectively.
Game 89 Pitching Matchup
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
| TBD | – | – | – | – | – |
| Greene | 97.1 | 26.5 | 10.0 | 3.78 | 2.1 |
Game 89: TBD vs. RHP Hunter Greene (5-4, 3.70 ERA)
Greene, now in his third big league season, is also seeing improvements over his 2023 numbers so far — though he does currently lead MLB in hit batters (13). On that note, the 24-year-old has struggled to find consistency over the past month, logging just one quality start in six tries along with a 4.96 ERA and 4.93 FIP stretching over 32 2⁄3 innings, plus seven HBP. The righty excels at fastball velocity (96th percentile, 97.7 mph) and expected batting average (92nd, .201), per Baseball Savant.
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Baseball Savant
Game 90 Pitching Matchup
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
| Skubal | 103.0 | 29.2 | 4.9 | 2.74 | 2.9 |
| Ashcraft | 72.2 | 16.7 | 7.3 | 4.85 | 0.4 |
Game 90: LHP Tarik Skubal (9-3, 2.45 ERA) vs. RHP Graham Ashcraft (5-4, 5.45 ERA)
Skubal threw his second-straight quality start his last time out but it was not quite as impressive as the first one. The 27-year-old’s first July appearance saw the Tigers ace allow three runs on four hits (one home run) and a walk while striking out seven Twins batters over six frames. The southpaw is currently fourth in ERA, fifth in xERA (2.89), ninth in FIP, seventh in xFIP (2.92) and eighth in fWAR.
Ashcraft is headed in a different direction than the other two Reds starters in this series, seeing a bit of regression in his third year under the bright lights. Most notably, the 26-year-old’s WHIP has ballooned to a bloated 1.47 which ties into his 10.3 hits allowed per nine innings. The righty has not thrown more than 5 1⁄3 innings since May 1, posting a 7.11 ERA and 5.55 FIP over eight games and 38 innings since.
Series Outlook: Tigers really need a series win
Remember when the Tigers seemed to be better on the road than at home? Well, that thought certainly turned into a pumpkin over the past week as Detroit is now 20-26 away from Comerica Park while registering a 19-22 mark in its comfortable confines.
This Cincinnati team is not exactly one that strikes fear in its opponents’ hearts but will certainly pose a challenge for the Motor City Kitties. Offensively, the Reds are 22nd in OPS (.682) but 15th in run-scoring (374) while the Tigers are 26th (.665) and 21st (356), respectively.
On the mound, the home team ranks 11th in ERA (3.84) and WHIP (1.24) while tied for seventh in batting average against (.233); the visitors are 17th (4.01), 10th (1.23) and 20th (.245), respectively.