Detroit Tigers DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal looked sharp on the mound during Wednesday's start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The southpaw struck out eight batters over seven shutout innings in the victory. He followed up one of his worst starts of the season with one of his best on Wednesday. Skubal only allowed four hits as he made easy work of the Pirates below average lineup. He has a 7-1 record with a 2.01 ERA and an 80/11 K/BB ratio over 67 innings this season.

Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez will start on the bench for Game 2 of the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. Zach McKinstry will make the start at shortstop in his place and bat eighth against Pirates rookie right-hander Paul Skenes. Baez heads to the bench after going hitless in three at-bats with a walk and a run scored in the 8-0 Game 1 win. While the 31-year-old has been better in the month of May, he's still impossible to recommend in most mixed fantasy leagues as one of the worst regulars in baseball. The Puerto Rican veteran came into Wednesday's games hitting a poor .203/.228/.278 with a homer, 23 RBI, six stolen bases and 13 runs scored in 158 at-bats. McKinstry, who has gone 14-for-73 (.192) this year with no homers, should be ignored against the hard-throwing Skenes.

The Detroit Tigers placed outfielder Kerry Carpenter (back) on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 27) on Wednesday with lumbar-spine inflammation and recalled outfielder Akil Baddoo from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move. The back soreness that Carpenter was feeling over the weekend has turned out to be something worse and will almost surely keep him out beyond the 10 days on the IL. It's a big loss for the Tigers and for fantasy managers, as the 26-year-old was hitting .283 with eight home runs, 29 RBI and 21 runs scored. Manager A.J. Hinch said there's no clear timetable for a return for Carpenter without further testing. Baddoo will give the Tigers more outfield depth. Matt Vierling is in center field on Wednesday, while Wenceel Perez is starting in right field for the Tigers in Game 1 of their doubleheader versus the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

According to a source, the Detroit Tigers are calling up pitching prospect Keider Montero from Triple-A Toledo to be the 27th man on Wednesday for their doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nothing is official yet, but it looks like Detroit's No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, will make his major-league debut on Wednesday in a spot start in one of the games of a doubleheader after Tuesday's contest in Pittsburgh was rained out. Montero is getting his first major-league call-up after going 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA and 1.47 WHIP with 17 walks and 36 strikeouts over 30 2/3 innings and nine starts for Toledo. The 23-year-old Venezuelan hurler can spin the ball with the best of them, but his struggles to control his secondary pitches and his vulnerability to the long ball will make him a risky fantasy streaming option in his MLB debut. And there's a good chance he'll be sent back to Toledo after Wednesday's game.

Detroit Tigers starter Casey Mize allowed three runs on eight hits across 4 1/3 innings of work during Sunday's 14-11 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. He walked two batters and did not record a strikeout. Mize has had a rocky May as he owns a 6.56 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, and 16:6 K:BB across five starts this month. The poor stretch of play may ultimately cost the 27-year-old his rotation spot as right-hander Matt Manning has seen increased playing time as of late. Mize has certainly not lived up to the hype after being selected first overall in the 2018 draft. He is best left on the waiver wire at this point.