The Detroit Tigers made their way to Guaranteed Rate Field to play against the Chicago White Sox on Opening Day. However, the game never happened due to a rain delay. Instead, the game was rescheduled for today.
The Detroit Tigers finished last season at 86-75 and second in the AL Central. For the most part, the Detroit Tigers kept the same roster they had last season. Anthony Fenech and George Sipple covered an entire roster breakdown over at the Detroit Free Press . Here’s a look at what they had to say about the rotation of starting pitchers and their backups:
The starters: The rotation looks like this: Right-handers Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann and Michael Fulmer, and left-handers Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd. On paper, it could be a very impressive staff if Zimmermann returns to form. Verlander is a bona-fide ace, Fulmer is emerging, and if Norris breaks out like many believe, the starting pitching could be a real strength. But there are many questions, the biggest of which is the team’s depth.
The backups: Anibal Sanchez lost the fifth rotation spot to Boyd and will be the first guy called on in case of an injury. But outside of Sanchez, the Tigers don’t have much experience to count on with the likes of Buck Farmer, Drew VerHagen, Warwick Saupold and Myles Jaye. Starting pitchers often get injured. It’s likely the team will have to use at least eight starters.
The Detroit Tigers kept the same line up for the make-up game and will play again tomorrow. Here is the starting lineup, as reported by Jason Beck:
Tigers lineup for tomorrow: Kinsler 2b, Castellanos 3b, Cabrera 1b, VMart dh, Upton lf, Mahtook rf, McCann c, Jones cf, Iglesias ss.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 2, 2017
The Chicago White Sox have the luxury of home field advantage for their opening series. The team finished below.500 with a record of 78-84 to end last season. This season sees the team looking to make some moves and rebuild.
Before yesterday’s delay, NBC Chicago’s James Neveau posted the team’s Opening Day lineup and had a few words to add .
“The lineup has a different look than it has in years past, as players like Adam Eaton and Chris Sale have been shipped off to different markets.
“Stars like Jose Abreu, who is batting fourth and playing first base, and Todd Frazier, batting fifth and playing third base, are still in the mix, but the lineup is now predominantly made up of young players that represent some of the future stars that the Sox are hoping to build around.
“Here is the full lineup:
1 Tyler Saladino 2B
2 Tim Anderson SS
3 Melky Cabrera LF
4 Jose Abreu 1B
5 Todd Frazier 3B
6 Cody Asche DH
7 Avisail Garcia RF
8 Omar Narvaez C
9 Jacob May CF
“Jose Quintana will take the ball for the White Sox as he makes his first career Opening Day start. He will be opposed by Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who will be making his ninth Opening Day start as a member of the team.”
It is likely that the Chicago White Sox will have some more changes to their roster throughout the season as they continue to look to add new players for the rebuilding process. They aren’t starting off the season quite where they want to be, but it will be interesting to see how they fair this season.
Since the Detroit Tigers found themselves on the right side of.500 last season, they won’t have too much to focus on in the way of rebuilding. Instead, they can focus on keeping the team healthy and making a run in the playoffs.
The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox game is now underway in Chicago. As of this posting, it’s 3-1, Detroit, in the top of the second inning. We will update this post with the final score once the game concludes.
UPDATE: The Detroit Tigers won the game with a final score of 6-3.
[Featured Image by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images]
