The precipice of getting swept: a familiar, yet unfamiliar, circumstance on the South Side as of late.
Familiar because, hey, we watched this team in 2023, 2024 and 2025. It’s not like we didn’t see the brooms get broken out with more regularity than just about any set of fans, ever. Hell, they got swept three times in the first 19 games of the season just this year!
Now, just when we thought we’d broken free, all we can do is watch the Tigers creep back over the horizon like an eagle returning for
another go at Prometheus.
Nonetheless, Davis Martin is probably the guy we want to see out on the hill to claw a game back and thwart the sweep. Despite Martin’s clunker against the Yankees earlier this week, he’s still giving them the best chance to win when he steps on the field, and this is the kind of game they need to get if they want to show that this magical first half hasn’t been a pure mirage.
I am going to be looking closely at Martin’s velocity early in the game. His four-seamer has slowed down incrementally in three straight starts now, going from a peak of 95.2 mph on May 16 to 93.8 mph last Tuesday, slowest since April. There’s a pretty strong argument that Martin’s start against the Yankees looks a bit differently if simple bad luck hadn’t let Ben Rice squib one against the shift in the third inning, or had Jacob Gonzalez not forgotten to cover his own base a few batters later.
That being said, Martin’s stuff was not at its sharpest on Tuesday, and when you factor in his six-run stinker against Minnesota a few starts back, it might begin to constitute a worrisome trend if it persists today. Martin threw just a single fewer inning in his first 14 starts last season than he has through his first 14 of this year, but it was after his 14th start of last year that he went on the IL with a forearm strain that wound up costing him a month. Going on the standard four days rest this afternoon, today could be a litmus test for where the budding ace is at right now.
Also, hey, Grant Taylor is available! Just like yesterday, and Thursday, and Wednesday and Tuesday. When asked about Taylor’s inactivity, Will Venable yesterday sounded frighteningly close to the precipice of simply walking back their preseason ramp-up goal of 100 innings pitched.
I don’t love it. Let’s hope this Sunday lineup can keep them in the game long enough for Taylor to show his face today.
Today marks just the second day off of the season for Miguel Vargas, who has earned a breather more than just about anybody else on this roster. Though he was still hitting the ball plenty hard, Vargas has run into some hard luck as of late, going just three for his last 27 without a walk over the last seven games.
The state of the Tigers offense is rough, and letting them complete the sweep would be quite a deflation in a way that no loss to the Yankees ever could be. I genuinely thought for a moment that this was a light getaway day lineup from A.J. Hinch before realizing that James Outman and Trei Cruz are actually near the top of their depth charts.
We’ve got an early one yet again, as first pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. CT at Comerica Park in downtown Detroit. If you want to join us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio), like always!
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