Detroit — It’s not a comfortable time for players or for managers.
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching (6 p.m. Tuesday), everybody is doing their best to keep a sense of normalcy at a time when very little is normal.
The Tigers are listing Jack Flaherty as their starting pitcher Monday night against the Guardians. With him being among most sought-after trade pieces in the industry, would president Scott Harris actually risk sending him out there for six, seven innings?
Seems doubtful, but we don’t know.
Flaherty kept a cell phone to his ear in the clubhouse before the game Sunday, clearly uninterested in discussing the situation with the media.
“I can’t operate any other way than to deal with what we have and what we know,” said manager AJ Hinch, who is tasked with trying to keep the deadline noise out of the clubhouse. “We are preparing to win today and then we will prepare for the Cleveland series.
“Until we’re told otherwise. We are trying to win games. There’s no reason to do it any other way.”
On Sunday, the Tigers deployed their third bullpen game in five days. The Tuesday game before the deadline is also listed as a bullpen game. So, clearly, there are some contingencies in place in case Flaherty is dealt.
But those plans are being kept under wraps.
“Part of keeping the noise out is not doing anything differently,” Hinch said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. The front office is doing their part as they always do. But Jack is listed as the starter Monday for a reason. It’s all we know right now.
“There are a lot of balls in the air, but we work so hard to keep that stuff out of the way of the players.”
Flaherty is the most likely player to be moved, but catcher Carson Kelly, infielder Gio Urshela and veteran utility player Mark Canha are also on expiring contracts, making them potential trade chips.
In the bullpen, veterans Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller, even though they have team options for 2025, also could draw some interest.
“Man, I am a left-handed reliever,” Chafin quipped. “I’ve been sweating the trade deadline every year for eight years.”
It’s an uneasy time.
“The deadline is a stress event on so many levels for so many people in uniform,” Hinch said. “It’s part of the energy that’s created in the industry, but it is also a lot of agony because you don’t know what is going to happen.
“We try to normalize it and just operate the way we always operate. If there is a change in plans, the office will let me know, and I’ll let the players know.”
The players, Hinch said, are on high alert. They read into little changes in routine before the game. They read into the lineup and how players are used in certain situations and look for subtle indications of what might be coming.
“It’s really important as a manager that you keep your focus on the guys in there,” he said. “When you are adding (at the deadline), somebody on your team is going off the roster. When you are potentially losing someone off your roster, if you are selling, everybody in there thinks they are going to be impacted.
“It’s a hard week for everyone in uniform because of the unknown. So you spend a lot of your time just trying to be normal. … When it’s volatile, and this week is very volatile, they look to you for consistency.”
Around the horn
Center fielder Parker Meadows (hamstring) started his rehab at Triple-A Toledo on Sunday. He was in the lineup as the designated hitter and will travel with the Mud Hens to Indianapolis on Tuesday.
… After holding the Twins to two runs in seven innings Saturday, Tarik Skubal’s ERA sits at a MLB-best 2.35. That is the lowest by a Tigers pitcher through 21 starts since Justin Verlander posted 2.29 in 2011. Skubal’s 12 pitcher wins is tied for first in the American League. His 154 strikeouts, 0.92 WHIP and 2.68 FIP rank second.
… Hinch offered some high praise for Twins’ center fielder Byron Buxton before the game. “I miss his DH days,” he said, laughing. “Those are more enjoyable for opposing managers. He’s so graceful and explosive. We talk a lot about competing plays and he does it as well as anyone in center field that I’ve seen from the dugout.” Buxton made an incredible running catch on a ball hit to the deep, right-center gap Saturday by Canha.
On deck: Cleveland Guardians
▶ Series: Two games at Comerica Park, Detroit
▶ First pitch: Monday — 6:40 p.m.; Tuesday — 1:10 p.m.
▶ TV/radio: Both games on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM
▶ Probables: Monday — RHP Tanner Bibee (8-4, 3.50) vs. RHP Jack Flaherty (7-5, 2.95); Tuesday — RHP Gavin Williams (0-3, 4.50) vs. TBA.
Scouting report
▶ Bibee, Guardians: This will be the fourth time facing the Tigers and he certainly will have Matt Vierling bulls-eyed on his game plan. Vierling has homered off him twice this month. But his home run at Progressive Field last week was the only scratch against Bibee in five strong innings.
▶ Flaherty, Tigers: This, of course, is pending any possible trade. Flaherty, on an expiring contract and having a Comeback Player of the Year-worthy season, has been drawing interest from a multitude of teams, among them the Braves, Astros, Dodgers, Padres and most recently, the Mets.
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Detroit — It’s not a comfortable time for players or for managers. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching (6 p.m. Tuesday), everybody is doing their best to keep a sense of normalcy at a time when very little is normal. The Tigers are listing Jack Flaherty as their starting pitcher Monday night against the Guardians. With …
