Tigers Announce Starting Rotation

There wasn’t much regarding the starting rotation that was in question during camp for the Detroit Tigers this year. We have long since known the names of the five starting pitchers. Today, we learned the order in which those men will take the ball.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland announced today that barring injuries, right hander Brad Penny will start the second game of the season in New York. Because of two scheduled off days in the first week of the schedule, Detroit won’t need a fifth starter until April 9 during the first home stand of the season. Phil Coke will have his turn skipped during the first two series before making his first start on that date.

Justin Verlander will take the ball in the season opener in New York and Max Scherzer will be in line to pitch the home opener by starting game three of the Yankees series. Rick Porcello will start the first game in Baltimore, the fourth game of the year.

While it may have been nice to have a left hander starting in the Bronx, Coke has much more relief experience. He’ll likely make an appearance or two out of the ‘pen prior to joining the rotation during the first homestand. All-in-all, this looks like the right move to make.

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