Detroit Tigers: 5 Starting Pitching Questions

Mar 8, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Shane Greene (61) throws a pitch against the Houston Astros at a spring training baseball game at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

#4: Will Shane Greene Continue to Develop?

As we discussed with Simon at #4, the Detroit Tigers are putting a lot of faith in the back-end of their rotation, but perhaps there is a little less concern with Shane Greene.

This is due to a couple of factors. One of which was that Greene didn’t have any trouble pitching in one of the toughest media/fan markets for athletes, New York City. The Yankees were decimated with starting pitching problems because of injuries to C.C. Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka and Greene answered the bell.

Greene was rookie in 2014, posting a 3.78 ERA, although that got driven up a bit with a couple of poor outings near the end of the season.

Greene caught Detroit’s attention with a pair of starts against them last August and he is a strikeout pitcher (averaging one per inning), so he fits the Tigers’ mold pretty well.

There is always a concern that what he showed in 2014 was an aberration and/or he will experience a sophomore slump. That’s the risk the Tigers run with him. He started Spring Training off slowly, but has gotten better and allowed just one earned run and obtained plenty of swings and misses on Saturday.

A little bit older than the typical second-year pitcher, the 26-year old figures to benefit from Comerica Park’s gargantuan dimensions when compared to Yankee Stadium.

I’m more confident with Greene than Simon, but don’t be surprised if he has a more up and down year than he experienced in the Bronx.