Detroit Tigers: Predicting the Starting Rotation

Detroit Tigers starting pitchers predominantly enjoyed a solid season last season. Here’s a prediction in terms of what this year’s rotation should look like.

Detroit Tigers pitchers nearly walked away with both the Rookie of the Year the Cy Young awards in 2016.

Michael Fulmer dominated opposing hitters in his first season in the Majors en route to taking home the American League Rookie of the Year.

Elsewhere, Justin Verlander nearly took home the Cy Young award, but lost out to former teammate Rick Porcello.

Initially, the rotation featured Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez, Shane Greene and Mike Pelfrey.

However, by the end of the season, Fulmer, Matt Boyd and Daniel Norris had established themselves as integral parts of the staff.

This is key moving forward as the young trio will fill out 60% of the Tigers rotation.

Coupled with a resurgent Verlander, the future is looking bright in Detroit where starting pitching is concerned.

The team will continue to benefit from more young pitchers eventually entering the fold as Matt Manning, Kyle Funkhouser, Sandy Baez and Beau Burrows make their way closer to the big leagues.

However, the next wave of young starters is a few years away from making an impact.

Here’s a prediction of what the Detroit Tigers rotation should look like next season.