Detroit Tigers lesson learned in September: Starting depth isn’t ideal

The prospects

The good news is that the Detroit Tigers have plenty of exciting starting pitching prospects close to the Major Leagues

Franklin Perez, Beau Burrows, Grayson Long, Tyler Alexander, Sandy Baez, Matt Hall and Spencer Turnbull all finished the year at Double-A Erie.

Some of those hurlers should begin the year in Triple-A, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see the likes of Perez, Burrows and Long debut sometime in the second half of 2018, if not by 2019.

That’s all and well, but Detroit will need stop-gap options in the rotation to form a bridge to the prospects.

Ideally, Boyd, Zimmermann and Norris will continue to take steps forward and prove to be viable options behind Fulmer.

However, if the trio struggle, Detroit could be in trouble while the team waits for their pitching prospects.

This is all without mentioning that the Tigers really don’t have a leader in the clubhouse, as it were, for the fifth starter’s job heading into next season.

Right now, it might be Farmer purely based on his ability to miss bats. However, the fact remains that no pitcher has distanced themselves down the stretch.

It could be that the Tigers sign a veteran starter to a one-year contract to fill in. Even if that’s the case, injuries can always happen.

When those injuries do happen in the rotation, teams need starting pitching depth to rely on.

Next: As early as next season, Christin Stewart could play a significant role for the Tigers

If we’ve learned anything in September, it’s that the Detroit Tigers probably don’t have the best pitching options waiting in reserve.