Detroit Tigers: Predicting the 2018 Starting Rotation

DANIEL NORRIS

The final spot in the rotation will go to Daniel Norris. You might be thinking Norris should be higher up the rotation and I can understand that, he has the stuff to be an all-star caliber player. However, he has been injured every year he has been in a Detroit Tigers uniform and he has been in a Detroit Tigers uniform since halfway through the 2015 season. He has also dealt with inconsistency, like Boyd, but Boyd has stayed healthy for the most part.

Norris has a fastball that can reach 96mph, but when your results are a1.613 WHIP and 10.6 H/9, like he did in 2017,  that fastball looks like a beach ball. He does have decent strikeout numbers and even one career homerun from Wrigley Field, which was amazing.

Like I said before, he has the stuff to be a frontline starter and all-star. He needs to stay healthy however. Staying healthy is easier said than done and some people just get injured much more easily. I am hoping that Daniel Norris is not on a Mark Prior route, as in they have the stuff to be a great pitcher, but injuries will ultimately ruin their promising career.

One BIG thing to remember with Daniel Norris though is that he will not even be 25 until late April of 2018. He still has a lot of time to get healthier and become an annual All-Star and possible Cy Young contender.

More than likely he will suffer another injury, hopefully not serious, but ultimately pitching around 120 innings. An ERA of around 3.90, limiting his walks to under 3.0 per nine innings, and if he can get close to his 9.2 K/9 he had in 2016; he will have a very solid season.

Next: Predicting the 2018 Bullpen

The 2018 Detroit Tigers rotation is not going to be great but it CAN be solid if everyone stays healthy and limits home runs. That might be asking a lot though.

The Tigers are in a rebuilding phase. We will hopefully see some young great players. The Tigers have a young ace already in the rotation, another possible ace in Norris if he stays healthy. Boyd can be a solid number three if he pitches like he did in September of 2017. Those three can be a part of the next great Tigers rotation, with Norris under control for four more seasons and Fulmer and Boyd five more.

We still must support our home team. They will not be good in 2018, but this is for a better future.  Go Tigers!