2 Tigers who should be left off the ALDS roster for battle with Guardians

When the Detroit Tigers set their 26-man roster for the American League Wild Card series, it did not include pitchers Keider Montero or Kenta Maeda. The former was a somewhat surprising omission, while the latter seemed a foregone conclusion.

Even without the pair of right-handers on their pitching staff, the Tigers swept the Houston Astros in the Wild Card round to advance to the AL Division Series. Now, as they prepare to face the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 Saturday, they have the opportunity to add one or both pitchers back to the roster (with corresponding moves to keep the roster capped at 26 players). But should they?

It hardly seems necessary, given Detroit's deep crop of quality pitching options (even with only one traditional starter in Tarik Skubal). The Tigers didn't even need to use their second-best starter, Reese Olson, in the Wild Card series, which keeps him fresh and rested for Game 1 against Cleveland. Skubal will be ready to go for Game 2, and the Tigers' patchwork pitching strategy beyond him has certainly worked out well for them so far.

In short, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Tigers could add Kenta Maeda, Keider Montero to ALDS roster with corresponding moves, but shouldn't

The Tigers had 12 pitchers on their roster for the Wild Card round, which was a best-of-three series. Even though the ALDS is best-of-five, it's very possible they continue to roll with 12 and forgo adding an extra pitcher. If they did decide to bring an extra arm, though, it would almost certainly be Montero.

Montero showed plenty of promise down the stretch of the Tigers regular season after settling into a rotation role at the end of June. He threw a complete-game shutout against the Colorado Rockies last month and followed it up with five shutout innings against the Baltimore Orioles in his next start, but consistency remains a concern. The Orioles had his number the next time they faced him, scoring five earned runs over 4 2/3 innings on Sept. 20.

In the event that Montero does make the Tigers' ALDS roster, third baseman Jace Jung might end up being the odd man out. Jung didn't make it into either of the Wild Card games, and Tigers manager AJ Hinch might prefer to have an extra arm in a best-of-five series over an extra bat.

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