Tigers continuing to implement two-man rotation weeks after trade deadline is absurd

The Detroit Tigers have implemented a two-man pitching rotation. There have been injuries to starting pitchers, but nothing has been done to replace them. Why is Chris Fetter allowing this to happen?

Casey Mize and Reese Olson are injured. Kenta Maeda was moved to the bullpen. The Detroit Tigers replaced these three with bullpen arms and are opting to roll with two starters. This has never been seen before.

The Tigers have had Cy Young hopeful Tarik Skubal and young righty Keider Montero as their rotation, opting for some combination of bullpen arms for the remainder of their starts. Typically speaking, Tyler Holton, Kenta Maeda, and Joey Wentz make up the "bullpen days."

Who exactly thought of this idea? More importantly, why is pitching coach Chris Fetter okay with it? How is AJ Hinch not imploring the front office to fix it? This has been putting a lot of pressure on bullpen arms to take multiple innings at a time and has forced many of them to reach career highs in innings pitched. It also has put a lot of pressure on Skubal and Montero to go deep in their starts, in an attempt to give the bullpen a day off.

In a world where innings pitched are monitored like luggage through TSA, why are Hinch and Fetter allowing many of their arms to pitch more innings than ever before? There are plenty of questions behind this strange setup. For me, the biggest question is: can the team succeed with this structure?

Many years ago, the Tampa Bay Rays introduced the "opener," having a relief pitcher take the first inning, then deploying a starter in the second. This is similar to what the Tigers do, but the Rays still had a five-man pitching rotation. This idea only lasted a season or two before Kevin Cash and Co. returned to the traditional starting rotation.

This raises the question if Fetter is behind all of this. There is no question that since Fetter came in from the University of Michigan, injuries have been a massive issue for the Tigers' starting pitchers. Mize should buy a timeshare on the injured list, Olson has had his share of ailments, Maeda has found himself leaving starts multiple times, and Matt Manning has been so injured he found himself in Toledo despite decent success in the MLB. When there are issues of this magnitude, it starts to raise questions about coaching.

Baseball is an always-evolving game, but at its core, it has remained the same for a very long time. The starting rotation has been in place since the 1970s when the Los Angeles Dodgers introduced it. Baseball hasn't looked back since. So why are the Tigers looking back? What successful team do you know hasn't utilized a traditional five-man rotation? I cannot think of one. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and I have a feeling that the Tigers are trying to fix something that ain't broke ... or they just don't know what they're doing.

There have been rumors circling that Fetter is a candidate for the Chicago White Sox managerial job after the 2024. season ends. If that is truly the case, they can have him and they can deal with his injured pitchers and ridiculous strategies.