Jack Flaherty was dealt at the trade deadline last year. He is more mentally prepared for that possibility this time around.
Flaherty, who is scheduled to start for the Tigers against the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Monday night in the opener of a two-game series, is one of the hottest names on the trade market after emerging as the No. 2 starter in Detroit’s rotation behind ace Tarik Skubal.
“Just the experience (from last year), going through it one time, hearing your name getting thrown around in a bunch of scenarios,” Flaherty said. “I’m just in a better place mentally than I was last year. I’ve done a better job of taking it one day at a time and keeping my focus on trying to win games.”
The St. Louis Cardinals traded the right-hander to the Baltimore Orioles at last season’s deadline. Flaherty signed a one-year contract with the Tigers in December as a free agent.
Flaherty (7-5, 2.95 ERA) has required two injections due to back tightness over the past two months, but he has been stellar in his three starts in July. He has allowed just four runs (three earned) and eight hits in 17 2/3 innings.
Two of those games have been against the Guardians. On Wednesday, Flaherty held them to one unearned run on three hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out six.
Flaherty is 1-2 with a 2.38 ERA in six career starts against Cleveland.
Also of immediate interest is who will be behind the plate on Monday, as the Tigers traded catcher Carson Kelly to the Texas Rangers for a pair of minor-leaguers on Sunday.
Reports have indicated that Detroit will summon catcher Dillon Dingler from Triple-A Toledo to make his major league debut. Dingler, rated by MLB Pipeline as the Tigers’ No. 11 prospect, has hit .308 with 17 home runs in 71 games at Toledo this season. He was a second-round draft pick by the Tigers in 2020.
The Guardians’ Tanner Bibee (8-4, 3.50) will start for the fifth time this month, with three of those outings set to come against Detroit.
Bibee gave up four runs and five hits in seven innings on July 10 in taking a loss against the Tigers, then held Detroit to one run and two hits in five innings for a no-decision on Wednesday. In between those starts, he blanked the San Diego Padres for 5 2/3 innings to get a win.
On Wednesday, Bibee left the game early due to cramping.
“I seem to cramp up every single start, which stinks,” Bibee said. “With our bullpen, it feels like they do their job every time they come into the game, and that’s the beauty of that.”
Bibee threw a warmup pitch prior to the sixth inning and wanted to continue, but manager Stephen Vogt nixed that idea.
“He fought me pretty good out there,” Vogt said, “but I had to make a decision, and letting him go further could have been a danger to him.”
Bibee is 0-3 with a 5.84 ERA in five career starts against Detroit.
The Guardians defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Sunday behind a three-run homer from Jhonkensy Noel. Cleveland took two of three games over the weekend against the National League leaders, with Emmanuel Clase recording his 32nd and 33rd saves of the season.
Cleveland’s bullpen held the Phillies scoreless over the last 5 2/3 innings on Sunday.
“That’s the beauty of this bullpen,” Vogt said. “They’ve done whatever we’ve asked of them. We needed to go to the pen early (Sunday), and they came through.”
The Tigers dropped two of three games against the visiting Minnesota Twins over the weekend. They were limited to one hit, a single by Matt Vierling in the fourth inning, in getting blanked 5-0 on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
