The Detroit Tigers were set to start a series against the St. Louis Cardinals in what is a rematch of the 2006 World Series but Mother Nature had other ideas forcing the game to be postponed to today for a doubleheader which led to the first move. The first game will see Jack Flaherty taking on his former team for the first time in his career, he will take on Kyle Gibson for the Cardinals. In the second game with it being a doubleheader the rosters expand to 27 and the Tigers will once again for the third time this season use it for Matt Manning who will pitch the second game as he faces off against Steven Matz for the Cardinals, that game will start about 45 minutes after the first game ends. The other move that Detroit made today was optioning infielder Buddy Kennedy to Triple-A Toledo as they have reinstated INF/OF Andy Ibanez from the 10-day injured list.
Tigers Move By The Numbers
Matt Manning
Manning was the odd man out with Casey Mize and Reese Olson winning the final two spots in the starting rotation. When the team broke from camp which resulted in him starting the season in Triple-A Toledo where he has made three appearances with two of those coming as starts, he is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and 18 strikeouts in 14 innings. In the two doubleheaders that Manning has started, he is 0-1 with a 2.92 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and ten strikeouts in 12.1 innings; in the first start, he went 5.2 no-hit innings against the Mets.
Andy Ibanez
Ibanez was hot in spring training hitting .273 with a .986 OPS; he had two doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, nine runs scored, and four walks in 21 games leading to him making the team out of camp. In the seven games he played in to start the 2024 season he was hitting .267 with a .502 OPS; he had three RBI and a run scored before suffering a hamstring injury that has kept him out since April 7th. In his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo, he played in three games going 3-9 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored.
Buddy Kennedy
Kennedy was claimed off waivers by the Tigers on February 29th from the Cardinals. He started the 2024 season at Triple-A Toledo playing in 15 games, he hit .288 with a .862 OPS; he had seven doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, 13 runs scored, and six walks. With the Tigers he played in six games hitting .200 with a .808 OPS; he had one home run, four RBI, two runs scored, a stolen base, and two walks.
