'Weird oddity' in Detroit Tigers' schedule provides opportunity to 'make some adjustments'

Four days ago, the Detroit Tigers boarded a plane in Baltimore after wrapping up a frustrating three-game series. The Baltimore Orioles, four days later, arrived at Comerica Park to start a four-game series.

The second and final portion of seven games in 10 days between the Tigers and Orioles started Thursday in Detroit, which isn't what the Tigers would have expected when MLB introduced a new schedule structure for the 2023 season.

"It's a weird oddity in our schedule that's supposed to be balanced," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before Thursday's game. "I've seen it in other places. Not a huge fan of it, but we're going to play the schedule as it is and make some adjustments."

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Certainly, the Tigers (9-14) need to make adjustments in the four-game series.

The Orioles arrive at Comerica Park with a 16-8 record for second place in the American League East, behind the Tampa Bay Rays (20-5) and ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays (16-9), New York Yankees (14-11) and Boston Red Sox (13-13).

The Tigers have a 1-11 record against the AL East this season.

And they were just swept by the Orioles — scoring three runs in the process — in three games at Camden Yards. The Tigers lost two of those games on walk-off plays: Ryan Mountcastle beat a throw to home plate from Spencer Torkelson in the ninth inning Friday; Adam Frazier scored on a wild pitch from Mason Englert in the 10th inning Sunday.

The performances of the starting pitchers — Michael Lorenzen on Friday, Joey Wentz on Saturday and Eduardo Rodriguez on Sunday — were mostly positive, and the bullpen dominated, but the offense failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Too many runners were stranded in scoring position.

"We didn't swing the bats particularly well," Hinch said. "Some of the quality of our at-bats were fine, but the results weren't there. We played some really close games against them. We'll get to see pitches again five days later, at least two of them we will, but so will they."

In the four-game series, the Tigers will get another chance to battle right-hander Kyle Gibson (Thursday) and righty Grayson Rodriguez (Friday). They'll also face righties Dean Kremer (Saturday) and Kyle Bradish (Sunday) for the first time.

The Tigers have scored 70 runs in 23 games this season.

The run total ranks 30th in MLB.

Tarik Skubal's big day

The Tigers haven't released anything about the long-term plan for left-hander Tarik Skubal, but one short-term timeline is known. The 26-year-old, coming back from flexor tendon surgery, will throw his first bullpen session Friday at Comerica Park.

He underwent surgery in August 2022.

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Skubal posted a 3.52 ERA with 32 walks and 117 strikeouts across 117⅔ innings in 21 starts last season. He pitched 17 scoreless innings in his final three starts — July 21, July 27 and Aug. 1 — before suffering a season-ending injury.

Right-hander Matt Manning, sidelined with a right foot fracture, began his throwing progression Tuesday at Comerica Park.

Javy Báez scratched

Shortstop Javier Báez, originally slated to hit third in the lineup, was scratched from Thursday's series opener against the Orioles with a left hand contusion. He suffered the injury on a hit-by-pitch in Wednesday's 6-2 loss to the Brewers.

Báez, who still has a 10-game hitting streak, could be available to pinch-hit in Thursday's game. The hitting streak is the second-longest active streak in the big leagues, behind only Mauricio Dubón (20 games).

The 30-year-old has a .234 batting average with six walks and 15 strikeouts in 21 games this season. He hit .378 with three walks and seven strikeouts across 10 games, from April 13-25.

For Thursday's game, Jonathan Schoop entered the lineup at the second baseman. Nick Maton and Zach McKinstry switched positions, too, with McKinstry — the leadoff hitter — playing third base and Nick Maton — the cleanup hitter — shifting to shortstop.

Prospect injury updates

Right-hander Jackson Jobe, the Tigers' top pitching prospect, is working through the long-toss phase of his throwing program. He suffered a lumbar spine strain during spring training.

The Tigers drafted Jobe with the No. 3 overall pick in 2021. He posted a 3.84 ERA with 30 walks and 81 strikeouts in 77⅓ innings for Low-A Lakeland (18 starts) and High-A West Michigan (three starts) last season.

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Right-hander Dylan Smith, selected No. 74 in the 2021 draft, has a right forearm strain and has been going through physical therapy. The 22-year-old has a 12.71 ERA with five walks and 10 strikeouts in 5⅔ innings across three games for Double-A Erie.

Smith is the Tigers' No. 15 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, while Jobe is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the farm system.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' schedule provides chance to 'make some adjustments'