MLB has announced their planned schedule for the entirety of the American League Divisional Series, and the Seattle Mariners have set their starting pitchers for the first two games at home this weekend.
With three of the four AL clubs remaining in the Eastern Time Zone, it’s unsurprising to see games catered to their comfort, however the M’s do enjoy a degree of convenience in their home field advantage, earning the late games both Saturday and Sunday. However, both Game 3 and 4 (if needed in the case of the latter) line up as 1:08 PM PT starts, delivering a crushing blow to productivity in the PNW.
Seattle has settled on their preferred home-field options in this circumstance, handing RHP George Kirby the ball in Game One on Saturday, and veteran RHP Luis Castillo the nod in Game Two Sunday night. The Detroit Tigers have not yet committed to who will go Game One and Two, but the presumption is that some combination of RHPs Keider Montero or Chris Paddack and the Detroit bullpen will heavily handle it, followed by likely repeat Cy Young winner LHP Tarik Skubal in Game Two. Skubal has never started on three days rest, which would be needed to go on Saturday.
For the Tigers, they’re going with a quasi-bullpen day for Game 1 before presumptive Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal takes the mound in Game 2, which would set him up for a Game 5 appearance on short rest as well. Rookie Troy Melton will start Game 1; the 24-year-old made his MLB debut at the end of July and got blown out by the Pirates before pitching seven sterling innings against Arizona in his next outing. At that point, Detroit made the decision to convert the young righty to the bullpen for a potential post-season run. As a starter, Melton has the deep arsenal and the stamina to pitch multiple innings; his job will be to hold the Mariners down for as long as he can remain in the game and allow Detroit’s offense to get an early lead. He’ll do that primarily with a high-velocity, flat-plane fastball that elicits whiffs but can leak down into the heart of the zone, especially when he’s behind in the count. The Mariners, for their part, will try to knock out Melton early enough to get to a Detroit bullpen that saw heavy use in their three-game set against the Guardians, which will mean tempering their temptation to go after the high heat and forcing the rookie to be uncomfortable on the mound. A sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Park will certainly help.
The umpiring crew has also been announced for the series. Alan Porter will serve as the crew chief for the series, with a crew that includes Alex Tosi, Jeremie Rehak, John Tumpane, Chris Guccione, and Nate Tomlinson. Tosi will have home plate for Game 1, followed by Rehak in Game 2, Tumpane in Game 3, Guccione in Game 4, and Porter in Game 5. Porter is the third-ranked umpire by UmpScorecards by accuracy, at 95.5%; Tosi is 10th, at 95.1%. Rehak is 17th at just under 95%. Tomlinson, who won’t have the plate in this series, is 8th; he is making his post-season debut after being hired as a full-time umpire in 2024.
Source link
