The Detroit Tigers have defied the odds to an extreme degree this Major League Baseball season, but the odds are starting to become overwhelming after their most recent misfortune.
An already-thin lineup looks as though it’s going to be tested to its limit after designated hitter Kerry Carpenter was removed from Game 4 with a hamstring injury and catcher Jake Rogers was dinged up on his left wrist.
Detroit brought Bligh Madris to Cleveland on Friday morning per various reports, and that’s not a move it would make unless it needed the depth due to one of those injuries.
With Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News reporting that X-rays on Rogers’ wrist came back negative, and he’s supposedly good to go for Game 5, that means the addition of Madris is almost certainly because of concerns around Carpenter.
Carpenter is undoubtedly the most important hitter in Detroit’s lineup right now, and it’s looking more and more likely that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch will have to create a lineup without him in it for Saturday’s do-or-die Game 5 at Cleveland.
This is a devastating development.
Not only is Carpenter one of Detroit’s only power threats, but he’s essential to the construction of the top of the lineup.
Without him, Hinch will be forced to get creative, and the options are limited.
The most likely solution would be to move the hot-hitting Wenceel Perez higher in the order — whether that be to Carpenter’s No. 2 slot or simply sliding up Riley Green to No. 2 and Perez behind him.
But it can’t be ignored that this severely weakens the bottom half of the lineup.
Colt Keith (1-for-14 with zero extra-base hits) and Spencer Torkelson (2-for-17) have struggled mightily at the plate this postseason, and it remains to be seen how well Rogers will be able to hit if he’s not at 100 percent health.
Considering that, though, Madris could be used to spell Torkelson at first base if his woes continue. The 28-year-old played 20 games at first for Detroit this season when Torkelson was demoted to the minor leagues, batting .269 with a .324 on-base percentage across 67 at-bats.
Of course, with Tarik Skubal — the best pitcher in baseball — starting on full rest, Detroit might only need to manufacture one or two runs to advance, so this news might not mean much for Game 5.
