Mother Nature has not been kind to the Tigers and White Sox to start the 2017 season. The two teams were rained out for the second time in three days, and will (hopefully) play the season finale Thursday afternoon.
Today's Tigers-White Sox game has been postponed due to rain and has been rescheduled for a straight doubleheader on May 26th.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) April 5, 2017
Detroit did pick up a 6-3 win on Tuesday, the official Opening Day for both clubs after Monday’s game was washed out. Wednesday’s postponed tilt has presented Tigers manager Brad Ausmus with some early change to the rotation.
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Originally, Jordan Zimmermann was next in line behind Verlander. However, the team announced that the rotation will be shuffled around some.
Updated rotation:
Thu: LHP Matthew Boyd
Fri: RHP Michael Fulmer
Sat: RHP Jordan Zimmermann
Sun: LHP Daniel Norris
Mon: RHP Justin Verlander— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) April 5, 2017
Lefty Matt Boyd, who was tabbed as the No. 5 guy coming out of spring training, will be bumped up and be the next guy to throw for the Tigers, presumably Thursday should they not get rained out again.
Initially, it was going to be Zimmermann on Wednesday and Daniel Norris on Thursday. They now get pushed back three days. The only constant with this updated rotation is Michael Fulmer remaining tabbed to pitch in the Tigers’ home opener on Friday. Justin Verlander, meanwhile, gets now five days of rest before his next scheduled start.
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There is no definitive reason yet from Ausmus or the club for the changes to the rotation. Here are the potential pitching match-ups for the remainder of the week against Chicago and Boston.
The potential pitching matchups for the week ahead. https://t.co/AqawX8ARMZ pic.twitter.com/u4HyIKugdI
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) April 5, 2017
Additionally, the Tigers announced that they are placing lefty reliever Kyle Ryan on the paternity list and recalling fellow southpaw Blaine Hardy to fill his spot.
The Tigers placed LHP Kyle Ryan on the paternity list today and recalled LHP Blaine Hardy from triple-A Toledo.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) April 5, 2017
Ryan beat out Hardy for one of the two lefty reliever spots in the Tigers bullpen coming out of spring training. It will be his first biological child with his wife, Courtney. He is expected to re-join the club on Friday for the home opener.