MLB Player News

General manager Al Avila said Manning needs to continue developing his command, control and make mechanical tweaks at the Tigers' alternate training site, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports. "It's a little bit longer with him now," Avila said Monday.

Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal got the call Monday, but Manning was surprisingly not brought up alongside the Tigers' other top pitching prospects. Avila expressed optimism that Manning and other prospects wouldn't be too far behind the ones called up early this week, but the fact that we know Mize and Skubal are up and confirmed as starters makes them preferable adds in redraft leagues over Manning.

Skubal isn't expected to throw more than 50 pitches in his season debut Tuesday against the White Sox, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Skubal has been built up to roughly that number of pitches during his work at the Tigers' secondary site. While an approximately three-inning start isn't all that enticing for fantasy owners, Skubal has a chance to produce strong results on a per-inning basis if his 48.2 percent strikeout rate in nine starts at Double-A Erie last season is any indication. That's of course not a ton of experience in the upper minors, however, and he'll be skipping Triple-A entirely, so there's no guarantee he has immediate success at the big-league level. Detroit is expected to wait until Tuesday to formally add Skubal to its 40-man roster and 28-man active roster.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn strongly hinted that Dunning will likely be called up from the team's alternate training site to start Wednesday's game against the Tigers, James Fegan of The Athletic reports. "We'll probably have a pretty good pitching matchup between some young guys," Hahn said of Wednesday's game.

Detroit has already confirmed that one of its top pitching prospects in Casey Mize will take the hill Wednesday for his MLB debut, and on the White Sox side, Dunning best fits the bill of the "young guy" Hahn is referring to. Since Carlos Rodon (shoulder) was placed on the injured list Aug. 4, the White Sox have used Matt Foster as the opener for two bullpen games when the fifth starter's turn has come up, but Dunning looks like he could get a real chance to stake his claim to a rotation spot. Though Dunning is healthy after missing the entire 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, expect the White Sox to put a cap on his pitch count Wednesday, assuming he ends up receiving the starting nod.

Bundy will switch turns in the rotation with Griffin Canning, pushing Bundy's next start to Tuesday against the Giants, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Bundy has shouldered a heavy workload this season, averaging over seven innings per start, so the Angels will push him back in order to give him extra rest. The right-hander last pitched Aug. 11, thus he will have enjoyed a full week off when he toes the mound against San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon. Bundy has been among baseball's best pitchers so far this season, registering a 1.57 ERA, 0.63 WHIP and 35:3 K:BB over 28.2 innings.

Canning will flip-flop in the rotation with Dylan Bundy and start Monday's game against San Francisco, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Bundy has been pitching ahead of Canning in the rotation, but they will reverse that order this week in order to get Bundy extra rest. The Angels had an off day Thursday, so the switch means that Canning will still be starting on regular rest. The right-hander has an 0-3 record through four starts this season, posting a 4.42 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 18:10 K:BB in 18.1 innings.

Kikuchi (neck) is feeling better and is likely to make his next start Thursday against the Dodgers, the Associated Press reports.

The left-hander was scratched from Friday's start against the Astros due to neck spasms, but after taking muscle relaxers over the weekend, Kikuchi is apparently firmly on the road to recovery. Nestor Cortes stepped in as the emergency starter in the 29-year-old's stead Friday and yielded eight runs (seven earned) on five hits over one-third of an inning, so manager Scott Servais will undoubtedly be glad to see Kikuchi back in the rotation.

Kaprielian allowed an earned run on a solo home run over two innings in a win over the Giants on Sunday. He also issued a walk and recorded a strikeout.

The right-hander was put right to work after being recalled from the Athletics' alternate training site in San Jose earlier in the day, and he showed well overall despite surrendering a solo homer to Brandon Crawford. Kaprielian is a promising prospect that posted a 32:8 K:BB across 31.2 innings between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas last season, and his current tenure with the big-league club could last at least through Burch Smith's (forearm) stay on the injured list.

The Tigers announced that Skubal will be called up from their alternate training site to make his big-league debut Tuesday against the White Sox, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Both Skubal and Casey Mize will make their debuts this week, with Mize set to start Wednesday. Mize has the greater reputation of the pair, as he was the first overall pick in the 2018 Draft in which Skubal was taken in the ninth round, but Skubal has been the more dominant arm thus far in his professional career. Neither pitcher has reached Triple-A, but Skubal was incredible in his nine starts for Double-A Erie last season, posting a 2.13 ERA that was backed up by an absurd 48.2 percent strikeout rate. It's unclear how close he'll come to that number at a much higher level of competition, as he doesn't have much of note in his repertoire outside of his excellent fastball. The pitch has earned rave reviews from scouts thanks to its combination of movement and velocity, however, and it could continue to carry him as he begins his big-league career.

The Tigers announced Monday that Mize will be called up from their alternate training site to make his big-league debut Wednesday against the White Sox, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 first-year player draft heads to the majors after making just 26 career minor-league starts. While none of those starts came at the Triple-A level, he did produce a 3.20 ERA in 15 trips to the mound for Double-A Erie last season, combining a decent 23.5 percent strikeout rate with a strong 5.6 percent walk rate. While it might be a surprise to see Mize post big strikeout numbers in the majors right away given his relatively modest marks in that category two levels lower last season, the 23-year-old has an impressive and deep repertoire and could certainly add more whiffs as he matures. Injury issues remain the biggest question mark in his profile, as he missed time with a shoulder strain last season. Detroit is expected to wait until Wednesday to formally add Mize to its 40-man and 28-man active rosters.

Clevinger isn't guaranteed to be recalled from the Indians' alternate site to make a start for the big club during its upcoming series with the Tigers next weekend, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Cleveland placed Clevinger on the restricted list Aug. 11, three days after he and rotation mate Zach Plesac broke protocol by going out in Chicago the night of the Indians' victory over the White Sox. While Plesac was caught trying to return to the hotel the morning of Aug. 9 and subsequently sent back to Cleveland, Clevinger boarded the Indians' team plane later that day before it was known that he too had broken protocol. The poor decisions of Clevinger and Plesac has reportedly caused some strife within the Cleveland locker room, making it uncertain when either pitcher will be recalled. Since both Clevinger and Plesac were optioned to the alternate site Friday, neither will be eligible to rejoin the active roster for 10 days (Aug. 24), unless the Indians place a player on the injured list. With that in mind, Adam Plutko seems likely to get another turn as the Tribe's fourth starter Friday in the series opener against Detroit, while the recently recalled Logan Allen could make a spot start when a fifth member of the rotation is first needed Saturday.