The Tigers are back on the move after a sweep of the Athletics in Sacramento last weekend, a run that nudged them to within four games of the .500 mark. That came with the trade deadline in the middle of it all, and Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize were dealt away to help restock the farm.
Now Detroit heads into the next stop on its nine-game West Coast trip, opening a three-game series against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday night. Detroit has not named a starter for the opener yet, leaving a blank spot in the rotation after the deadline moves.
Seattle will counter with right-hander Emerson Hancock. The 27-year-old has put together the best stretch of his four-year career and is coming off a month in which he logged a 2.29 ERA and 3.66 FIP across 19 2/3 innings. Over that span, he gave up 15 hits, including two homers, and five walks while striking out 15, and he finished with one win and one loss in four starts.
Hancock also dealt with a scare on July 12 when a 107.2 mph one-hopper off Yandy Diaz hit his pitching hand. The X-rays were negative, bruising was the only issue, and he was back on the mound 10 days later for his third start of July.
For the opener, Detroit’s side remains listed as TBD against Hancock, who enters the game at 6-5 with a 3.26 ERA. His season line includes 110.1 innings, a 23.3 strikeout rate, a 6.2 walk rate, a 41.4 percent ground-ball rate, a 3.74 FIP, and 1.7 fWAR.
In Other News...
Tigers Just Moved Another Key Arm And Fans Will Debate The Return
The Tigers pitching staff took another major hit as Casey Mize was dealt to the Padres, adding to a stretch in which Detroit has already moved on from Tarik Skubal as well. For a club still trying to map out its future, the latest move brings back prospect Kash Mayfield and minor league pitcher Jackson Wolf, a return that will be measured against what Mize might still have offered had he stayed in the rotation.
There was more to the deal than just the arm, too, with infielder Gage Workman also heading to San Diego as Detroit continued to reshape its roster. For Tigers fans, the debate now shifts from what was lost to whether the package is enough to justify moving another recognizable piece, especially with Mize and Skubal both set to factor into the National League playoff race. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Farm Reset Puts One Huge Question On Their Deadline Trades
After the 2026 MLB trade deadline, the prospect shuffle around baseball made one thing clear: some clubs were willing to sacrifice immediate help to restock for the next wave. The Mets landed Jefferson Rojas as part of a pitching-for-prospects push, and Baltimore added several top prospects in a broad farm reset that also included dealing Adley Rutschman. Detroit was right in that same mix, moving Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize as part of its own attempt to build back depth for the future.
For the Tigers, the big question now is how much value they actually pulled out of those headline moves. Farm-system resets are supposed to buy time and create flexibility, but they also put a spotlight on whether the return can match the level of talent sent out the door. Detroit made the kind of deadline choices that can reshape an organization, and the next step is seeing whether those trades give the Tigers the kind of long-term foundation they were clearly chasing. [Read more 🡒]