The Tigers are finally back at Comerica Park, and they’ll spend the opening night of the homestand trying to get past a Nationals club that brings a very different kind of wrinkle to the end of Detroit’s season.
After finishing their seven-game trip with an 8-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field, the Tigers dropped that four-game set, three games to one, and now return home for the penultimate series of the 2026 regular season. Washington is the first of two National League opponents Detroit will host to close out the schedule, an unusual finish to the year.
Detroit’s starter in Monday’s opener will be right-hander River Ryan, who makes his Tigers debut after arriving from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tarik Skubal trade at the deadline. Ryan, 28, made two appearances for Triple-A Toledo and logged a 3.86 ERA, though the underlying line was rougher: a 1.71 WHIP across 4 2/3 innings, with seven hits, one homer, one walk, and four strikeouts against 20 batters.
The Nationals will counter with left-hander DJ Herz, who is set to make his 2026 debut after spending two years working back from Tommy John surgery. Herz, 25, returned to game action last month after a June setback and posted a 4.24 ERA over 17 innings in six minor league starts. He was stretched to 65 pitches in his last outing, so Washington should be able to ask for roughly four innings from him.
Looking back to the last time both pitchers were in the majors, Ryan’s 2024 season included four games, 20.1 innings, a 22.2 strikeout percentage, an 11.1 walk percentage, a 50.0 ground-ball rate, a 3.36 FIP and 0.4 fWAR. Herz was more active in 2024, making 19 appearances and covering 88.2 innings with a 27.7 strikeout percentage, a 9.4 walk percentage, a 36.4 ground-ball rate, a 3.71 FIP and 1.7 fWAR.
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What made the night even harder to absorb was what happened on the mound. Troy Melton left in the fourth inning with what appeared to be an injury, adding a fresh concern to a team that already had plenty to sort through after the season came apart. For a club trying to piece together where it stands going forward, the health of another young arm now hangs over the final week. [Read more 🡒]