Tigers Cy Young Winner Now Set to Face Another Struggling Offense

Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal is on a heater. Thanks to Tuesday’s rainout , he may face only a slightly more formidable lineup on Friday. The Tigers and the Colorado Rockies saw their game rained out on Tuesday.

Because of that, the two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday , which forced manager A.J. Hinch to alter his rotation.



In doing so, he’s pushed Skubal back to Friday’s opener with the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park. The intriguing part is that he’ll face a team hitting only slightly better than the Rockers — and going through more turmoil. The Rockies’ .

209 batting average is the worst in the Majors. The full slash is .209/.

278/.342 with 27 home runs and 105 RBI. Skubal, had he had the chance, likely would have feasted on that batting order.

Rangers Batting Order Struggling Well, the Rangers are hitting better — but not much better. Texas is No. 25 in batting average with a slash of .

228/.285/.359, including 31 home runs and 111 RBI.

Only the Rockies have driven in fewer runs than the Rangers. Texas was expected to have one of the most feared batting orders in baseball this season. But, key pieces like Marcus Semien and Joc Pederson have struggles.

Another key piece, Corey Seager, has missed time due to a hamstring injury. He returned to the lineup this weekend. The Rangers just made several moves to try and reboot the offense.

They optioned first baseman Jake Burger — who hit more than 30 home runs two years ago — to Triple-A Round Rock and promoted Blaine Crim to replace him. Texas also placed outfielder Leody Taveras on outright waivers and called up 2023 World Series hero Evan Carter, who missed most of last year due to injury. The most seismic move was Texas firing its hitting coach, Donnie Ecker, on Sunday and hiring former Silver Slugger Bret Boone on Monday to replace him.

Boone has never coached at any level. But he did play for Rangers manager Bruce Bochy with the San Diego Padres in 2000. Skubal has been racking up intriguing milestones all season, the latest of which saw him become the third pitcher ever to throw at least 30 innings with a 0.

90 ERA, 38 strikeouts and one walk in a five-start stretch. Through seven starts he is 3-2 with a 2.21 ERA.

He has 48 strikeouts and five walks in 40.2 innings. Thanks to the rainout, Tigers fans can see him at home on Friday night.

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