Inbox: Will Mize, Manning arrive in 2020?

DETROIT -- The holidays have come and gone, and the Tigers’ first Spring Training workouts are less than a month away, set to be complete with some new faces. Thus, it’s time to dust the snow off the Tigers Inbox and open up a fresh batch of questions.

Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Alex Faedo will be in big league camp as non-roster invites. They’ll certainly get some innings in Grapefruit League games, and given the schedule early in camp, it wouldn’t be a surprise if one or more of them gets a start -- either in the exhibition game against Southeastern University or one of the split-squad games on Feb. 23.

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Despite all that, I would not expect any of them to get serious consideration for an Opening Day roster spot. The Detroit rotation is pretty close to set with the addition of Iván Nova. One of the major reasons why the Tigers added Nova and Zack Godley was so that they could give Mize and Manning time to develop. Detroit still considers Triple-A to be an important level of development, notably for pitchers, because the young arms get to face hitters who are more veteran than the ones at Double-A.

You hate to completely rule out the possibility of a prospect cracking the rotation. After all, this is the same organization that once introduced a 20-year-old Rick Porcello into the rotation of a team that was expected to at least contend, despite Porcello having not thrown a pitch above A-ball. Then-manager Jim Leyland fought hard for that one, noting that he was clearly one of the best five starters in camp. But that was a different time in baseball, and the Tigers are clearly looking at the long-term play, moreso than in 2009.

Manning has proven to be durable on his way up the developmental ladder the last couple of years, including 24 starts last year at Double-A Erie. He topped 100 pitches in a game only once, but he had six outings with 95-plus, and he had four seven-inning starts. He progressed from 117 2/3 innings in 2018 to 133 2/3 innings last year, so it’s reasonable to expect him to get at least 150 innings this season between Triple-A Toledo and, hopefully, Detroit.

Mize will be an interesting situation, not just because he was shut down in mid-August last year but because it wasn’t his first bout of struggles down the stretch in a season. He essentially alternated good outings with subpar ones after coming back from the injured list in July, and he ended up with fewer innings for the season (109 1/3) than he had his final year at Auburn (114 2/3). The Tigers will want to figure this out, and it wouldn’t be a shock if they’re careful with him early on to see if it helps him for the stretch run -- whether he’s in Toledo or Detroit by then.

Considering this is the last year of Jordan Zimmermann's contract, it’s not an automatic like it was in past years. Aníbal Sánchez had to compete with Matthew Boyd for a rotation spot in Spring Training in his final year as a Tiger in 2017, opened the season in the bullpen, took an assignment to Triple-A Toledo to stretch out as a starter, then rejoined the rotation for good in late June. I don’t know if Zimmermann is in quite the same situation coming into camp, but with Manning and Mize looming as potential midseason call-ups, Zimmermann’s spot should be in play if he isn’t pitching well. Even a Godley rebound could create some competition sooner than later.

Mize, Manning and Tarik Skubal are the obvious ones. Isaac Paredes is one to watch among position players; expect Tigers coaches to get a good look at him after his solid winter campaign in Mexico. Wladimir Pinto could be a fun watch out of the bullpen with his velocity, body frame and throwing motion. He might throw some pitches to the backstop, but he’ll throw hard.

Riley Greene is not a Spring Training invite, but he could still get an appearance in a Grapefruit League game or two as an extra player if the Tigers so choose.

Well, realistically, the Tigers don’t have that much left to tear down. Matthew Boyd is the one major trade they would have left, and they’ve clearly set a high price on him.

As far as building up, that’s about to happen on the pitching side in-house. Bryan Garcia is already there on the bullpen side, while Mize, Manning and Skubal are in position to begin the rotation build-up at some point this coming season. The question will be what the Tigers do on the position side -- and when. At some point they’ll have to add hitters, not just from their system but outside of it.