Detroit's Wild Card hopes are hanging by a thread, and the club standing in their way this weekend has nothing left to play for but a hot rookie bat and a chip on its shoulder.
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SUN AUG 23 · 1:10 PM CT
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Tigers
Royals
Daniel Lynch IV takes the ball for Kansas City on Sunday. Detroit hasn't officially named its starter, though SI's series preview has Framber Valdez lined up for the assignment. Either way, first pitch is 1:10 PM CT, and the Tigers need innings from whoever's out there — their bullpen has been the story of August for all the wrong reasons.
Lynch is still being stretched out after moving from the bullpen into Kansas City's rotation out of pure necessity — Cole Ragans, Luinder Avila and Stephen Kolek are all done for the year, and his last outing topped out at 45 pitches. Detroit, meanwhile, is missing most of its outfield: Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, James Outman, Matt Vierling and Parker Meadows are all out, which is why Corey Julks got the call up from Toledo.
None of that stopped Detroit from dealing Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the trade deadline, a pair of moves that still look jarring for a team clinging to a Wild Card spot. Kansas City has no such tension — the Royals are playing out the string, and lately that's meant getting run for a first baseman who can't stop hitting.
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Kansas City already got a piece of Detroit once this weekend, beating the Tigers 5-2 to extend its win streak. That capped a stretch where the Royals steamrolled a four-game set with the Athletics, and it dropped Detroit to 1-4 in its own last five games — the kind of split that turns a Wild Card race into a math problem.
Detroit Tigers
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Kansas City Royals
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
The bigger picture cuts against Detroit no matter how Sunday goes: an AL-worst bullpen has bled leads all month, and the roster now has real holes at every outfield spot. Kansas City has nothing at stake beyond player development, but Jac Caglianone hitting his way into next year's plans and Bobby Witt Jr. back and productive give a lost season something worth watching.
