Back up from Toledo for one afternoon
Andrew Sears gets the ball again. The Detroit Tigers are set to recall the rookie left-hander from Triple-A Toledo to make a spot start against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon, eight days after he was optioned out following his major league debut.
That debut earned him the trip back. Sears held the Cleveland Guardians to one run on four hits across 5 2/3 innings on September 4, a no-decision that told Detroit plenty about how he handles a workload.
“Definitely felt good,” he said afterwards. “I was back in my own routine and in my element. Definitely just attacked it like any other start.”
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A pitcher who refuses to wait
The word he keeps reaching for is attack, and it shows up in his tempo. Sears works fast, barely pausing between pitches, and he treats that as a weapon rather than a habit.
“It just keeps the hitters dialed in,” he said. “They don’t like working fast. They’re trying to use the clock against me. But as soon as they look at me, I’m throwing the ball.”
His minor league line backs the approach: 3-2 with a 2.16 ERA across 16 appearances, 12 of them starts. He carries an 0-1 record and a 4.38 ERA in the majors and has never faced Colorado. A.J. Hinch already sees a rotation candidate for next spring. “He can handle the moment and the responsibility,” the manager said of the Cleveland outing, which was the most pitches Sears had thrown all year.
September as an audition
Detroit traded a two-time Cy Young winner and dropped out of the playoff race last month. What is left is a look at the next roster, and it has produced four wins in six games. Kevin McGonigle is on course for the American League Rookie of the Year award. Max Clark homered on Friday, was hit by a pitch, stole second, then took third and home on wild pitches in a 6-2 win that opened the series.
“When you see him running in open speed, he’s top-tier speed,” Hinch said of Clark. “And he’s going to learn how to use it and trust that he can do even more than what he’s doing now.”
Colorado send out right-hander Tanner Gordon, 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA, making his 10th start alongside 12 long-relief outings. He was hit for five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings by St. Louis last Sunday and owns a 10.24 ERA in two career starts against the Tigers. The Rockies have lost five in a row and left nine men on base on Friday.
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