Watching the Tigers' arms - MLB

Patrick Hayes makes a good point regarding the workloads of the Tigers’ pitchers:

[Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Jarrod Washburn] are on pace to set career-highs in innings pitched and all three are pitching much longer into games than they did a season ago . . . Jackson has never thrown 200 innings in a season (previous career-high was 181 last year) and is on pace to hit 210 this year. He’s been averaging 6.6 innings per start, up from 5.7 per appearance last season.

Verlander is throwing 6.6 innings per start as well, up slightly from his 6.1 last season. He’s on pace to throw 225 innings, up from his previous career-high of 201.

Something to watch out for, sure, and definitely the kind of thing that should inspire Jim Leyland to try and find a little rest for those guys somewhere down the stretch if at all possible. This Tigers team reminds me a lot of the 2007 Indians, and you’ll recall that their failure to get past Boston may very well have been due to Sabathia and Carmona simply tiring out by the time the ALCS rolled around.

Still, we’re not talking crazy workloads, and those guys have been generally durable. And as long as the White Sox lurk, it’s not like the Tigers have much of a choice but to throw them out there every fifth day.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”