Detroit — We don’t have all the data the Tigers have, so we can’t know all that went into devising the pitch plan for Matt Manning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. We don’t know, for example, the relative weaknesses of the Rays hitters or how exactly the shape of his slider or curveball might play against manager Kevin Cash’s lineup.
All we know is, for all the improvements he's made with it, the slider is still one of Manning’s secondary pitches. His ticket to the big-leagues was his long-extension, riding four-seam fastball. And from what we saw on Friday night when the Rays jumped on rookie Reese Olson early, the Rays will attack and do damage against spin.