Well this is a slightly surprising turn of events. On Friday at noon, the Detroit Tigers announced that they’d optioned right-handed starter Matt Manning to Triple-A Toledo. The result is that both Casey Mize and Reese Olson will start the year in the rotation. Veteran reliever Drew Anderson, who has had a pretty impressive camp, was also reassigned to Toledo. The competition for the final bullpen spots is almost complete.
All spring, things seemed to be pointing toward Olson being the odd man out. However, Manning’s work to adjust his mechanics and his pitches hit a few bumps along the way, despite the improved velocity and movement on his stuff.