Mize thus follows the Three True Paths of once-heralded Tigers pitchers:

1) They suck.
2) They get hurt.
3) They get hurt and then suck.

The Tigers would have a formidable rotation if Mize, Skubal, Turnbull, Manning, and Faedo were all healthy. Here's to 2023!

If he's getting operated NOW, he's basically a 2024 returnee (might get a cup of coffee in September 2023, but it won't be more than that).

#1: That Verlander kid seems to be turning out OK. :-)

And Scherzer.

OK, Scherzer was an AZ product, but he didn't become SCHERZER until moving to DET.

What happened to (Cy Young winner!) Rick Porcello? I just looked him up and see he hasn't pitched anywhere since 2020.

He was really bad in 2020 (though his 3.33 FIP was a career best and it was the Covid year) but he's still only 33 years old and I don't think he ever retired.

What happened to (Cy Young winner!) Rick Porcello? I just looked him up and see he hasn't pitched anywhere since 2020.

He was really bad in 2020 (though his 3.33 FIP was a career best and it was the Covid year) but he's still only 33 years old and I don't think he ever retired.

I read that in 2021 his agent was looking for a 1-year deal around $15M in 2021 for him to pitch. He was willing to prorate until July then just gave up.

Then, in 2022, he was looking for a multi-year deal with opt outs, lower AAV of course....but, seriously? NRI is what you look for after not pitching the year prior and having possibly lost the ability to be "even remotely league average at hit prevention on balls in play." I'm a firm believer that the reason FIP mostly works is because almost all MLB pitchers have semi-comparable ability to reduce hits on balls in play. If one of us went to pitch, even the non-HR would go for .500+ BABIP because we mostly don't have that. I'm 95% sure someone even examined this once and came to the same conclusion by looking at non-pitchers in MLB pitching (most of whom are still much closer to MLB pitchers than we are at this skill) -- I just don't remember it.

So, Porcello is out of the league because he didn't judge his market correctly. He probably could have gotten $5M with incentives on innings bringing it to $15M if he pitched 180 innings in 2021, given how tight pitching was around the league. In 2022 if he wanted to pitch, NRI was the option.....or perhaps the Rockies and they'd have signed him for 6 years and $184? Maybe his agent didn't call.

That Verlander kid seems to be turning out OK. :-)

And Scherzer.

Funny, but I don't see either of them on the Tigers roster this year.

Yes, occasionally a blind pig finds an acorn. But the Three True Paths still fit 95% of Detroit pitchers.

The tigers developed two of the three greatest pitchers of this generation. What you are describing is just “pitching prospects” more generally.

I'd say 2 of 4. Greinke is in the conversation.

11, agreed.

Greinke doesn't get enough love.

Funny, but I don't see either of them on the Tigers roster this year.

Sure, but the Three True Paths of once-heralded Tigers pitchers does not sound like a reference only to the 2022 Tigers' roster. In any given season, most teams' rotations will have almost nobody they developed in them. If the only counter to your argument that you'll accept is "once-heralded prospect that succeeds, stays healthy and remains on the 2022 roster" then you're just a silly person. The better counter-argument to my witty little bon mot is that Verlander debuted in 2005 -- but of course we all know that which is what made my bon mot witty. (Misrlou already provided the counter-argument to Scherzer.)

But seriously ... TINSTAAPP exists because most pitching prospects travel down one of those three paths. Quit your whining. Since Verlander's debut, the Cubs have had just 2 decent SP outcomes they are solely responsible for -- Samardzija (1600 IP 15 WAR) and Sean Marshall (600 IP, 9 WAR, mostly as a reliever). They deserve at least some credit for Hendricks (1300 IP, 22 WAR) who came from Texas. That's comparable to Porcello, Boyd and Fulmer. In fairness, the Cubs have generally not drafted top pitchers and have sucked at pitcher development even before they get hurt so we don't have many "once-heralded" guys to point to.

That's comparable to Porcello, Boyd and Fulmer.

Fulmer was developed by the Mets, traded for Cespedes.

Quit your whining.

Oh, bite me. You try being a Tigers fan these days and see how much you like it, what with the idiotic front office, clueless management and a roster of guys who can't hit their weight. At least the Cubs have their one WS win in the 21st century; the Tigers won't see theirs until after I'm long dead.