One of these clubs is running away with a division. The other just sold its ace to the Dodgers. That's the split screen when the Rays roll into Detroit.
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MON AUG 24 · 6:40 PM ET
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Neither side has posted a probable pitcher for Monday, August 24 yet, which tracks given how much both rotations have been shuffled lately. Tampa Bay is still working Griffin Jax back from an elbow issue and Detroit is piecing things together without Jack Flaherty, so whoever gets the ball is likely to be pitching under some kind of adjusted role.
The bigger Detroit story isn't injuries, though — it's the roster the front office chose to build. The Tigers shipped Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers and moved Casey Mize at the deadline, netting a package of prospects including Zyhir Hope and River Ryan, and president of baseball operations Scott Harris called it the responsible move once the division race slipped away. That leaves manager A.J. Hinch auditioning a lot of unfamiliar arms down the stretch, which is its own kind of storyline heading into the final six weeks.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is doing the opposite of selling. The Rays sit atop the American League, and Kevin Cash's group has been adding pieces back rather than subtracting them — Shane McClanahan is back in the fold and Jax's rehab starts have trended positive enough that Cash has called the recent medical news 'very good.' That's a franchise built for October, parked across the diamond from one that's building for next year.
