Matt Manning Is Pitching His Way Out Of The Future For The Detroit Tigers

They've been saying, "Be patient" for four years. Either you got it, or you don't. Matt Manning is not incapable of pitching good baseball. Last month he was responsible for most of the Tigers' combined no-hitter against the Blue Jays. Every time there's a big moment for my Tigers, I believe it's the start of something neat. It could be as simple as a pitcher finally finding it at the Major League level and turning a corner. I thought that would be the moment for Matt Manning. It wasn't. In the five starts since the combined no-hitter, his ERA is 6.66, the number of the beast. Manning is now 40 starts into his major league career. He's racked up nine wins, and his ERA is 5.06. His peripherals are abysmal. His Baseball Savant page is loaded with blue dots. The expectation is that he will be part of next year's five-man rotation, and my question is, "What has he done to deserve that?" 

Matt Manning is the poster child for everything wrong with this organization regarding their player development (sans Riley Greene)—lots of hype and few results. I've been accused (sometimes rightfully so) of being a guy who's impatient when it comes to top prospects. But I'm not being impatient with Manning. As I said, he's 40 starts into his career, but my frustration with him goes beyond just the results. I've never seen the explosive Major League pitcher we were promised when he came up through the system with the Tigers. As frustrating as it's been watching Tarik Skubal be somewhat inconsistent, he's a lefty who throws 98 and has wipeout offspeed stuff. It's taken him some time to put it together, but I know there's a very high ceiling with that guy. People have quickly labeled Casey Mize a bust because he's missed this entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Still, Mize has made 39 career Major League starts, and his numbers are better than Matt Manning's.

I speak for all Tigers fans when I say I'm tired of the organization employing guys simply because they need to fill a roster spot. It's probably premature to label Matt Manning a bust at this point. Still, I'm confident he will start next season as part of the five-man rotation because the organization is too bullish to admit that this guy has not even come close to living up to the hype. Is he a major league pitcher? At this point, I don't know. I AM NOT SAYING THE TIGERS SHOULD GIVE UP ON HIM. It's August 7; give him the rest of the season to figure it out. If he starts to pitch some good baseball, I would be very gung-ho about the idea of him being a part of next year's rotation. He needs to revamp his stuff, game plans, and demeanor. Some pitchers in the organization have put up worse numbers, like Reese Olson and Joey Wentz, but their ceilings are significantly higher than Matt Manning. 

While it is annoying to see a guy who was once projected to be an ace for a ball club struggle to put up an ERA under five, my frustration towards Manning has nothing to do with where he was ranked on the prospect list. It has to do with the peripherals and the results. We live in the age of the strikeout. Matt Manning doesn't record them. I'm not ready to pound the gavel and say that Manning might not be a piece in the future because I'm still not convinced that he's healthy. Manning has never been healthy, which may indicate a bigger problem, but his stuff in the minor leagues was pretty explosive. He has not had any major surgeries on his arm, yet his stuff has dramatically diminished compared to several years ago. You have to keep giving him reps, but for now, I no longer have much faith in this guy, and I have even less confidence in the organization that developed him.