KEITH SHOWS PROMISE IN DEBUT TO HELP TIGERS WIN
Free Press columnist Carlos Monarrez tackles three tough questions after the Detroit Tigers’ 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox in Thursday’s season opener at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field:
How did Colt Keith look?
The vaunted second baseman made his major league debut and looked good, even though he drew a tough assignment as a left-handed hitter facing hardthrowing lefty Garrett Crochet. The Tigers’ No. 2 prospect was given a six-year, $28.6-million contract before the season, and made good on president of baseball operations Scott Harris’ bet in his second at-bat, when he had to protect on a 1-2 count and hit a curve down and away up the middle that glanced off Crochet’s glove for an infield hit. This one came down to a scorer’s decision, but it was still a good at-bat and showed good discipline and decision-making, like his other at-bats, which included two lineouts to left field and a groundout. Decent contact, good decisions and a base hit — not a bad major league debut.
How about the other guys?
Left-handed ace Tarik Skubal was terrific. He regularly touched 96, mixed his pitches well, especially keeping his off-speed pitches down in the zone. He gave up three hits without a walk while striking out six over six shutout innings. There has been Cy Young chatter about Skubal and you can see why.
Spencer Torkelson went 2-for-4, which included a bloop single and a hard liner into left. Even Javier Báez took advantage of facing a lefty: He went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and scored the winning run on Andy Ibanez’s sacrifice fly in the third inning. Báez singled with a grounder through the hole between first and second when Crochet made a mistake with an 0-2 fastball up. When Báez faced righty reliever Devi Garcia, he struck out on four pitches after he chased a high fastball out of the zone. Vintage Javy, but not in a good way.
How much did we learn after one game?
You can’t read too much into Game 1 of 162. But remember the White Sox have been universally picked to be the worst team in the American League Central, and not by a little. They’re coming off 101 losses and FanGraphs predicts 66 wins this season. So the fact the Tigers needed their ace in order to win a pitcher’s duel against a converted reliever isn’t the most promising start. Still, Skubal looked great and the bullpen was spectacular. Shelby Miller, Andrew Chafin and Jason Foley worked three clean innings while striking out five of the final nine Sox batters. Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him @cmonarrez .