Tigers shut down Manning, Faedo for season

Two of the Tigers' top pitching prospects, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, have been able to show their stuff on the Major League stage this season. Unfortunately, two others won't get that opportunity.

Detroit has shut down No. 3 prospect Matt Manning and No. 10 Alex Faedo after both suffered right forearm strains, the team announced Thursday. Both pitchers, who had been members of the club's 60-man player pool at its alternate training site in Toledo, will be out for the remainder of the season.

"So a month left, we just thought it's not worth trying to get them back in a rushed manner," Tigers general manager Alex Avila told reporters, including MLB.com's Jason Beck. "If this was a full season, we certainly could've gone through a rehab process to get them back to pitch in the Minor Leagues and at some point promoted them to the big leagues."

Detroit entered play Thursday with a 13-16 record, two games behind the Blue Jays for the final American League playoff spot, and could have used Manning or Faedo over the club's final 31 games if it decided to make a true run at the postseason.

Ranked as MLB.com's No. 25 overall prospect, Manning was named the 2019 Eastern League Pitcher of the Year after he posted a 2.56 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 148 strikeouts in 133 2/3 innings for Double-A Erie. The 22-year-old right-hander possesses three above-average pitches in his fastball, curveball and changeup, and has solid command, particularly for a 6-foot-6 pitcher. If not for Mize, he would be considered the best pitching prospect in the Tigers system, and even after this injury and a lost 2020, he remains a candidate to lead the rotation for the next contender in the Motor City.

Faedo -- a first-round pick out of the University of Florida in 2017 -- was also coming off his best season as a pro. The 24-year-old right-hander finished with a 3.90 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 134 K's and only 25 walks in 115 1/3 frames for Erie. His low-to-mid-90s fastball and slider are considered his best pitches, and while his changeup is considered below-average now, the three-pitch mix is good enough to give him starting potential. Proving that potential on a Major League mound will now have to wait until 2021 at the earliest.