How Will Detroit Fare Without Kerry Carpenter?

The Detroit Tigers will play the Boston Red Sox in a four-game series that will conclude Sunday. The Tigers and Red Sox are both hovering around .500 and a couple of games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

In the first game of this series, the Red Sox are slight favorites, sitting at -117. Meanwhile, the total is only at 7.5, but the Over is juiced to -115.

We’ve got a lot to cover for this four-game series. Here are our Tigers vs Red Sox predictions for the entire weekend.

Kerry Carpenter Landed On The IL

The Detroit Tigers will be without one of their best hitters for at least 1.5 weeks. Kerry Carpenter was just placed on the 10-day MLB injured list on Wednesday due to lumbar spine inflammation. There’s currently no timetable for his return.

To begin the season, Carpenter slugged eight home runs and hit .283. Against righties, he had an OPS of 1.004. Therefore, this is devastating news for a Tigers team trying to stay relevant in the American League and more specifically, the Detroit Tigers standings.

Tanner Houck’s Competing for The AL Cy Young

Boston’s ace, Tanner Houck, is third on the AL Cy Young odds board behind Tarik Skubal and Corbin Burnes.

This has been a pleasant surprise for the Red Sox. He’s thrown 11 starts and has a 1.90 ERA with a .99 WHIP. Teams are only batting .215 against him, and he’s earned 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

He’ll pitch in Game 2 of this series against the Tigers to keep his Cy Young hopes alive.

Tigers vs Red Sox Predictions & Odds For Game 1:

RL: Red Sox -1.5 (+180) ML: Red Sox -117, O/U 7.5 -115/-105

Jack Flaherty will be the first of four righties for the Tigers in this series. Flaherty has a 3.84 ERA but only one win on his record. While he’s allowed a .177 ISO, Flaherty has also limited MLB teams to 3.7% of walks and has added 33.3% of strikeouts against his first 243 batters.

He’ll take on a Red Sox lineup that has hit a .184 ISO and woBA of .339 against righties over the last 30 days. However, only Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Rafael Devers, and David Hamilton have shown power potential over the previous month against righties.

Nick Pivetta takes the bump for the Red Sox. Pivetta adds plenty of strikeouts and has kept walks down this season. However, when teams make contact, it’s trouble for Pivetta. The right-hander has allowed a .271 ISO and wOBA of .351 to righties and has also allowed a .182 ISO to lefties.

The Detroit lineup is scattered with batters who strike out a lot and batters who are really good at limiting strikeouts. The hitters with the best power and on-base numbers over the last month are the ones who rarely strike out.

We back the Tigers at +107 on the road for Game 1 of this series via our MLB expert picks.

In the second game of the series, Kenta Maeda will get the call. The veteran righty has a 5.80 ERA on the year, with a .257 ISO and wOBA of .363. Maeda has only struck out 15.8% of batters and has already allowed over 30% of line drives this season.

In a Tigers rotation that’s been so good, he’s been the odd man out.

Conversely, Maeda will face Tanner Houck, who has a 1.90 ERA on the season. Houck has added 24.5% of strikeouts. He’s also held batters to 4.3% of walks and has limited teams to a .045 ISO and woBA of .238.

Houck is a ground ball machine and has given up just 16.8% of fly balls this season.

In this major pitching mismatch on the MLB scoreboard, back the Red Sox in Game 2 on the runline.

On Saturday, Reese Olson will get the ball. Olson has a 1.92 ERA but, like Flaherty, has just one win to show for it. He’s limited teams to a .059 ISO and wOBA of .242. He’s also added 54.4% of ground balls and has kept fly balls down to 18.1%.

Olson deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done this year. It’s gone underappreciated due to his one win this season.

Meanwhile, Cooper Criswell will look to go toe-to-toe with Olson. Criswell has a 3.96 ERA but has allowed a .219 ISO and wOBA of .375 to righties as a right-handed pitcher. Last year, he struggled more against lefties. But the common theme is his struggles.

Per our Tigers vs Red Sox predictions, let’s take the Tigers in Game 3 of this series.

In the series finale, Casey Mize will be penciled into the lineup card. Mize is another right-hander for the Tigers who typically doesn’t add many strikeouts. However, he’s induced 48% of grounders and has limited teams to 5.5% of walks with an ISO of .136. Those stats have helped him stay out of trouble analytically. Though, he still has a 4.71 ERA.

Ultimately, he’s put up better stats than a 4.71 ERA, which will eventually drop as the season progresses.

That said, he’s set to take on Brayan Bello of the Red Sox. Bello is another righty who has a 6-2 record. He’ll add another win to his record against Mize.

Tigers vs Red Sox Odds

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