The Detroit Tigers are moving past the Alex Bregman saga.It was a disappointing finish to a free agency chase that not many people expected them to be in at the beginning of the offseason, but with a roster full of rising stars coming off their first playoff appearance in a decade, the future is still bright for this franchise.And with Spring Training right around the corner, more roster projections are starting to come out now that the infield group is starting to solidify.However, the most recent version from Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press had a rotation prediction that was notable.With Alex Cobb now expected to be unavailable for Opening Day after suffering a hip injury, there is a new spot open for one of the Tigers arms to grab with a good performance during camp. Casey Mize, Keider Montero, Matt Manning, Ty Madden and Jackson Jobe are all former or current top pitching prospects who are looking to earn their place in the rotation.But Petzold thinks it will be veteran Kenta Maeda who gets slotted back into that role."Maeda showed positive signs in his first bullpen session of spring training and probably won't be cut because of his $10 million salary on the final year of his contract, thus giving him the inside track," he wrote.That, along with the fact that Mize, Montero, Manning and Madden all have minor league options remaining, was enough for the insider to project the Opening Day five will be Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Jobe and Maeda.It was a disappointing debut for the veteran last season.After signing a two-year deal worth $24 million last winter, Detroit moved him into the bullpen after his 17th start on July 9 when he sat with an ERA of 7.64.Maeda was better as a reliever, posting a 3.86 ERA across his 12 appearances and 42 innings pitched, but the Tigers were expecting a lot more after he had an ERA+ that was seven points above the league average during his three seasons with the Minnesota Twins.Can he get back to that form?Perhaps, but neither FanGraphs nor Baseball Reference are expecting a severe bounce back from the 36-year-old with the former projecting a 4.88 ERA across 25 outings and 18 starts, while the latter is expecting him to produce a 5.04 ERA.It will be interesting to see if Detroit breaks camp with Maeda in the rotation.Keeping him in the bullpen as a long relief option while using Mize or the other three options as starters could also be how manager AJ Hinch constructs things to begin the season.Recommended Articles

Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Alex Cobb is expected to miss a month of action, including opening day, because of right hip inflammation, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters Wednesday.