Tigers, Orioles cancel spring training game due to lack of pitching

The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles will both end their preseason schedule a day early for a peculiar reason: a lack of pitchers.

"After discussions between the Tigers and Orioles, the two teams have decided to cancel tomorrow's scheduled Spring Training game in Lakeland (Fla.) due to lack of available pitching as each team finishes spring camp," the teams announced in a joint statement Tuesday.

Baltimore had the worst earned run average in MLB last season at 5.84. The team finished the year 52-110 and are set to begin the 2022 season with Jordan Lyles, John Means, and Tyler Wells leading the way for the starting rotation. Lyles spent the last two seasons with the Texas Rangers and was added to the roster in March on a one-year deal. Means started 26 games for the Orioles last season and Wells contributed as a reliever.

Detroit's pitching was a lot better than Baltimore's with a 4.32 ERA on the year. The Tigers are likely to depend on Eduardo Rodriguez, Tarik Skubal, and Casey Mize to lead the way for their rotation. Rodriguez was signed to a five-year, $77 million deal in November after spending six seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Skubal started 30 games for Detroit last year, and Mize was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft.

On Wednesday, the Orioles were expected to start Keegan Akin and the Tigers planned to start Tyler Alexander. Akin has not played in a major league game yet in his career, while Alexander started 15 games for the Tigers last season.