On deck: Cincinnati Reds
Series: Three games at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
First pitch: Friday — 6:40 p.m.; Saturday — 7:15 p.m.; Sunday — 1:40 p.m.
TV/radio: Friday — Detroit Sports Net/97.1 FM; Saturday — Fox/97.1 FM; Sunday — Detroit Sports Net/97.1 FM.
Probables: Friday — LHP Framber Valdez (2-1, 3.30) vs. LHP Andrew Abbott (0-2, 5.84); Saturday — RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 3.47) vs. RHP Brady Singer (1-1, 5.32); Sunday — RHP Keider Montero (1-2, 3.68) vs. RHP Rhett Lowder (3-1, 3.10).
Scouting report
Valdez, Tigers: Four of his five starts have been quality starts and his last two have been superior, limiting the Royals and Red Sox each to a run covering 13 innings total. One statistical abnormality, though. His ground-ball rate, still elite at 54.6%, is down 5% from last year. His fly ball rate, consequently, is at a career-high 19.6%. Could be just an early season anomaly. He’s still getting mostly weak contact (41% hard-hit rate).
Abbott, Reds: His recent outings have been messy, as his 1.743 WHIP would indicate. He hasn’t gone beyond five innings in his last two starts. He leans hard on his 92 mph four-seam fastball, throwing it 50% of the time. That could be because his changeup (.360 opponent average) and sweeper (.385) have been getting hit. When he’s right, though, he misses a lot of bats with those tw
