Andrew Sears knocked around in no-decision Friday

Sears drew the starting assignment in place of Keider Montero, who was away from the club back in Venezuela on paternity leave, and managed to dodge some early traffic before Rockies middle-of-the-order force Hunter Goodman tagged him for a three-run shot in the third inning. He piled up five strikeouts and only issued one walk. The 24-year-old rookie is likely to operate in long relief if he sticks around with Detroit beyond this outing.

Sears has been up-and-down for Detroit over the last couple weeks, allowing six runs over 12 1/3 innings since August 23. The 24-year-old rookie southpaw became just the second player from Division III Rhode Island College, where he opened his collegiate career before transferring to Connecticut, to reach the majors since the 1980’s. He draws the starting assignment for Saturday’s showdown against the Rockies. He offers enough strikeout potential to be interesting in extremely deep leagues since Colorado tends to struggle away from Coors Field.

Sears did a nice job in his first MLB start against the Guardians on Friday, allowing just one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. With Brant Hurter returning from the injured list on Sunday though, he gets squeezed off of the club’s active roster. It’s possible that we’ll see him return before the season comes to a close.

Making his first career start after his last two outings came in long relief, Sears was effective against the Guardians. He didn’t allow an extra-base hit until the final batter he faced and nearly got through six innings. His fastball sat between 94 and 95 mph from the left side and he had no problem challenging hitters with it at the letters. Also, while erratic, he threw a few nice changeups to the many right-handed batters in Cleveland’s lineup. All in all, he looked the part of a big league pitcher despite only getting the ball in this game because the Tigers played in a double-header.

Sears took over in a tie game in the seventh and helped keep it 1-1 into the ninth. The left-hander was making his second big-league appearance after being called up and pitching in a bulk role last Sunday. He’s still stretched out to start, but with Keider Montero back and no extra starter needed, he might be exchanged for a fresh arm after this.

It’s the first trip to the big leagues for the 23-year-old southpaw who was a 10th round selection by the Tigers from the 2023 draft. He has done an exceptional job across four minor league levels this season, registering a 2.16 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a 67/20 K/BB ratio over 58 1/3 innings. He’s expected to serve in a bulk role against the Royals on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Sears only just made his Triple-A debut, throwing 9 2/3 scoreless innings in two starts at the level. He previously has a 2.57 ERA in nine outings in Double-A. It’s possible he’ll just be up for the one outing. The Tigers have next Thursday off, so they probably wouldn’t need him again next weekend.