Where Tigers Go From Here After Losing Reese Olson, Acquiring Chris Paddack

The Detroit Tigers made a significant trade on Monday afternoon days ahead of the trade deadline, but it wasn't the area most expected them to add to the most.

Detroit went out and landed a veteran starter before any sort of bullpen help or a boost to the bullpen, acquiring right-hander Chris Paddack from their division rival Minnesota Twins and raising some eyebrows across the league.

The move for Paddack started to make way more sense when president of baseball operations Scott Harris revealed shortly after finalizing the trade that Reese Olson is going to be out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder strain.

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Whether or not Olson is able to return eventually for the postseason is not known immediately, but there is no question of how devastating a development this is.

When Olson has been able to stay on the field, he has far and away been the Tigers' second-best starting pitcher with a 3.15 ERA over 13 starts. Beyond star ace Tarik Skubal, Detroit has had trouble finding a consistent second in command in the rotation and Olson has certainly at times looked like it.

Now without him for the foreseeable future, different faces are going to have to step up, and Paddack is one of them.

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Since a breakout 2019 season with the San Diego Padres, Paddack's career has largely been a bit of a struggle for consistency and performance. Over the last four years, he has a 4.88 ERA in 45 appearances with a WHIP of 1.319.

Now, Paddack steps into a rotation which desperately needs him to be at least middle of the rotation reliable as things have taken a nasty turn over the last couple weeks.

Joining Skubal along with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, and rookie Troy Melton, there is some real potential within this rotation, but like so many things the consistency just has not been there.

This would have been a job for disaster signing Alex Cobb, but the veteran's health has just simply not allowed him to contribute.

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Detroit may be another injury away from a complete and utter meltdown in the pitching staff, but if they can simply get to the playoffs healthy with this group, they are going to be just fine.

Whether Olson comes back or not, the Tigers can shorten out the rotation when October comes along and allow themselves to not have to rely so much upon depth.

They need to get there first though, and Paddack along with the rest of the staff stepping up is going to be critical.

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