Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris and manager A.J. Hinch met for breakfast Wednesday — an off day for the Tigers — to figure out what to do about the shortage in the starting rotation following the trade deadline.

The first moves?

The Tigers called up two relievers — left-hander Sean Guenther and right-hander Brenan Hanifee — before Thursday's opener of a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park.

"We have plenty of pitching," Hinch said. "We do have a plan in place. It will develop as we get deeper into the weekend."

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As of Thursday afternoon, the Tigers — armed with 11 relievers — have two starting pitchers in right-hander Keider Montero and left-hander Tarik Skubal. The number of starters dropped from three to two after the Tigers traded right-hander Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline.

Montero started Thursday's game, while Skubal is scheduled to start Friday's game. After that, the Tigers will unveil their plan to get the starting rotation to full strength again.

Right-hander Kenta Maeda, an ex-starter who is currently in the bullpen, is scheduled to pitch Saturday or Sunday, either as a starter or as a bulk reliever. He has a 3.38 ERA with zero walks and 10 strikeouts in 10⅔ innings since the Tigers removed him from the rotation as a result of poor performance.

If Maeda returns to the rotation, the Tigers will have three of five starters locked in. The two openings could be filled by some combination of left-hander Bryan Sammons (in the bullpen), left-hander Brant Hurter (in Toledo), right-hander Ty Madden (in Toledo) and right-hander Lael Lockhart (in Toledo).

The Tigers plan to promote internally, with Hurter — who has a 5.80 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 71⅓ innings — as the most likely Mud Hen to join the Tigers' rotation.

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In the meantime, the Tigers called up Guenther and Hanifee from Triple-A Toledo before Thursday's game.

"The fastball-changeup combo is good," Hinch said of Guenther. "He's been durable in the minor leagues. The velocity has continued to climb back to pre-injury days. The changeup has really been the equalizer for him. He's going to get an opportunity and Hanifee's going to get an opportunity to showcase some of the things they were working on in the minor leagues."

Guenther, 28, logged a 3.86 ERA with 14 walks and 46 strikeouts across 44⅓ innings in 34 games with the Mud Hens; Hanifee, 26, posted a 5.17 ERA with 14 walks and 53 strikeouts across 47 innings in 34 games with the Mud Hens.

Both Guenther and Hanifee have already made their MLB debuts: Guenther with the Miami Marlins in 2021 and Hanifee with the Tigers in 2023. Guenther underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2022, joined the Tigers' organization in November 2022 as a waiver claim and returned from elbow surgery in May 2023.

"The journey has been a little bit longer than I wanted," Guenther said. "I was able to get in the mix with the entire minor league staff that helped me at some point or another. I was able to figure out a few things and get back to throwing the ball well with a new elbow and a couple of new pitches. It's been a long journey, but I feel like I had time to fine-tune stuff, and I'm ready to go now."

In Triple-A Toledo, Guenther threw a sinker (31.7%), changeup (28.1%), slider (27.3%) and four-seam fastball (12.9%). His sinker averaged 90.8 mph, while his changeup had a 43.8% whiff rate.

Before surgery, Guenther only threw two pitches: four-seam fastball and slider.

"I feel like I have more weapons to lean on," Guenther said.

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Parker Meadows, Kerry Carpenter updates

Center fielder Parker Meadows (right hamstring strain) continues to progress through his rehab assignment in Triple-A Toledo. He won't play Thursday, but he will play center field Friday for the Mud Hens. The Tigers are planning to activate him from the injured list Saturday. If not, though, the Tigers will bring him back for Tuesday's series opener against the Mariners in Seattle.

Outfielder Kerry Carpenter (lumbar spine stress fracture) completed running drills before Thursday's game. "That's the first of the last hurdle (before a rehab assignment)," Hinch said. He is going to do another set of running drills before Friday's game. After that, Carpenter will participate in live batting practice against right-hander Casey Mize, who is recovering from a left hamstring strain. The live batting practice is scheduled for Saturday or Sunday. Both Carpenter and Riley Greene (right hamstring strain) will swing against Mize.

Javier Báez returns; Ryan Kreidler still here

Shortstop Javier Báez has been reinstated from the medical emergency/bereavement list. He wasn't in the lineup for Thursday's game, but he will start Friday.

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But Báez is active and available off the bench if the Tigers need him Thursday.

Even though Báez is back, fellow shortstop Ryan Kreidler remains on the roster. Kreidler, though, seems likely to be optioned to Triple-A Toledo when Meadows returns from his rehab assignment.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers add relievers but down to two starting pitchers