Drew Anderson tossed scoreless third and fourth innings Monday against the Twins.

Anderson, who spent the last four years in Asia, seemed like a strong candidate to be the Tigers’ fifth starter when he was signed for $7 million in December. Now, though, he’s due to open up in middle relief unless a starter goes down, and even then, the Tigers could pick Troy Melton over him as a rotation replacement. Anderson resembled a legitimate rotation candidate today while topping out at 96.7 mph with his fastball. His 95.3 mph average was up 2.8 mph from when he was last seen in the U.S. with the Rangers in 2021.