Detroit Tigers will skip Drew Smyly's turn in rotation after today's rainout

In what is due to be his first full year as a starting pitcher, Drew Smyly won’t make his first start as soon as expected.
When bad weather postponed the Detroit Tigers game today with the Kansas City Royals (they will play a makeup game at 1 p.m. June 19), it also postponed Smyly’s first start of the season.
Smyly had been scheduled to make his first start of the season Saturday against Baltimore. But that was presuming that Anibal Sanchez started today against Kansas City and Rick Porcello started Friday against Baltimore.
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Now the rotation for Baltimore will be Sanchez on Friday, Porcello on Saturday and Justin Verlander on Sunday.
It appears the earliest that Smyly’s next start would come is next weekend in San Diego.
However, thanks to three open dates in the next few weeks, the Tigers technically don’t need Smyly to start for two more weeks, until either April 18 or 19 against the Los Angeles Angels. Their other four starters can pitch all the games since then, all with at least the requisite four days rest.
The Tigers can employ Smyly in a few ways before then:
■ They can put him in the bullpen and make him a long man. He could be especially effective in this role if the other team has stacked its lineup with left-handed hitters against the Tigers' right-handed starter (all the Tigers starters except Smyly are right-handed).
■ They could send him to Triple-A Toledo to make a few starts and replace him with an extra bench player, such as Danny Worth. The extra player such as Worth might be especially valuable in the five games the Tigers will play on the road against the Dodgers and Padres next week. Those games will be played under NL rules (no DH), with more maneuvering and pinch-hitting. However, it appears? unlikely Smyly will be sent to the minors, even briefly.
Today’s game was called at about noon, more than an hour before the scheduled 1:08 start. The game was clearly in jeopardy when Ausmus held his 10 a.m. press briefing. He said there that Sanchez would start the Tigers next game – whenever it is played – and that Justin Verlander would start Sunday against Baltimore unless that game is rained out.
If the Tigers didn’t have anyone skip a start after today’s rainout, then Verlander’s next start would have been pushed to Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. (The Tigers are off Monday.) That would have meant that Verlander would have gone eight days between starts following his Opening Day assignment on Monday, which is too long for an ace to go without pitching. (The Tigers are off this coming Monday.)
Note: The Tigers claimed left-hander Mike Belfiore off waivers today from the Baltimore Orioles and placed him in Triple-A Toledo. He compiled a 2-1 record with a 3.18 ERA in 76.1 innings pitchd at Triple-A Norfolk last season.