Aug. 23: Nunez went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Toledo, the team announced. While Nunez had the option of declining the assignment in favor of free agency, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets that Nunez will instead remain with the organization and head to Toledo.
Aug. 21: The Tigers have reinstated Derek Hill from the 10-day injured list. To make room on the roster, Renato Nunez was designated for assignment, per the team.
Nunez joined the Tigers after being released by the Orioles in November. He’s spent most of the season in Triple-A, where he slashed .291/.383/.585 in 311 plate appearances. Despite that impressive showing, the success hasn’t translated to the bigs. Nunez has appeared in 14 games, amassing 55 plate appearances and slashing .189/.218/.472. Nunez is likely to accept an assignment back to Triple-A, as he’s done earlier this season.
Hill was out the minimum amount of time with a ribcage contusion. He missed some time earlier this season with a shoulder sprain. The 25-year-old rookie outfielder owns a .250/.345/.316 triple slash line through 87 plate appearances this year. He’ll return to the mix in centerfield, along with Daz Cameron and Victor Reyes.
Derek Hill seems like a poor man’s Byron Buxton – exceptional athletic ability that allows them to make injury-inducing plays that most mere mortals wouldn’t attempt because they just can’t make those plays. But it is hard to build a team around a Buxton because you know he’ll keep getting hurt. I love Derek Hill’s work ethic, but he’s a fourth outfielder (at best) because you can’t rely on him playing a full season.
Wasn’t Hill’s fault he got hurt. He was the CF when he collided with Baddoo.
That’s a rather quick assessment based on a rather small sample size on Derek Hill. If you base everything on his time in the minors, you could say he doesnt hit enough, and strikes out too much. Thats the thing with young players though. They keep learning, and they keep getting better. He may learn to pay attention to the score before trying the “dangerous” play. Hopefully he has learned to yell louder when going to catch the ball. His hitting has improved or he never would have been called up. I will wait to see how he develops and will withhold my judgement for the moment..
I will say I was surprised they chose Nunez to cut. I was expected Reyes.
Reyes still has more upside at this point then Nunez.
Hill was frequently injured in the minors as well. This isn’t a one-time thing. Consider also how he collided with the wall just two months before his recent injury. Sprained his shoulder, but held on to the ball.
Never EVER collide with a wall until you’ve signed a guaranteed Eff-Ewe!-Money contract!
Reyes been a top 5 hitter on the team since the allstar break. getting rid of him at this point in time would make no sense
Can’t stand watching Nunez, he’s so one dimensional it’s annoying. Sure he provides a home run every once in a while but every other facet of his game is just terrible.
I was really rooting for him, was hoping for another JD Martinez find. Raw power, decent hit tools but just not making it all click. I love those diamonds in the rough types
Give Hill a longer leash to see what he has. First round picks like Burrows (gone) and Stewart have shown nothing. Give Hill a chance….gotta like his speed and elite defense. Let’s see what happens with his bat.
Hill’s future is in a back-up role and the Tigers are going to need to bring in a proven FA to play CF next season.
not going to happen. With Hill, Baddoo, Cameron, Reyes, Goodrum, and Castro all able to play CF, and Greene at AAA, CF in not very high on their list of needs.
I think it’s Baddoo’s job to lose. I agree, no need to spend on a CF. Let’s focus on the glaring hole at SS before everything else!
Signing someone like Chris Taylor, who can play multiple positions–including CF if needed–seems like a good idea to me. Maybe Hill or Baddoo improve and can man CF next year. Maybe Greene is major league ready next year. In that case Taylor could play 2b or ss or a corner of spot. But if Hill continues staying injured, Baddoo falls off a cliff, and Greene isn’t quite ready, Taylor could capably play cf.
don’t hate the idea, but how good is taylor going to be in his mid-30s compared to how he will be paid. id be nervous
Why would you think the Dodgers will let him walk?
He’s a free agent. It’s an open market. Tigers have more ability to spend, considering your Dodgers are deep into the luxury tax.
Nunez still showing decent pop but brutal everything else
Has anyone heard anything about Baddoo ?
He is scheduled to join the team in St. Louis
I like the idea of DET using a CF at all three OF positions. It’s so much better than when they had a DH in every OF spot just a few short seasons ago. Reyes – Hill – Cameron would be right there with STL as the best defensive OF in MLB.
Now if they could fix the defense of their middle IFs.
You forgot Baddoo, probably best overall of the 3. Our SS isn’t horrible, but not fantastic, Iggy would look great out there this year for 3 million. If they don’t hit well you need stellar defense
Take a look at Ryan Kreidler, just promoted to Toledo. The kid has power and plays great SS. The problem is he strikes out too much, Now if they could fix that without dimming the power and the defense…
FLotG: There’s really no such thing as “striking out too much”. It’s all about the complete *context* of Overall Performance, against expectations.
Ok, AD, he strikes out too much in the overall context. I tend to be a man of few words, apparently too few for you.
FLotG: Be a man of the best amount of words.
What do you mean SS isn’t horrible? Which one are you digging though the black hole of defensive and offensive death and finding?
This move turned out being extremely valuable immediately, Hill’s spectacular driving catch directly helped them win a game in Toronto.
He’s making these catches with regularity, Tiger fans are going to end up taking him for granted. The greater thing about yesterday’s catch is he didn’t end up on the IL. He’s turning into a human highlight reel, like Iggy did at SS.
I don’t know about you guys but I blame Al Avila.