The Tigers announced Friday that right-hander Jose Cisnero has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and that fellow righty Drew Carlton has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.
Carlton, 26, was Detroit’s 32nd-round pick back in 2017 and made his big league debut with them last season. He’s tossed a total of 12 1/3 innings in the Majors from 2021-22, logging a strong 2.92 ERA but a less impressive 8-to-4 K/BB ratio. Far more concerning, however, are Carlton’s struggles in Triple-A Toledo this season. The Florida State product has been hammered for a 6.91 ERA with the MudHens, yielding 33 hits — five of them home runs — and six walks in 27 1/3 innings.
Prior to this season, Carlton had a strong showing in his first run through Triple-A, working to a 2.92 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate and a 4.8% walk rate in 52 1/3 frames. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher whose fastball has averaged 90.6 mph in his limited big league time. Carlton can be optioned this year and for two more beyond the current campaign. The Tigers will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Cisnero, meanwhile, will rejoin the Tigers’ bullpen and look to build on a strong 2019-21, when he logged a 3.69 ERA with a 24.7% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate in 126 2/3 frames. Cisnero has averaged 96.6 mph on his fastball over that stretch and gone from an indie-ball reclamation project who’d been out of affiliated ball for five years to a valuable member of Detroit’s late-inning relief corps. He’s already 33 years old and will be a free agent after the 2023 season, so if he impresses in his first few outings after activation, it’s at least plausible that he could join several of his bullpen-mates as names of interest on the summer trade market. If not, he’ll give the Tigers a veteran arm to plug into the bullpen for the season’s second half and for the 2023 campaign.
Ok ok .. I’ll pick Carlton up
Dude weighs 215 lbs, sure you wanna pick him up…
Carlton’s a soft tosser who doesn’t usually give up many homers or walks. He’d be a good candidate to stash in the minors for depth if a team has a 40-man roster spot. I’d love to see the Tigers keep him. Similar profile to former Tiger John Schrieber who suddenly discovered another 6-8 mph of velo (to 97) and developed into a genuine weapon.
Tiger balm!!! Oh. . tiger John.
Cisnero could be yet another trade deadline candidate.
Except he hasn’t pitched yet this season… Who would take a chance on him? He’s likely to be used as a replacement for the much better pen arm Avila trades away in return for his annual haul of waiver wire trash.
Got a decent young pitcher for Daniel freakin’ Norris last year…anything is possible.
Avila is at least getting better at trades. It is remarkable he has a job because he has been terrible at reading the markets for players. Recent trades are looking better: Castellanos, Leonys Martin, Norris and to a lesser extent Shane Greene have gotten decent returns The ‘17 deadline and Boyd trade talks were a disaster.
I do have a little more hope now that AA can get adequate value for Chafin and Fulmer
Not really
Carlton was great on Fresh Prince.
“Righty.”
I see you, Steve Carlton!
Put your glasses on…
Carlton’s AAA stats are a bit misleading. First, he performed well until July. He had two rough outing where he was charged with like 13 runs. But, before that, he was sporting a 3.75 ERA.
I thought it was odd that the Tigers called him up after giving up the 8 runs on July 4th. But, he continued his good performance in the bigs, sporting a 2.08 ERA and a 0.462 WHIP.
So, I’m hoping he passes the waiver wire and winds up at AAA Toledo.
I would still like to see the Tigers resign Fullmer, and am hopeful they could entice Chaffin to stay by upping next years option.