The Tigers have reinstated left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez from the restricted list, tweets Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base. Right-hander Wily Peralta was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Rodriguez, 29, was signed in the offseason to a five-year, $77MM contract, with the Tigers hoping he could be a veteran anchor of their young rotation. Detroit had debuted many promising young starters in previous seasons, including Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal and others. It was hoped that those youngers, combined with the addition of Rodriguez, could give the club a strong rotation and help them emerge from their years-long rebuild.
Unfortunately, Murphy’s law has been applied to the Tigers in the strictest possible terms this season, with their rotation being heavily targeted. Mize made just two starts before landing on the injured list, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery, keeping him out of action for this year and likely most of next year as well. Manning has since returned but missed almost four months due to shoulder issues, having made just five starts so far this year. Skubal stayed healthy for a while, making 21 starts, but recently underwent a flexor tendon surgery that will finish his 2022 and likely keep him out of action for part of 2023 as well.
As for Rodriguez, he landed on the injured list in May due to a ribcage sprain. He started a rehab assignment in early June but was then transferred to the restricted list due to a personal matter which was later reported to be a marital issue. He returned to begin another rehab assignment in early August, working back up to a starter’s workload before today’s return. In the end, Rodriguez spent just over two months on the restricted list, during which time he didn’t take up a spot on the 40-man roster or earn any salary. Prior to that extended absence, he made eight starts for Detroit, registering a 4.38 ERA in 39 innings.
With the club’s rotation being so snakebit all year, they have had to churn through various backup plans over the course of the season. One of those was Peralta, 33, who was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason. He was selected to the roster in mid-April and appeared in 28 games. In 38 1/3 innings on the year, he has a 2.58 ERA, not missing bats entirely but at least missing the most important part. His 19% strikeout rate is below league average but he’s in the 89th percentile in terms of barrel percentage. Perhaps due to keeping hitters off-balance, his 5.6% HR/FB rate is less than half his career rate, helping to keep his ERA down.
Despite those solid results, Peralta will head to the waiver wire in the coming days, as the trade deadline is now behind us. Manger A.J. Hinch spoke to reporters about today’s moves, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, explaining that they want to use the remainder of the season to evaluate younger pitchers. “We’re giving Wily Peralta a chance to pitch somewhere else while we look at some guys who are more likely to be here,” Hinch said.
Hinch also explained that Daniel Norris and Garrett Hill will be moved to the bullpen, as the club has multiple off-days coming up and can survive with a four-man rotation for a few weeks. In Hill’s case, the move is about limiting his innings down the stretch in order to avoid overworking him. The club’s rotation for the time being will consist of Rodriguez, Manning, Tyler Alexander and Drew Hutchison.
Another terrible signing by Al Avila. There was a reason the Red Sox let him walk.
While I agree that the move has been poor in hindsight, it wasn’t that terrible when they first signed him. The money wasn’t crazy, and Eduardo wasn’t crazy either — at the time. And as far as the Red Sox, they didn’t just “let him walk.” They gave him a qualifying offer, and were obviously prepared to deal with it if E-Rod signed it.
Technically you’re right. But given that it was a certainty that he’d reject the QO, they did, in effect, just let him walk. Clearly, their decision was to take the comp pick instead of keeping the player.
@lou
I’m pretty sure the Red Sox weren’t thinking he would have marital problems that would effect his availability. From what I read the Red Sox were surprised he signed so quickly. Its not they didn’t want to re-sign him, Avila just moved quicker. I still like the signing.
Yeah, considering he had just recovered from myocarditis, it was a pretty bold signing.
Is there anything that Al did well?
Is there anything Al Avila did well?
Baseball relevance? Well, no.
But, he put in a word at the buvette, & the Chicago style dogs are delectable.
They finally got in touch with him?
He’ll pitch part of one game and then be on the injured list due to lack of conditioning
Whoopee
Why did they DFA Peralta? The bullpen is ailing and leaking more and more runs, so giving up on a solid – and relatively fresh – option seems stupid to me. Why didn’t they transfer Meadows to 60-day IL and option a younger pitcher?
Gruß,
BSHH
no plans for him next year, plus doing him a solid and letting him hook up with a playoff contender.
I’m hoping Peralta makes it to the Red Sox
I don’t get why you dump Peralta who has pitched pretty well and keep Hutchison who has been mostly awful. Avila still calling the shots from his couch?
I agree. Wily P has been great since he arrived in Detroit. At this point in my lifetime as a Tiger fan, the consistent bewilderment is no longer a surprise.
This whole -suck for luck- mentality is getting quite old. Live for the day and try win.
Kinda surprised they DFA Peralta who has been at least solid. They must really like the new Norris. Also, I get a kick out of the judgement against Erod. Do you know what he is going through? You don’t, do you? So shut the f up until we know, If we ever get to know. Also, the Erod signing was mostly applauded. Avila, for all his problems as a GM, could never have seen this coming.
@basedonamadeupstory: You would think that passionate baseball fans would be mostly Normal, sane, high-IQ people, right? But shockingly, this place is saturated with virtue-signaling-addicted, social-justice-warrior knobs who seem to exist only to try to persuade others of how special they themselves are.
Mets should claim Peralta for pitching depth.
This whole thing shows the all around failure of Avila. In the beginning of the year, I was saying Peralta was an excellent player to trade at the deadline. Instead, he is DFA’d, and we traded Fulmer for nothing. All this while bringing in a pitcher at the end of the year that was gone for “reasons” at a point where we are better off just letting him rest instead of trying to win a couple of games.
I am not seeing me comments.
I just bit me lip.
Peralta has pitched well over the last few years, but he continues to get no respect?!
Go figure!
Alexander, Hutchinson and Norris have had plenty of work and are known quantities.
Will they be promoting more young pitchers?!
Could not agree more!
Peralta will be scooped up by the Giants.
That’s kind of the problem they are having. Too many young pitchers were added to the 40 because of injuries, and now they have to choose carefully when making cuts. I don’t really agree with what they chose, but they may have decided arbitration with Peralta was not something they were going to do. Rony Garcia would have been my cut, but he’s on the IL which may prevent that move. Norris is a lefty, which the Tigers are in short supply on. Doesn’t hurt to try him in the pen.
Free Wily
So team oriented.
Maybe we can turn this starting pitching thing around, and keep a few people healthy till the end of the season.
I agree & hope, but I don’t know how dfa a guy like Wily- will do that.
Good to see ER back – good luck.
Thanks for not trying to extend Wily. Maybe he can reunite with Fulmer, maybe he could go to some other rival? That’ll be great for the Tiger faithful.
Thanks again for trying.