- Tarik Skubal had another quality start tonight in the Tigers’ 3-2 win over the Yankees, as the star southpaw limited New York to one run (on three hits and four walks) over six innings of work. Skubal is up to a career-high 155 1/3 innings pitched, and manager A.J. Hinch told MLB Network’s Jon Morosi and other reporters that Sunday “could very well be his last start on regular rest” this season. Since Detroit is all but out of the wild card race, the team has no real reason to put too many extra miles on Skubal’s arm, though naturally the team isn’t going to shut him down completely as he pursues the AL Cy Young Award.
Tigers Rumors
Riley Greene, Jasson Dominguez Added As 27th Men For Little League Classic
The Yankees and Tigers square off in Williamsport tonight for the Little League Classic, and due to the special nature of the game, both clubs are allowed to add a 27th player to their active rosters. The two teams have each addressed this extra roster spot in a particularly noteworthy way, as the Yankees called up star prospect Jasson Dominguez from Triple-A and the Tigers activated outfielder Riley Greene from the 10-day injured list.
While Dominguez is in tonight’s starting lineup, it looks like it’ll just be a cup of coffee in the majors for the 21-year-old, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Dominguez will be returned to Triple-A after the game. Obviously plans could change in the event of an injury, but for now, it looks like the Yankees are just utilizing the right-hitting Dominguez to spell lefty-swinging Alex Verdugo in left field since southpaw Tarik Skubal is starting for Detroit.
Tonight will mark Dominguez’s first MLB game since last September, when he hit .258/.303/.677 with four homers in his first 33 plate appearances in the big leagues. However, just as “the Martian” appeared to be living up to the hype, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery, which kept him on the shelf until he returned for a rehab assignment in single-A ball in mid-May. Dominguez quickly moved back up the ladder to Triple-A but then suffered an oblique strain in June that kept him out of action for another six weeks.
Dominguez is hitting .298/.365/.477 with seven homers over his 167 combined PA at three levels of the Yankees’ farm system this season, so while he isn’t dominating minor league pitching, his numbers are still quite solid (especially for a player battling so many injuries). Under normal circumstances, he would likely be in the majors already if it wasn’t for the crowded nature of New York’s outfield picture. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Verdugo are the starting outfield trio, and Giancarlo Stanton has the DH spot on lockdown, leaving little room for Dominguez to find regular playing time.
GM Brian Cashman stated last week that “There’s currently no lane for us to bring him [up]. It’s nice to know he’s there. He’s just knocking rust off and waiting for his opportunity if it comes.” Tonight’s one-game cameo doesn’t really counter Cashman’s statement, as the team would surely prefer to see Dominguez continue his development with regular reps in Triple-A rather than only sporadic playing time in New York. It is worth noting that Verdugo has been in a deep slump for over three months now, so as we continue down the stretch to the postseason, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Dominguez promoted to take the lion’s share of work in left field.
Greene last played on July 25, as a right hamstring strain has kept the outfielder sidelined for the better part of a month. The Tigers don’t need to make a corresponding roster move today because of the 27th man rule, but some kind of roster adjustment will need to be made before Detroit’s next game, on Tuesday against the Cubs.
Now in his third Major League season, Greene has continued to take strides as a budding star for the Tigers, hitting .264/.357/.485 with 17 home runs over 427 PA. Between this production at the plate and some excellent glovework as Detroit’s primary left fielder, Greene has already generated 2.8 fWAR, and his success was acknowledged with his first All-Star nod. While the Tigers haven’t yet turned the corner in their rebuild process, Greene certainly looks like a cornerstone player within the club’s future plans.
Tigers Designate Gio Urshela, Easton Lucas For Assignment
TODAY: The Tigers announced today that Urshela has cleared outright waivers and has been placed on release waivers. In the likely event that Urshela clears release waivers, he’ll become a free agent and be eligible to sign with any of the league’s clubs for a pro-rated portion of the big league minimum.
August 16: The Tigers announced today that they have selected the contracts of infielders Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney, moves that were reported yesterday. In corresponding moves, outfielder Akil Baddoo was optioned to Triple-A Toledo and infielder Gio Urshela was designated for assignment. To open another 40-man spot, left-hander Easton Lucas was designated for assignment. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the Urshela move on X prior to the official announcement.
Urshela, 32, reached free agency for the first time after the 2023 season. He had a solid four-year run in the big leagues from 2019 to 2022 but then had an injury-marred 2023 campaign. He got into 62 games with the Angels, hitting just two home runs before a pelvic fracture wiped out the second half of his season.
That was naturally going to impact his individual market but he also had the misfortune of being a part of one of the frostier offseasons in recent memory. Even big-name free agents lingered on the open market well into the new year. Many players below the superstar level ended up settling for very modest deals in the early parts of 2024. Guys like Michael A. Taylor, Enrique Hernández, Adam Duvall, Randal Grichuk and others settled for one-year deals of less than $5MM.
The Tigers were able to nab Urshela for a guarantee of just $1.5MM on a one-year deal. Though his 2023 season wasn’t great, they were likely excited to get a solid veteran at such a low price point. As mentioned, Urshela had a strong four-year run prior to 2023, spending time with the Yankees and Twins. In that stretch, he hit 54 home runs in 435 games and slashed .290/.336/.463 for a wRC+ of 118.
He spent most of that time at third base and generally had the reputation of a strong defender. Bizarrely, Outs Above Average hates him and gave him a grade of -17 in that 2019-22 period, but Defensive Runs Saved gave him a solid grade of +5.
If the Tigers got anything close to that kind of performance for their modest investment, it would have been a steal. Unfortunately, Urshela has not been able to bounce back as hoped. He has been in 92 games for Detroit this year with five home runs and a modest batting line of .243/.286/.333. That translates to a 73 wRC+, indicating he’s been 27% below league average at the plate this year.
Detroit is 7.5 games back of a playoff spot, which isn’t a totally hopeless position, but they are clearly focused on the future at this point. Prior to the deadline, they traded away Jack Flaherty, Carson Kelly, Andrew Chafin and Mark Canha. They are going to use the remainder of the schedule to get Jung and Sweeney exposed to major league pitching, which will nudge Urshela out of their plans.
Since the trade deadline has come and gone, they will have no choice but to place Urshela on waivers in the coming days. He has about $345K of his salary still to be paid out, meaning a claiming team wouldn’t be taking on huge amounts of money by grabbing him. However, given his performance both last year and this year, it’s possible that he passes through unclaimed. He has been hot of late, with a .265/.342/.412 batting line and 108 wRC+ in August, but that’s a sample of just 38 plate appearances amid a rough two-year stretch.
If he passes through unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping that salary in place. If he ends up a free agent, the Tigers would be on the hook for that money. Any other club could sign him for the prorated league minimum, which would be subtracted from what the Tigers pay.
Lucas, 27, was just claimed off waivers from the Athletics in May. Since that claim, he has made three appearances for the Tigers with two earned runs allowed, two strikeouts and two walks. Combined with his time with the A’s, he now has 13 2/3 major league innings pitched with a 9.22 earned run average.
His minor league work this year has been far more interesting. Between the two organizations, he has thrown 49 Triple-A innings with a 3.31 ERA. The 11.2% walk rate is on the high side but he’s countered that with a 25.2% strikeout rate.
Lucas still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time. For any club intrigued by his Triple-A numbers this year, he could be a long-term depth piece. Like Urshela, he will have to be placed on waivers in the coming days since the trade deadline has passed. Lucas has a previous career outright, which would give him the right to elect free agency if he eventually passes through waivers unclaimed.
Tigers Promote Spencer Torkelson
10:01PM: The Tigers officially announced Torkelson’s recall and Madris being optioned to Toledo.
8:18AM: The Tigers are set to recall first baseman Spencer Torkelson from Triple-A Toledo today, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Torkelson will take the place of Bligh Madris, as Petzold reports that Madris was optioned to Triple-A after the Tigers’ 3-0 loss to the Yankees yesterday.
It has been over two and a half months since Torkelson’s last Major League game, as the Tigers decided the first baseman was in need of a refresh after a brutal start to the season. Torkelson hit only .201/.266/.330 with four home runs in his first 230 plate appearances in 2024, translating to only a 68 wRC+. With his Statcast numbers not hinting at any underlying reasons for optimism, Torkelson went back to Toledo looking to get himself back on the track.
The results in Triple-A have been mixed. Torkelson has hit .239/.356/.443 with 11 homers in his 275 PA with the Mud Hens, so his numbers have been solid yet far from dominant. He also posted a 30.9% strikeout rate in the minors this season, well above his past strikeout rates at either the Major League or minor league levels. As Petzold notes, a lot of these strikeouts are coming against sliders and changeups, though Torkelson has at least been performing better against higher-velocity offerings.
A winning record is still within reach for the 59-64 Tigers, but with a playoff run looking quite unlikely, Detroit is using the rest of the season to evaluate its young talent. Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney were just called up yesterday for their respective MLB debuts, so between those rookies, Torkelson, and Colt Keith becoming a fixture in his first Major League season, the Tigers could be getting an early look at what might be their infield of the future.
Torkelson still must be considered part of that future, as he hit .233/.313/.446 with 31 homers over 684 PA during the 2023 season. The first overall pick of the 2020 draft doesn’t turn 25 years old until next week, and while the Tigers naturally would’ve liked to have seen the youngster adjust to the big leagues in much smoother fashion, it is still far too early to wonder if Detroit should be looking to move on from Torkelson. Of course, Torkelson will need to hold up his end of the deal against MLB pitching, and even average-ish production won’t cut it from a bat-first player expected to deliver big numbers from the first base position.
Tigers To Promote Jace Jung
The Tigers are calling up top infield prospect Jace Jung from Triple-A Toledo, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. The 12th overall pick of the 2022 draft will make his major league debut tomorrow evening against the Yankees.
Jung joins what’ll be a suddenly younger Detroit infield. The Tigers are also bringing up deadline acquisition Trey Sweeney, a 2021 first-round pick whom they acquired in the Jack Flaherty deal. That duo will join rookie second baseman Colt Keith as the Tigers evaluate young players who could be key pieces of next year’s team. Keith has had an up-and-down debut campaign at the keystone, as he’s had very poor months of April, June, and August around huge performances in May and July.
Once Detroit moved Keith from third to second base, they slid Jung to the hot corner. He has started 68 games there this season against 17 starts at second base, which had been his primary position at Texas Tech and for his first two years in pro ball. Detroit has used Gio Urshela as their primary third baseman. His bat has started to come around following a rough first half, but the Tigers seem to be turning their attention toward next season. Despite an ongoing four-game win streak, they’re 7.5 back of the American League’s last playoff spot.
Jung, the younger brother of Rangers third baseman Josh Jung, adds a high-upside offensive talent. He ranks fourth among Detroit prospects and 75th overall on Baseball America’s most recent ranking of the farm system. BA credits the left-handed hitter with plus power and a patient approach. While there’s some concern about his pure hit tool, the walks and power give him a chance to hit in the middle third of a lineup.
The 23-year-old is having a nice season in Toledo. He’s hitting .257/.377/.454 with 14 homers, 23 doubles and a triple through 415 plate appearances. Jung is drawing walks at a massive 16.1% clip while striking out at a roughly average 22.4% rate. While he has fallen into a bit of a slump of late, Jung has hit very well with the platoon advantage over the course of the season. He’s hitting .272/.402/.510 in 321 plate appearances against righty pitching.
Jung has predictably had a tougher time with left-handed arms. Detroit has a few righty-hitting infielders who could take some starts against southpaws, but Jung figures to play regularly over the season’s final six weeks. Urshela is on a one-year free agent deal and always felt like a bridge until Jung was ready to take over at third base. The Tigers should give him near everyday reps to gauge whether they can pencil him in as their starter going into 2025.
Jung will not come close to a full year of service or the time necessary to reach early arbitration as a Super Two player. He’s under team control for at least six seasons beyond this one and won’t get to arbitration for three years. A future optional assignment to Triple-A could push that timeline back.
The timing of Jung’s promotion, likely not coincidentally, comes just after the cutoff for him to preserve his rookie eligibility going into next season. From tomorrow, there’ll be 45 days remaining on the regular season calendar. A position player remains a rookie so long as they’ve spent 45 days or fewer on an MLB active roster and have not topped 130 at-bats. So long as the Tigers keep him below the at-bat threshold, Jung would be eligible for Rookie of the Year consideration going into next season.
That’s a relevant factor thanks to the Prospect Promotion Incentive introduced in the most recent round of collective bargaining. A team can earn a bonus draft pick if they carry a rookie top prospect (one who made the offseason Top 100 on at least two of the lists at Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline) for a full service year. If that player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes in the top three in MVP balloting during his pre-arbitration seasons, the team would get an extra pick after the first round of the following draft.
Jung could be in consideration for the prospect criteria, as evidenced by his placement on BA’s current Top 100. There’s no guarantee he’ll make two of the three lists next winter — and it’s certainly not a lock that he’ll win Rookie of the Year — but the Tigers would at least keep the possibility open if they plan for Jung to break camp in 2025. The Cardinals timed their promotion of top shortstop prospect Masyn Winn right at this time last season, for instance.
Sweeney isn’t the same caliber of prospect, but Detroit could give him a look at shortstop in place of the struggling Javier Báez. They’ll need to add both players to the active and 40-man rosters. They don’t have any obvious candidates to land on the 60-day injured list, so they might need to designate multiple players for assignment tomorrow.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Tigers To Promote Trey Sweeney
The Tigers are calling up shortstop prospect Trey Sweeney, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN on X. He just recently came to the organization from the Dodgers in the deadline trade that sent Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles. Sweeney is not currently on the 40-man roster, so the Tigers will need to make a corresponding move to add him.
Sweeney, 24, was a first-round pick of the Yankees, getting selected 20th overall in 2021. He made a brief professional debut after that draft selection and then got a lengthier run the following year. In 2022, he got into 111 games between High-A and Double-A, hitting 16 home runs in that time. He was struck out in 23.2% of his plate appearances but drew walks at a strong 13% clip. His .240/.349/.413 batting line translated to a 111 wRC+, indicating he was 11% better than league average.
Going into 2023, Baseball America ranked him the #15 prospect in the Yankees’ system. Their report at that time noted that he didn’t have a standout tool but that he was generally solid across the board. On the 20-80 scouting scale, they gave him either a 45 or a 50 in the five categories of hit, power, speed, fielding and arm.
Sweeney would have been challenged to carve out a role as a regular shortstop in the Bronx with Anthony Volpe seemingly set at that spot, which is perhaps why the Yankees were willing to make him available. Back in December, Sweeney was traded to the Dodgers for left-hander Victor González and minor league infielder Jorbit Vivas.
Moving to the Dodgers didn’t go especially well for Sweeney. He got into 96 Triple-A games this year, hitting 13 home runs but also striking out at a 26.8% clip. In the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League, his .254/.334/.427 batting line translated to an 87 wRC+.
As mentioned, the Dodgers flipped Sweeney to the Tigers in the Flaherty deal, alongside Thayron Liranzo. Some evaluators considered the return for Flaherty on the lighter side, especially compared with what the Blue Jays received from the Astros for Yusei Kikuchi. Flaherty and Kikuchi were the top two rental starters available at last month’s deadline but Flaherty was considered the greater prize on account of his higher ceiling and stronger 2024 campaign.
After the deadline, reports emerged that the Yankees walked away from a Flaherty trade due to concerns about his medical. In the eyes of some, that explained the disconnect with those trades but Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris didn’t share that framing. “I completely reject the premise,” Harris said when asked about the Tigers getting less for Flaherty than the Jays got for Kikuchi, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X. “These players we got are really good. We had opportunities to make different deals with different teams. This is the deal we chose for a reason.”
Grading the trades is something that can be endlessly debated for now and won’t truly be settled for years. But since being traded a second time, Sweeney has been red hot. He has played 11 games at Triple-A Toledo since the deal and has hit .381/.447/.667. He won’t maintain a .500 batting average on balls in play forever but he has hit a couple of home runs, stolen four bases and drawn walks at a 10.6% clip.
The Tigers are 7.5 games back of a playoff spot and focused more on the future than 2024, which is why they traded Flaherty as well as Andrew Chafin, Carson Kelly and Mark Canha. Shortstop has been a big hole for them in recent years thanks to the massive struggles of Javier Báez. Going into 2022, the club signed him to a six-year, $140MM deal but he has hit .221/.263/.346 since then for a wRC+ of 69. Among qualified hitters in that stretch, only Nicky Lopez and Myles Straw have a lower wRC+.
With just over six weeks left to go in the season, the Tigers will give Sweeney a chance to face major league pitching and see if he can maybe provide them with a solution at shortstop. If he succeeds, it would make for an interesting offseason. The Báez deal still has three more seasons on it after this one and he won’t have any trade value with his poor performance at the plate.
However, it’s worth pointing out that even the top prospects often struggle in their first exposure to the major leagues, so there’s a decent chance that won’t be an immediate concern. It’s entirely possible that Sweeney gets a bit of acclimation to major league life but may still find himself ticketed for more Triple-A time in the future. Sweeney has also played a bit of third base while Báez has previously bounced around the diamond in his career.
Time will tell how things play out at the shortstop position in Detroit. But for now, it’s an exciting moment for Sweeney, who will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Tigers Reinstate Kerry Carpenter
The Tigers announced that outfielder Kerry Carpenter has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade was optioned to Triple-A Toledo to open an active roster spot. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, right-hander Brendan White was recalled from Double-A Erie and placed on the 60-day injured list with a right elbow strain.
The return of Carpenter should be a nice boost for the Detroit lineup. He has appeared in 199 major league games to this point in his career and has hit 34 home runs in that time. His .275/.336/.495 slash line translates to a 128 wRC+, indicating he’s been 28% better than league average overall.
He landed on the IL at the end of May due to an unknown lower back injury that was later reported to be a lumbar spine stress fracture. He eventually missed over two months, getting transferred to the 60-day IL along the way, but is now able to rejoin the lineup. The Tigers are nine games back of a playoff spot and have long odds for a miracle run at this point, but it will still be good for Carpenter to get some playing time before the offseason kicks in.
White, 25, has been on Detroit’s 40-man roster since November of 2022. Last year, he was able to toss 40 2/3 innings in the big leagues with a 5.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 51.8% ground ball rate.
This year, he was optioned during Spring Training and has been in the minors all season. At the end of May, the club listed him as dealing with right elbow inflammation, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group on X. He was still experiencing elbow discomfort in July, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X.
At this point, details are still murky about what’s next but it seems the club doesn’t expect him back this year, hence the 60-day IL placement. If there’s a silver lining for White, it’s that he’ll get major league pay and service time for the rest of the season. He was able to accrue 111 days of service last year, putting him 61 days shy of the one-year mark. There’s not enough time left in 2024 for him to get over that line but he’ll creep towards it and get a little pay bump while navigating his injury absence.
Tigers Place Wenceel Perez On 10-Day Injured List
The Tigers announced that outfielder Wenceel Perez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. Outfielder Akil Baddoo was called up from Triple-A to fill Perez’s spot on the active roster.
An IL stint seemed likely for Perez after he left last night’s game early due to soreness in his left abdominal area. The severity of the oblique strain isn’t yet known, but anything beyond a Grade 1 strain might well put the rest of Perez’s rookie season in jeopardy.
Perez made his Major League debut back on April 8, and he has quickly become a regular in Detroit’s lineup. Perez has +3 Outs Above Average, and +2 Defensive Runs Saved for his 574 innings as a right fielder, though the UZR/150 metric (-0.3) is less impressed. Starting the year in something of a right field timeshare with Kerry Carpenter and Mark Canha, Perez had more or less moved into the everyday role in the wake of Carpenter’s extended stint on the IL, and Canha’s increased usage as a first baseman and DH before the Tigers traded him to the Giants. Perez has also gotten a good chunk of playing time in center field, even his glovework up the middle hasn’t been great.
At the plate, Perez has hit .242/.298/.386 over 378 plate appearances, which translates to a 92 wRC+ in his first exposure to MLB pitching. The switch-hitter has roughly equal splits from both sides of the plate, and he hasn’t made much hard contact.
Despite the uninspiring numbers, Perez has been deployed as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter for a good portion of the season, usually taking the top spot when Matt Vierling or Riley Greene hasn’t been the team’s first batter. Baddoo figures to step into Perez’s outfield role and might get some leadoff at-bats himself down the stretch as the 55-62 Tigers will be prioritizing younger talent down the stretch.
Billy Bean Passes Away
Former MLB outfielder Billy Bean, who has served in the commissioner’s office as senior vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as a special assistant to the commissioner, died at his home today following a battle with acute myeloid leukemia per an announcement from the league. The former Tigers, Dodgers, and Padres outfielder, not to be confused with longtime GM of the Athletics Billy Beane, was just 60 years old.
“Our hearts are broken today as we mourn our dear friend and colleague, Billy Bean, one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known.” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement regarding Bean’s passing. “Billy was a friend to countless people across our game, and he made a difference through his constant dedication to others. He made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field, by the power of his example, his empathy, his communication skills, his deep relationships inside and outside our sport, and his commitment to doing the right thing. We are forever grateful for the enduring impact that Billy made on the game he loved, and we will never forget him. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Billy’s husband, Greg Baker, and their entire family.”
Bean was first drafted by the Yankees back in 1985 in the 24th round, though he opted to return to Loyola Marymount University for his senior year and join the Lions for their participation in the College World Series rather than sign. He eventually landed with the Tigers after they selected him in the fourth round of the following year’s draft before making his big league debut in 1987 at the age of 23. Bean played for the Tigers until 1989 in an up-and-down role shuttling between the big leagues and the minors. He made just 97 plate appearances with the Tigers over his years in the organization but got a more robust opportunity after being traded to the Dodgers in July of 1989. He appeared in 51 games with L.A. down the stretch, though he hit just .197/.250/.254 during that time.
That would be Bean’s last MLB action for a few years. He put up solid numbers for the Dodgers in the minor leagues during the 1990 and 1991 seasons before splitting the 1992 season between the Angels’ minor league system and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Bean returned to the majors with the Padres in 1993 and enjoyed the best season of his big league career, slashing .260/.284/.395 while slugging five home runs and stealing two bases in 192 trips to the plate. He remained with San Diego through his retirement in 1995. Following the end of his playing career, Bean followed in the footsteps of former Dodgers and A’s outfielder Glenn Burke in 1999 to become just the second MLB played in history to publicly come out as gay. In an interview with Robert Lipsyte of the New York Times from that year, Bean discussed his life in baseball, the decision to remain in the closet throughout his time as a professional player, and his eventual decision to come out publicly.
After playing 272 games in the majors with three organizations across six years, Bean returned to baseball in 2014 when he was appointed as the league’s first ever ambassador for inclusion by then-commissioner Bud Selig. He continued to serve in the commissioner’s office under Rob Manfred and was eventually promoted to the senior vice president role he held until his death. In his role with the league, Bean worked with all 30 organizations and is credited with instrumental roles in developing education programs and expanding mental health resources available to players all across affiliated ball.
We at MLBTR join the rest of the baseball world in extending our condolences to Bean’s family, former teammates and colleagues, countless friends around the game and all those mourning his passing.
Tigers Select Brant Hurter
TODAY: The Tigers have officially announced the selection of Hurter’s contract. Left-hander Sean Guenther was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Hurter on the active roster.
AUGUST 3: The Tigers are planning to select left-hander Brant Hurter to pitch in tomorrow’s game against the Royals, AJ Hinch told reporters (including The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen) earlier this afternoon. Hurter is not yet on the 40-man roster, but the Tigers still have a space open after shipping Mark Canha, Jack Flaherty, and Andrew Chafin out on the day of the trade deadline so a corresponding move will only be necessary to add the southpaw to the club’s active roster.
Hurter, 26 in September, was a seventh-round pick by the Tigers in the 2021 draft out of Georgia Tech. Hurter reached the Double-A level in his first professional season back in 2022 and went on to dominate the level in 2023, with a 3.28 ERA in 118 innings of work across 26 starts. He struck out an impressive 26.7% of batters faced while walking just 6.6%, but the lefty has not been able to carry that success in Double-A over to his first taste of Triple-A action this year. In 19 appearances (18 starts) at the highest level of the minors in 2024, Hurter has been lit up to the tune of a 5.80 ERA in 71 1/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate has dropped to 21.7% while his walk rate has crept up slightly to 7.1%. Perhaps more notably, Hurter has struggled to keep the ball in the park as often as he did last year, allowing more home runs already this year than he did last year despite a nearly 50-inning gap in terms of volume.
As he prepares for his MLB debut tomorrow, Stavenhagen notes that Hinch made clear that he will not be starting the game and will instead act as a bulk arm following an opener. While Hurter has generally been used as a typical starter in the minors to this point in his career, he did have some success as a bulk pitcher earlier this year, when he threw six scoreless innings at Triple-A against the Reds’ Louisville affiliate after coming in as a reliever in the third inning.
With a rotation mix that currently features only four pitchers (Tarik Skubal, Kenta Maeda, Bryan Sammons, and Keider Montero), it would hardly be a surprise if a strong showing from Hurter tomorrow earned him a more extended look in the majors as the club tries to piece together a rotation, whether that be in a proper starting role going forward or simply as a bulk arm. The club’s rotation depth took a massive hit in recent weeks between the deal that shipped Flaherty to L.A. and recent injuries to Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Matt Manning. There was some suggestion prior to the All-Star break that right-hander Beau Brieske could be considered for a rotation role in the second half, though that has not yet come to pass as he’s remained in a multi-inning relief role out of the bullpen.
