Tigers Select Louis Coleman, Designate Chad Bell
The Tigers announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Louis Coleman from Triple-A Toledo, while simultaneously designating left-hander Chad Bell for assignment. The club has also recalled left-hander Ryan Carpenter to serve as the 26th man for the second game of today’s double-header.
Coleman’s certainly done enough to earn his recent promotion. The Tigers signed him to a minor-league deal late this offseason, and he’s rewarded them with 15 innings of 2.40 ERA ball at the club’s Triple-A affiliate, striking out 15 and walking five.
It’s actually somewhat curious that it took so long for Coleman to make it back to the majors. Back in 2016, the righty struggled somewhat out of the Dodgers’ pen (4.69 ERA, 4.50 BB/9). But between the Triple-A affiliates of the Reds and Diamondbacks last season, he pitched to a 2.25 ERA with an impressive 10.83 K/9, albeit still with a bloated walk rate. That he’s managed to walk only three batters per nine so far this season is encouraging, particularly for a club in rebuild mode that’s no doubt hoping to find a few diamonds in the rough.
Conversely, it’s not hard to imagine why the Tigers would be willing to part ways with the 29-year-old Bell. The lefty’s ERA and K/9 are equal on the season (8.59). Still, his FIP (3.84) gives hope that he might be able to turn things around with another club, particularly since that unsightly ERA comes in such a small sample size (7 1/3 IP). Bell’s 44.4% ground ball rate and 2.45 BB/9 are also reasons for optimism, though surely inquiring ballclubs won’t be placing too much weight on any of the above stats in a sample size under ten innings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/1/18
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Tigers announced that left-hander Ryan Carpenter will be assigned back to Triple-A Toledo. Carpenter was called up as the 26th man for today’s double-header with the Pirates, and he made his Major League debut in the nightcap, starting the game and lasting three innings. A seventh-round pick for the Rays in the 2011 draft, Carpenter has a 4.37 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 3.36 K/BB rate over 760 1/3 innings (128 of his 115 games as a starter) in the Tampa Bay and Colorado farm systems.
Earlier Today:
- The Red Sox have released outfielder Steve Selsky, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. Selsky was a member of the Cincinnati organization from 2011-16 before joining Boston last season. The 28-year-old spent nearly all of 2017 with Triple-A Pawtucket, where he hit .215/.270/.360 with 11 home runs in 322 plate appearances. Selsky also appeared in eight of Boston’s games, though he only picked up nine PAs in that span.
- The Pirates have parted with outfielder Clark Eagan, according to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects (subscription required). Eagan, 23, had been with the Pirates since they selected him in the ninth round of the 2016 draft. He spent that year at the Low-A level before moving up to Single-A in 2017. In all, Eagan batted .265/.316/.385 across 604 trips to the plate with the organization.