The Tigers have released veteran reliever Junichi Tazawa, per the International League transactions page (h/t Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, on Twitter). Also cut from the club’s Triple-A roster was fellow righty Mark Montgomery.
Tazawa, 32, signed with the Detroit organization in early June after he was cut loose by the Marlins. Unfortunately, his rough showing with the Fish followed him into the upper minors. In 7 2/3 innings for Toledo, Tazawa allowed eight earned runs while recording ten strikeouts against five walks.
It still seems reasonable to expect that the veteran will catch on somewhere on a minors deal. He has had plenty of success in the majors and the Marlins are on the hook for his $7MM salary (less the pro-rated minimum if he makes it back to the majors). But Tazawa has looked like a shell of his former self since making an ill-fated match with Miami. His velocity and swinging-strike rates are well off his prime levels.
As for Montgomery, the 27-year-old has long waited in vain for a MLB opportunity. In parts of six seasons at the highest level of the minors, he has thrown 182 1/3 innings of 2.71 ERA ball with 10.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
Mark Montgomery posted a 1.98 ERA with a 2.58 FIP and an 11.2 K/9
Someone give this man an opportunity ASAP
I’ve long thought that Montgomery deserves a chance in the majors, well back to his yankee days. That being said, though his ERA and K rates look nice, he’s allowed an awful lot of baserunners in his small 2018 sample. He posted a wildly high 1.829 WHIP. He didn’t allow a home run, so FIP still looks at him favorably, but that can’t be expected to continue. He certainly wouldn’t seem be a great MLB bullpen piece at this moment.
Angels need to snag Montgomery before someone else does. Get it done Eppler
I’ll never forget watching Tazawa’s debut in the 14th inning against the New York Yankees. The first batter he faced was countryman Hideki Matsui. (Who lined out)
In the bottom of the 15th you gave up a two run HR to ARod. Baptism by fire, to be sure, but Tazawa was very good for BoSox, for many years.
Maybe he still can be.
Agreed. He came with a decent amount of anticipation and certainly paid it off in the end. Was a fun guy to watch for a while in Boston.
This is one of the worst decision ever made by the Tigers. It will cause nightmares and trauma throughout the organization. What could they have been possibly thinking? Who is in charge? Why the horrendous and precipitous decision? I will never ever go to a Tiger game again!!!
I get the sarcasm, and nobodys saying its the end of the world but it’s definitely not a move I would have made. (Tazawa would be gone though).
Mark Montgomery is an upgrade to every teams MLB bullpen, right now. Whoever gets him gets to be called a genius when he comes up and throws up zeros.
His peripherals look very nice but once you go a little deeper you can see why he has never gotten the call. He gives up a ton of hits. So far he has given up 17 hits in 13 innings. If you combine his walks (8) with those hits you get 25 base-runners in only 13 innings. Allowing 2 base-runners an inning is not the making of a good MLB reliever. He is definitely a pitcher you can not bring in relief with men on base. Inherited runners being charged to the pitcher he relieved is the reason his ERA and FIP are so low. He was groomed to be a closer when he was in the Yankees system and was once highly thought of. I believe he had a shoulder injury a few years ago that sapped his velocity (could be another Montgomery I am thinking of though) and wasn’t the same pitcher when he finally came back healthy. It’s too bad because I thought him and Lindgren would be the 8-9 inning guys of the future.
AA get on the phone with Mike’s Agent NOW!!
Umm mark, but yes please
Jays don’t get him please. Sell everyone and call up the New Hampshire boys
Montgomery had a strong spring training showing and was good in AAA. The Tiger’s pen is a mess. I’m not sure why they dumped him.