The Tigers announced that they have selected left-hander Matt Gage to their roster. In a corresponding active roster move, right-hander Beau Brieske has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo. To open a 40-man spot, righty Jackson Jobe has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. It was reported yesterday that Jobe will require Tommy John surgery.
Gage, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason. He has been pitching for Toledo so far this year with good results. He has logged 32 1/3 innings over 23 appearances, having allowed 1.67 earned runs per nine. His 22.8% strikeout rate and 42.9% ground ball rate are both around average while his 3.3% walk rate is excellent.
That performance will get him back up to the big leagues for the first time in a couple of years. He logged 19 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Astros in 2022 and 2023, posting a 1.83 ERA. But his 2024 saw him in plenty of transactions without getting into a big league game. The Astros put him on waivers in January. The Yankees claimed him but then flipped him to the Dodgers in February. The Dodgers released him but then re-signed him to a minor league deal. He triggered an opt-out clause and was added back to the 40-man roster but then flipped to the Mets. The Mets briefly recalled him to the majors but didn’t put him into a game.
Around all those transactions, he tossed 41 2/3 innings in the minors with a 4.10 ERA. The Mets outrighted him off their roster in November, which allowed him to elect free agency and sign with the Tigers. His major league track record is fairly limited but he has usually been good in the minors. From 2021 to the present, he has a 3.43 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate in 199 1/3 innings on the farm.
The Tigers will give him a shot at facing big league hitters again but he is out of options, so his hold on a roster spot may be tenuous. For now, he’ll give the Tigers a third lefty in the bullpen alongside Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
As I said 11 months ago…
Lefty specialist out of the bullpen. Great acquisition!
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/07/mets-acquire-matt-gage.…
Not sure what’s more impressive, Gage grinding it out for 2 years to get another shot or you queuing up your own post from 11 months ago this quickly.
Brieske, Hanifee and Holton are not close to what they were last season. That makes the Tigers’ record to date that much more impressive since each were mainstays.
Addng John Brebbia to the bullpen certainly hasn’t bridged any gaps.
I don’t know how Detroit keeps doing this.
Holton has pitched better of late, but did not begin well. Brieske is missing his spots. He is getting lots of movement which might be part of the problem. Hopefully the deadline will bring the Tigers a RH bat and solid bullpen arm.
Brieske has been a disaster,he’s been walking a batter an inning, I cringed every time AJ put him in the game. Sad part is other than Vest the bullpen has been a lot shakier than last season. I’m glad they sent Beau down, maybe he can find his rhythm again
Hanifee needs to be the next to visit Toledo. He has been WAY worse than his ERA would indicate, mostly because he routinely enters the game with runners on and promptly serves a meatball to inflate the ERA of whomever he replaced
On the flipside, Vest, Kahnle, Hurter and Chase Lee have all been excellent. We can definitely use a couple more arms in the pen… especially a good swing-and-miss guy, but the bullpen situation is not as bad as you’re making it out to be. How many leads has the pen blown this season?
Should have kept Maeda.
Just kidding.
Of course you were, he’s with the Cubs now.
Whats Alex Cobb’s timeline?
2 IP in Toledo yesterday. Needs to build up innings.
They could use another proven guy at the back end of the bullpen at the deadline. I’ll be curious at the deadline to see if they go big for a bat or even another starting pitcher, try to fill in around the edges or stand pat.
Brieske was on borrowed time.
Something they should have known in ST, prior to the Dodger game Hinch lost.
They’ve been using him based on track record? I think he wants to be a starter.
Brieske is way off where he was last year. I know relievers can be night and day from one season to the next, but I also wonder if there’s an arm problem there.
I think its more regression to the mean. He was a 4-A pitcher who suddenly started dotting the bottom rail with 100 MPH last August.
He’s always had a good arsenal, a good arm, but other than that 3 month stretch last yr he never could control his off speed stuff and had no command of the strike zone with his fastball. Bad combo.
Brebbia and Brieske are pretty similar in a lot of ways. At their best they miss bats, which is what the bullpen lacks, but when they struggle it gets ugly. Brebbia is on a guaranteed deal. So down goes Brieske.
Hopefully he takes Hanifee with him
I’m afraid you may be right. I never had huge confidence in him until he started pitching so well during the pennant run last year. (I always preferred Faedo)
He was hitting 98mph so doesn’t seem like an arm issue.