The Tigers announced a pair of roster moves this morning. They’ve selected the contract of left-hander PJ Poulin to the 40-man roster and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. Left-hander Sean Guenther was recalled from Triple-A and placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Poulin on the 40-man roster. According to Evan Woodbery of MLive, Poulin had an upward mobility clause in his contract and the Tigers opted to add him to their 40-man roster in order to keep him in their organization.
Poulin, 29 later this month, was an 11th-round pick by the Rockies back in 2018. A two-way player in college, Poulin committed to pitching upon his move to affiliated ball. He looked quite good in the lower minors as a reliever in his first two years as a professional, but the canceled minor league season in 2020 lost him a year of development and he generally struggled with his effectiveness in the upper minors during his time with the Rockies organization.
He was dealt to the Tigers prior to the 2024 season and has looked quite good since then, as he posted a 2.10 ERA in 60 innings between Double- and Triple-A last year before posting a 3.72 ERA in 36 1/3 frames at Triple-A this season. That solid but unspectacular ERA comes with a much more impressive 33.8% strikeout rate, and that kind of strikeout stuff from the left side makes it easy to see why the Tigers decided it was worth it to add the lefty to their 40-man roster rather than risk losing him to another organization.
Making room for Poulin on the 40-man roster is Guenther, who has a 2.30 ERA and 2.73 FIP across 31 1/3 innings of work with the Tigers over the past two seasons. Guenther was on the shelf in the minors after undergoing hip surgery last week, meaning that the move to place him on the 60-day IL is largely a procedural one. With that being said, it does come with the side effect of allowing him to collect a big league salary and earn MLB service time until he’s activated and optioned back to the minor leagues.
No comment…
said everybody….
Apparently Guenther underwent hip surgery and is done for the year. A procedural move to open a roster spot since Guenther was on the MiLB IL. He’ll at least earn MLB pay and service time on the MLB IL.
Poulin has had a respectable season in Toledo. 54 Ks and only 14 BBs in 36 innings. He’s never pitched in the ML’s, so who knows if he’s a Tyler Owens or a Chase Lee.
Harris and the Tiger pitching department have a knack for finding these off the radar guys. I bet he pitches in Detroit this year.
We’re all Poulin for him
Although Hurter’s role is currently unclear, the Tigers need left-handed relievers. Poulin might see MLB action soon, since C. Hernandez has not been overly convincing.
Gruß,
BSHH
Sure would be nice to see the Tigers add Chapman from Boston at the deadline. Can you imagine Chapman’s fastball and Kahnle’s changeup back to back in relief?
Chapman will be the top RP target for 6-8 teams. I’ll be surprised if Harris will be able to give up what the Red Sox are going to want.
Obviously, Clark, McGonigal and Rainer are not going anywhere.
But, start with Briceno and Liranzo? They’re both C/1B/DH material. Not terribly hard to replace. Would the Saux take Liranzo? Plus a low prospect?
I’m not sure Hao-Yu Lee fits in the Tiger’s future. They have several 2B options. Is he worth much?
I would think Max Anderson might be in the mix too.
The Sox are going to get something good for Chapman.
No way in hell the Tigers will trade Briceno this year. Maybe Lee, Liranzo or Anderson… But I doubt it. They’re not getting Chapman.
Hernandez has got to go. Hopefully Poulin can be sustainably effective since his change of scenery.
I’m not overly concerned re. Hernandez. I think Fetter and Hinch are onto something with him. He looks like he’s just going with 2 pitches. 4 seamer and splitter. If he can just find the strike zone more often, he’ll be fine for the back of the bullpen role they want him to play.
Makes a good chainsaw
I got a feeling that Hinch, Harris and Co will be pitching a few of these guys who’ve had decent success at the MiLB level to see what they have before the deadline. If anyone can make a MLB pitcher out of a career minor leaguer, it’s Chris Fetter.
And Scott Harris isn’t giving up 2 of our top 3 prospects to anybody, thank God.
Not trading Liranzo for a 2 month rental. People…
Liranzo could go, but in a controllable asset deal like Alcantara, with other pieces, IF Alcantara shows he is ok after a couple more shakybstarts AND if the Fish somehow want another C/1B/DH after having Agustin Ramirez, Joe Mack and Deyvison De Los Santos all ready/near ready.
TBH, Clark a d Rainier isn’t crazy for 3.5 years of cheap prime age Acuña. He would be the best OF in an Olde English D since Kaline and it’s not close.
Great thought, but no way do the Tigers get Acuna.