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Tigers Shut Julio Teheran Down For The Season

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After spending almost the entire season on the injured list, right-hander Julio Teheran has been officially shut down for the remainder of the 2021 campaign.  Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen and other reporters that the decision was made after Teheran “wasn’t himself” during some recent throwing sessions.

Teheran suffered a shoulder strain while warming up for his second start of the season, way back in early April.  That shoulder issue simply never got better, as Teheran was also temporarily shut down from throwing in August when he was throwing at an unusually low velocity during a live batting practice session.  Barring a reunion on another minor league deal this offseason, Teheran’s tenure in Detroit will be limited to just a single start — a quality outing that saw Teheran allow one run over five innings in a 5-2 victory over the Indians back on April 3.

Ironically, Teheran has been best known for his durability over his 11 MLB seasons, averaging 191 innings per year with the Braves from 2013-19.  After struggling through a tough 2020 season with the Angels, Teheran settled for a minor league pact with the Tigers, and he locked in a $3MM guaranteed salary by reaching the big league roster.  The Tigers were hoping to add an innings-eating veteran to their young rotation, though their investment in Teheran simply didn’t pan out.

It seems as though Teheran will again have to showcase himself for scouts this winter in order to attract another minors contract, but the larger concern could be Teheran’s overall health, if he is still not able to effectively throw almost five months after his initial injury.  The exact nature of Teheran’s shoulder strain isn’t known, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if some type of surgical procedure was required to fully correct the problem.

Tigers Select Drew Carlton

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The Tigers have selected the contract of Drew Carlton from Triple-A. When he appears in a game, it will be his Major League debut. The Tigers 40-man roster still has two spots open.

The 25-year-old was a 32nd round draft pick out of Florida State back in 2017. Since then, the unheralded righty has done nothing but shove. His 3.12 ERA in Triple-A this season is his highest such mark at any level of the minors.

In a piece last December from Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Carlton spoke about his arsenal, saying, “I really take pride in my command of all three of my pitches. They’re not good by themselves, but with the command, they are pretty good. I’ve had to really work my tail off to produce the numbers I have. That’s the only way I’m going to be able to get up there (to the majors).”

Carlton has made it now, and he’ll have the chance to prove himself again while pitching out of the Tigers’ bullpen. Hard to say how long his stay will be in the Majors, but hopefully Carlton at least gets in a game during this stint. Regardless, he’s on the 40-man roster now, which is in and of itself a positive sign that suggests Carlton will get a chance at the Major League level.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Tigers Outright Ian Krol

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The Tigers announced Monday that left-handed reliever Ian Krol went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Toledo. Krol has the right to reject said assignment in favor of free agency, though there’s no indication from the team that he plans to do so. Detroit had designated Krol for assignment over the weekend in order to open a roster spot for the return of right-hander Jose Urena.

Krol, 30, returned to the Majors for the first time since 2018 this season. This year marks his second stint with the Tigers organization, having also pitched out of the Detroit bullpen from 2014-15 after coming over from the Nationals alongside Robbie Ray in an offseason Doug Fister trade.

Krol has appeared in a dozen games for the Tigers this season and tallied 12 1/3 innings. In that time, he’s yielded seven earned runs on 18 hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts. It’s a small sample of 41 plate appearances, but right-handed opponents have feasted off Krol this year, hitting at a .351/.390/.568 pace.

In between big league stints, Krol played for the Triple-A affiliates of the Twins and the Reds, in addition to a 2020 stint on the independent circuit. He’s totaled 202 1/3 innings at the MLB level and pitched to a combined 4.54 ERA, but his last real big league success came with the 2016 Braves. The lefty also carries a lifetime 3.45 ERA in 180 Triple-A frames that have been scattered across parts of eight seasons.

Tigers Reinstate Matthew Boyd, Option Daz Cameron

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The Tigers have reinstated left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd from the 60-day injured list, per a team announcement. Boyd will start this afternoon’s game against the Blue Jays. To make room on the active roster, outfielder Daz Cameron was optioned to Triple-A. No corresponding move was required for the 40-man roster as the team has multiple slots available.

Before going on the IL in mid-June with a triceps issue, Boyd was en route to perhaps his best season to date. Through 70 2/3 innings, the 30-year-old has an ERA of 3.44, almost a full run better than his previous best of 4.39 in 2018. With his return, he will have more than a month to try and build on that success before going into what could be his last offseason as a Tiger. He is currently slated to reach free agency after the 2022 season, which figures to be an important campaign both for he and the club. For Boyd, he will be looking to have a strong platform season in order to earn a nice paycheck on the open market, but the team will be looking to make a move from rebuilding to contending. The emergence of young starters such as Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning has strengthened the rotation around Boyd, giving the club a framework to build upon.

As for Cameron, it’s been something of a stop-and-start season for the outfielder. This is his second time being optioned this year, and he’s been on the IL twice as well. Amidst all of that, he’s gotten into 25 games at the MLB level, putting up a line of .177/.235/.342, wRC+ of 55. However, the 24-year-old has much better numbers in his 23 Triple-A games, a wRC+ of 130 thanks to a line of .309/368/.495.

Tigers Place Erasmo Ramirez On Release Waivers

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4:49PM: Ramirez has been placed on release waivers, the Tigers announced.

2:22PM: The Tigers have designated right-hander Erasmo Ramirez for assignment, per a club announcement. They’ve also reinstated catcher Eric Haase from the 10-day injured list and recalled right-hander Jason Foley from Triple-A Toledo.

It’s been a season of rough results for the 31-year-old Ramirez, who carries a 5.74 ERA through 26 2/3 innings of relief in Detroit. He’s gone through a particularly rough stretch of late, yielding runs in five of his past seven appearances — including a three-run drubbing in two-thirds of an inning at the hands of the Cardinals this week. He’s posted a below-average 18.3 percent strikeout rate this season, although to his credit, Ramirez’s 4.6 percent walk rate is excellent.

The 2020 campaign went much better for Ramirez, who pitched 14 1/3 innings out of the Mets’ bullpen and held opponents to just one run on eight hits and four walks with nine strikeouts. He’s pitched for five big league teams across parts of nine seasons, totaling 681 2/3 frames of 4.37 ERA ball with an 18.4 percent strikeout rate, a strong 6.7 percent walk rate and a solid 44 percent ground-ball rate. He’ll hit outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days, and Ramirez has the service time to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

Tigers Preparing To Return Jose Urena, Matthew Boyd To Rotation

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The Tigers have designated Ian Krol for assignment in order to make room for Jose Urena, who will come off the injured list tomorrow, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group (via Twitter).

In 12 appearances, Krol has a 5.11 ERA/3.82 FIP covering 12 1/3 innings. Urena has been out since July 17th with a groin strain. The veteran right-hander posted a mostly unimpressive 80 innings of 6.19 ERA baseball through 17 starts. Nevertheless, Urena is scheduled to reclaim his spot in the rotation tomorrow.

Matthew Boyd is also returning to the Tigers this weekend to start Sunday’s game. Another roster move will be required to bring him onto the roster. Boyd hasn’t pitched since June 15th, but he’s a big piece of their rotation moving into next season.

Central Notes: Royals, Cardinals, Tigers

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The Royals are placing Brad Keller on the 10-day injured list with a right lat strain, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com (via Twitter). Josh Staumont has returned from the COVID-related injured list to take his roster spot. Keller has reliably taken his rotation turn all season long for Kansas City, totaling 133 2/3 innings across 26 starts (though he was removed from his last start). The quality of those turns hasn’t perhaps been what Keller or the Royals would hope, however, as he owns a 5.39 ERA/4.72 FIP and -0.2 rWAR. Staumont, for his part, spent just one day on the injured list.

Let’s take a spin around the Midwest and see what shakes loose…

  • Carlos Martinez is probably done for the year, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). Wade LeBlanc is also questionable to return after feeling some elbow pain in his latest bullpen. If Martinez’s season is truly over, it will have been a disappointing one for the one-time Cardinal ace. Martinez owns a 6.23 ERA over 82 1/3 innings. A 4.76 FIP suggests it might not have quite been the disaster season that those baseline numbers suggest, however.
  • While we’re here, we might as well check in with Jack Flaherty, who is also questionable to return this season. The Cardinals are putting him through a series of assessments now. What matters most is making sure he’s healthy for 2022, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Same story for Ryan Helsley, who will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and look ahead to next season.
  • The Tigers released Renato Nunez, per Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group (via Twitter). Manager A.J. Hinch suggested that there weren’t enough at-bats to go around in Triple-A for Spencer Torkelson, Aderlin Rodriguez, and Nunez. The Tigers outrighted Nunez a few days ago, and he will now be free to sign anywhere.

Tigers Outright Drew Hutchison

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AUGUST 26: Hutchison has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Toledo, per the team. As a player who has previously been outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency.

AUGUST 23: The Tigers have reinstated outfielder Akil Baddoo from the 10-day injured list.  The team also announced that right-hander Drew Hutchison was designated for assignment, opening up space for Baddoo to rejoin the active roster.

Baddoo hasn’t played since August 10 due to a concussion, as he was first placed on the seven-day concussion IL and was then moved to the normal 10-day IL so he could get a few rehab games under his belt.  Just a week removed from his 23rd birthday, Baddoo returns to continue what has already been an impressive rookie season.  Originally a second-round pick for the Twins in the 2016 draft, the Tigers selected Baddoo in last December’s Rule 5 Draft, putting Baddoo in line to jump from high-A ball in 2019 right to the majors.

The outfielder has wholly embraced the opportunity, hitting .267/.333/.467 with 10 homers and a league-high six triples over 333 plate appearances.  Baddoo’s excellent speed has resulted in a .345 BABIP and helped him overcome a lot of soft contact numbers, though he is still a work in progress (-5 Defensive Runs Saved, -4.6 UZR/150) as an outfielder, mostly splitting time between left and center field.  Since Baddoo will surely finish the season on the active roster, the Tigers will officially acquire his rights from Minnesota, giving Detroit another intriguing young building block going forward.

Hutchison signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason and made two appearances after his contract was selected last week.  The righty (who just turned 31 yesterday) posted a 3.00 ERA over two abbreviated starts, tossing six innings and recording four walks against only two strikeouts.

Apart from 42 2/3 innings with the Phillies and Rangers in 2018, Hutchison hadn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2016.  A veteran of six MLB seasons overall, Hutchison could get a look from another team seeking pitching depth on the waiver wire, or the Tigers could outright him to Triple-A for their own depth purposes if he clears waivers.

Miguel Cabrera: Planning To Play “Two More Years”

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Miguel Cabrera recently hit his 500th home run, a marquee achievement for one of the most accomplished players in MLB history. Asked by Sage Steele of ESPN this morning how long he planned to continue his illustrious career, Cabrera said he expects to conclude after the 2023 season (h/t to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News).

“Two years, that’s it,” Cabrera told Steele. “My right knee is really bad. I need to take care of this in the offseason and prepare myself for next season. I’m going to play two more years. I think that’s enough. I will be happy with 20 years in the big leagues if I can make it. I would say thank God for the opportunity and I say two more years and I’m done.”

While it’s not surprising to hear Cabrera is planning to retire two years from now, today’s comments were notably more conclusive than when he addressed the subject last September. At that time, Cabrera left open the possibility of playing beyond 2023. Obviously, improved health or performance over the next couple seasons could change the calculus, but Cabrera’s comments this morning mark the 38-year-old’s most definitive declaration to date of his long-term plans.

It’s no coincidence that the guaranteed portion of Cabrera’s March 2014 contract extension concludes at the end of that 2023 season. Cabrera will make successive $32MM salaries in 2022 and 2023, in addition to an $8MM buyout of a $30MM vesting option for the 2024 campaign. (Cabrera’s option would only vest if he finished in the top ten of MVP award voting in 2023, which is obviously extremely unlikely).

Still, it wasn’t out of the question Cabrera could’ve looked for another opportunity in free agency over the 2023-24 offseason. Instead, it seems he’s content to wrap things up once his time with the Tigers comes to an end. In addition to reaching 500 home runs, Cabrera should record his 3000th hit at some point over the next calendar year (he’s at 2958 currently). As he mentioned, Cabrera will also reach twenty years of MLB service time in 2023, assuming the Tigers keep him on the roster through the end of his deal. Reaching those milestones over the coming seasons will symbolically cement his status as one of the greatest hitters of all time.

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