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Tigers Reinstate Jordan Zimmermann, Select Nick Ramirez

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The Tigers have reinstated right-hander Jordan Zimmermann from the injured list and selected lefty Nick Ramirez, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com tweets. In other moves, they optioned righties John Schreiber and Kyle Funkhouser and moved a pair of players – righty Ivan Nova and outfielder JaCoby Jones – to the 45-day IL.

Zimmermann, out all season with forearm issues, will make his 2020 debut with a start against the Cardinals on Thursday. Surprisingly, the 34-year-old will rejoin a team with at least a glimmer of a playoff chance as the regular season runs out of time. The Tigers haven’t qualified for the playoffs in any season since they signed Zimmermann, a former Nationals standout, to a five-year, $110MM contract before 2016, but they’re alive this year with a 19-22 record.

Of course, the failed Zimmermann deal is among the many reasons Detroit has struggled so much in recent years. Zimmermann has only given the Tigers 508 2/3 innings of 5.61 ERA/4.86 FIP ball so far. No matter how this season ends, though, Zimmermann seems likely to end up in search of a new organization soon as a pending free agent.

Ramirez, 31, made his major league debut with the Tigers last year and performed respectably, recording a 4.07 ERA/4.51 FIP across 79 2/3 innings from their bullpen. He logged 8.36 K/9, 3.95 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent groundball rate in the process.

Tigers Promote Daz Cameron

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The Tigers have promoted outfielder Daz Cameron to the major leagues, the team announced.  Cameron will take the open roster spot left by Christin Stewart, who was optioned to the Tigers’ alternate training site last night.

Chosen by the Astros as the 37th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Cameron was traded to Detroit as part of the Justin Verlander blockbuster in August 2017.  Cameron has hit .247/.338/.396 with 37 homers and 109 steals (in 156 chances) over 1971 career minor league plate appearances, with a significant amount of swing-and-miss (509 strikeouts) contributing to this offensive inconsistency.  At Triple-A, Cameron has hit only .214/.321/.370 over 590 PA.

These offensive struggles have led to a drop in Cameron’s prospect value, after he gained top-100 notice from pundits prior to the 2016 season.  MLB Pipeline’s scouting report, however, notes that Cameron’s “speed and line-drive approach make him a strong candidate to take advantage of Comerica Park’s deep outfield gaps.”

Cameron could also be a plus on the defensive side in that big Detroit outfield, as he has mostly played center field in the minors and displayed some quality glovework.  If Cameron is able to step into center field on at least a part-time basis, the hot-hitting Victor Reyes could be moved back to corner outfield duty, perhaps sliding into the left field spot mostly filled by Stewart this season.  Reyes took over center field after JaCoby Jones was lost for the season due to a fractured hand.

Stewart was drafted just three picks ahead of Cameron in 2015, and though Stewart put up some big numbers in the minors, the 26-year-old has yet to truly display that hitting prowess against MLB pitching.  After batting just .233/.305/.388 in 416 PA with the Tigers in 2019, Stewart’s numbers sunk even further this season, with a .171/.233/.317 slash line over 91 PA.

Tigers Place Niko Goodrum On 10-Day Injured List

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The Tigers have placed shortstop Niko Goodrum on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  The placement is retroactive to September 2.  Infielder Sergio Alcantara has been recalled from the Tigers’ alternate training site to take Goodrum’s spot on the active roster.

After impressing as a super-utilityman in his first two seasons in Detroit, Goodrum has exclusively played shortstop this season with rather mixed results.  In the field, Goodrum has been more than solid, with an +8.7 UZR/150 and +2 Defensive Runs Saved in 248 innings at shortstop that backs up his similar numbers at the position (over 326 2/3 innings) in 2019.

At the plate, however, Goodrum has hit only .186/.264/.381 over 129 PA — a big step down from his unspectacular but serviceable .247/.318/.427 slash line over 964 PA in 2018-19.  The switch-hitting Goodrum is posting similar hard-contact numbers from 2019, but there is much more swing-and-miss in his game, as his strikeout rate has ballooned from 29.2% in 2019 to 38.8% in 2020.

Manager Ron Gardenhire suggested (to the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other media) that Goodrum could potentially only hit right-handed for the remainder of the year, as the oblique only bothers the shortstop when he swings from the left side.  Given the lingering nature of oblique injuries, it can’t be ruled out that Goodrum has played his last game of 2020, though it’s obviously a good sign that the problem isn’t entirely limiting.  Willi Castro will step in as the Tigers’ regular shortstop while Goodrum is sidelined.

Tigers Designate David McKay For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that they’ve designated right-hander David McKay for assignment. His roster spot will go to infielder Zack Short, whom the Tigers acquired from the Cubs for outfielder Cameron Maybin on Monday.

The 25-year-old McKay is in his second season with the Detroit organization, which claimed him off waivers from the Mariners in August 2019. He tossed a third of an inning with the Tigers this year and 19 1/3 last season, adding to the seven frames he threw as a Mariner. McKay hasn’t produced with either team, though, evidenced by his 6.08 ERA and 6.1 BB/9.

While McKay has done well racking up strikeouts in the majors (11.5 per nine) and at Triple-A (14.9 K/9), he has also had difficulty preventing runs and limiting walks at the minors’ highest level. He does have two minor league options left, though, so teams looking for an affordable and young bullpen option could take a chance on him in the coming days.

Recent Player Pool Additions: Tigers, Rangers, Rays, Pirates, Phillies

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The flurry of trades leading up to the deadline created some vacancies in teams’ player pools, and we’ve continued to see a few clubs add prospects to their ranks even in the days since the deadline as they look to get said players some vital developmental reps late in the season. Here’s a look at some of the latest additions around the league…

  • Outfielder Parker Meadows and right-handers Logan Shore, Jason Foley and Alex Lange have all been added to the Tigers’ pool, the team announced Thursday morning. Meadows, the No. 44 pick in 2018 and the younger brother of Rays star Austin Meadows, is the most highly regarded of the bunch. He posted strong numbers that summer but struggled in his first full season, slashing .221/.296/.312 against older competition in Class-A. He’s ranked 13th among Detroit prospects at MLB.com and at FanGraphs. Lange, 24, was the better of the two pitching prospects acquired from the Cubs in the trade that sent Nick Castellanos to Chicago last year. He’s pitched as a high as Double-A already and could be an option for the Tigers by next year. Foley was an undrafted free agent in ’16 who missed the 2018 season due to injury but returned with solid numbers in Class-A Advanced last year. Shore, a former second-round pick of the A’s, was sent to Detroit as a PTBNL in 2018’s Mike Fiers trade. Shore’s changeup is considered a potentially plus pitch, but the rest of his arsenal isn’t regarded nearly as highly.

Earlier Additions

  • The Rangers announced that infielder Davis Wendzel, outfielder Bubba Thompson and outfielder Steele Walker were all added to their 60-man pool this week. Wendzel was the No. 41 overall pick in the 2019 draft, while Thompson was selected 26th overall back in 2017. Wendzel saw just seven pro games after being drafted last year, so he’s still relatively light on overall professional experience. Thompson had a strong 2018 campaign in his first year of pro ball but saw his production crater in Class-A Advanced last year. He fared better in the Arizona Fall League, however. The 24-year-old Walker was a second-rounder of the White Sox back in 2018 but was traded to Texas over the winter in exchange for Nomar Mazara. He hit .284/.361/.451 in 525 plate appearances across Class-A and Class-A Advanced last year.
  • Infield prospect Greg Jones was added to the Rays’ player pool, per a club announcement. Tampa Bay selected the now-22-year-old Jones with the No. 22 pick out of UNC Wilmington in 2019. He posted a .335/.413/.461 slash in 48 games and 218 plate appearances with the Rays’ short-season Class-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League, although that wasn’t a particularly aggressive initial assignment for a college bat. The success is still notable, of course, and he’ll get some additional simulated game reps and face time with coaches over the season’s final month.
  • The Pirates added 2019 first-rounder Quinn Priester to their player pool earlier this week, MLBTR has learned. The Illinois native was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft and logged 36 2/3 innings between Rookie ball and short-season Class-A last year. Priester pitched to a 3.19 ERA in that time with a 41-to-14 K/BB ratio and a hefty 59.1 percent ground-ball rate. He’s considered to be one of the organization’s best two to three best pitching prospects.
  • The Phillies added former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak to their player pool a day prior to the trade deadline. As Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted at the time, it was possible the timing of the move was sheer coincidence and not part of any scheme to trade the 22-year-old outfielder. Moniak had been rehabbing a knee injury, Salisbury wrote, and he’d progressed to the point where he’s able to work at the Phillies’ alternate training site rather than rehab at their Spring Training complex. Moniak hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 billing, but he did post better-than-average numbers against much more advanced pitching in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting last year. His .252/.303/.439 slash doesn’t look like much, but that checked in 15 percent better than average in the Eastern League, per wRC+.

Tigers Promote Derek Hill

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The Tigers are calling up former first-round pick Derek Hill to make his MLB debut in the wake of JaCoby Jones’ season-ending hand fracture, manager Ron Gardenhire announced in an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket this morning (Twitter link).

Hill, 24, hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft status and only ranks 28th among Detroit farmhands at Baseball America. However, he’s a game-changing defender with excellent speed who’ll be tasked with at least helping to replace the quietly productive Jones. Hill spent last season in Double-A, where he posted a .243/.311/.394 batting line that actually checked in better than the league average in that extremely pitcher-friendly setting (108 wRC+). He slugged a career-best 14 home runs and swiped 21 bases as well, but a 27.9 percent strikeout rate also serves to underscore the concerns that scouts harbor with regard to his hit tool.

Even if Hill doesn’t prove himself capable of holding down an everyday role with the Tigers, his speed and high-end glove create the potential for him to be a fixture on the team’s roster for the next few years. A platoon arrangement seems unlikely, as the right-handed-hitting Hill has generally fared better against righties than lefties in the minors, but he could nevertheless be a valuable fourth outfielder with some power, above-average speed and strong glovework to back up at any of the three outfield slots as necessary.

The Tigers have won six straight games to boost their record to 17-16, leaving them just one game back of the Blue Jays for the No. 8 seed in the American League under this year’s expanded postseason format.

JaCoby Jones Fractures Left Hand

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10:51pm: Manager Ron Gardenhire said the Tigers expect Jones to miss the rest of the season, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic tweets.

9:58pm: Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones exited the team’s game Tuesday after taking a pitch from the Brewers’ Phil Bickford off the left hand. It turns out Jones suffered a fracture, the Tigers announced.

With just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, this should bring Jones’ 2020 to a close. If so, this will be the second straight year in which a fractured has ended Jones’ season. He went down in August 2019 after suffering a fractured left wrist on a hit by pitch.

Unlike last season, the Tigers actually have something to play for this year, making Jones’ injury that much more of a blow. After crushing the Brewers on Tuesday, they improved to 17-16 just one year after finishing with the majors’ worst record. The 28-year-old Jones has certainly factored into the Tigers’ unexpected turnaround, having batted .268/.333/.515 with five home runs in 108 plate appearances, though he has cooled off after a torrid start to the campaign.

Unfortunately, Detroit’s outfield has now taken multiple hits this week, which could decrease its chances of continuing this Cinderella run. The club weakened its depth in the grass Monday when it traded Cameron Maybin to the Cubs prior to the deadline. The Tigers then replaced Jones on Tuesday with Travis Demeritte, who took over in right field as Victor Reyes slid to center. Aside from Jones, Reyes is the only Tiger who has played multiple games in center this season.

AL Central Trade Deadline Recap

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With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each AL Central team’s trade activity over the past month.

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Minnesota Twins

Cubs Acquire Cameron Maybin

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The Cubs have acquired outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Tigers, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan.  The Cubs will send infielder Zack Short to the Tigers in return, according to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News.

Maybin, 33, has been about league average in his brief 45 plate appearances for the Tigers this year after signing as a free agent in February.  He missed time early in the month with a quad strain.  The Tigers’ 10th overall pick way back in 2005, Maybin has created value in a utility role in recent years.  He posted a 127 wRC+ for the Yankees in 2019, and is able to handle all three outfield positions.  A 14-year veteran, Maybin is owed about $225K on the season.

Maybin is the Cubs’ second bench bat addition in two days, as they picked up Jose Martinez from the Rays yesterday.  The Cubs’ depth was a bit compromised with Steven Souza Jr. on the IL for a hamstring strain and Kris Bryant out with a sprained finger and sore wrist.  The first-place Cubs have been otherwise focused on the bullpen today, adding lefties Andrew Chafin and Josh Osich in trades.

Short, 25, reached Triple-A in 2019 as a middle infielder.  Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Short 28th among Cubs prospects, citing “a consistent blend of strong defensive skills and sneaky impact at the plate.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers Claim Dereck Rodriguez

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The Tigers announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Dereck Rodriguez from the Giants, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. He’s been optioned to the team’s alternate training site.

Rodriguez, the son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, will get a new opportunity with an organization for which his father starred from 2004-08. The right-hander went from minor league signee to breakout rotation member with San Francisco in 2018 when he turned in 118 1/3 frames of 2.81 ERA ball, but he’s gone considerably backwards since that excellent rookie effort. Dating back to the 2019 season, Rodriguez has pitched to an ugly 5.94 ERA with 23 home runs and 39 walks in 103 innings pitched.

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