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Tigers Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Contract

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Miguel Diaz is heading back to Motown as the Tigers announced that the right-hander has been signed to a minor league contract.  Diaz pitched for the Tigers in 2022-23 before being claimed off waivers from the Astros in early April.

That stint in Houston resulted in just a single Major League appearance, as Diaz threw a perfect inning of mop-up relief work in an 10-2 Astros loss to the Rangers on April 5.  He otherwise pitched at Triple-A Sugar Land and didn’t have much success, struggling to a 9.64 ERA across 14 innings (13 appearances).  While Diaz didn’t help himself with a 15.2% strikeout rate, he also had the misfortune of a .392 BABIP and a 40% strand rate, explaining the big gap between his ERA and his much more favorable 3.63 FIP.

The Astros designated Diaz soon after his lone big league appearance, and he elected free agency but re-signed quickly on a new minor league deal.  The lack of results in the minors led Houston to release Diaz last week, and now the circle has been completed with his return to the Tigers organization.  Since Diaz is out of minor league options, the Tigers would have to designate him for assignment him again in the event that he is called up to the MLB roster and then the team wished to send him back down again to Triple-A Toledo.

The 29-year-old Diaz is a veteran of seven Major League seasons, with a 4.81 ERA over 127 1/3 career innings with San Diego, Detroit, and Houston.  His 41 2/3 innings in his 2017 rookie season with the Padres and his 42 innings with the 2022 Tigers represent the bulk of that resume, and Diaz has a respectable 24% career strikeout rate, albeit with some large year-to-year variance.  Diaz will give the Tigers some extra bullpen depth in the minors in the event of an injury in the big league relief corps, or if Detroit simply needs to cycle in a fresh arm.

Hank Foiles Passes Away

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Former All Star catcher Hank Foiles passed away late last month at the age of 94, as noted by various sources including Jami Frankenberry of The Virginian-Pilot. An veteran of 11 major league seasons, Foiles played for the Reds, Indians, Pirates, Athletics, Tigers, Orioles, and Angels throughout his time in the big leagues.

Foiles started his professional career at the age of 19 as a member of the Yankees organization back in 1948, but he didn’t make his big league debut for several years. He was selected in the 1951 Rule 5 draft by the Reds but didn’t make his big league debut with the club until 1953. He appeared in just 12 games at the big league level that season between Cincinnati and Cleveland and collected three hits across his first 20 major league at-bats. Foiles wouldn’t play at the big league level in 1954 but split time with Hal Naragon as the backup to five-time All Star Jim Hegan in 1955. In 132 plate appearances that year, Foiles hit .261 with a solid .354 on-base percentage.

Foiles would appear in just one more game with Cleveland before being traded to Pittsburgh during the 1956 season. Although he had a down season at the plate during his first year with the club, his years in Pittsburgh would prove to be the most significant of his career as he earned the everyday catching job for the Pirates in 1957 and 1958. Foiles made the lone All Star appearance of his career in 1957 when he combined his glove-first profile with above average offense to slash .270/.352/.431 in 109 games.

On the 1957 NL All Star team, he joined legends of the game such as Stan Musial, Frank Robinson, and Henry Aaron opposite AL legends like Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams. Foiles pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth inning with Willie Mays on third base and drew a wild pitch to score Mays and bring the NL within two before delivering a single against longtime White Sox ace Billy Pierce. Foiles later scored from second on a single by Ernie Banks, though the NL would go on to lose the game 6-5.

Foiles would remain in Pittsburgh for two more seasons following his All Star season, and though his offense took step backward with a .209/.314/.355 line between the next two campaigns, he nonetheless made 157 appearances and 402 trips to the plate across those two seasons. 1960 saw Foiles change organizations multiple times, as he was traded from the Pirates to the then-Kansas City Athletics during the 1959-60 offseason but appeared in just six games with the club before being returned to the Pirates. He was then traded to Cleveland to act as their back-up catcher before a late July deal sent him to the Tigers. He finished the 1960 season in Detroit but was selected in the Rule V Draft for the second time that November, putting him in five different organizations over the course of one calendar year.

Over the next two years, Foiles would find his groove at the plate again as a back-up catcher for the Orioles and Reds with a combined slash line of .275/.338/.482 across 43 games. Foiles found himself on the move again in 1963 when he joined the Angels, and he appeared in 45 games for the club over the next two seasons with a roughly league average slash line of .216/.289/.386. He played his final game in the big leagues just a month before his 35th birthday on May 2, 1964. A career .243/.321/.392 hitter who appeared in 608 big league games, Foiles tallied 353 hits, 46 home runs, and 166 RBI during a solid major league career.

We at MLBTR offer our condolences to the Foiles family and to his friends, fans, and others who are mourning him around the game.

Tigers Trade Buddy Kennedy To Phillies

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10:33am: The Tigers have now announced that Kennedy has been traded to the Phillies in exchange for cash.

Kennedy becomes the latest depth addition for a Phillies club that has acquired non-roster players such as Ruben Cardenas and Jonah Dipoto in a pair of cash swaps. Philadelphia also recently plucked right-hander Freddy Tarnok off waivers from the A’s.

The Phillies already had an open spot on the 40-man roster after minor league infielder Jose Rodriguez was suspended for one year amid MLB’s recent wave of bans for betting on baseball. Kennedy will both take Rodriguez’s roster spot and replenish the infield depth lost with Rodriguez’s placement on the restricted list.

10:25am: Evan Woodbery of MLive reports on X that the MLB.com transaction log was not accurate. MLB.com has subsequently removed Kennedy’s outright from its transaction log.

9:52am: The Tigers have sent infielder Buddy Kennedy outright to Triple-A Toledo, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Kennedy, 25, has spent most of this season on optional assignment, with the Tigers giving him 13 plate appearances in six major league games. Combined with his time in Arizona in the previous two seasons, he now has a career batting line of .205/.294/.316 in 136 trips to the plate in the big leagues.

His larger body of work in the minors has been more impressive, though with a bit of a swoon this year. He slashed .287/.395/.455 on the farm over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, with wRC+ giving him a 119 for that three-year stretch. He drew walks in 14.3% of his plate appearances during that span while striking out just 20.2% of the time. He did that while playing a lot of second and third base, with some stints at first base and left field as well.

That minor league performance made him plenty popular in the past year. He was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks in September and bounced to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers on waiver claims.

But his performance has dipped a bit this year, as he has slashed .234/.331/.383 in Triple-A, production that leads to an 87 wRC+. His 11.7% walk rate is still strong but his strikeout rate is up a bit to 23.9%. Though he has been popular on the waiver wire, that tepid performance seems to have pushed him through unclaimed this time.

He was also outrighted by the Diamondbacks at the end of the 2022 season, which gives him the right to reject this assignment and head to the open market instead. If he eventually gets a roster spot back, with the Tigers or someone else, he can be optioned for the remainder of this season but will be out of options next year.

Tigers Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment, Release Keston Hiura

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The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, which was reported on yesterday. To open a spot on the active roster, they optioned first baseman Spencer Torkelson, a move that was also previously reported. To open a 40-man spot for Malloy, infielder Buddy Kennedy was designated for assignment. The Tigers also released first baseman Keston Hiura, with Torkelson taking over as the regular first baseman for Triple-A Toledo. Evan Woodbery of MLive was among those to relay the Hiura news on X.

Kennedy, 25, was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals in February. He has spent most of this year on optional assignment, only stepping to the plate 13 times in the big leagues. In 163 plate appearances for the Mud Hens, he has drawn walks at a strong rate of 11.7% but produced a tepid line of .234/.331/.383. That translates to a wRC+ of 88, indicating he’s been 12% below league average.

The Tigers will now have a week to trade Kennedy or pass him through waivers. If the past year is any indication, he should have plenty of interest around the league. Kennedy spent most of his career with the Diamondbacks until he was designated for assignment in September of last year. He then bounced to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers via waiver claims in the next few months.

The interest is understandable when looking at Kennedy’s combination of plate discipline and positional versatility. He’s always drawn a fair amount of walks, taking a free pass 16.8% of the time with Arizona’s Triple-A club last year. He slashed .318/.444/.481 for Reno last year, a mark that led to a 133 wRC+ even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He’s also spent time at all four infield spots, though just two innings at shortstop, and has appeared in left field as well.

He is in his final option year but could be stashed in the minors for the next few months by any club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. The offense hasn’t been quite as impressive this year but it’s been a fairly small sample and he’s just a few months removed from being a popular waiver claim target. If he were to clear waivers, he has a previous career outright, which will give him the right to elect free agency rather than accept another outright assignment.

Hiura, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason and has been playing regularly for the Mud Hens. He has hit six home runs but also been punched out in 28.1% of his plate appearances. His .232/.312/.401 line translates to an 83 wRC+. That has generally been the formula with Hiura throughout his career. He has 50 major league home runs in 1,057 plate appearances but also has a massive 36% strikeout rate in the big leagues.

With Torkelson now taking over the first base gig for Toledo, Hiura will return to the open market and see what opportunities are out there for him. He hasn’t been in especially good form this year but the power potential is always intriguing.

Tigers To Option Spencer Torkelson To Triple-A

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The Tigers will be sending first baseman Spencer Torkelson down to Triple-A prior to tomorrow’s game with the Rangers, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.  The move opens up a 26-man roster spot for Justyn-Henry Malloy, whose impending promotion to the big leagues was reported by Petzold earlier today.

Torkelson didn’t play in two of the Tigers’ last three games, and prior to today’s 8-4 win over the Red Sox, Detroit manager A.J. Hinch have a rather non-committal answer when asked if optioning Torkelson to the minors was a possibility.  As it turned out, the speculation was correct, and Torkelson will now head for Triple-A Toledo for the first time since his 2022 season.

In July of that year, Torkelson was hitting only .197/.282/.295 when the Tigers sent him back to the minors for six weeks to try and get on track.  While he didn’t hit much better after being recalled in September, some improvement was evident last season, when Torkelson hit .233/.313/.446 with 31 home runs over 684 plate appearances.  This translated to a respectable 107 wRC+, and given that Torkelson had some of the best hard-hit ball and barrel rates in the league, there was plenty of optimism that he would fully break out in his third MLB season.

Unfortunately for Torkelson and the Tigers, his numbers have sharply swung in the other direction.  Torkelson has only a 71 wRC+ from four homers and a .201/.266/.330 slash line, and his hard-contact metrics and walk rates have all swung well below the league average.  Things have gotten particularly dire over Torkelson’s last 10 games, with just three hits to show from his last 40 trips to the plate.

This deep slump left the Tigers no choice but to see if the first overall pick of the 2020 draft can again find himself with a stint in the minors.  Torkelson’s option comes even with Kerry Carpenter on the 15-day injured list and possibly facing an extended layoff due to a stress fracture in his back, yet given his numbers, the argument can certainly be made that the Tigers’ lineup would be improved rather further hampered if someone besides Torkelson took over at first base.

Torkelson entered the season with one full year and 137 days of MLB service time.  Another full season in the majors would have put Torkelson in very good position to earn Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility, based on where the Super Two threshold has usually fallen over the last 15 seasons.  While the thresholds have trended a bit lower over the last five years, spending even a month in Toledo could take Torkelson out of the Super Two conversation altogether.

This is undoubtedly a concern for Torkelson and his reps at the Boras Corporation, and Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris surely considered the Super Two implications among the many factors involved in the decision to option Torkelson to Triple-A.  What both parties can agree on, however, is that Torkelson’s future earning potential will will be even more adversely impacted if he can’t consistently hit Major League pitching, so some time in the minors might be necessary at this still-early stage in Torkelson’s career.  It shouldn’t be overlooked at Torkelson is still not even 25 years old, and his baseball development already had the unexpected roadblock of the canceled 2020 minor league season.

Mark Canha, Gio Urshela, or Andy Ibanez could get some time at first base as Detroit will now shuffle its lineup around in search of more overall production.  Malloy figures to play as a corner outfielder or DH, and if Urshela starts playing more often at first base, it opens up more third-base playing time for the hot-hitting Matt Vierling, who is currently in a timeshare at third base and center field.

Tigers Notes: Carpenter, Canha, Harris, Spending

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1:03PM: Canha told reporters (including Petzold) and other reporters that he has a strain of his psoas muscle, but the injury “feels a lot better today” than it did Friday.  Canha won’t play today but intends to be in Sunday’s lineup, and coming out of that game in good health could determine whether or not an IL stint is needed.

9:45AM: Kerry Carpenter was placed on the Tigers’ 10-day injured list earlier this week with what was described as lumbar spine inflammation, but the issue has unfortunately proven to be more serious.  The club announced on Friday that Carpenter “is currently completing rehab for a lumbar spine stress fracture,” with no recovery timeline provided.  Manager A.J. Hinch could have more details during his pregame chat with media later today, but it would appear as though Carpenter will be sidelined for at least a month, and potentially quite longer depending on the severity of the fracture.

It’s tough news for the 26-year-old Carpenter, who has quietly been Detroit’s best hitter since he made his MLB debut during the 2022 season.  After hitting .273/.334/.474 with 26 homers in 572 plate appearances in 2022-23, Carpenter has taken it up another level this year, with a hefty 154 wRC+ from a slash line of .283/.342/.572 and eight home runs in his first 163 PA.

Carpenter’s production has again stood out within a Tigers lineup that has struggled to generate consistent offense.  Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez have earned more playing time due to their solid numbers, while among the players projected to be regulars going into the season, Riley Greene and Mark Canha are the only other batters besides Carpenter who have hit well.  However, Canha’s status is also a question mark after he was scratched from Friday’s lineup due to soreness in his left hip.

“It’s been bothering me for a week or so,” Canha told reporters, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.  “It was getting worse and worse and today was the pinnacle.  It got to a point where I had to shut it down.”

For now, Canha is day to day, though he has undergone testing to see if a more serious problem is causing the hip discomfort.  Acquired in a trade with the Brewers last November, Canha has delivered a 120 wRC+ (.247/.358/.401 with six home runs) in his first 215 PA in a Tigers uniform, bouncing around between the DH spot, both corner outfield positions, and some occasional work at first base.  Canha’s numbers have generally been down in May, though one of his best hitting stretches of the season has actually come over the last week of play, when he was hampered by his hip injury.

Needless to say, the Tigers would be hard-pressed to lose both Carpenter and Canha for any notable length of time.  Removing both hitters would put more pressure on Greene, Vierling, and Perez to stay hot, and increase the pressure on Detroit’s many struggling hitters to get on track.  Colt Keith and the Jake Rogers/Carson Kelly catching tandem have started to pick it up after dismal starts to the season, but quite a bit more will be required to dig the Tigers out of their early hole in the AL Central race.  A trendy dark horse pick to win the division heading into the season, the Tigers sit in fourth place with a 28-29 record, 10 games behind the first-place Guardians.

While Detroit still has four months of regular season to cut into that deficit, it is fair to wonder if the clock is really closer to two months, as in the July 30 trade deadline.  The Tigers could conceivably be deadline sellers if they remain around .500 and the Guardians (or the surprising Royals, or the reigning division champion Twins) have all continued to pull away from the pack.  Even if the Tigers do get back into the race, it isn’t clear just how aggressive they might be in making potential additions at the deadline, given that president of baseball operations Scott Harris again reiterated earlier this week that the organization isn’t yet planning any significant payroll boost.

“We’re not quite there yet as far as spending at that level because we need to build the foundation of this team to put us in a position to supplement it with free agent signings in the upcoming winters,” Harris said in an MLB Network interview with Brian Kenny (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press).  “I have confidence that the resources will be there. The Ilitch family has always supported the Tigers, and they are ready and eager to do it….We just have to develop the core that we’re going to spend around, and we also have to target the players in upcoming winters that can really help us.”

The Tigers’ payroll has naturally dropped as the club has undergone a lengthy rebuilding period, and Detroit hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since going 86-75 in 2016.  The splashy signings of Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez during the 2021-22 offseason seemed to indicate that the rebuild was over, yet multiple pitching injuries and a near team-wide offensive slump resulted in a 96-loss season.  Former GM Al Avila was fired in August 2022, leading to Harris’ hiring a month later as the person tasked with finally getting the Motor City back into contention.

The end of Miguel Cabrera’s contract removed the Tigers’ biggest financial commitment from the books last winter, plus Rodriguez departed to sign with the Diamondbacks (for four years and $80MM) after opting out of the last three years and $49MM on his Tigers contract.  Still, the team didn’t reinvest those savings back into the roster, as the Tigers opened the season with a payroll of roughly $97.6MM, and only made modest spends this past winter on Canha and free agents Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty.

Baez’s struggles have only worsened over his three seasons in Detroit, and the heretofore disastrous nature of that contract acts as a cautionary tale for those critical of Harris’ measured approach to spending.  That said, Petzold notes that Tarik Skubal’s remaining years of arbitration control (through the 2026 season) might serve as a window for the Tigers to make a push to contend, since Skubal has emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball this season.  Other promising young starters as well as Greene, Carpenter, and Keith might already form a good enough core to contend, and if Harris and ownership hold off on bigger spending until even more prospects arrive and get established, the timeline might extend past Skubal’s time with the team.  Of course, locking up Skubal to a big extension would be a way for the Tigers to both increase payroll and secure a core player in a single move.

Tigers Place Kerry Carpenter On Injured List, Call Up Keider Montero For MLB Debut

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The Tigers have placed outfielder Kerry Carpenter on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back injury and recalled right-hander Keider Montero as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Pirates, per a team announcement. (Montero’s promotion was first reported on X by Tigers Torkmoil.) Outfielder Akil Baddoo was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take Carpenter’s spot on the roster. Montero will start Game 2 of today’s twin bill.

Carpenter tells the Tigers beat that he began experiencing back discomfort over the weekend and hasn’t seen improvement yet (X link via Jason Beck of MLB.com). The team is terming his injury “lumbar spine inflammation.” He last played in a game on May 26, so the IL placement is backdated to May 27. If it proves to be a minor issue, he’ll be eligible for a return eight days from now, though the Tigers haven’t given any indication as to how long he might miss.

Subtracting the 26-year-old Carpenter from the Detroit lineup is a significant blow. He’s not as well known as more hyped prospects like outfield-mate Riley Greene, but Carpenter has burst onto the big league scene and cemented himself as a middle-of-the-order presence. Dating back to his 2022 debut, Carpenter has turned in a stout .275/.336/.495 batting line — including a huge .283/.345/.572 slash and eight homers in 163 plate appearances this season. He’s generally struggled against left-handed opponents but has tormented righties with a career .288/.345/.535 output.

With Carpenter sidelined, the Tigers will give more playing time to lefty-swinging Zach McKinstry and to Baddoo against right-handed opponents. Neither should be expected to replicate Carpenter’s production, but Baddoo was hitting a strong .260/.368/.486 in Toledo (119 wRC+) and is a career .237/.322/.406 hitter against righties in the big leagues.

As for the 23-year-old Montero, this will be his first major league call. He signed with Detroit out of Venezuela in 2016 and was added to the 40-man roster last offseason to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency. Montero spent a half decade in the low minors before breaking into the upper levels last season, climbing from High-A to Triple-A by year’s end.

Monerto took the ball 27 times and logged 127 1/3 innings. A pedestrian 4.66 ERA belied a more impressive 29.1% strikeout rate. The Tigers were concerned enough about losing him in the Rule 5 draft to put him on the 40-man roster. Baseball America ranked him as the organization’s #13 prospect over the winter, crediting him with good control and an arsenal headlined by a mid-90s fastball.

Montero has spent the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Toledo. Over nine starts, he has a 4.40 ERA. The 6’1″ righty has fanned almost 27% of batters faced while issuing walks at an uncharacteristically high 12.7% clip. Montero last pitched on May 21 and was slated to take the ball for Toledo on Tuesday. The Tigers scratched him from the scheduled appearance after their game was postponed, when they needed to add another arm for the doubleheader.

In all likelihood, they’ll return Montero to Triple-A after his debut. They’re set in the rotation at the moment with Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Kenta Maeda and Casey Mize. Righty Matt Manning has been the team’s sixth starter and still figures to be above Montero on the depth chart. It’s nevertheless a momentous occasion for Montero, whose spot on the 40-man could get him a few looks over the course of the season if injuries or the schedule force Detroit to lean on their depth.

Tigers Notes: Maeda, Manning, Hopkins, Garko

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Kenta Maeda made his return to the Tigers rotation this evening. Detroit reinstated the veteran right-hander from the 15-day injured list, optioning Matt Manning to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move. Maeda took the ball against the Blue Jays, working five scoreless innings.

Maeda was down for the minimal two weeks after battling an illness. Signed to a two-year free agent deal last offseason, he has struggled to a 5.80 ERA over his first eight starts. His 15.8% strikeout rate is well down from the 27.3% mark he managed during his final season with the Twins. He has also surrendered nine homers over 35 2/3 innings, a lofty 2.27 longballs per nine. Most of the damage has been concentrated over three bad starts. Maeda has given up at least six runs in a trio of outings and no more than three runs in his other five starts.

Despite Maeda’s inconsistency, Detroit has gotten generally solid rotation work. Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson and Jack Flaherty have been anywhere from solid to excellent. Casey Mize has a more pedestrian 4.57 ERA through nine outings. Manning has been the clear #6 option on the depth chart, starting five games around a trio of stints in the minors. He has only managed a 4.88 ERA over five MLB appearances but has a 3.79 mark with a huge 31.6% strikeout rate in 19 Triple-A innings.

While Maeda’s return is the bigger injury news for the Tigers, they did lose a couple depth players this week. The team informed reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive) that minor league reliever Blair Calvo and outfielder TJ Hopkins are out for the season. Both players recently underwent surgery to repair labrum tears in their right shoulders.

Calvo and Hopkins each made their big league debuts in 2023, though both players have subsequently been outrighted from the 40-man roster. Calvo made one MLB appearance for the Rockies and had only pitched twice for Detroit’s Double-A affiliate. Hopkins, whom the Tigers claimed off waivers from the Giants in February, appeared in 25 big league contests for the Reds last year. He’d been hitting .190/.326/.329 in Double-A.

The Tigers also announced some off-field news this afternoon. Detroit promoted Ryan Garko from vice president of player development to assistant general manager. The former big league first baseman has worked with the Tigers’ farm system since he was hired in September 2021. He joins Sam Menzin, Jay Sartori and Rob Metzler as assistant GMs. They’re behind baseball operations president Scott Harris and first-year general manager Jeff Greenberg in the front office hierarchy.

Tigers Option Alex Lange

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The Tigers announced today that right-hander Alex Lange has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo. Fellow right-hander Mason Englert has been recalled from Toledo to take Lange’s spot on the roster for now.

The move highlights what a struggle the season has been for Lange so far this year. In 21 appearances on the season, he has a 4.34 earned run average. That’s obviously not a disastrous figure, but Lange has that mark despite not allowing a home run yet this year. He has struck out 23.3% of opponents but given out walks at a massive 18.9% rate. The lack of home runs has helped him strand baserunners at an unsustainable 54.3% rate.

It’s been a steep drop for a guy who was Detroit’s closer not too long ago. In 2022, he made 71 appearances with a 3.41 ERA, earning 21 holds in the process. His 11.4% walk rate was on the high side but he struck out 30.3% of batter’s faced and got grounders on 55.6% of balls in play.

In 2023, the results were somewhat similar. He racked up 26 saves and six holds, posting a 3.68 ERA in 67 appearances, but with his peripherals moving the wrong way. His strikeout rate dropped a few ticks to 27.4%, his walk rate jumped to 15.6% and his grounder rate fell to 50.6%. As mentioned above, his strikeout and walk rates have continued trending in a concerning direction this year, with his ground ball rate also falling to 45.8%.

The growing control problems have clearly created some concern among Detroit’s decision makers and bumped Lange down the bullpen pecking order. Jason Foley has taken over the closer’s role with ten saves on the year, compared to two for Lange. Each of Andrew Chafin, Shelby Miller, Alex Faedo, Will Vest, Joey Wentz and Tyler Holton have picked up at least a couple of holds this season, while Lange has just one.

On top of being moved down the chart, he’s been bumped off the active roster entirely. He’ll head to Toledo to try to get a better handle on his stuff. “We decided the best place for him to go work on (strike-throwing) is in Toledo,” said manager A.J. Hinch, as relayed by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X. “Could be a short stint. We’ve sketched out his next week to 10 days.”

Getting Lange back on track would obviously be good for the Tigers, with the club currently 23-26 and in fourth place in the American League Central. Despite Lange’s struggles, their relief unit hasn’t been the problem overall. They have a collective 3.58 ERA that’s good enough for ninth in the league, but moving up even further would obviously be a welcome development.

For Lange personally, this isn’t likely to have a huge impact on him financially, assuming Hinch is correct in stating that this will be a short stint. Lange came into the season with his service time count at two years and 112 days. Since a new year rolls over at 172 days, Lange needs 60 here in 2024 to get over the three-year mark. He’s already accrued 56 days to this point, meaning he should easily get over the line as long as he’s recalled at some point, even if it’s for just a week or so.

If Lange gets hurt on optional assignment or the Tigers decide to keep him down due to continued struggles, that would change things. Coming up shy of three years of service would eliminate any chance Lange has of getting to free agency after 2027. It would also prevent him from qualifying for arbitration if he’s under three years. Since he’s just under the three-year line, he would normally be in line for Super Two status, but only players with 86 days of service in the immediately preceding season can qualify for Super Two. Lange is shy of that right now but it would be a moot point if he is recalled and gets over the three-year line at any point, since he would automatically qualify for arbitration at that point.

Mets Claim Ty Adcock From Tigers

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The Mets announced that right-hander Ty Adcock has been claimed off waivers from the Tigers and been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. The righty had been designated for assignment by Detroit on the weekend. The Mets had a couple of open spots on their 40-man roster after Joey Wendle and Yohan Ramírez were both designated for assignment last week. This move will bring their count up to 39.

Adcock, 27, has been bouncing around the league this year. He started the season with the Mariners but was designated for assignment in early April and claimed by the Tigers, making this his second waiver claim and third organization of the year already.

Around those transactions, he has thrown 8 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level but with an 8.64 earned run average. He has struck out 25% of batters faced but some runs have been helped across the plate by a 13.6% walk rate, a .375 batting average on balls in play and a couple of home runs.

The Mets are clearly willing to overlook that ERA and are focusing more on the bigger picture. Adcock was drafted in 2019 but had his debut delayed by the minor leagues being canceled in 2020 and then Tommy John surgery in April of 2021. He made it back to the mound briefly in 2022 but last year was a sort of breakout for him.

Adcock tossed 20 2/3 innings on the farm in 2023 with a 1.74 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate. He also had a 3.45 ERA in 15 2/3 big league innings, averaging 96.6 miles per hour on his fastball in the process.

The Mets had a couple of open roster spots, as mentioned, and Adcock has a couple of option years remaining. Despite his shaky results this year, there’s little harm in sending him to Triple-A and seeing if he can get back into his 2023 form going forward.

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