Tigers Rumors

Injury Notes: Rangers, Tigers, Treinen, Martin

By Nick Deeds | March 9, 2024 at 6:15pm CDT

Orthopedic surgeon and Rangers head physician Dr. Keith Meister recently spoke to Ken Rosenthal and Eno Sarris of The Athletic to discuss the increasing number of injuries around the game, which he suggests could be due to the prevalence of sweepers and hard changeups in today’s game. Meister suggested to Rosenthal and Sarris that “spin is worse” than even velocity in terms of its impact on pitcher health, as both of the aforementioned pitches put additional stress on the pitcher’s arm. Rosenthal and Sarris went on to note that Meister shared his findings on the matter with league executives for a study focused on injury prevention, with the league intending to create a task force on the matter once the study is complete.

It seems as though players remain skeptical of the idea that certain breaking balls are creating an injury problem in the league, with Chris McCosky of The Detroit News noting that several Tigers pitchers seemed to hold reservations regarding the concept. Southpaw Tarik Skubal told McCosky that he believes velocity to have “more of a correlation” with injury than specific pitches, while adding that he doesn’t believe “any one thing” has led to the increase in pitcher injuries in recent years. One of the game’s most promising young lefties, Skubal was limited to just 36 starts across the past two seasons by flexor-tendon surgery. For their part, Rosenthal and Sarris note in their own article that many pitchers in the big leagues view injuries as an “occupational hazard” and are unbothered by the spiking injury rates around the game.

Those hurlers aren’t alone in uncertainty regarding Meister’s assertion, with Rosenthal and Sarris pointing out that while Meister suggests that increased grip strength is being used to improve spin rates at the expense of pitcher health, one pitching coach noted that “research is divided” on the correlation between grip strength and spin rates. Regardless of its cause, there’s no doubt that pitchers have been facing more injuries in recent years. Rosenthal and Sarris note that, per Meister, he operated upon around 230 elbow ligaments in 2023 and that this year is “way ahead” of that same pace. Lucas Giolito, Kodai Senga, and Justin Verlander are among the pitchers who have dealt with elbow and shoulder issues this spring, while the likes of Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Shane McClanahan, Brandon Woodruff and Shohei Ohtani are among the many top pitchers who will be sidelined for at least the first half of the 2024 campaign (if not longer) after undergoing surgery last year.

More injury-related notes from around the league…

Dodgers right-hander Blake Treinen was struck by a comebacker during today’s spring training game against Texas, with The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya among those to note that the Dodgers diagnosed the issue as a right rib contusion following Treinen’s departure from the game. Treinen is set to undergo both x-rays and a CT scan in the wake of the incident, with manager Dave Roberts indicating to reporters (including Ardaya) that the club will have more information on the right-hander’s status tomorrow. Treinen, 36 in June, has long been among the most talented relievers in the game but has struggled to stay on the field in recent years, pitching just five innings since the end of the 2021 season. Should he remain healthy enough to stay on the mound, he figures to be a key piece of the relief mix in L.A. alongside the likes of Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol.
Red Sox righty Chris Martin was pulled from a live batting practice session earlier today after a pair of warm-up pitches, with Chris Cotillo of MassLive indicating that, per manager Alex Cora, Martin was suffering from groin tightness. Cora added that the issue had “nothing” to do with Martin’s arm and that the club figures to re-evaluate Martin in the coming days. The soon-to-be 37-year-old hurler is coming off a dominant season on the mound for Boston last year where he posted a 1.05 ERA in 55 appearances. Martin has found his name in the rumor mill this winter as a potential trade candidate, and while it’s possible that the veteran’s groin issue could be a cause of concern for potential suitors, he appears less likely to be moved following the deal that sent fellow set-up option John Schreiber to the Royals and instead seems likely to join fellow veteran trade candidate Kenley Jansen at the back of the Red Sox bullpen to open the year.

Dodgers Acquire Andre Lipcius From Tigers

By Darragh McDonald | March 4, 2024 at 1:05pm CDT

The Tigers have traded infielder Andre Lipcius to the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations. He had been designated for assignment by Detroit last week. The Dodgers opened up a roster spot for him by transferring left-hander Clayton Kershaw to the 60-day injured list.

Lipcius, 26 in May, will join a new organization for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Tigers in the third round of the 2019 draft and was added to their 40-man roster in November of 2022. His major league experience thus far consists of 38 plate appearances over 13 games with the Tigers last year, hitting .286/.342/.400 in that time.

During his time in the minors, he has primarily profiled as a hit-over-power utility guy. Over the past three years, he has made 1487 minor league plate appearances at various levels, walking in 13% of them while limiting his strikeouts to a 17.9% clip. He hit 36 home runs in that time and slashed a combined .264/.360/.419 for a wRC+ of 110. He hasn’t played shortstop since 2019 but has continued to play the other three infield positions, as well as getting brief looks in the outfield corners.

The Tigers bumped Lipcius off their 40-man last week when they claimed another utility infielder, Buddy Kennedy. The Dodgers had a roster spot to burn as Kershaw had shoulder surgery in the offseason and isn’t expected back until the second half of the season. They sent a bit of cash to Detroit so that they could jump the waiver claim order and add Lipcius to their roster.

Lipcius still has a couple of options and will likely be serving as a depth piece in the minors to be called upon as needed. The Dodgers have Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman set to be their regular infielders, with Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández on hand as bench options. Lipcius will join Miguel Vargas and Andy Pages as optionable depth pieces on the roster.

Tigers Claim Buddy Kennedy, Designate Andre Lipcius

By Darragh McDonald | February 29, 2024 at 1:45pm CDT

The Tigers have claimed infielder Buddy Kennedy off waivers from the Cardinals, per announcements from both clubs. The Cards had designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Tigers designated infielder Andre Lipcius for assignment in a corresponding move.

Kennedy, 25, has 40 games of major league experience, all with the Diamondbacks. He has hit a mere .206/.293/.299 in his 123 major league plate appearances thus far, though that’s obviously a small sample size. But in Triple-A last year, his work was much more impressive. He walked more than he struck out, 16.8% walk rate versus a 16.3% strikeout rate, and slashed .318/.444/.481. That production was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but nonetheless translated to a 133 wRC+, indicating he was 33% better than league average.

The Snakes designated him for assignment in September and he has bounced to a few rosters since then. He was claimed off waivers by the Athletics towards the end of last season, then was claimed again by the Cardinals in October. That makes today his third waiver claim in the past six months.

The Tigers are likely intrigued by that minor league offense, as well as Kennedy’s positional versatility. He has played all three non-shortstop infield positions as well as a brief look in left field. He also has an option remaining, so they can keep him in Triple-A as depth if he doesn’t earn a spot on the active roster.

The Detroit infield is likely to be Gio Urshela, Javier Báez, Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson from left to right. There’s a bit of uncertainty there as Keith has yet to make his major league debut, Urshela missed the second half of 2023 due to a pelvic fracture and Báez is coming off the worst full season of his career. Their depth/bench options include Zach McKinstry, Matt Vierling, Andy Ibañez, Ryan Kreidler, Eddys Leonard and Wenceel Pérez. Many of those guys also play the outfield so the depth chart will likely be affected by overall health of the position player mix in Detroit. Kennedy will try to earn his way up the ladder, as long as he continues to hang onto a 40-man spot.

Lipcius, 26 in May, would have been in that mix as well but he has been bounced off the roster for now. He made his major league debut last year and put up a solid line of .286/.342/.400 but in just 38 plate appearances. His 419 Triple-A appearances finished with a walk 12.4% of the time and he produced a line of .272/.363/.419, though that only translated to a 99 wRC+ in last year’s robo-ump-aided environment.

It seems the Tigers preferred Kennedy to Lipcius, so they will now have one week to work something out with the latter, either a trade or passing him through waivers. Lipcius has always drawn plenty of walks in the minors and can also line up defensively all over the diamond. He hasn’t played shortstop since 2019 but played the other three infield spots last year and the outfield corners as well. That versatility and his keen eye at the plate could garner some interest around the league, especially with a couple of option years remaining. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would stick with the Tigers in a non-roster capacity.

Tigers Outright TJ Hopkins

By Darragh McDonald | February 25, 2024 at 4:05pm CDT

TODAY: Hopkins cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, the Tigers announced.

FEBRUARY 22: The Tigers announced that outfielder TJ Hopkins has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move for infielder Gio Urshela, who was signed to a one-year deal earlier today.

Hopkins, 27, was with the Reds last year but has been bouncing around the league in recent months. He was designated for assignment in December when Cincy signed Austin Wynns, later getting flipped to the Giants in a cash deal. He lasted a couple of months on the Giants’ roster but was designated assignment again in mid-February when that club acquired Otto López. The Tigers claimed him off waivers two days ago but he’s now received his third DFA of the offseason.

He made his major league debut last year but hit just .171/.227/.171 in 25 games. His 94-game showing in Triple-A was much more impressive as he drew walks at a 14% clip and hit 16 home runs, leading to a slash of .308/.411/.514 and a 134 wRC+. He’s mostly played left field but has experience at all three outfield slots.

He’s never really been a highly-touted prospect but it seems last year’s strong Triple-A showing is intriguing enough for several clubs to have acquired him. He still has two option years and could be a nice depth piece somewhere. The Tigers will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Based on the way his offseason has gone so far, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he landed on another roster. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Tigers as non-roster depth.

Mets Claim Kolton Ingram

By Mark Polishuk | February 25, 2024 at 3:33pm CDT

The Mets have claimed left-hander Kolton Ingram off waivers from the Tigers. Left-hander David Peterson was moved to New York’s 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Ingram was designated for assignment by Detroit earlier this week, and he’ll now be joining his third organization in under a month. The Angels DFA’ed Ingram when they signed Aaron Hicks at the end of January, and the Tigers moved to claim Ingram off waivers. The southpaw was initially a 37th-round Tigers draft pick back in 2019, but his second stint in the Motor City will last only a few weeks, as he now becomes the latest in a long line of Mets bullpen acquisitions this winter.

After first being cut loose by Detroit in 2020, Ingram caught on with the Angels prior to the 2021 season and posted some very solid numbers during his three seasons in the Los Angeles farm system. The work paid off in the form of Ingram’s MLB debut last season, when he pitched in five big league games over a pair of call-ups during the course of the year. For his first 5 1/3 frames in the Show, Ingram struggled to an 8.44 ERA with five walks and two homers allowed over 30 batters faced.

Control has been an issue throughout Ingram’s minor league career, though his 10.73% walk rate has been somewhat countered by a 30.21% strikeout rate. This ability to miss bats has been developed despite the lack of a big fastball, though Ingram has worked to increase his velocity and also develop a sweeper as a plus pitch. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press recently profiled Ingram, detailing his steps to continually retool his mechanics and approach in the aftermath of getting released in 2020.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns built a reputation for finding hidden-gem relief pitching during his time with the Brewers, and Stearns has been aggressive in a semi-overhaul of the bullpen during his first offseason in change of New York’s front office. Over a dozen relievers or swingmen with past Major League experienced have been acquired on either guaranteed or non-guaranteed deals this winter, as Stearns and the Mets’ pitching development staff will get to judge from a plethora of options this spring.

Peterson’s placement on the 60-day IL was expected, as he underwent hip surgery back in November. The left-hander’s recovery timeline is 6-7 months, so if all goes well, he should be back with the Mets in May or June.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Miller, Valera, Carpenter

By Mark Polishuk | February 24, 2024 at 1:24pm CDT

The Twins brought back four players from the Mariners in exchange for Jorge Polanco last month, though Minnesota’s first target was right-hander Bryce Miller, Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports. Miller and fellow rookie Bryan Woo were among the most sought-after trade targets of the winter, yet the Mariners weren’t eager to move either pitcher, or anyone from their crop of young and controllable starters. While Polanco fills a big need for Seattle at second base, he is only under team control through the 2025 season, so any kind of Polanco-for-Miller swap would’ve needed to be much different on Minnesota’s end to land Miller’s services.

Tigers Sign Gio Urshela

By Steve Adams | February 22, 2024 at 10:57pm CDT

The Tigers added to their infield on Thursday, announcing the signing of Gio Urshela to a one-year, $1.5MM guarantee. Detroit added that Urshela, a client of Rep 1 Baseball, would receive $100K bonuses at each of 500, 530, 560, 590 and 620 plate appearances. That pushes the deal’s maximum value to $2MM.

It’s the second instance this week of a veteran infielder agreeing to a $1.5MM free agent deal that falls well shy of what most pundits expected entering the offseason. Urshela’s deal matches the $1.5MM deal that Amed Rosario inked with the Rays on Tuesday. Detroit president of baseball operations Scott Harris recently suggested his club wasn’t likely to sign any “everyday-type” hitters to big league deals, citing a desire to commit to the wave of young prospects bubbling up to the majors. However, at this price point, Urshela was likely too enticing an opportunity for a team without a clear answer at third base.

Prior to this agreement, the Tigers looked to be preparing to begin the season with a platoon of Zach McKinstry and either Andy Ibanez or Matt Vierling at the hot corner. That pair would presumably hold things own until 2022 first-round pick Jace Jung worked his way to the big leagues.

The Tigers, perhaps not coincidentally, informed Jung today that he wouldn’t be making the Opening Day roster (X link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). They’ve also said fellow prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy will move off of third base and focus exclusively on outfield work. The addition of Urshela gives the Tigers a viable everyday option at third base while Jung finishes off his development — or at the very least provides a strong right-handed bat to complement with the lefty-swinging McKinstry.

Beyond the fit at third base, Urshela provides insurance in other ways. He’s played some shortstop in the big leagues, including 71 innings with the Angels in 2023, and could step in for Javier Baez at times. He also gives Detroit a veteran to be leaned upon in the event that top prospect Colt Keith, who signed a six-year extension before making his MLB debut and is expected to open the year as the Tigers’ second baseman, struggles early on. Urshela could handle second base himself or take up a more prominent role at the hot corner, with McKinstry sliding over to second base should Keith ultimately be determined to be in need of some more time in the minors.

Based on track record alone, Urshela was a candidate for a multi-year deal — and he’d likely have been a lock for one had he been fully healthy last season. Dating back to a 2019 breakout with the Yankees, he carries a .291/.335/.452 batting line in 1871 trips to the plate. He’s struck out at an 18.9% clip overall in that time but improved his bat-to-ball skills over the past two seasons between Anaheim and Minnesota; since Opening Day 2022 he’s fanned in just 16.9% of his plate appearances.

Solid as his career has been since becoming a big league regular, Urshela is a rebound candidate. His power output with the Angels was curiously low to begin the 2023 season, with just two home runs and a paltry .075 ISO (slugging minus batting average) through mid-June. He never got much of a chance to right the ship after suffering a pelvic fracture on June 15 of last season. Urshela didn’t require surgery but was on crutches in the aftermath of the injury and wound up missing the remainder of the season as it healed.

Urshela has fairly even platoon splits throughout his career, though he does skew slightly more productive against left-handed pitching (.290/.328/.445 against southpaws; .272/.320/.414 versus righties). That surely held extra appeal for a Tigers club that posted a tepid .241/.312/.398 slash against lefties in 2023, with the resulting 95 wRC+ ranking 22nd among MLB teams.

From a payroll vantage point, the Urshela deal barely makes a dent. He’s effectively replacing a league-minimum player on the roster, so he’s only adding about $750K of additional guarantees to the Tigers’ projected payroll. Roster Resource pegs Detroit at a $108.4MM projection for the 2024 season, which checks in more than $90MM shy of the team’s franchise-record mark set back in 2017 (under late owner Mike Ilitch, whose son, Chris, now runs the team). As such, there ought to be further resources available if similar bargain options to this Urshela addition present themselves. There’s no indication, however, that the Tigers have considered a higher-profile splash in free agency or on the trade market in the late stages of the offseason.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Tigers and Urshela were in agreement on a one-year, $1.5MM deal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the presence of incentives, which Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press specified as being worth up to $500K.

Tigers Claim TJ Hopkins, Designate Kolton Ingram

By Darragh McDonald | February 20, 2024 at 3:15pm CDT

The Tigers announced that they have claimed outfielder TJ Hopkins off waivers from the Giants. In a corresponding move, left-hander Kolton Ingram has been designated for assignment.

Hopkins, 27, had spent his entire career with the Reds until a few months ago but has been riding the roster carousel a bit lately. Cincy designated him for assignment in December and then flipped him to the Giants for cash. He stuck on the Giants’ roster for about two months before getting bumped off last week. After a week in DFA limbo, he’s now landed with the Tigers.

The right-handed hitter made his major league debut last year but it wasn’t especially strong. He hit just .171/.227/.171 for the year, though in a tiny sample of 44 plate appearances. His work in Triple-A was much more encouraging. He drew a walk in 14% of his 393 plate appearances and also launched 16 home runs. His .308/.411/.514 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 134, indicating he was 34% better than the league average.

Hopkins has mostly played left field in his career but has seen decent amounts of playing time at all three outfield spots. The Tigers have an outfield/designated hitter mix that skews left-handed, as each of Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Akil Baddoo hit from that side. The club acquired Mark Canha to give them a bit of right-handed ballast but Hopkins will provide them with a depth option. He still has two option years and can be kept in Triple-A until he forces his way back to the big leagues or an opening appears.

As for Ingram, 27, he also made a small-sample debut in the majors last year, tossing 5 1/3 innings for the Angels. He allowed five earned runs in that time, striking out seven batters but also giving out five walks. He spent most of the year on the farm, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. Between those two levels, he combined for 64 innings with a 2.81 ERA. His 31.1% strikeout rate is eye-catching but his 13.1% walk rate concerning.

The Halos designated him for assignment when they signed Aaron Hicks and the Tigers grabbed him off waivers in the first week of February, though he’s now been bumped off the roster a couple of weeks later. The Tigers will have one week to trade Ingram or pass him through waivers. Left-handed relief is always in demand and he still has a couple of option years, so he could be attractive to any club looking to bolster its bullen depth. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Tigers in a non-roster capacity.

Tigers Acquire Blake Dickerson From Padres

By Nick Deeds | February 17, 2024 at 7:35pm CDT

The Tigers announced this evening that they’ve acquired left-hander Blake Dickerson from the Padres in exchange for $500K in international bonus pool money.

Dickerson, 19, was a 12th-round pick by the Padres in the 2023 draft out of Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia. Dickerson received a bonus of $500K, equivalent to that of a fourth-round pick. The southpaw did not appear in a game for the Padres last year, meaning his Tigers debut will also be his professional debut. Baseball America recently ranked Dickerson as the #22 prospect in the San Diego farm system entering the 2024 campaign, noting that the lefty projects to have a high-velocity fastball and an above-average curveball once his 6-foot-6 frame fills out, giving him a chance to be a #4 starter or future bullpen arm depending on the development of his changeup.

For the Tigers, the addition of Dickerson adds another young arm to a system that already features a top pitching prospect in Jackson Jobe as well as lower-level arms such as Ty Madden and Troy Melton. That’s in addition to the stable of young arms contributing to the club at the big league level, led by southpaw Tarik Skubal along with the likes of Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Alex Faedo. BA suggests that Dickerson could be a candidate to skip rookie ball and debut at the Low-A level this year.

In exchange for parting ways with Dickerson, the Padres will receive $500K in international bonus pool money, an amount identical to the bonus San Diego signed Dickerson for last summer. The Tigers opened the 2024 international signing period with a bonus pool of $6,520,000 while the Padres opened with a pool of just $4,652,000, tied with the Phillies, Rangers, and Yankees for the smallest among all thirty clubs. The trade, in effect, recoups half of the $1MM in bonus pool space the Padres forfeited by signing shortstop Xander Bogaerts last winter. The vast majority of the club’s bonus pool space for the 2024 signing period was spent on shortstop Leodalis De Vries, who the Padres signed for a $4.2MM bonus last month.

Tigers Sign Keston Hiura To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 16, 2024 at 5:25pm CDT

The Tigers have signed free agent Keston Hiura, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a minor league deal, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Petzold adds that the CAA Sports client will earn $2MM plus incentives if in the majors.

Hiura, 27, has put up huge power numbers but also worrying strikeout totals. The Brewers selected him ninth overall in 2017 and he debuted in the big leagues with that club in 2019. He hit 19 home runs in just 84 games in what was later revealed to be the “juiced balls” season. His 30.7% strikeout rate was on the high side but he was a 22-year-old rookie and it was hoped he could bring that down as he matured and got more exposure to big league pitching.

But instead, the opposite happened. The strikeouts kept mounting and he was frequently optioned to the minors. He got into 200 big league games from 2020 to 2022, hitting 31 homers but also getting punched out in 38.5% of his trips to the plate. He came up as a second baseman but his glovework was considered poor. He gradually spent more time at first base and left field, less-demanding positions from a defensive point of view but ones where the offensive expectations are higher.

Going into 2023, he had exhausted his option years while the Brewers had Rowdy Tellez and Luke Voit blocking his path to playing time at first base and an abundance of corner outfielders as well. They put him on waivers at the end of March and he passed through unclaimed. He and the club had already agreed to a $2.2MM salary and no other club was willing to take that on. He technically had the right to reject an outright assignment since he had over three years of service time, but he lacked the five years of service time necessary to both reject the assignment and keep the money.

Instead, he reported to Triple-A Nashville in order to keep that salary in place. He made a few trips to the minor league injured list and played 85 Triple-A games last year. He hit 23 home runs in that time while keeping his strikeout rate to a 24.5% rate. That’s obviously far better than his time in the major leagues, but a more modest improvement compared to his previous Triple-A stints. From 2019 to 2022, he struck out in 29.1% of his 508 Triple-A appearances.

Hiura never got the call to the big leagues and qualified for free agency at season’s end. For the Tigers, there’s little harm in bringing him aboard via this minor league deal to see how he looks. The power potential is unquestionable and he could be a nice under-the-radar pickup if he’s able to get the strikeouts under control.

He actually has tremendously reversed splits for his career, so would be best served being in the lineup against righties, despite being a right-handed hitter. He’s hit .201/.283/.323 against southpaws in his career but .253/.332/.508 the rest of the time, leading to a split of 64 versus 122 in terms of wRC+.

The Tigers have Spencer Torkelson at first base while their corner outfield and designated hitter time should be split between Riley Greene, Mark Canha and Kerry Carpenter. Torkelson has hit lefties better in his career thus far: .225/.299/.458 batting line and 106 wRC+ compared to a .220/.304/.379 showing and 91 wRC+ against righties. That arguably creates a path for Hiura to earn some at-bats but the Tigers won’t be eager to platoon Torkelson since he’s a former first overall pick and still developing, with the potential to be a key part of their future. Canha and Greene both have fairly even splits while Carpenter is best against righties.

Hiura is somewhat blocked at the moment but injuries are inevitable in a long baseball season. If he’s mashing in Triple-A again and the Tigers find themselves with a hole in their lineup, he might get a shot at filling it. If he’s selected to the roster, he is out of options but he could be controlled beyond this season if things go especially well. He has three years and nine days of service time, meaning that he would be three years from free agency even if he made the Opening Day roster. If he were added a few weeks into the season, he wouldn’t be able to reach the four-year mark this year, thus pushing his free agency back another year.

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