The Tigers announced that left-hander Nick Ramirez, right-handers Tim Adleman and Anthony Castro, outfielder Jose Azocar, and first baseman Frank Schwindel have all been re-signed to minor league contracts. Ramirez and Schwindel were the only members of this quintet to see MLB action in 2019, as both made their big league debuts.
The 30-year-old Ramirez made a fairly solid first accounting of himself in the big leagues, posting a 4.07 ERA, 2.11 K/BB rate, 46.2% grounder rate, and 8.4 K/9 over 79 2/3 relief innings. He also held left-handed hitters to only a .644 OPS over 117 plate appearances, and while his numbers against right-handed batters weren’t as good (.801 OPS in 231 PA), the splits weren’t drastic enough to make Ramirez a non-viable option for 2020 given the new three-batter minimum rule being instituted. Since Ramirez pitched beyond one inning in 28 of his 46 games, his durability and multi-inning usage make him an intriguing choice to return to the Tigers’ pen next season.
Schwindel signed with the Tigers in June after being released by the Royals the previous month. Originally an 18th-round pick for Kansas City in the 2013 draft, Schwindel cracked the Show in his seventh pro season, appearing in six games for the Royals. For his career, Schwindel has a .285/.318/.472 slash line and 118 home runs over 3222 minor league plate appearances.