Detroit Tigers Player Preview: Angel Nesbitt

Angel Nesbitt surprised everyone when he made the Detroit Tigers opening day roster to start the 2015 season.

For a while he was a weapon out of the bullpen, throwing a mid-90’s fastball that racked up strikeout after strikeout. Then he was not. He quickly regressed, was sent down to the minors, and was really never heard of for the rest of the season. The big question is whether Angel Nesbitt was just a flash in the frypan or a big league caliber Detroit Tigers prospect with greater things yet to come.

Nesbitt was signed with by the Detroit Tigers in 2009. Fortunately, his rookie status in the big league is still intact. He, like Miguel Cabrera, is from Maracay, Venezuela. He turned 25 years old in December and will not become a free agent until 2022. He has played in the Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues and all of the other Detroit Tigers minor league teams. During his time in the minors, he has had ERAs as low as 0.79 and as high as 6.25.

Nesbitt’s 2015 season was really the tale of two seasons. He had an impressive spring training and earned himself a spot on the opening day roster. In his first 17 1/3 innings he cruised, allowing only six runs and a .222 opponent batting average. In his next 4 1/3 innings he allowed seven runs and an opponent batting average over .400. That streak alone made his ERA jump to 5.40 on the season.

The sudden tailspin caused him to be sent down to the minors where he never put up good enough numbers to get another major league call-up. It was a decline in Nesbitt’s fastball velocity and lack of effective changeup that more than likely caused his sudden decline. The question is whether or not he can find his old form that got him fast tracked to the big league roster. His ERA this spring training is 5.06, which isn’t good enough to land a spot on the big league roster.

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Best Case Scenario

The ideal scenario is that Nesbitt recaptures whatever he had in 2015 that got him the opening day call up. That would more than likely mean upping his velocity and mixing up his pitches to throw batters off and get more swings and misses. If he can find that form his next goal would be to keep it the whole season and be affective down the stretch. If he could stay good, he could add to an already deep bullpen. Chances are he would end up as a 7^th inning reliever or setup man if he can be effective.

Worst Case Scenario

The worst case scenario is that Nesbitt continues the pace he’s on right now. If that’s the case, he won’t see any playing time at the major league level and he will more than likely be released. With the added depth to the bullpen Angel Nesbitt faces a tougher task in making the big league roster and the team has less of a need for him last year. He more than likely won’t last long in the minors if he gets stuck there because he was there most of last season and by the later parts of 2016 there’ll probably be newer talent making their way up.

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As of now, Angel Nesbitt is a question mark for the team. His best bet is to embrace the now or never attitude and step it up on the mound. For now though, he needs to get his ERA down at least a good 2 runs to make the big league roster. But, before he can accomplish anything with the Tigers, he needs his ankle sprain to heal.