Detroit Tigers: Players Who Just Missed Out on Opening Day Roster Who Could Appear This Season

Alex Presley
Age: 31
Position: Outfielder
Hits: Left-Handed

As of now, the Detroit Tigers are utilizing four healthy outfielders by trade in Justin Upton, JaCoby Jones, Mikie Mahtook and Tyler Collins.

There’s also Andrew Romine, who can see time in the outfield grass, as well as the injured J.D. Martinez.

Outside of that group, Alex Presley may be the next best option.

A rare left-handed bat—at least in terms of Detroit’s right-handed heavy lineup—Presley was arguably Detroit’s best position player in Grapefruit League.

The Major League veteran hit .455 with a .536 on-base percentage, an .818 slugging percentage and a 1.344 OPS. He also contributed 11 runs scored, six doubles, five RBI and a pair of home runs.

What’s more, Presley drew the same number of walks (four) as strikeouts.

Considering he can play all three outfield spots and hits left-handed, the former Pirate is a quality depth piece to have.

It doesn’t hurt that he can make an impact on the bases.

Presley stole 14 bases for Houston’s Triple-A affiliate in 2015, and owns a career 3.1 BsR and a 4.9 UBR.

Arcenio Leon
Age: 30
Position: Relief Pitcher
Throws: Right-Handed

We resume the relief pitcher part of this article with Arcenio Leon.

The 30-year-old has never appeared in the Major Leagues, and spent last season closing games for Monclova in the Mexican League.

However, he stood out in Spring Training thanks to his blazing fastball and some quality numbers.

The reliever struck out four batters in 4.2 innings, while allowing four hits, two walks and two runs.

That’s obviously a small sample size, but Leon did turn in a 3.30 ERA, 7.6 punch outs per nine frames and 36 saves in 62.2 innings for Monclova last season.

Next: See Where Tigers Sit in Latest Power Rankings

If he can post similar numbers with Toledo early in the campaign, he could very well be pitching out of the Detroit Tigers’ bullpen later this season.