Detroit Tigers announce signing of pitcher Ryan Carpenter

Detroit Tigers executive vice president and general manager Al Avila added another pitching option on Monday as the team announced the signing of Ryan Carpenter to a Major League deal.

Detroit Tigers fans will see a new face on the team come Opening Day 2018.

The Tigers announced the signing of pitcher Ryan Carpenter on Monday night in a tweet on the team’s official Twitter account.

Detroit tweeted the following:

“Additionally, we agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Ryan Carpenter on a one-year contract. The 40-man roster is now at 39.”

A 27-year-old starting pitcher, Carpenter spent the 2017 with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque.

The southpaw worked to a 4.15 ERA and a 1.282 WHIP in 156 innings. He also chipped in with 9.3 strikeouts per nine frames as well as allowing 2.3 walks and 1.1 home runs per nine innings in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

All told, the Gonzaga product also registered a 4.33 FIP and a 3.92 xFIP. He made 27 total appearances, including 25 starts.

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Potential role with the Detroit Tigers in 2018

Moving forward, Carpenter gives the Tigers a young rotation option to potentially slot in alongside the likes of Michael Fulmer, Matthew Boyd, Jordan Zimmermann and Daniel Norris.

In an ideal world, the team will be able to find a taker for Zimmermann, but if the veteran struggles again, Detroit now has an in-house replacement in Carpenter.

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Even if Carpenter doesn’t immediately make an impact in the rotation, he could slot into the bullpen as a left-handed relief option.

As of now, the Tigers only established southpaw in the bullpen is Daniel Stumpf, who has just 42.2 Major League innings to his name.

The other left-handed relief options currently on the 40-man roster include Jairo Labourt, Blaine Hardy and Chad Bell.

Of the three, Labourt has the highest ceiling, but none are locks to make the team out of Spring Training due to varying levels of struggle last season.

Labourt only pitched in six games, allowing seven walks, four hits and three runs in the process.

Meanwhile, Hardy turned in a 5.94 ERA, a 5.38 FIP and a 5.37 xFIP in 33.1 frames. Bell checked in with a 6.93 ERA, a 5.47 FIP and a 4.93 xFIP in 62.1 innings.

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Both Hardy and Bell finished with negative fWAR stats at -0.2 and -0.3 respectively.