Detroit Tigers designate Trevor Rosenthal for assignment

The Detroit Tigers have designated pitcher Trevor Rosenthal for assignment after Wednesday night’s loss to the White Sox.

This has not been the year for right-handed flamethrower Trevor Rosenthal. After getting cut by the Washington Nationals earlier this season, the former all-star was claimed by the Detroit Tigers. His stint at Detroit proved to be short-lived, however, as Detroit designated him for assignment, or DFA’d him, after last night’s performance against the White Sox.

Rosenthal has struggled with the Tigers, making 10 appearances with a 7.00 ERA since he was signed to a minor league contract. While he maintained high velocity on his pitches, he had difficulty with control. Gardenhire stated that he was progressing, but it looks like his progress was not enough to keep him on the roster.

Rosenthal hasn’t quite been the same pitcher since 2017 when he had Tommy John surgery. His season with the Nationals was just as ugly as it was with Detroit. He definitely can still bring the heat, and possibly can provide value to a team in the future, but he was not a good fit for Detroit given the circumstances.

Detroit is in a rebuilding process, and they wanted Rosenthal to eat up some innings while the prospects get in work in the minors. Rosenthal had a lot of issues commanding his pitches and staying in the game. This did not provide the Tigers with what they were looking for out of the reliever. Perhaps another suitor will come along for him, but his time in Detroit is done.

Rosenthal will likely try to sign a contract with a team just looking for a placeholder, and make his way forward from there. Detroit will continue to experiment with prospects until they are able to find good fits to finish out the 2019 season. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers progress from here.