Detroit Tigers: Three Minor League Free Agents To Consider

The Detroit Tigers should take a look at these recently released minor league free agents.

Chris McCosky of the Detroit News recently reported that the Detroit Tigers will continue to play their minor league players.  So far, there have been no cuts among the players in camp but for some other players in various organizations, that has not been the case. Let’s take a look at a few arms that I found intriguing enough for Detroit to take a gander or as they say in a car lot somewhere, “kick the tires around”.

LHP Brett Adcock

Brett Adcock was recently released by the Houston Astros. If you are wondering why that name sounds familiar, it should. The former Bay City, Michigan high school player would go to play for the University of Michigan, where he would finish fifth all-time in the program’s history in strikeouts. Adcock was steadily progressing through the Astros’ system before injuries plagued him in 2019.

He features a four-seam fastball that is in the low 90’s, curveball, slider, and a changeup. While his walks per 9 have crept up a bit since moving up to Double-A Corpus Christi, injuries in 2019 could play a role in that. He was mainly a starter but a move to the bullpen to a more defined role could help out Adcock.

The lack of lefty relievers in the system is low and perhaps coming back to the home state could do some good for Adcock.  He recently showed his charitable side as he recently was raising money in assisting the efforts to clean up the flooding in Midland. His numbers in the minors so far: 305 IP 305 SO, SO per 9 of 9.0, and a career WHIP of 1.30.

LHP Luiz Gohara

Our friends over at Rum Bunter like the upside of Luiz Gohara and rightfully so.  When healthy, Gohara possesses a good fastball and slider combo. He quickly made his way up the Braves roster in 2019, holding batters to a .245 BABIP according to Fangraphs, while striking out 21% of the batters he faced in 19.2 innings pitched. He is young, as he will be only 24 years old this year.

Career-wise, lefties are only hitting .184 against him but keep in mind that is a very small sample size of 10.1 innings pitched in the majors. Gohara did not pitch in 2019 due to shoulder injuries but the Tigers should look into Gohara because of the upside he posses and like in the case of Adcock, a defined role out of the bullpen could help Gohara.

LHP Conor Lillis-White

If you noticed a theme that all three players I picked were left-handed pitchers, then you are correct! White, similar to Gohara, did not pitch in 2019 due to injuries but his numbers with the Angels do stand out a bit after being drafted in the 32nd round in 2015. His K per 9 in Triple-A Salt Lake in 2018 was 12.54, striking out 52 in 37.1 innings pitched. Keep in mind in the PCL, numbers like that stand out because it is a supremely friendly hitters league but his FIP was 4.07. White was most recently in the Cubs system.

White features a fastball and curveball. His ability to get lefties out is quite impressive. They have batted just .188 against him at a 30% K rate. While he is older than Gohara and Adcock, turning 28 in July, White could fit into a bullpen at Toledo or Erie to see what he is capable of. With the MLB draft being only five rounds this year, having some talent in the system with some experience could help the Detroit Tigers on an emergency call-up if they can sort out their various issues.