The Four Newest Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers added four more players to their roster on Friday. Three were expected, but the fourth was a bit of a surprise.

Today is the deadline for MLB teams to add players to their 40-man roster, lest they be made available for the upcoming Rule 5 Draft, and the Detroit Tigers announced their choices shortly before 11:30 Eastern Time:

There’s nothing terribly shocking here. Last week we predicted who the Tigers would add, but now that it’s officially official, let’s take one more look at each of these new players.

Alex Faedo – RHP – 6’5, 225 lbs. – Age 25 – Drafted 1st Round 2017 (18th overall)

Alex Faedo didn’t pitch in the professional ranks in 2017 after leading his Florida Gators team to a College World Series championship. Faedo slid a bit in the 2017 draft, and it looked like the Detroit Tigers landed a huge bargain when Faedo was flashing a mid-90s fastball and a nasty slider on national TV.

But when he hit pro ball in 2018 Faedo’s stuff wasn’t as impressive. His fastball was often in the high-80s, occasionally reaching 93 mph, and his slider looked pedestrian. He still went out there and competed every night, though, and despite some pretty severe home run issues once he reached Double-A Erie, he had a solid season.

Faedo returned to Erie in 2019 and showed some improvement. His stuff was slightly better, and his results were too, though home runs remained an issue. Had 2020 been in any way normal, Faedo likely would have made his MLB debut at some point late in the summer. But instead he remained in Toledo at the Tigers summer camp, and then he was shut down at the end of the year with forearm soreness.

Alex Faedo appears to be healthy now, and he’ll head into 2021 with a chance to compete for a spot in the Detroit Tigers rotation. We expect him to spend most of the season in Triple-A, but he’ll probably get one or two starts in Detroit. If he carves out an MLB role it will likely be as a reliever, but we expect the Tigers to wait a season or two before pushing him that way.

Matt Manning – RHP – 6’6, 215 lbs. – Age 22 – Drafted 1st Round 2016 (9th overall)

A two-sport star in high school, the Detroit Tigers took things a bit slowly with Matt Manning in his first two seasons. Manning is a terrific athlete, but he was somewhat raw as a pitcher, and the organization worked with him to overhaul his mechanics. Early on, the signs were a bit troubling, as he would mix dominant outings with disasters, and his velocity would often fluctuate from start to start.

But in 2018 the gloves came off, and Manning rocketed through three levels, consistently featuring a plus fastball and a plus curveball while carving through opponents. He took another step forward in 2019, showing better command and largely dominating the competition on his way to Eastern League Pitcher of the Year honors. Manning is a consensus top-100 prospect in all of baseball, and some believe he’s the best pitching prospect in the Tigers system.

Manning’s changeup remains a work in progress, and he will likely have to develop a slider or cutter in the future to give him another weapon against big-league hitters. He probably would have seen time in Detroit last summer if not for the strange year and a mild forearm strain, and provided he stays healthy, we’ll almost certainly see him with the Tigers in 2021. He’s the type of pitcher who may struggle for a few years in the Majors, but if everything clicks he could contend for Cy Young awards some day.

Joey Wentz – LHP – 6’5, 225 lbs. – Age 23 – Drafted 1st Round 2016 (40th overall)

Joey Wentz isn’t quite the athlete that his fellow 2016 draftee Matt Manning is, but he’s no slouch in that department, and he was also a legitimate draft prospect as a power-hitting first baseman. The Atlanta Braves preferred his left arm on the mound, though, and he quickly made them look good. After a brief taste of pro ball in his draft year, Wentz dominated Low-A ball in 2017,  earning South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year honors.

Wentz picked up where he left off in 2018, posting dominant stretches in the Florida State League and showing a fastball that would touch 95 mph, but a pair of injuries cost him about 10 starts. The Braves nevertheless bumped him up to Double-A in 2019, and he experienced his first real struggles as a pro, giving up a few too many home runs on the way to a 4.72 ERA in 20 outings with the Mississippi Braves.

But a late-season trade to Detroit seemed to reinvigorate Wentz, who was stellar with the Erie SeaWolves, posting a 2.10 ERA with 37 strikeouts and just 4 walks over 25.2 innings. Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John surgery last March, so he probably won’t be ready for game action until June or July of 2021. Assuming he returns to full health, Wentz has a great shot to be a back of the rotation starter thanks to three solid pitches and a workhorse frame. And who knows, perhaps the rehabilitation process will have him throwing harder an he can develop into a mid-rotation arm.