3 Tigers (non-prospect) non-roster invitees who could crash the party in 2026

Of the non-roster invitees in Lakeland for Tigers spring training, all eyes are on Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark. Clark is almost certainly going to start the season in the minors, but the front office has kept fans guessing about McGonigle.

But there are also a couple of other names at spring training that might be vaguely familiar to fans — not because of top prospect pedigree, but because they're appeared at the bottom of a lineup or in the sixth inning of a random big league game over the years.

You never know when you're going to need to go to the last guy on your bench. The Tigers have a few who could show face in the majors this year.

3 Tigers (non-prospect) non-roster invitees who could crash the party in 2026

Corey Julks

The Tigers added outfielder Julks on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training on Jan. 16, making him the organization's first new position player of the offseason, outside of international signings. An eighth-round pick for the Astros in 2017, Julks has just three years (but only a little over a season's worth of games actually played) of major league experience.

He's a career .234/.625 OPS hitter in the bigs, so there's no reason to believe that Parker Meadows or Wenceel Pérez or maybe even Jahmai Jones needs to worry about their Opening Day roster spot. But Julks does figure out to be the Tigers' Akil Baddoo replacement — a guy who will immediately be on the shuttle from Toledo and Detroit if there's an injury for another outfielder.

Austin Slater

Slater falls into a similar category as Julks, but he's had a much longer MLB career and has had a more respectable go at it (nine years, .248/.720). He fell on hard times with the Yankees last year, only collecting three hits and striking out 16 times in 25 plate appearances, but there's more to be optimistic about with Slater than Julks.

Again, he'll probably be another break-glass-in-case-of-emergency guy, but he's also a righty with respectable career numbers against left-handed pitchers. He's also a better defender than Jones, which could lend the Tigers more reassurances in left field if Riley Greene's legs prove to be problematic this year.

Phil Bickford

Based on the Tigers' track record of pitcher usage, Bickford has a very good shot at coming up to the majors at some point this season, even if he doesn't break camp. Detroit used 39 pitchers last season (if you count the position players), second only in the league to the Dodgers. The Tigers shored up their bullpen by re-signing Kyle Finnegan and adding Kenley Jansen, but injuries are entirely unpredictable.

Bickford has only ever been good once, when he posted a 2.50 ERA over 50 1/3 innings with the Dodgers in 2021, after being claimed off of waivers from the Brewers. There's no reason to believe right now that Bickford will be an unlikely bullpen savior at some point during the season, but it feels more likely than not that we'll at least see him at some point.