Jason Foley's comments on being optioned to Triple-A don't help Tigers' image

Emma Lingan

Chicago White Sox v Detroit Tigers / Nic Antaya/GettyImages

Right-handed reliever Jason Foley was the Detroit Tigers' leader in saves last season with 28 – which also tied him for the fifth-most in the American League. This year, he's opening the season in Triple-A Toledo.

Admittedly, Foley's performance this year at Tigers spring training wasn't his best. In 7 1/3 Grapefruit League innings, he pitched to a 6.14 ERA. But to say that his demotion came as a shock to everyone – including Foley himself – would be an understatement.

"I was pretty surprised," Foley said (via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). "I think I'm self-aware enough to realize I didn't pitch my best baseball in spring training. I just thought the last three years, my track record would have maybe superseded a couple of shaky outings in spring training."

Tigers reliever Jason Foley confirms he was blindsided by team's decision to option him to Triple-A

In hindsight, perhaps the writing had been on the wall for Foley ever since Game 1 of the 2024 American League Wild Card Series against the Houston Astros. He was pulled from the game with one out remaining in the ninth inning after giving up a run on three hits; the Tigers managed to come away with the win, but Foley would not pitch again in any of Detroit's final six postseason games.

Foley told Petzold that manager AJ Hinch's decision to bench him for the remainder of the postseason was one that he disagreed with, but respected. By spring training, Foley said, "it was all water under the bridge."

However, after a shaky spring, concerns regarding Foley's mechanics resulting in decreased velocity and poor command led the Tigers' brass to option him to Triple-A for additional development.

"Was I my best? No. Have I pitched better in years past? Yeah," Foley said (via Petzold). "But I would have thought that maybe the past three years of what I consider to be pretty darn good big-league pitching would have outweighed a moderately shaky spring. But in their eyes, it didn't, and in their eyes, I wasn't one of the best eight options to take in the bullpen. That's OK."

Ultimately, the Tigers deemed that their best eight bullpen options to open the season were right-handers Will Vest, Beau Brieske, Kenta Maeda, Tommy Kahnle, John Brebbia and Brennan Hanifee, and lefties Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter. Brieske blew his first save chance in Friday's extra-innings loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up five runs (four earned) on four hits while recording just one out.

Assuming that Brieske's leash is a short one, the Tigers will likely turn to Holton, Kahnle or Vest the next time they need to protect a late lead. In the meantime, Foley seems determined to get back on track and reclaim the closer role in Detroit sooner rather than later. But we can't say this situation makes the Tigers look good in any way.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.