3 deserving Tigers players who were squeezed off the Opening Day roster

The Detroit Tigers Opening Day roster is set. After six weeks of spring training, we finally know who's coming north with the team. Now, it's time to take a look at some guys who were deserving of a spot on the roster, but didn't make the cut.

All of these guys will be pitchers. Nobody really challenged the regulars in the lineup, and thus there wasn't much of a competition. But the starting rotation and bullpen had a lot of guys fighting for not a lot of spots. Both battles came down to the wire.

In the end, these players were kept off the Opening Day roster, through no fault of their own. Here are three deserving Tigers players who were squeezed off the Opening Day roster.

Matt Manning

Manning didn't really have a bad spring. In five starts, he had a 3.38 ERA with 19 strikeouts and seven walks. However, he allowed six home runs. That's likely what did him in.

Still, seeing him get sent down was quite surprising. It seemed like Reese Olson would be the odd man out, though he didn't have a bad spring either. In fact, no Tigers starting pitcher had a bad spring. Everyone pitched very well. However, something had to give. They had to cut somebody, and it ended up being Manning.

There's no question Manning will be back with the Tigers at some point this season. Just because he didn't make the roster doesn't mean he's going to stay in Toledo all year. In fact, he'll almost certainly be the first arm called up in the event of an injury. This stinks for Manning, but it's not the end for him. Far from it, in fact.

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