Detroit Tigers: 3 surprise cuts, 2 surprise additions to the Opening Day roster

The Detroit Tigers Opening Day roster is officially out. Who got snubbed and who is a surprise add?

The Detroit Tigers have finally released their Opening Day roster, and there are quite a few surprises. A few players that we thought would make the roster, didn't make the cut. There were also a couple adds that will surprise fans—including one that wasn't even on the team when spring began.

We've got a lot to sift through, so let us not delay. Here are three surprise cuts from the Detroit Tigers Opening Day roster and two surprise additions.

3 surprise cuts: INF Cesar Hernandez

Hernandez hit very well to start spring. He was hitting over .400 at one point. He seemed like a lock to make the team. However, he ended the spring on a 2-for-21 skid. It didn't seem like it would be enough to sink him, but the Tigers thought differently.

Hernandez was originally sent to Triple-A on Monday, but the Tigers granted him his release the following day. The 32-year-old didn't want to be stuck in the minors, which makes a lot of sense.

What makes this a surprise is who made it instead of him, and that's somebody we will discuss later: Zack McKinstry. He went 3-for-38 this spring with the Cubs. He has a career 78 wRC+, and Hernandez is just two years removed from a career-high 21 homers with Cleveland.

One thing McKinstry has over Hernandez is the ability to play multiple positions. He's played all the outfield positions and every infield position except first base, whereas Hernandez can really only play second base. That's likely something that drew Scott Harris to him.

But Hernandez is at least a switch-hitter, something the Detroit Tigers don't have a lot of, whereas McKinstry only bats left-handed. Hernandez didn't end up wowing, but the fact that he was cut is a puzzling one nonetheless.

RHP Miguel Diaz

Diaz allowed one run this spring in nine innings pitched. He struck out 15 batters and walked five. Yet, there were guys with ERAs above 7 that made the team. This might be the most head-scratching cut of them all.

The craziest part is that he was cut a couple weeks ago. They didn't even give him the entire spring to prove himself. He hadn't allowed a run at that point. It's quite baffling.

He will almost certainly be the first arm to get called up in the event of an injury or what have you. He has a unique pitch mix that keeps hitters off balance. Batters hit just .156 against him in spring training.

Again, Diaz won't be in Triple-A for long. It's just strange that he didn't come to Tampa with the big league team.

2 surprise additions to the Opening Day roster: INF Zack McKinstry

McKinstry wasn't even with the Tigers this spring—he wasn't even playing in the Grapefruit League. He was over the Cactus League playing for the Cubs, where he went 3-for-38. That comes up to a batting average of .079. Anybody have that on their bingo cards?

This is a very puzzling move for several reasons. One, he has never shown the ability to hit big league pitching. Has he a career average of .208 with a .652 OPS. He's shown the ability to walk in the minors, but not so much in the majors. They already have plenty of infielders that can't hit, why trade for another?

Another reason is that they traded a prospect for him. RHP Carlos Guzman likely won't amount to much, but if they had traded cash for McKinstry it would have lightened the load a bit.

Lastly, McKinstry likely won't be here very long. They could easily DFA him within the first two weeks of the season. This honestly feels like a pretty pointless move by Scott Harris.

We'll see what happens, but this doesn't seem like a move that's going to accomplish much of anything.

INF Ryan Kreidler

Kreidler started off slow this spring. It really looked like he was playing his way off the roster. Luckily for him, he got it together and ended up slashing .288/.362/.462 with one homer and an OPS of .824 in 52 at-bats this spring. He walked six times and struck out 10 times, which is a decent ratio.

His defense always gave him an advantage over his competition. He has a really smooth glove in the infield. It was always a matter of whether he would hit.

What makes him surprising is I thought the Tigers may want him to get a few ABs in Toledo to start the year, just to get him into a groove. He likely won't play every day for the Tigers.

I've mentioned before how I'm not very high on Kreidler. I would love nothing more than for him to prove me wrong. He seemed to find his footing at the plate at the end of spring training. Hopefully that carries over into the regular season.