Spring Training is moving along quickly and the Detroit Tigers will be heading home to Detroit in a few short weeks. The team continues to trim down the roster, announcing five more players have been sent to the minor leagues this morning.
Prior to today's game, the Tigers have optioned RHP's Artie Lewicki and Zac Reininger to Triple A Toledo, RHP's Gerson Moreno and Spencer Turnbull to Double A Erie and LHP Gregory Soto to Single A Lakeland. The Tigers have 52 players remaining in Major League camp.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) March 9, 2018
These moves put the current roster at 52. The Tigers will continue to make cuts and get down to the 25 man roster as they head into Opening Day.
Artie Lewicki is a name to watch in this group that got optioned today. He’s probably the closest to getting called back to Detroit soon. Lewicki had his best professional season in 2017, posting a 3.38 ERA in 141 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 123/31 K/BB. He did make a couple of appearances in the big leagues late in the year and didn’t fare particularly well. He gave up 5 runs in 5 innings of work against the Kansas City Royals on September 3rd. He did pitch 2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Gregory Soto is a flamethrower that’s 22 years old and should continue to rise in the organization assuming he stays healthy. His fastball touches 98 mph, and he’s dominated the competition at the lower levels.
The other interesting name is Zac Reininger. He has risen quickly through the Tigers farm system and should get some looks at the Major League level this season. A smaller kid coming out of high school, he was only throwing mid-80’s at the time. Reininger has grown into his body and become a hard thrower, now regularly reaching 96-98 mph on his fastball.
Gerson Moreno and Spencer Turnbull are both younger arms that still need some seasoning before they are ready to contribute in Detroit. Moreno will be 22 years old this year and still has a lot of potential in his arm. Turnbull is going to be 25 and has battled through a lot of injuries the last 4 seasons in the minors. He was the Tigers 2nd round pick in 2014.
Look for more players to get sent down to the minors in the coming days. With snow falling again today, the Detroit Tigers Opening Day on March 29th can’t come soon enough. Check out our 5 bold predictions for the 2018 season while you wait for the snow to melt!
