We are just a little more than a week away from Opening Day, and the 25-man rosters for every team begins to take shape. The Tigers in particular have bee tasked with making some difficult and bold decisions, and they did so early on Sunday.
The team announced a wave of roster moves in camp, the most notable being the unconditional release of veteran reliever Mark Lowe.
The Tigers today have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/Ojg4dqDbGc
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) March 26, 2017
Lowe, 33, this spring has allowed seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits in just 8.2 innings of work. It comes in the heels of posting a 7.11 ERA in his first season with the Tigers a year ago. Lowe is under contract through this season, and the Tigers are obligated to pay his $5.5M salary for 2017.
Among the more noteworthy names in this report include catcher John Hicks, reliever Joe Jimenez and outfielder Anthony Gose.
Hicks, 27, will start the season in Triple-A Toledo and is expected to be the organization’s No. 3 catcher, should anything happen to either Alex Avila or James McCann. The team picked up Hicks mid-season off waivers from the Twins. He has just 34 career at-bats at the major league level.
Both Gose, 26, and Jimenez, 22, are not on the Tigers’ 40-man roster currently, unlike Hicks. The former Gose was one of the outside candidates for the starting center field competition this spring. He ended up hitting .237 with a .564 OPS this spring.
Jimenez meanwhile didn’t such much major league spring action, just two innings logged and allowing one run on three hits. The team has been utilizing him more in minor league camp this spring in an effort to help him develop his repertoire of pitches.
As the Tigers’ PR staff indicates, the team has just 36 players left in spring camp.