The Detroit Tigers, suffering through injuries in their pitching rotation, will make a splash to address those issues by debuting one of their most exciting young prospects Matt Manning Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels.
Manning, 23, was drafted ninth overall by the Tigers in 2016 and is considered the organization’s No. 3 prospect, per MLB.com. He’ll draw a tough matchup in his first outing, facing off against the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani.
The young right-hander made his Triple-A debut May 4, and while his ERA has not been stellar at that level (8.07 in seven starts), he continues to hold high prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB and Baseball Prospectus.
In other moves Tuesday, Detroit put pitchers Matthew Boyd and Alex Lange on the injured list, Jeimer Candelario was reinstated and Wily Peralta and Miguel Del Pozo had their contracts selected. In addition, the team designated veteran catcher Wilson Ramos and right-hander Beau Burrows for assignment.
Prior to being put on IL, Boyd left Monday’s game due to a left arm injury. The injury was likely a particularly disappointing outcome for Tigers supporters, as Boyd, 30, has had a bounce-back season with a 3.44 ERA (lowest of his career) in 13 starts. He’s also totaled 56 strikeouts and just 19 walks and is a rumored trade candidate.
Ramos, 33, got off to a blazing start in his 12th season, his first in Detroit, by blasting six home runs in his first nine games while hitting .281. But he has gone just 15-for-88 since with 18 strikeouts, just three walks and no home runs. For the season, Ramos is hitting .200 in 35 games.
Burrows, 24, is a former first-round pick (22nd overall) by Detroit in 2015 who made just one relief appearance with the team this season — giving up four runs on two hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings Saturday against the Chicago White Sox.
