The Tigers have acquired RHP Blair Calvo from Colorado in exchange for cash considerations. Calvo has been optioned to Triple A Toledo. To make room for Calvo on the 40-man roster, RHP Braden Bristo has been designated for assignment.

6 comments

1. Braden we hardly knew ye

2. From a Rockies fan: don’t take the ERA at face value. Albuquerque and the PCL are a pinball machine that makes Coors look pitcher friendly. Calvo is a low-slot righty with a super funky delivery and low-mid 90s velo. Has both a four-seam fastball to run up the ladder and a sinker with tons of run. His slider is what will make him a good big leaguer if he is one, it’s a terrific sweeping breaking ball with tons of movement in the mid 80’s. Take good care of him! He’s a good dude and has a good story.

3. Calvo was a 23rd rounder out of Flagler College, a Division II school in St. Augustine, Florida. He took a circuitous route to get there, going from a Florida JUCO to rehabbing from TJ to transferring to Pitt and then to Flagler for his fifth season removed from high school. Calvo had a dominant foray into pro ball, striking out more than a batter per inning in a long relief role during his 2021 Low-A debut. As with Gavin Hollowell, the Rockies skipped Calvo over High-A and sent him to Hartford to start 2022, where he excelled in a single-inning role until the end of May. In his final May outing, Calvo’s heart began racing uncontrollably on the mound and he had to be taken to the hospital. He was dealing with a previously undiagnosed heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia. Shelved for two months while he and his doctors decided how Calvo could safely proceed with a life that included baseball, he was back in August and picked up Fall League innings before the Rockies added him to the 40-man roster in the offseason.

   Calvo sits 94-96 mph (and peaks above that) with a plus-plus flashing slider in the 83-86 mph range. His arm is very whippy and Calvo’s stride home opens up his hips in a way that’s atypical of most pitchers, possibly creating some deception. His command is comfortably below average, but typical of a single-inning reliever. It’s most detrimental when Calvo goes through stretches where his slider doesn’t finish and is left hanging in the zone, but mostly he looks like a standard fastball/slider middle reliever who has carved a remarkable path on his way there.

4. Great. Another “Who?”

5. Huh I thought Bristo had been okay since being up

6. Cash “Big Fella” Considerations is getting the Cameron Maybin treatment, the reason he keeps coming back to the organization time and again eludes me