Los Angeles — The Tigers continue to stockpile veteran outfielders.
On Thursday, they signed 32-year-old Ben Gamel to a minor-league deal. On Friday, they acquired 29-year-old Brewer Hicklen from the Brewers for cash and assigned him to Triple-A Toledo.
To make room for Hicklen on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Ty Madden (shoulder) was moved to the 60-day injured list.
Gamel, who was in the Astros’ camp this spring, bats left-handed. Hicklen, who has had brief big-league stints with the Royals (2022) and the Brewers (’24), bats right-handed.
Neither is a center fielder.
Hicklen is hitless in nine big-league plate appearances but he fits the Tigers’ offensive profile in the sense that he has shown in Triple-A good command of the strike zone, along with the ability to get on base and steal bases.
In three Triple-A seasons, he slashed .245/.354/.480 with an .834 on-base. He has 100 steals in 110 attempts. In Brewers camp this spring he got more walks (six) than hits (four).
For Gamel, who turns 33 in May, the Tigers are his ninth team in 10 seasons. His last full season in the big leagues was 2022. He has a career walk rate of 10.5% with a .334 on-base percentage and .716 OPS.
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