Is Detroit Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle MLB ready? Geoff Pontes evaluates
On “Days of Roar” podcast, Baseball America prospect writer Geoff Pontes evaluates if Kevin McGonigle is ready for his MLB debut in the 2025 season.
The Detroit Tigers called up three players — not two — from Triple-A Toledo on Monday, Sept. 1, as the active roster for all MLB teams expanded from 26 to 28 players.
The three players: designated hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy, right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long and right-handed reliever Chase Lee.
It’s all part of the roster shuffle.
Here’s the plan: The Tigers recalled Malloy and Lee for Monday’s game against the New York Mets at Comerica Park. After Monday’s game, the Tigers will drop one of their pitchers to recall Gipson-Long to pitch as a starter or bulk reliever Tuesday, Sept. 2, in the second of three games against the Mets.
“A lot of moving parts,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Monday’s game. “September represents an opportunity to continue how we’ve used our roster. We’re going to go series by series — and sometimes game by game — to give us the best chance to win.”
Since the Tigers don’t need Gipson-Long until Tuesday, they called up Lee to add an extra reliever in the bullpen for Monday’s series opener — the fourth of six games in a row.
Gipson-Long has already reported to Comerica Park. Lee could be optioned after Monday’s game.
“It’s been a roller coaster season for him,” Hinch said of Lee, who owns a 4.10 ERA in 37â…“ innings with the Tigers and an 8.10 ERA in 23â…“ innings with the Mud Hens. “His last couple of outings have been pretty solid in Triple-A, but it’s been a little bit middle or miss. In the middle, he’s gotten punished.”
The Tigers have been cycling through relievers since early August, which is the foundation of their new series-by-series pitching strategy. The only downside is that any pitchers sent down need to stay in Triple-A Toledo for at least 15 days before becoming eligible to return to the Tigers, unless there’s an injury.
Here’s an example of the 15-day waiting period: The Tigers optioned left-handed reliever Bailey Horn on Aug. 18 as part of the roster shuffle, which means he isn’t eligible to return to the Tigers until Tuesday’s game. If Gipson-Long replaces Lee for Tuesday’s game, then Horn could replace Gipson-Long for Wednesday, Sept. 3, in the series finale against the Mets, giving the Tigers an extra lefty in the bullpen.
In Monday’s game, the Tigers faced Mets left-hander Sean Manaea, with three right-handed hitters — Malloy, Jahmai Jones and Andy Ibáñez — projected to start because they have track records of crushing left-handed pitchers.
Not all of them started.
While Malloy sat on the bench, Jones served as the designated hitter and Ibáñez slotted in as the third baseman.
“Getting all those guys in the lineup at the same time against a lefty, it’s a little bit more difficult,” Hinch said. “Sometimes, the trade out is we’re going to pick defense over offense.”
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It still can be valuable for the Tigers to have all three of those right-handed hitters on their roster of 14 position players, especially against teams like the Mets with a surplus of left-handed relievers. The short-term role for Malloy is to give the Tigers quality plate appearances off the bench, whether he’s battling right-handed or left-handed pitchers.
“If I want to go aggressive early in the game with a left-handed hitter,” said Hinch, who had left-handed hitters Kerry Carpenter, Colt Keith and Trey Sweeney on the bench for Monday’s game. “I still have a counter later in the game with all these teams that are coming at us with two and three left-handed relievers.”
Looking ahead, Malloy might not be on the roster for the next series against the Chicago White Sox, beginning Friday, Sept. 5, at Comerica Park, especially if center fielder Parker Meadows is ready to return from the injured list. For Meadows, the Tigers could demote either Malloy or Sweeney.
Other players are tracking to return from injuries before the end of the regular season, including Hurter, right-hander José Urquidy, righty reliever Alex Cobb, righty reliever Paul Sewald and outfielder Matt Vierling.
The roster shuffle is just getting started.
“We’re going to get through today before we get to tomorrow,” Hinch said.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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