DETROIT — Former Detroit Tigers first-round pick Matt Manning is embarking on a new chapter in his career overseas.
Manning, who turns 28 in January, agreed to a one-year deal with the Samsung Lions in Korea this week. He will reportedly earn $1 million.
Manning’s nine-year tenure with the Tigers ended on July 31 when he was traded to the Phillies for minor-league outfielder Josueth Quinonez, an 18-year-old currently playing in the Dominican Summer League. The Tigers needed the roster spot for the influx of new pitchers they had just acquired at the deadline.
Selected out of high school with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Manning was a consensus top-100 prospect for five consecutive seasons in both the Baseball America and MLB Pipeline rankings.
He debuted in 2021 and made at least a handful of starts in each of the next three seasons but never found a permanent home in the rotation.
Many pitchers have made a detour to Korea or Japan and later revived their careers in the U.S. Manning may be hoping to follow the same path.
He battled for a rotation spot with the Tigers until the final days of spring training in 2024 before losing out to Reese Olson and Casey Mize.
He made five spot starts early in 2024 — often in post-rainout doubleheaders — but was largely supplanted in the rotation pecking order by Keider Montero as the summer went on. A lat strain later kept him on the minor-league injured list for nearly two months.
Manning was optioned early in spring camp in 2025 and fell off the radar for big-league call-ups due to poor performance in Toledo.
Manning spent much of his time with the Phillies at the club’s headquarters in Clearwater, trying to fix some of the issues that had plagued him. He never got a call-up to the majors with Philadelphia and heads overseas with an 11-15 record and 4.43 ERA (4.43 FIP) over 50 MLB starts (254 innings).
Manning was part of the Tigers’ most recent no-hitter, pitching 6 2/3 innings as part of a combined effort with Jason Foley and Alex Lange on July 8, 2023.