As the Detroit Tigers have remade their bullpen this offseason, they’ve cut ties with several pitchers from their past.
In addition to Alex Lange and Jason Foley, relievers who played a big role for the Tigers within the last three years, Detroit released right-hander Codi Heuer last month. Heuer made just three major league appearances this season, allowing a pair of solo home runs in August in his 3 1/3 innings out of the Tigers bullpen.
At age 29, Heuer made it back to the big leagues for the first time since 2021 this year after returning from Tommy John surgery and a fractured elbow. If his big league dream continues in the new year, it appears it will come with one of Detroit’s division rivals.
Heuer signed a minor-league contract with the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, according to the transactions log on his official roster page. The deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.
It’s been a hectic journey for Heuer, who played in the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers organizations before his arrival in Detroit. He’s made 89 career major league appearances, all out of the bullpen, and pitched to a very respectable 3.67 ERA.
It was a small sample size, but Heuer generated a 53.3% whiff rate on his slider at the major league level this year. Undoubtedly, the Guardians honed in on that pitch as a cause to believe Heuer could be an effective piece out of the bullpen this year, so they granted him the chance to earn a spot.
If any team in the Central is known for getting the most mileage out of its pitching talent, it’s Cleveland. So it will be highly intriguing to see whether Heuer gets into any of the Guardians’ 13 games against the Tigers this year, possibly with revenge on his mind.
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