When the calendar still says March, Major League Baseball teams are never satisfied with their pitching depth. The Detroit Tigers emphasized that fact with their most recent minor-league signing.
Sean Hunley, a 26-year-old right-hander who spent the last five seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, is a former 19th-round draft pick with underwhelming career strikeout numbers. But after the Rays released him late in spring training, the Tigers thought he might be able to provide some useful depth in the upper levels of the minors.
On Saturday, Hunley signed a minor-league deal with the Tigers, according to the official transactions log on his roster page. As of Monday, Hunley had yet to be assigned to one of Detroit’s minor-league affiliates. The Triple-A season began on Friday, whereas the Double-A season kicks off on Wednesday.
In 119 career appearances in the Rays’ farm system, Hunley posted a 3.79 ERA, walking 82 batters and striking out 269 in 342 1/3 innings. He’s struggled mightily in his brief call-ups to Triple-A, with an ERA of 8.63 across 48 innings from 2023 through last year.
When a pitcher has spent time at Triple-A in three separate seasons, though, it’s easy to imagine how starved they must be to make their eventual major league debut.
The Tigers likely don’t have Hunley high on their list of pitchers waiting for those first few call-ups of the season, but if he pitches well and Detroit winds up needing a lot of reinforcements throughout the summer, there’s always a chance.
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