{"id":677699,"date":"2026-04-17T15:03:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/677699\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:03:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:03:29","slug":"tigers-add-more-infield-depth-in-powerful-former-mets-top-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/677699\/","title":{"rendered":"Tigers Add More Infield Depth in Powerful Former Mets Top Prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">The Detroit Tigers have made a move to add some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/news\/detroit-tigers-opening-day-roster-new-faces\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">more depth into the organization<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/news\/kevin-mcgonigle-changed-narrative-surrounding-tigers-spring-training\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">infield<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">According to a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/joelsherman1\/status\/2045131181352476717?s=46\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Joel Sherman of the New York Post<\/a>, the team signed former New York Mets highly-rated prospect Luke Ritter to a minor league deal, and he will be reporting to Triple-A Toledo. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">It is unclear if this comes with a spot on the 40-man roster, although it likely could be in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/news\/tigers-boss-a-j-hinch-lofty-expectations-superstar-prospect\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">preparation for Zach McKinstry<\/a> to hit the injured list after he got hurt this week.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">Ritter may or may not see action with Detroit this season, but he has been an extremely productive Triple-A player for the Mets over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n<p>Ritter Provides Tigers with Depth in the Infield<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kpdx1ppwznqh4e5f57.jpg\" alt=\"New York Mets infielder Luke Ritter in road grey jerse\" title=\"New York Mets infielder Luke Ritter in road grey jerse\" width=\"6000\" height=\"3375\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"77\"\/><\/p>\n<p>New York Mets infielder Luke Ritter | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7b\">While the numbers for Ritter were not great in Triple-A last year, back in 2024 he slashed .257\/.369\/.480 with 26 home runs and 93 RBI across 134 games. He has yet to make his big league debut yet and is no longer a prospect at the age of 29, but demonstrated production is key.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">It would likely take a couple more injuries for him to make that debut in Detroit, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/news\/tigers-forgotten-prospect-massive-spring\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">with Jace Jung<\/a> and\/or Trei Cruz likely coming up from Toledo to replace McKinstry, this would slot Ritter right in at Triple-A.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7h\">Having played over 600 games in the minor leagues, Ritter is a player who has a massive wealth of experience and can also serve as a mentor to younger players who are trying to take that next step as prospects.<\/p>\n<p>Tigers Infield is Mostly Set as of Now<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kpdx9j4d8kx3xytx9j.jpg\" alt=\"Detroit Tigers third baseman Kevin McGonigle fielding ground bal\" title=\"Detroit Tigers third baseman Kevin McGonigle fielding ground bal\" width=\"4540\" height=\"2553\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7u\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Detroit Tigers third baseman Kevin McGonigle | Junfu Han \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7y\">Detroit has had a nice resurgence in the infield this season with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/tigers-shocking-kevin-mcgonigle-extension-could-pay-off-in-massive-way\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin McGonigle obviously<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/tarik-skubal-hilarious-request-kevin-mcgonigle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">blossoming into an every day player<\/a> alongside either Javier Baez, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/tigers-future-core-emerging-before-eyes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colt Keith<\/a> or McKinstry on the left side.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"81\">Between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/news\/where-tigers-gleyber-torres-ranks-among-mlb-second-basemen-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gleyber Torres<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi\/news\/tigers-prospect-kevin-mcgonigle-received-crucial-advice-spencer-torkelson-spring-training\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spencer Torkelson<\/a>, the right side is largely locked down as well, but as the Tigers are now seeing with McKinstry, they are just an injury or two away from someone like Ritter all of the sudden becoming very important.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"84\">Ritter is someone worth keeping an eye on over the coming months to see if he can do enough at Triple-A to be one of the first names called upon if and when the next injury situation happens. If he&#8217;s producing, he could wind up making his MLB debut this season for Detroit and holding down the fort.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Tigers have made a move to add some more depth into the organization in the infield.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2386],"tags":[5,147,53,2583,4,594],"class_list":{"0":"post-677699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-tigers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-tigers","11":"tag-detroittigers","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-tigers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116420661548646732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}