Spring training baseball is done. It’s finally in the books. Meaningful baseball is set to be played tomorrow, and managers are now relieved they won’t have to have those difficult conversations with the players who did not make the team anymore. Notable players who will start the season on Toledo’s roster include Jace Jung, Akil Baddoo, Dillon Dingler, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Wilmer Flores, but they belong there, for now. However, other notable names made an intriguing case in spring training to make the Tigers’ opening day roster and didn’t. Here are a pair of players who were snubbed from Detroit’s Major League roster.
Beau Brieske
The biggest snub coming out of spring training, in my opinion, is easily Beau Brieske, who did more than enough to make the opening day roster through spring training but ultimately lost the battle with Alex Faedo and Joey Wentz who earned the last two spots. Faedo rightfully earned his spot in the bullpen, but Wentz making the roster simply came down to the fact that he’s a left-handed option out of the bullpen. Brieske was far more deserving of a roster spot from a performance standpoint but fell victim to the fact that Tyler Holton and Andrew Chafin would have been the only left-handed pitchers in the Tigers’ pen and Tarik Skubal is the only lefty in Detroit’s starting rotation. If I were calling the shots, I would have gone with the more quality pitcher over the fact that the other is a southpaw.
Just how good was Brieske this spring? The numbers speak for themselves. In seven games, Brieske had a perfect 0.00 ERA as he did not allow a run. He finished spring with a very good 0.366 WHIP as well, and in 13.2 innings pitched, Brieske struck out nine, walked just two batters, allowed only three hits, and collected a save. If he’s able to maintain this level of dominance for the Mud Hens, he won’t be in Toledo for long.
Matt Manning
The excuse to exclude Manning from the Tigers’ Opening Day roster is more understandable than the reason given to Beau Brieske. With Casey Mize’s return and the additions of Jack Flaherty and Kenta Maeda, there was just no room for mistakes this spring for a player looking to squeeze their way on the roster and into the starting rotation. While Manning pitched well and looked sharp in almost all of his outings, he made a few too many mistakes over the plate, leading to him giving up six home runs. However, he only allowed six earned runs all spring and gave up just two hits aside from the home runs. Although I understand why Manning didn’t make the roster, he still falls in the snubbed category due to the fact that he did pitch well enough to make the roster on most teams, but the Tigers rotation has improved, and the competition to earn a spot has gotten more difficult, which is a great thing for the organization. It’s not so much a great thing for Manning.
Manning, who pitched in five games this spring, finished with a 3.38 ERA and 0.938 WHIP. In those five games, he pitched a combined 16 innings, stuck out 19 batters, walked seven, gave up eight hits, and six runs. If Manning stays healthy, which has been a struggle for him throughout his career, he will undoubtedly find his way to the major leagues at some point this season.
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