Detroit Tigers claim reliever Ty Adcock off waivers from Mariners; Parker Meadows sits
It took a couple of weeks, but Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris finally filled the opening on his 40-man roster.
The Tigers claimed right-handed reliever Ty Adcock off waivers Monday from the Seattle Mariners to fill the 40-man roster. Adcock, who has made 12 relief appearances in his MLB career, has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo.
The 27-year-old has two minor-league option years remaining.
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The Mariners selected Adcock in the eighth round, at No. 246 overall, in the 2019 draft out of Elon University, but he didn't pitch in the minor leagues until the 2022 season. He has thrown just 46⅔ innings throughout his professional career, not including his 10⅔ innings in the Arizona Fall League.
Adcock missed the entire 2020 season, along with everyone else in the minors, because of the COIVD-19 pandemic. He underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2021 and missed the entire 2021 season. (He also missed time in the 2019 season because of a labrum tear in his shoulder.)
But Adcock finally pitched as a professional in 2022.
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In 2023, Adcock posted a 1.74 ERA with five walks and 22 strikeouts across 20⅔ innings in 19 appearances for High-A Everett (seven innings) and Double-A Arkansas (13⅔ innings). He also pitched 15⅔ innings in 12 outings for the Mariners, logging a 3.45 ERA with zero walks and 11 strikeouts.
For the Mariners, Adcock featured a 96.6 mph fastball and an 86.5 mph slider. He threw more slides than fastballs.
Adcock struggled to begin the 2024 campaign, with a 7.71 ERA, three walks and two strikeouts in 2⅓ innings for Triple-A Tacoma. Those were his first innings of Triple-A experience in his career.
He will continue to get Triple-A reps in Toledo.
Andy Ibáñez injury update
Infielder Andy Ibáñez is going to leave the Tigers.
But he won't be gone for long.
Ibáñez, recovering from a left hamstring strain, will travel to Lakeland, Florida, over the weekend to continue his rehab while the Tigers are playing against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. He took batting practice for the first time on the field before Monday's game against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park.
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After the Twins series, the Tigers travel to St. Petersburg, Florida, for a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, beginning April 22. That's when Ibáñez will rejoin the Tigers, but the Tigers haven't determined whether or not Ibáñez is going to be activated from the injured list at that time.
When healthy, Ibáñez hit .267 in 17 plate appearances across seven games. Twelve plate appearances were against left-handers. In those situations, he had four hits and two sacrifice flies.
Ibáñez has performed running and fielding drills under the watch of two coaches — third base coach Joey Cora and major league coach Gary Jones — and one trainer over the past couple of days.
Now, Ibáñez is hitting again.
Parker Meadows sits
The Tigers used Monday's series opener against the Rangers as a "reset" day for slumping center fielder Parker Meadows.
Meadows, a 24-year-old rookie, is hitting .061 (2-for-33) with seven walks and 16 strikeouts across 14 games. He hasn't recorded a hit since April 6 against the Oakland Athletics, and before that, he got his first hit of the season March 30 against the Chicago White Sox.
Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who pitched for the Tigers last season, started for the Rangers. Last season, right-handers hit .275 with a .734 OPS, whereas left-handers hit just .218 with a .674 OPS.
Meadows is a left-handed hitter.
The reverse splits from Lorenzen created another reason for the Tigers to sit Meadows.
"Lorenzen is a little bit of a reverse guy," Hinch said. "I wanted to get as many right-handed hitters in there as possible, and that coincided with giving Parker a little bit of a reset. He'll play center field tomorrow."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers claim reliever Ty Adcock off waivers from Mariners
