The Detroit Tigers turned to Reese Olsen at Triple-A Toledo to fill a rotation void.
Olsen, a right-hander, was promoted to the Tigers to replace the injured Eduardo Rodriguez, who is on the injured list with a broken pulley in his left index finger. The 23-year-old is scheduled to start Friday against the Chicago White Sox on a guaranteed-price pitch.
It will be his MLB debut.
“He’s definitely made some adjustments in how he uses his pitches,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “The right-to-right changeup was good, the breaking ball was good, the fastball got better, he mixed up a ton of ends and had a lot of success.”
ACE TO ILTigers placed Eduardo Rodriguez on 15-day injured list with injured left thumb
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Olsen is the Tigers’ No. 11 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He has a 6.38 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 36⅔ innings in 10 starts for Triple-A Toledo during the 2023 season.
Over his past three starts, Olsen owns a 1.26 ERA with six walks and 22 strikeouts over 14⅓ innings. He has been using his changeup – widely regarded as the best in his career – against both right-handed and left-handed hitters.
Lately, Olsen seems to have improved his decoys and tunnels with all his pitches as well as his vocal selection. He throws five pitches: four-seam fastball, sinker, changeup, slider and curveball.
“Primary attacks should be really key,” Hinch said. “He’s got a lot of things that aren’t fastballs. He’s been able to get into a game plan and get to two strikes. Once he gets two strikes, really, throughout his minor league career, he’s been there. He’s been able to put hitters away. That’s shown a little bit in his last two starts in Triple-A.
More about him:Tigers prospect Reese Olson looks set to go from pitching machine to MLB pitcher
The Tigers, under former general manager Al Avila, acquired Olsen from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Daniel Norris at the 2021 trade deadline.
In the 2022 season, Olson set a Double-A Erie record with 168 strikeouts, but opponents tagged fastballs in the strike zone for injuries, resulting in a dismal 4.14 ERA over 119⅔ innings.
The Tigers’ starting rotation consists of Olsen, Michael Lorenzen, Matthew Boyd, Alex Fado and Joey Wentz. Olsen joined the Tigers in the clubhouse at Comerica Park before Wednesday’s game.
“It’s always exciting when someone makes their debut,” Lorenzen said. “I’ve played with him a couple of times (in spring training), and his stuff is electric. He’s got a good feel for it, so that’s the biggest thing. The difference between here and the minor leagues is his feel for things. And he feels it, and he’s very good at it. .
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter. @EvanPetzold.
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