The Tigers have selected the contract of right-hander Wily Peralta. To create 40-man roster space, the team announced that righty Bryan Garcia has been designated for assignment.
As per the teams of his minor league deal, Peralta will lock in $2.5MM in guaranteed salary for reaching the active roster, and he can also earn another $500K in incentive bonuses. Despite a 3.07 ERA over 93 2/3 innings with Detroit last season, Peralta had to settle for another minor league contract, likely due to both the lockout-shortened offseason and some underwhelming secondary numbers. Peralta was below average in most major Statcast categories, including a 14.4% strikeout rate that ranked in only the third percentile of all pitchers. Peralta also had a 50.7% grounder rate, and might benefit from some more batted-ball luck with Javier Baez now behind him in the Tigers infield.
Peralta started 18 of 19 games last season and could be in line for a return to the rotation now that Casey Mize has been placed on the 10-day injured list. However, Peralta has only pitched in relief over three minor league outings this season, so the Tigers could opt for an opener/bulk pitcher or piggyback setup while Peralta gets more fully stretched out. Detroit has off-days on each of the next three Mondays, which will help the team mix and match its pitchers and give starter Michael Pineda more time to ramp up in the minors.
Garcia has posted some strong numbers (2.92 ERA, 29.19% strikeout rate) over 142 career relief innings in Detroit’s farm system, though he has had trouble repeating that consistency over three big league seasons. After delivering a 1.66 ERA over 21 2/3 innings in 2020, Garcia struggled to a 7.55 ERA in 39 1/3 frames last year, due to control problems and an inability to keep the ball in the park. Given the potential Garcia has shown in the minors, it seems quite possible that another team might claim Garcia away from the Tigers on DFA waivers.