The Detroit Tigers acquired outfielder Jake Marisnick, an 11-year MLB veteran, from the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday in exchange for cash considerations.
Marisnick, an above-average defender at all three outfield positions, joins the Tigers in the wake of an injury to outfielder Matt Vierling. Vierling was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Monday, with low back soreness.
Ultimately, the Tigers don’t want their outfield defense to suffer while Vierling spends time on the injured list. Fellow outfielder Kerry Carpenter is rehabbing from a right shoulder sprain in Triple-A Toledo.
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Adding Marisnick to the Tigers, rather than sending him to Triple-A Toledo, would spark corresponding moves on the 40-man and 26-man rosters.
There are currently two outfielders on the 26-man roster: Riley Greene and Akil Baddoo. Several infielders, though, have experience in the outfield: Zach McKinstry, Tyler Nevin and Andy Ibáñez. Catcher Eric Haase often plays left field, as well.
The 32-year-old hit .260 with 19 walks (15.8% walk rate) and 28 strikeouts (23.3% strikeout rate) in 33 games for Triple-A Charlotte this season. He also played nine games with the White Sox this year, primarily serving as a defensive replacement.
Marisnick, a right-handed hitter, has played 840 games in parts of 11 MLB seasons for the Miami Marlins (2013-14), Houston Astros (2014-19), New York Mets (2020), Chicago Cubs (2021), San Diego Padres (2021), Pittsburgh Pirates (2022) and White Sox (2023).
He spent five seasons with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch as a member of the Astros, from 2015-19. During those seasons, he hit .227 with 86 walks (5.8% walk rate) and 457 strikeouts (30.6% strikeout rate) in 580 games.
Marisnick, who has 451 hits in his career, played five games in the 2019 World Series.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.