The Detroit Tigers, desperate for starting pitching, turned to prospect Reese Olson in Triple-A Toledo to fill a void in the rotation.
Olson, a right-hander, has been promoted to the Tigers to replace injured ace Eduardo Rodriguez, who is on the injured list with a ruptured pulley of his left index finger. The 23-year-old is scheduled to start Friday against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It will be his MLB debut.
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Olson is the Tigers’ No. 11 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He has a 6.38 ERA with 22 walks and 47 strikeouts across 36⅔ innings in 10 starts for Triple-A Toledo in the 2023 season.
In his past three starts, Olson owns a 1.26 ERA with six walks and 22 strikeouts across 14⅓ innings. He has been using his changeup — considered the best pitch in his arsenal — against both right-handed and left-handed hitters.
Recently, Olson appears to have improved his deception and tunneling with all of his pitches, as well as his pitch selection. He throws five pitches: four-seam fastball, sinker, changeup, slider and curveball.
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The Tigers, under former general manager Al Avila, acquired Olson from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Daniel Norris at the 2021 trade deadline.
In the 2022 season, Olson set the Double-A Erie record with 168 strikeouts, but opponents tagged fastballs inside the strike zone for damage, which led to an underwhelming 4.14 ERA across 119⅔ innings.
This story will be updated.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.