Detroit — The Tigers technically swung just one trade at the deadline, sending Michael Lorenzen to the Phillies for High-A infielder Hao-Yu Lee.
But the negotiations with both the Phillies and the Dodgers helped the Tigers land a couple other players.
The Tigers purchased Triple-A utility player Eddys Leonard from the Dodgers on Tuesday.
And on Friday, they claimed veteran lefty Andrew Vasquez off waivers from the Phillies. Vasquez, who was traveling to Detroit Friday, is expected to be activated Saturday.
“There’s no secret to what he does,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He spins a ton of sliders, arguably as much as anybody in baseball. He’s someone we feel can attack both lefties and right-handed hitters, specifically lefties. We’re going to reshape our bullpen with him in it.”
The corresponding move will be made before the game Saturday.
Vasquez, 29, pitched in 30 games with the Phillies this season, posting a 2-1 record and a 2.27 ERA out of bullpen. The Phillies designated him for assignment to make room for Lorenzen, who pitched eight strong innings in his Philadelphia debut Thursday.
The Tigers will be Vasquez’s sixth team in five seasons. He throws his slider 82% of the time, holding hitters to a .235 average with it. He will mix in an 89-mph fastball and a curveball about 7% of the time. He doesn’t get a lot of chase or swing and miss, but his hard-hit rate (26.5%) is among the lowest in baseball (top 2 percentile).
The bullpen will likely be reshuffled again early next week. Right-hander Will Vest (right lower leg strain) is finishing up his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo. He was scheduled to pitch Friday night and again on Sunday.
If things check out after those two games, he will likely rejoin the Tigers for the Twins series.
Nothing to it
There was a defibrillator outside the Tigers’ clubhouse after the heart-pounding finish to the 6-3 win Wednesday in Pittsburgh. The first thought was Tyler Holton’s beer shower got out of control.
“Now that would’ve been something,” said Zack Short, laughing.
Holton, the Tigers’ rookie lefty, earned his first career save, striking out Ke’Bryan Hayes looking at a 3-2 changeup with the bases loaded. First career saves earn the player a beer shower, which involves a whole lot more than just beer. It can include any and all liquids and powders and sometimes assorted poultry and seafood.
Asked if he got waterboarded, Holton smiled and said, “Not quite. I could breathe once I got the hair out of my face. It was cool.”
The last thing Holton expected that day was that he’d be in a save situation. The Tigers went into the bottom of the ninth with a four-run lead and right-hander Alex Lange struck out the first two hitters. Things went quickly awry — walk, single, walk, walk and suddenly the tying runs were on base.
“I didn’t really have time to think,” Holton said. “I just went in there to do the job. Once it was over, it was pretty cool to be congratulated like that. It was a big win for us. It feels like we’ve been so close in so many games and that was a game you’ve got to win. That felt like a big one.”
It may not have been the Tigers’ biggest win of the year, but it might’ve been their worst loss if it went the other way. So Holton’s point is well taken.
“My heart was definitely beating more than usual,” he said. “I didn’t feel anything in the pen. It still felt like it was a normal outing. Once I got out there and threw the warm-up pitches, my mind and my body weren’t synced up.
“My mind was, ‘Let’s go to work.’ But my body was definitely feeling the jitters. Balls were spraying in my warm-up and normally that’s not the case. But I was able to get it back in the zone. It was definitely exciting.”
Lange grinding
Lange hadn’t allowed an earned run in his five previous outings, but in 20 outings since June 4, the struggle has been real. He’s allowed 16 runs in 19 innings with 22 strikeouts and 20 walks.
“I think he’s really hard on himself when he misfires,” Hinch said. “The mechanics come with the misfires with his fastball. When a pitcher is missing consistently with his fastball, that tells me it could be timing, it could be direction, tempo — something is off for him not to be able to throw a fastball in the box for a strike.”
In the three-walk outing Wednesday, Lange had several borderline pitches go against him. But as the inning wore on and his pitch count climbed, the misses got bigger.
“Fastball misfires are bothersome,” Hinch said. “That’s what can get him quick outs and get him back into counts where he can use his best pitches.”
Around the horn
Matt Vierling was named the Tigers’ nominee for the 2023 Heart and Hustle Award, the only award given out by former players through the MLB Alumni Association. The award honors players’ “passion, desire and work ethic” on and off the field.
“Proud of Matty,” Hinch said. “He’s the definition of that award. “If you look at the character of it, he embodies it every day.”
… Kerry Carpenter ignited a three-run fourth inning Wednesday with a leadoff walk, which he punctuated with a hearty bat flip. Since that seemed a little out of character, Carpenter was asked if he was reacting to Pirates’ Henry Davis, who bat-flipped after a first-inning walk.
“No,” he said, smiling. “I don’t know what that was. I was just pumped.”
… The Tigers announced that right-hander Matt Manning will start the finale against the Rays on Sunday. Eduardo Rodriguez is slated for Monday and Joey Wentz will get another start Tuesday against the Twins.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky