Detroit — Funny how these things go.
When the news circulated Tuesday night that the Tigers had placed veteran reliever Jose Cisnero on waivers, people around him, friends, family and teammates, were more concerned about it that he was.
“Tranquillo,” Cisnero said, meaning he took the news calmly, with peace of mind. “All of us players, we’ve had to pass through (waivers) at some point. So it was easy. It’s something I can’t control. It didn’t affect me as much as people might think.”
The reality is, by placing him on waivers ahead of Sept. 1, they are making Cisnero available to a contending team. Players have to be with an organization by Sept. 1 to be eligible for its postseason roster.
And if no team claims him, the Tigers are not obligated to release him. There is an avenue for him to return and finish out the season here.
“I am just going to focus on working hard, as usual, and do my best,” Cisnero said, through Tigers’ bilingual interpreter Carlos Guillen. “I just want to give my 100% and finish at a high rate for the Tigers.”
Clearing or being claimed off waivers is a 72-hour process. At some point Thursday, Cisnero should know his fate. In the meantime, he will be in the Tigers’ bullpen waiting the call from manager AJ Hinch.
“There is no awkwardness,” Hinch said. “It’s all created by a confidential process that turned non-confidential. He’s doing great. I told him to be ready to pitch and that’s all he can control.”
It’s not unusual for players to play for their team after they’ve been put on waivers. It happened earlier when the Tigers’ put lefty reliever Chasen Shreve on waivers. Nobody knew about it until after he cleared and was designated for assignment.
Cisnero didn’t see the initial reports on social media, but the Tigers informed him after the game Tuesday night.
“The business side sometimes gets a little different than the competitive side,” Hinch said. “Jose is in a good place. He’s been here a long time and unfortunately he had to answer questions about something he should never have to deal with.”
Cisnero, 34 and a free agent after this season, has been with the Tigers for five seasons. He’s logged 200.1 innings in 213 games with a 3.95 ERA. He’s been a stalwart, but it’s been a struggle for him lately. In 20 games, 17.2 innings since July 1, he’s posted a 11.21 ERA with an opponent average of .367 and OPS of 1.041.
“I’ve known these guys for a long time and I’ve been here for a while,” he said. “Regardless, I just took it cool-headed. I didn’t want it to affect me.”
Mize fatigued
Tigers’ right-hander Casey Mize stopped his second live bullpen session Wednesday in mid-at-bat. He’d thrown 18 pitches and Akil Baddoo was still in the box waiting for the next pitch when Mize waved it off.
“He went one inning,” Hinch said. “Which was the plan — one inning and see how it took him and then try to build off of that.”
He threw 20 pitches in his first session last week. Even though Hinch said his fastball velocity hit 96 mph Wednesday, he seemed to be laboring.
“He’s fatiguing,” Hinch said. “I think he’s tired. I don’t think he looked particularly great, which is expected. But that doesn’t alter his plan.”
Hinch said Mize was dealing with whole body soreness and arm fatigue, which is certainly to be expected as he tries to build back up after elbow and back surgeries.
“I don’t think it’s anything that is concerning or even to comment on,” Hinch said. “It’s a guy rehabbing, a guy who is doing a lot. Whether it’s 17, 18, 20 pitches, whatever would satisfy the masses, he did exactly what we wanted him to do.”
Around the horn
Kerry Carpenter went 0-for-4 Tuesday night, snapping his career-long on-base streak at 24 games. It had been the longest active on-base streak in the big leagues. It was also the longest streak by a Tiger since Jeimer Candelario’s 29-game run in 2021. Carpenter slashed .381/.447/.750 during his streak with nine home runs and 19 RBIs.
… Reliever Garrett Hill was optioned to Triple-A Toledo before the game Wednesday to make room for lefty Joey Wentz.
…Shortstop Javier Báez was not in the starting lineup Wednesday and that had a lot to with Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. Báez has struggled all season against fastballs, hitting .200 against both four-seamers and two-seamers. He’s struck out 50 times in 214 plate appearances against those two pitches. In terms of run value, he’s a minus-8 against four-seamers and minus-9 against two-seamers. Cole, the leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, has a run value of plus-22 with his four-seamer.
Tigers vs. Yankees
▶ First pitch: 1:10 p.m. Thursday, Comerica Park, Detroit
▶ TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit, 97.1 FM
Scouting report
▶ RHP Clarke Schmidt (8-8, 4.51), Yankees: He’s a big spin guy with elite rpms on his sweeper, cutter, sinker and curveball. His mix, as you’d expect, is much more effective against right-handed hitters (.230 average, .657 OPS) than lefties (.303, .893).
▶ RHP Matt Manning (5-4, 3.93), Tigers: The Tigers are 3-0 in his last three starts. He’s allowed one earned run in 17.2 innings over that stretch, holding hitters to a .131 average with only two extra base hits. Impressive bounce-back after three straight rocky starts when he got a little slider happy. He’s pitched more off his fastball in these recent starts and effectively mixing the slider, curve and changeup.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter/X: @cmccosky