Detroit Tigers cut Zack Short as Kenley Jansen returns from IL
· Yahoo Sports
CLEVELAND – The Detroit Tigers made a handful of roster moves before their game on Friday, June 12, including bringing back closer Kenley Jensen and adding more speed in centerfield, where the Tigers have been without the two players who primarily manned that spot last season, Parker Meadows and Javier Baez.
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A.J. Hinch hopes that James Outman, who was waived by the Minnesota Twins on Thursday and picked up by the Tigers, will provide defensive range and give him more roster flexibility.
In fact, he was penciled into center for Friday’s opener against the Guardians.
“Outman will help us in center, and realign some of the outfield plays,” Hinch said Friday before the game. “You’ve seen we’ve played Z-Mac [Zach McKinstry] out there, we’ve played Wenceel [Pérez] out there, played [Matt] Vierling out there. Now Outman will factor into that as well. He can play all three [positions].”
Hinch said the move was part of a plan to improve the defense in the outfield overall, not just in center. He also said that McKinstry will now be able to play more in the infield, including some shortstop.
“I’m excited,” Outman said as he stood at his stall in the Tigers clubhouse, a Twins logo-adorned toiletries bag tucked into a shelf. “I was watching my daughter play in the rain when I got the phone call.”
It happened quickly, as these things tend to do. The Tigers will no doubt find him a travel replacement for his things soon.
As for his play on the field, where he has struggled at the plate?
“Timing is the biggest thing,” he said.
As he tries to find it, the Tigers believe his speed, glove and occasional power can help.
“I take a lot of pride in my defense and baserunning, trying to impact the game on that end when the bat is not there,” he said.
Outman hit 23 homers and stole 16 bases over 151 games as a rookie for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023. As Hinch noted, the power is still there.
“I know there’s been a lot of miss,” Hinch said. “What I told him is try to focus on what he is trying to do and not focus on avoiding something. I’ve had players in the past swing and miss quite a bit and actually try to not swing and miss.”
When you do that?
“You end up swinging and missing,” said Hinch. “He put up a nice season as a young player. I know it’s been a couple years since he established himself ... [but] the talent is there, he can impact the game.”
Zack Short designated for assignment
To help make room for Jensen’s return and the addition of Outman and right-handed reliver Jacob Waguespack – who arrived in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the week the Tigers optioned right-handed relievers Beau Brieske and Brenan Hanifee to Triple-A Toledo, and designated Zack Short for assignment.
With Tarik Skubal expected to start Saturday in his return from the injured list and Casey Mize expected to start Sunday, also in a return from the IL, the Tigers are beginning to look more like the team they thought they’d have, Hinch said.
As for Waguespack?
“[He has] ability to get some lefties out, he’s big, we like the fastball, we like some of the secondary pitches, the extension, his overall look is different from what we have,” said Hinch. “He can miss a bat. He's performed in Triple-A.”
That happened in Nashville this season, where Waguespack put up solid numbers for the Brewers’ top farm club. The 6-foot-6 reliever has pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays in the big leagues and spent several years in Japan.
Hinch said the Tigers tried to get the 32-year-old the past couple offseasons.
“Ready to help out,” Waguespack said.
The team expects to make corresponding moves over the weekend to accommodate the return of Skubal and Mize.
Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers shuffle roster ahead of big series in Cleveland