The Detroit Tigers have added some more depth to their organization by bringing in a veteran catcher. Things could not be any more exciting for the Detroit Tigers and their fans coming down the final stretch of the season. After looking like they were going to go quietly into the winter without making the playoffs for the 10th straight year, this team full of star prospects and rookies have fought their way into being just 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot entering Wednesday.
The Tigers are the hottest team in baseball right now, led by their superstar ace and a patchwork rotation that is backed up by an offense that has done whatever is necessarily to win coming down the stretch. It’s a remarkable turnaround from where they were on Aug. 10 when three losses in a row put them eight games under.500. Manager A.J. Hinch deserves a lot of credit for keeping this group focused on winning, pushing all the right buttons when it comes to pitching decisions and who to go with in his lineup.
The young players have responded, and they have given themselves a chance to play fall baseball for the first time in their careers, and for Detroit fans to watch their team in the playoffs for the first time since 2014 when the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Nick Castellanos, J.D. Martinez and Torii Hunter were roaming the field, and the rotation was led by Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
This is what the organization envisioned throughout this long rebuild, and as they are getting closer to chasing down a spot in the AL Wild Card round, they have decided to add a veteran to their midst. According to the team’s transactions log, they signed catcher Tomas Nido to a minor league contract and have sent him to their Triple-A affiliate.
The eight-year big leaguer spent time with the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs this season, putting together a slash line of.192/.219/.315 across his 49 games during this campaign. Nido likely doesn’t factor into the mix with Jake Rogers and former top prospect Dillon Dingler holding spots on the 28-man roster, but if one of those two were to go down, the Tigers can now turn to someone with Major League experience during their most important stretch of the season.
