After being offered to anyone that wanted to pay the right price this offseason, Rick Porcello has won the fifth spot in the Detroit Tigers' starting rotation over left-hander Drew Smyly.
Matthew Mowrey from The Oakland Press tells us more:
#Tigers announce Porcello will be the 5th starter, Smyly will be in the bullpen; Matt Tuiasosopo has made team, barring something unforeseen
— Matthew B. Mowery (@matthewbmowery) March 26, 2013
In six starts this spring, Porcello went 4-1 with an ERA of 3.00. In 24 innings, he struck out 24 while not walking a batter.
Porcello knew he had to impress in order to stay with the Tigers and delivered in spades.
Smyly also pitched very well and has earned himself a spot in the bullpen, presumably in the role of long reliever.
In six starts, Smyly went 4-0 with an ERA of 3.38, posting a better spring ERA than Doug Fister and Justin Verlander.
The move to keep both pitchers on the main club still gives the Tigers some trade options if whatever they end up settling on for the closer's role does not pan out.
As the only left-handed starter on the roster, Smyly could also get the occasional spot start to cool down an excessively left-handed hitting lineup.
The other news Tuesday is that infielder Matt Tuaisosopo has been told he has earned a spot on the team.
The non-roster invitee is hitting .327 with four home runs and 10 RBI.
The Tigers are expected to bring 13 position players up north when the season starts Monday in Minneapolis as the Tigers face the Minnesota Twins.
Brayan Pena and Quintin Berry are expected to grab two bench spots with Ramon Santiago, Danny Worth and Don Kelly fighting for that last spot.
Spring statistics are as of Monday, March 25 and via Baseball-Reference.com.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
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