The Detroit Tigers cut 11 players from major league camp on Tuesday morning, including prospects Mike Gerber and Jake Rogers. They now have 41 players remaining in major league camp, and will have to whittle that number down to 25 by Opening Day.
Of the players sent packing, six are on the 40-man roster. Gerber, Sergio Alcantara, Grayson Greiner, and pitchers Eduardo Jimenez, Sandy Baez, and Ryan Carpenter were all optioned to the minor leagues. Jimenez will go to High-A Lakeland, while Baez and Alcantara are heading to Double-A Erie. Gerber and Greiner were sent to Triple-A Toledo.
The other five players — catchers Arvicent Perez and Jake Rogers, and pitchers Enrique Burgos, Kevin Comer, and Mark Montgomery — were all non-roster invites on minor league contracts. Their assignments have yet to be announced.
Does this matter?: Not really. There aren’t any surprises here, although Carpenter was pitching well and was a candidate to make the Opening Day roster with Blaine Hardy currently dealing with shoulder pain. Gerber will likely make his major league debut at some point in 2018, but was a longshot to make the team out of spring training.
Who’s left?: Of the 41 players remaining in big league camp, only 16 are pitchers, and all are on the 40-man roster. With Hardy potentially slated for the disabled list to start the year, nearly all of the remaining pitchers should expect to make the Opening Day roster. On the position player side, the Tigers still have five catchers, 11 infielders, nine outfielders.