On Monday, the Detroit Tigers called up right-handed reliever Chase Lee and infielder/outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy from Triple-A Toledo.
The two players will occupy the roster positions made available by MLB’s roster expansion in September.
There will be another relocation shortly: Sawyer Gipson-Long, a right-hander, was in the clubhouse on Monday for an acclimation day. He is anticipated to be activated on Tuesday to start or pitch several bullpen innings.
“There will be a lot of moves,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch stated. “We’ll go series by series, and occasionally game by game, to give us the best chance to win series, just like we’ve done the previous five months.”
With the Mud Hens, 25-year-old Malloy has been dominating, hitting.317 with a.934 OPS in 304 plate appearances, eight home runs, and eighteen doubles.
Malloy has hit.208 with a.620 OPS (79 OPS+) in 118 plate appearances during his two prior stints with the major league team this season. He has also collected four doubles and one home run. Against left-handed pitching, he has primarily been used as a pinch-hitter, designated hitter, or corner outfielder.
In the last few weeks of the season, his function can become even more specialized. Malloy is not in the starting lineup for Monday’s game against Sean Manaea, a left-hander for the Mets, but manager A.J. Hinch stated that having an additional bench bat on hand can assist opponents that have a lot of lefties in the bullpen.
“Earlier in the game, the fifth position player brings more opportunities to be aggressive,” Hinch stated. Do you have a second move later in the game when we go heavy right-handed or heavy left-handed on the bench? That’s one of the things I’ve observed. J-Hen excels against both, and his off-the-shelf performance is crucial. He can provide us with an at-bat off the bench; I just spoke with him about his role in this series.
“I still have a counter later in the game if I want to go aggressive early with a left-handed batter. Teams with two or three left-handed relievers are approaching us. On a day like today, it is quite helpful to have that bat in the midst of the game towards the end. Adding another bench bat just makes the fact that we will typically employ our whole squad even more apparent.
Following the addition of many new relievers by the Tigers, Lee, 27, was optioned to Toledo at the trade deadline. In 37 1/3 innings pitched for Detroit, he has a 4.10 ERA (4.49 FIP), 36 strikeouts, and nine walks, making him 4-1. If not for three poor appearances in July, in which he allowed 10 runs on five home runs in only two innings, his ERA would be considerably cleaner.
“Chase has undoubtedly had a wild season,” Hinch remarked. Although it has been hit or miss, his past two appearances at Triple-A have been fairly strong.
He is disciplined when he misses in the middle of the zone. He only inflates the batters’ counts when he misses outside. When he is at his best, he is getting leverage, hammering the strike zone, and giving players a challenging look with his unusual angle. He becomes more exposed when he lags behind and they can remove the sweeper or the fastball’s height, either up or down.
