Detroit Tigers’ utility man Ryan Raburn looking to find himself a new home – MLB Update
Former Detroit Tigers’ baseman Ryan Raburn’s days with the Detroit Tigers might be numbered. Raburn posted one of the worst seasons of his career last year as he managed to hit just .171 with 1 home-run and 12 RBI’s. His .226 OBP was also among worst in
the American League.
The Tigers are expected to pick some players from the Minor League like other teams in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. As a result, there are chances the Tigers will remove Raburn from their big league roster to clear a spot for youngsters in Minor League.
According to Major League Baseball rules, the Tigers must set their 40 man roster before the 11:59 pm December 6 deadline, which is the final day of the winter meetings in Nashville. The Tigers must add any high school and college prospects to their 40 man
roster in order to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, reports mlive.com.
According to sources, the Tigers could add highly talented pitching prospect Bruce Rondon to their starting rotation by Tuesday next week. Rondon was earlier named as the club’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2012. The 20-year-old shortstop Dixon Machado
is also looking to secure a place on Tigers’ roster.
"He's got three major-league pitches," Alex Avila said of Rondon in an interview.
"But he'll also throw 103, and then maybe back off to 95 or 96. He'll throw that slider at 91 and his change-up at 88-89. If you look at the discrepancies in velocities, what you see is that he knows what pitching is all about. He knows when to back off.
And he knows when to get the strikeout. It just shows this young man, at his age, has a great feel for pitching,” said Ray Burris, pitching coach at Double-A Erie.
Rondon has the ability to hit 100 mph barrier consistently. General Manager Dave Dombrowski and Manager Jim Leyland are really impressed with what they have seen from his in the last season. Rondon is likely to be Tigers’ ninth inning pitcher in 2013 Spring
Training.
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