The Tigers will leave the Winter Meetings with a new player, after all.
The club selected pitcher Mason Englert from the Texas Rangers with the sixth pick in Wednesday's Rule 5 Draft.
Englert, 23, is coming off a strong season in which he posted a sub-1.00 WHIP and well more than a strikeout per inning in 24 starts across High-A and Double-A. The Tigers will have to keep him on their active big-league roster for the duration of next season or return him to the Rangers.
A fourth round pick in 2018, Englert didn't make his pro debut until 2021 after undergoing Tommy John. The 6-4 righty shows good command with all four of his pitches, including a 95-96 mph fastball and a put-away changeup, per MLB Pipeline.
With Tigers new president of baseball operations Scott Harris' emphasis on "controlling the strike zone," it's notable that Englert is known for attacking hitters and living in the zone.
Harris said Tuesday that the Tigers would expect any player they take in the Rule 5 Draft "to contribute to our big-league team and have a real chance to both help us and stick throughout the whole year."
"He's a tough competitor with a high floor as a No. 4 starter, and he could be more than that if he can sustain the stuff he flashed in the second half of the 2022 season," per MLB Pipeline.
The addition of Englert, Detroit's only major league move at this week's Winter Meetings, brings the club's 40-man roster to 39 players.
In the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft, the Tigers selected pitcher Lane Henderson from the Houston Astros and lost third baseman Dane Myers, who hit 25 homers with Double-A Erie last season, to the Miami Marlins.
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