RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – They called him “psycho” in Double-A. Got to love that.
Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch said the club will purchase the contract of lefty Andrew Sears from Triple-A Toledo on Sunday, Aug. 23, with the expectation of him making his big-league debut in the finale against the Royals.
“We are excited to promote him,” said Hinch, who plans to use Sears in bulk relief in what has been scheduled as a bullpen game Sunday. “He’s got real weapons. His challenge will be, this is a pretty big leap given he only had a couple of games in Triple-A. But he’s demonstrated the ability to compete against anybody.”
Sears, 23, the 10th ranked prospect in the system per MLB Pipeline, jumped onto the Tigers’ radar at the end of last season when he posted a 3.44 ERA over his last seven starts at Double-A Erie, with 37 strikes, eight walks and an opponent stat-line of .244/.288/.374.
His start to this season was delayed until May 15 by a fractured bone in his elbow.
“We’ve been watching him and nurturing him through the season a little bit,” Hinch said. “But he’s continued to throw strikes and pitches with some intensity.”
Thus the nickname. He can be very animated on the mound. He’s a big guy, 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, and he attacks hitters with sinkers and sliders from a low arm angle, similar to lefty Brant Hurter.
Only Sears throws harder, 93-95 mph.
“I told him inside that his best is good enough,” Hinch said. “He just needs to come in and remember the game. Get to strike one. His stuff is going to play well here. The fact that he can miss bats, that he has multiple weapons, that he has an attack mentality. You are going to see him pitch with some intensity and some speed and some adrenaline.”
Sears made just two appearances in Toledo, pitching 9.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with 14 strikeouts and four walks.
Hinch said the corresponding moves on both the active roster and 40-man roster will be announced before the game Sunday.
The Tigers are expected to give Sears some runway through September. It remains to be seen if he stays in the rotation or long relief. All options are on the table, but one scenario could be moving Keider Montero back to a leverage role in the bullpen and inserting Sears into the rotation.
Montero has already thrown a career-high innings and pitches this season. His start scheduled for Monday was pushed to one of the games in the Dodgers series Aug. 28-30.
Sears was with the club Saturday on an acclimation day. He was not made available to the media, per club policy.
@cmccosky
Tigers at Royals
First pitch: 2:10 p.m. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
TV/radio: Detroit Sports Net/97.1, 107.9
SCOUTING REPORT
Tigers, TBA: Manager AJ Hinch announced that 23-year-old left Andrew Sears would be selected from Triple-A Toledo and make his big-league debut, working bulk relief in what will be a scheduled bullpen game. This was Framber Valdez’s scheduled start day but he’s been pushed to Monday against the Rays at Comerica Park.
LHP Daniel Lynch IV (4-4, 2.83), Royals: The Royals are transitioning the 29-year-old back to a starting pitcher, which he was for the first three years of his career. This will be his fourth build-up start. He threw 45 pitches and completed four innings in his last one. The Tigers have faced him four times out of the bullpen this season and are very familiar with his four-pitch mix — 95-mph four-seamers and change-ups to right-handed hitters, 94-mph sinkers and sliders to righties. He will also mix a knuckle-curve to righties.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers' lefty prospect Andrew Sears expected to make big-league debut Sunday
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