The Detroit Tigers are bringing back right-handed reliever Ricky Vanasco.
The Tigers re-signed Vanasco, whom they acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers before the July 30 trade deadline for cash considerations, to a minor league contract. The 26-year-old received a non-roster invitation to MLB spring training as part of his contract, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement.
His salary will be $925,000 if he makes the majors.
For now, Vanasco has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo.
the 2024 season, all out of the bullpen. For the Tigers, Vanasco threw one scoreless inning Sept. 5 on nine pitches, and one scoreless inning Sept. 7 on eight pitches.
Vanasco threw three pitches with the Tigers: four-seam fastball, slider and cutter.
Before the trade, Vanasco threw a fastball and a curveball with the Dodgers, but after the trade, the Tigers instructed him to scrap the curveball in exchange for a slider and a cutter. Filling up the strike zone remains a point of emphasis in his development.
His fastball averaged 94.7 mph.
“We changed the curveball grip to play off my four-seam, and it turned cuttery,” Vanasco said Sept. 1, after the Tigers called him up when rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players. “It was cool messing around with those grips down there trying to find something, and then I found a different thing. It was a lot of fun learning that down there.”
Vanasco spent most of the 2024 campaign at the Triple-A level, appearing in 24 games in Oklahoma City with the Dodgers and 11 games in Toledo with the Tigers.
For the Mud Hens, Vanasco posted a 1.06 ERA with nine walks (12.7% walk rate) and 21 strikeouts (29.6% strikeout rate) across 17 innings in 11 games. His fastball maxed out at 98.1 mph and generated an impressive 26.3% whiff rate.
“I think what makes my fastball good is just the intent behind it when I throw it,” Vanasco said. “Every time I throw it, I try to throw it by you. I think that’s what makes it really good, other than the movement plots that I have on it.”
The Tigers designated Vanasco for assignment Nov. 19 to remove him from the 40-man roster. He then became a free agent, but less than a week later, the Tigers re-signed him.
Vanasco made his MLB debut with the Dodgers on April 15, 2024.
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