As the Tigers continue to move towards the regular season, manager Jim Leyland made the final roster cuts today while he puts the final touches on the teams opening day roster.
Among the players being optioned to Triple-A Toledo is infielder Danny Worth, outfielder Andy Dirks and pitcher Adam Wilk. All of these rosters were made prior to today’s Grapefruit League match-
up against the Philadelphia Phillies.
According to Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press the move didn’t come as much of a surprise to Danny Worth who said that Leyland informed him of his decision earlier in the week during batting practice.
“He always tells me before,” Worth said. “I remember in ‘08 he told me I was going down like the day before. I was laughing about it. But I had no shot of making it then.”
Coming into spring training this year Worth hoped to obtain the utility infielders job. He hit .333 in 36 Grapefruit League at-bats and appeared fully recovered from the heel injury that cut short his 2010 season
Outfielder Andy Dirks was a nice surprise this spring having eight extra base hits at 57 at bats. However the team opted to go with Brennan Boesch and Casper Wells for the reserve outfield positions. Both of those players also had experience playing with the big league club last season.
“You can only have so many guys on the team and the guys ahead of me had more experience and they’ve done good things in their career,” Dirks said. “It’s not a disappointment to me, I just want to go play baseball. Wherever it takes me, that’s where I’m going to go.”
Pitcher Adam Wilk struggled in his final start of the spring allowing four runs in three innings during the Tigers’ 5-3 loss to the Braves Friday night.
“I made an impression on them,” Wilk said. “They said I did a good job, now hopefully just got to keep pitching down there and hope there’s an opportunity to come back up at some point this year.”
Brayan Villareal and non-roster invitee Enrique Gonzalez won the final two bullpen spots.
As expected reliever Joel Zumaya and infielder Carlos Guillen will being the season on the DL.
Source: Detroit Free Press
