Detroit Tigers: Ex-outfielder Anthony Gose completes pitching conversion

A few years ago when former Detroit Tigers outfielder Anthony Gose decided to try and pitch, it was improbable; in 2020 the narrative has changed.

In 2017, the Detroit Tigers had outfielder Anthony Gose decided that he was going to try and convert into a pitcher after his offensive numbers were lackluster. This was a Detroit Tigers team that was managed by Brad Ausmus, where Gose was not seeing much of the field.

Gose would only get thirty games in the big leagues during the 2016 season in the outfield. He was a speedy centerfielder, who’s bat was a weak spot. Gose was a speed threat in the big leagues, but the hitting was really a liability for his success in the big leagues.

In 2017 he started down this improbable road of becoming a pitcher with the Single-A Lakeland Tigers affiliate. Gose would throw 10.2 innings with the Single-A Lakeland team in 2017, where he pitched to a 7.59 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, but did strike out fourteen batters. The raw talent was there, but the numbers took time to come around

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The Detroit Tigers would ultimately give up on the Gose experiment after 2017, he would continue the journey spending the 2018 season in the Texas Rangers minor league system.

He would then find himself where he is now, in the Cleveland Indians system, and at big league Spring Training with the team in Arizona.

In 2019, Gose would spend his time between the Single-A Lynchburg and Double-A Akron affiliates. In total, he would accumulate twenty-nine innings pitched with a 1-4 record. He managed a 2.48 ERA with a 1.55 WHIP while walking twenty-nine hitters and striking out thirty-five as well.

Now that 2020 Spring Training is underway, Gose is spending it with the big league club where he has thrown in three different games. Over the course of his three innings pitched, he has allowed three hits, one run, allowed no walks, and struck out four hitters. He has made a case to be kept around big league camp and even though the sample size is quite small, he is emerging as a pitcher with great stuff.

On the bump, Gose is a left-handed relief pitcher who delivers a fastball that sits in the mid-90s. He pairs the heater with a tight slider that moves more horizontal and appears to have more of a loopy 12-6 curveball that gets the swing and misses from hitters. If Gose continues to pitch the way he is, the conversion might just work out after all.

With his stuff on the mound looking pretty legit, it is beginning to seem more and more likely that Gose could emerge as a bullpen arm for the tribe during the 2020 season.