Detroit Tigers news: Southpaw Joey Wentz set to make big-league debut

The Detroit Tigers are in the midst of a series against the Oakland Athletics. Coming off of a double-header with the team, they will get a taste of the future. The team announced that they would be calling up prospect starting pitcher Joey Wentz to pitch in Wednesday’s contest.

Wentz is ranked as the Detroit Tigers’ twelfth best prospect in the organization according to MLB dot com‘s prospect rankings. He will now get his chance to make his first big league start and strut his stuff for the big league club after his promotion to the MLB roster.

After being acquired in 2019 in a trade with the Atlanta Braves involving closer Shane Greene, he has had to deal with plenty of adversity. It has not been a cakewalk for Wentz whatsoever. With injury issues preventing him from being on the mound, it’s been a long time coming.

But, Wentz will finally get to make that long-awaited debut for the Tigers with the hopes of keeping the team moving in the right direction. Especially with the Tigers rotation being without Casey Mize and Matt Manning, who are on rehab assignments, Wentz could be a new addition to the rotation for the time being.

Detroit Tigers prospect Joey Wentz set for MLB debut.

Wentz is coming off of five starts at the Triple-A level with the Toledo Mud Hens. He has pitched to a 4.12 ERA and 1.07 WHIP throughout 19.2 innings of work. Wentz has picked up 26 strikeouts along the way as well.

It has certainly been a tumultuous experience for Wentz since being acquired; between a pandemic and Tommy John Surgery, he has had his fair share of obstacles. But after a ton of hard work and working on getting here, he will finally make his big-league debut.

The Tigers are trying to spark a turnaround in the clubhouse to get the team to start performing at the level they should be. A big debut after a snapping a losing streak the day before might be something to build momentum around.

Wentz is looking to come in and navigate through a big-league lineup for the first time and ultimately show that he can be a big-league rotation piece or at least earn himself some more opportunities down the line.

It will be fun to watch Wentz make his debut; Tigers fans should tune in to see the southpaw try his luck in the big leagues for the first time.