Kansas City, Mo. – Dylan Smith’s indominable will has been rewarded.
The Tigers are expected to call up Smith on Friday, according to a source familiar with the team transaction.
The corresponding move will be announced before the game Friday and Smith will be added to fill the final vacancy on the 40-man roster.
A third-round pick out of Alabama in 2021, Smith was invited to big-league game in 2022. But his ascent was slowed by a series of arm injuries – triceps, forearm flexor strain, subscapular strain – that cost him most of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
But he got healthy and he was moved to the bullpen and he’s been dominant this season, throwing 96-98 mph four-seamers and punching out 32 hitters in 21 innings between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.
It’s the kind of high-velocity, swing-and-miss reliever that the Tigers’ otherwise sturdy bullpen has been lacking outside of Will Vest.
@cmccosky
