Drew Smyly Wins No. 5 Spot on Tigers

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It's official, Drew Smyly has been named the Detroit Tigers No. 5 starter. He had been battling Duane Below for the final spot in the Tigers rotation, but after a poor final showing by Below he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo.

Below had also been in the running for the final bullpen position along with Brayan Villarreal, both players missed out on a trip to the bigs and will be starting the season with the Mudhens in Toledo.

Smyly will make his first career major league start on April 12 against the Tampa Bay Rays at Comerica Park. In his 12.2 innings of work Smyly posted a 2.84 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP during the spring. He struck out 10 batters and held opponents to a .167 BA.

The final bullpen spot has been given to Luis Marte who has had an excellent spring. Marte, who tossed 13 innings this spring, earned two wins with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP. He fanned 16 batters while walking just three.

We called Smyly being named the No. 5 starter back in February, when we wrote this article on him.