After the trade of ace David Price to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Detroit Tigers had a hole in the starting rotation. However, the trade of Price allowed that spot to be filled with a young star, Daniel Norris.
The 22-year-old will make his Tigers debut on Sunday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reported.
The Tigers acquired three left-handed pitcher in the deal that sent Price to the Blue Jays. Matt Boyd, another pitcher in the deal, was considered for the spot that Norris filled.
"We really kind of debated which one of the two to pitch," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "Don't know either one of them that well. They've both pitched in the big leagues this year. Boyd had an outstanding outing last outing. He's pitched extremely well, as you can tell by his numbers. But since Norris has pitched a little bit more at the big-league level, he's pitched against the Orioles earlier in the year and they had told us he threw the ball pretty well against them, we decided to go with him."
The third lefty acquired, Jairo Labourt, will head to Single-A Lakeland and will be a starting pitcher. Boyd has joined the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens as a top starting pitcher.
Norris, 22, has a 19-23 record over four Minor League seasons, appearing in 79 games. He owns a 4.08 ERA, but is expected to learn and blossom into his own.
His best season came in 2014 with High-A Dunedin. Norris went 6-0 with a 1.23 ERA over 13 games. He owned a career high 1.030 WHIP and did not give up a home run over 262 batters faced.
In early 2015, the Blue Jays called up Norris and had him pitch. He went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA over five games. He tossed 23.1 innings and gave up 23 hits, three home runs, 12 walks and 10 earned runs, while striking out 18 batters. Norris has a Major League career 1-1 record with a 4.20 ERA.
In 2015 MLB season, Norris proved that he can hit his spots and easily gets Major League hitters looking. He fashions a few good breaking pitches, which leaves most off-balance.
"He's one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in the game," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "We saw him in spring training. He was very impressive against us. I know it's spring training, but you can still see that the stuff was there."
The lefty was drafted in the second round of the 2011 MLB Draft and has turned into the No. 17 overall prospect, according to MLB.com.
Dombrowski told the media that he believers Norris and Boyd will compete for the starting rotation for 2016. Both should have a good chance of making it, unless the Tigers sign big arms in the offseason.
Detroit Tigers current rotation: Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Alfredo Simon, Buck Farmer and Norris.