Young Right-Hander Could Be 'Dark Horse' To Make Detroit Tigers Roster

Will a young pitcher be able to make the Opening Day roster for the Detroit Tigers?

Detroit Tigers pitcher Chase Lee throws during live batting practice at spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With spring games starting up for the Detroit Tigers, the team will be looking to put the final touches on their Opening Day roster in the coming weeks.

After a great campaign, the Tigers came into the winter with some pressure to make some moves and be aggressive to support their talented young core. Detroit did just that and has come away from the offseason with an improved team.

One of the key areas that the Tigers improved was their pitching staff. Besides Tarik Skubal in the starting rotation down the stretch last year, there were a lot of question marks. With the signings of Alex Cobb and Jack Flaherty, the franchise will have some veteran presences while their talented young arms continue to develop.

Furthermore, Flaherty will also provide them with the ability to be a front-end starter come potentially important games in October.

In addition to the upgrades made to the rotation, Detroit also added Tommy Kahnle to what was an already good bullpen last year. Now, the unit will be even better with the veteran right-hander’s ability to pitch in high-leverage situations.

While the bullpen appears to be set heading into the season, there is one young pitcher who might try to force his way onto the Opening Day roster.

Jason Beck of MLB.com recently spoke about Chase Lee being a potential dark horse candidate to make the Opening Day roster for the Tigers.

Lee was acquired in a trade with the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline last year and has some appealing upside out of the bullpen. The side-armer pitched well in the minors last year for both the Rangers and Detroit. He totaled a 2.75 ERA in 36 innings of work and struck out 49 batters.

His ability to make players swing and miss with his unique arm angle will eventually result in him making it to the big league and 2025 could very well be the year he achieves that.

However, making the Opening Day roster might be a bit tricky with the amount of success that the bullpen had last year.

As shown by the Tigers moving him onto their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule-5 draft, they believe in his talent.

Lee has accomplished quite a bit in the minors already with the 2024 campaign being his breakout year.

Now, the 25-year-old will be a player to watch in spring training if there’s an injury or some struggles with the bullpen. Even if it isn't on Opening Day, the right-hander seems destined to make his way to the Majors at some point soon.