Detroit Tigers promoting RHP prospect Sawyer Gipson-Long to start Sunday vs. White Sox

Wednesday’s injury to right-handed starter Matt Manning was a blow to the Detroit Tigers’ rotation, already short-handed following the trade deadline, but it will be a boon to one Tigers prospect, as well as fans ready to see what the team’s next generation of arms can do.

The Tigers announced Friday that they plan to call up right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long from Triple-A Toledo to start against the Chicago White Sox at 1:10 p.m. Sunday at Comerica Park in Detroit. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound 25-year-old has a 5.45 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 14 walks over 34⅔  innings (in eight appearances) with the Mud Hens. Gipson-Long started the season, his second in the organization, with Double-A Erie; he posted a 3.74 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 15 walks in 65 innings (over 14 appearances) with the Seawolves.

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Promoted in late July, Gipson-Long struggled in his first three starts with the Mud Hens, allowing 13 earned runs in 15 innings. But in his past five appearances, he has given up just eight earned runs in 19 2/3 innings while striking out 31 and walking seven. That includes an Aug. 18 start in which Gipson-Long struck out 12 Omaha batters and allowed one hit in six innings of a 5-0 victory over the Storm Chasers (the Kansas City Royals’ Triple-A affiliate). Still, Gipson-Long is coming off arguably his worst outing of the season, a relief appearance against Indianapolis (the Pittsburgh Pirates’ affiliate) in which he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two in 1⅔ innings.

Gipson-Long joined the organization in the 2022 trade deadline deal that sent right-handed reliever Michael Fulmer to the Minnesota Twins. A sixth-round pick by the Twins in 2019 (at No. 179 overall) out of Mercer University, the Georgia native is ranked as the Tigers’ No. 19 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline). He doesn’t feature an overpowering fastball, sitting in the 91-93 mph range, but uses a slider in the low 80s to fool batters.

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