Friday was the first chance that Jose Valverde had to face live hitters and he didn’t disappoint. While not perfect, he did toss one scoreless inning while striking one out and walking another in an extended spring training game against the Braves.
So where does he go from here? He is scheduled to do another short inning stint during a scrimmage game Monday than depending on how that goes, the organization will make a decision on whether or not to advance him to Triple-A Toledo, keep him in Florida for a little more work, or just give him his outright release.
Don’t expect the release though as the Tigers are struggling at the back end at the major-league level and are looking for a miracle of some sort to find a resurrection in Valverde’s arm.
The minor-league deal that he signed two weeks ago gives him until May 5th to see if he wants to pursue this. If not, he has the chance at requesting his release.
More Tigers News and Notes: Octavio Dotel wasn’t available this weekend , due to what he referred to as “a little inflammation in the area my elbow.”
