Kyle Ryan is easy not to know as a Tiger. He debuted as a Tiger less than a month
ago. This is to show you how up to date
I try to be! Okay, maybe I don’t
succeed. But I try! Kyle was born in 1991. Yep, 10 years after I graduated from high
school! He was drafted and signed by the
Tigers in 2010. He went to the Gulf
Coast League and was 2-4 in rookie ball with a 4.17 ERA that year in Rookie
Ball. In 2011 the lefty pitcher was 6-10
as a starter in class A West Michigan with a 3.15 ERA. In 2012 he was similar at 7-8 with a 3.74
ERA. Last year he was 12-7 with a 3.17
ERA but it was back in class A Lakeland.
In 2014 he split time with Erie and Toledo before being called up by the
Tiges. He was 7-10 at Erie with his
highest ERA yet at 4.55 and then moved
to Toledo and was 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in5 starts. Go figure.
The Tiges brain trust of Dombrowski and Ausmus called up Ryan and he
made his major league debut on August 30 against the Chisox. He was everything we want in a future lefty
starter. He pitched 6 innings and gave
up 0 runs on 5 hits and 2 BB. He got the
win in that start. He pitched an inning
out of the pen against the Giants and got the win 9 days ago against the
Twinkies last Monday in relief. He
pitched a scoreless inning Sunday against the Royals to bring his major league
record to 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 5 games.
Folks, remember, you heard about Kyle here first.
Steve Wapnick started his time in the majors with the
Tigers. He was drafted by the Toronto
Blue Jays in 1987 out of Cal State Fresno.
But he did not really go anywhere in their minors. In December 1989 the Tigers picked him in the
Rule 5 draft from the Jays for the 1990 season.
Steve made the Tigers roster for 1990 as the rule is the player drafted
in the Rule 5 draft must stay on the drafting teams 25 man roster the entire
season. In the 7th game of
the season Steve made his major league debut coming in to face the Orioles in a
game that the O’s led 5-2. Steve gave up
a single to his first batter. He also
walked a batter but K’d 3 in the inning!
He started the 8th and gave up a lead off single again and
walked a batter before getting Cal Ripken to hit into a fielder’s choice. At that point he was pulled for Jerry Don
Gleaton for a lefty vs. lefty matchup.
Five days later Steve was brought in again to face the O’s in a 4-1 game
with the O’s leading in the 4th.
This time Cal Ripken led off with a walk. Steve gave up another walk but also recorded
another K. In the 5th Steve
got another K and gave up another walk but was pulled after recording 2 outs
and replaced by Jerry Don Gleaton. The
next day Steve faced the O’s for a third time in the three games of his
career. It was the 7th and
the O’s led 5-0. Steve pitched 2 innings
giving up 1 run. He walked 2 and K’d
1. He ended the game so no one replaced
him. On April 24, ten days after Steve’s
MLB debut, he was called in to face (no, not the O’s,) the Twins in the 4th
inning with the Twinkies up 6-2 with 2 out and the bases loaded. Steve got Gary Gaetti to pop up to second to
end the threat. Steve pitched the 5th
and gave up 2 singles and a walk but no runs.
In the 6th he gave up 2 runs on a lead off double, followed
by another double, a single and a walk.
At that point he was pulled for Jerry Don Gleaton. Less than a week later Steve was no longer a
Tiger. A pitcher not selected in a rule
5 draft would likely be sent down to the minors for some more seasoning or work
on his control as Steve pitched 7 innings for the Tiges and K’d 6, which is
good. But walked 10, which in not
good. But as a Rule 5 draftee, the Tiges
could not send him down. Instead he was
returned to the Blue Jays on May 1.
Steve never made it up to the Jays.
In September the Jays sent Steve as “the player to be named later” to
finish a deal with the White Sox. Steve
pitched 6 games for the Sox in 1991 and went 0-1 with 1 K and 4 walks. He never played in the majors again and was
done in baseball after 1993.
Ed Putman
Sal Butera
Johnny Sain
Dick Harley
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