The Tigers have designated right-hander Matt Manning for assignment, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. The former top prospect’s spot on the roster will go to newly acquired reliever Paul Sewald.
Manning, 27, was the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft and for years ranked among the game’s top pitching prospects. At one point, he was part of an untouchable trio of pitching prospects in Detroit, alongside former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize and 2024 AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Things for Manning haven’t panned out. That’s in part due to injuries, but the right-hander has had several opportunities in the majors and has yet to deliver on his former prospect status.
Manning logged big league time each season from 2021-24, starting a total of 50 games for Detroit over those four years. He posted sub-4.00 ERAs in 2022-23 but did so with bottom-of-the-scale strikeout numbers and plenty of hard contact allowed. On the whole, Manning has a 4.43 ERA, 16.4% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 40.4% ground-ball rate in 254 MLB frames.
That collective output is decent, but Manning struggled to a 4.88 ERA in 27 2/3 big league innings last year and has been shelled in Triple-A thus far in 2025. He’s spent the entire year in Toledo but turned in a 6.04 ERA with a gruesome 15.9% walk rate in 50 2/3 innings. Detroit dropped him from the Mud Hens’ rotation back in April and has been using Manning in short relief since May 1, but the results have still been uninspiring: 5.12 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 15.1% walk rate.
This is Manning’s final minor league option year. He can spend as much time in Triple-A for the remainder of the season as a new team would like, but he’ll have to stick on the major league roster with any club that claims/acquires him beginning next season. Manning has four seasons of club control remaining. He can be traded at any point up until this afternoon’s deadline, but after that he’ll need to be placed on waivers. Even with his struggles of late, it seems likely another club would at least take a no-risk flier on him just given his former pedigree — particularly a rebuilding or selling club that frees up several 40-man roster spots with trades of veteran players today.
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